1. Find out their Twitter account name. I find the quickest way to do this is to type “example company name Twitter” into Google. So if you were a customer of an imaginary bank called UK Bank, you’d type in “UK Bank Twitter”.
You should then see their Twitter page coming up in the Google results. Make sure you’ve got the UK branch (unless of course you’re one of our international readers!) Often multinational corporations will have separate Twitter accounts for different countries. Also make sure you’ve got the right business – and not a fake account or a prankster – you’ll be able to tell by having a quick look at the tweets and number of followers.
2. Compose a short Tweet which conveys that you’re displeased with an aspect of their service and mention the company’s twitter name.
It needs to be polite but firm – no swearing, typos or text speak. Important: make sure you include the @ sign before the company name.
So for example you could tweet something like:
Very unhappy with how @UKBank are handling this issue with my account
3. Wait for a response from the company in question (whenever I’ve tried this I’ve normally had a Tweet back within a couple of hours).
3. Wait for a response from the company in question (whenever I’ve tried this I’ve normally had a Tweet back within a couple of hours).
Their response at this stage will normally be a) a request to follow up with them using a special link, sometimes quoting a code (this is exactly what we want) or b) a polite tweet apologising and saying they hope the situation will be resolved soon. If you get the latter you may need to give them a nudge and follow up with another reply (because you want a) to happen). For example you could reply with:
@UKBank I’ve already waited 3 weeks for a resolution – tired of being put through to the wrong person.
Tip: Make sure your Twitter settings are configured so that you’re emailed replies to Tweets (it’s the default) so that you don’t have to keep checking.
4. Follow the steps! Obviously the process varies according to which company you’re dealing with but usually once you’ve been put through to the next stage it’s simply a case of stating the problem in a bit more detail – either via a web form or in an email. If they gave you a web code or a subject line to use make sure you include it (this is vital!). Again be polite and reasonable as you state the issue and make sure you give them details with which they can contact you with.
5. Come to a resolution – Normally at this stage you’ll get a phone call from someone who will listen to the situation and try and find a resolution. If you feel like you’ve been particularly put out, this is the time to ask for a refund or compensation. The person you speak to at this stage is almost always someone who has the power to get things done.
How does it all work?
Big national and multinational brands with a major on and offline presence have been dragged (like it or not) into the weird and wonderful world of Social Media and they invest a huge amount of money into it – often with expensive ‘Facebook Like’ campaigns and Twitter events.
Many employ full time staff to look after their social media accounts and have special web resolutions teams to deal with any complaints or problems.
If something goes wrong and client contacts them via social media (i.e. in a public way) they don’t want half their customers reading that they’ve been unhelpful in resolving the issue – they want to get the problem sorted quickly.
I’ve personally used this 3 times in the last 18 months and got exactly the resolution I wanted each time – usually more.
To give you an example most recently I had…
- A problem with a mobile phone repair (with one of the major UK networks). My phone died within warranty so I took it in store to be sent it off to repair. The repair was delayed by 2 weeks due to a mistake made by staff and was still returned unfixed. After contacting them via Twitter I received a call by customer service rep who was extremely apologetic and arranged to fast track the repair. She then asked if there was anything else she could do at which point I asked if there could be some sort of reduction on my bill – for the inconvenience caused. She immediately gave me a £60 credit note which I thought was more than fair.
- I had a bank account which had something called a ‘personal reserve’ service on it. I wrongly thought was a buffer zone in case you accidentally went over the limit (it’s always worth checking the small print!) When I lost my main bank card a while ago I had to use this account and accidentally went a few pounds over the limit. I was then repeatedly billed expensive fixed charges (mainly because the charges instigated new charges and I didn’t have Internet banking on this account to see what was going on). Hours of angry phonecalls arguing the case yielded nothing. Two tweets and the situation was resolved the same day – with all the charges refunded immediately.
Now obviously this won’t work with every company and every problem (and of course you do need to have a valid complaint where they’ve fallen short) but it can be a great way to cut through the red tape and nonsense you can get through the traditional channels.
Well worth doing.
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