“People don’t fill out comment cards anymore. They don’t send nasty emails to the complaint department. They go on Twitter and raise hell in 140 characters or less. Social media sites like Twitter are increasingly becoming the modern day complaint department, and for good reason – complaining on Twitter often gets immediate results. It’s also faster than sending an email and it’s way more public.”
Read the full post over on Shopify’s blog: Twitter: The Modern Day Complaint Department
Word. Social Media is my first frustration outlet these days. It is incredibly satisfying, even if you don’t get what you want (and most organisations are eager to please on Twitter).
That said, when I had a problem with good old BT (British Telecom) last year, I had to go aaall the way with two recorded letters to their complaints department before they budged. Their Twitter account person was cute, but useless.
Feb 23rd, 2012 / 5:54 pm
I think it’s also about the sharing as a warning: if I have a bad experience somewhere I’m going to let my friends (and Twitter strangers) know that maybe they want to reconsider. If I sent a letter to the main HQ the consumers around me wouldn’t know.
Capitalism comes from both sides. The complaint can make the company better (maybe, if they listen) or the consumer hesitance might force them to be better to compete for business. I’d like to think the former gets results but we all know how that goes.
Feb 23rd, 2012 / 6:57 pm
I spent hours on the phone trying to get money refunded from Verizon. My wife wrote one tweet about the matter, and by the end of the day, or issue was being resolved.
People in my Twitter stream spend enough time complaining in general (we call it “twplaining”), this phenomenon is no surprise to me.
Feb 23rd, 2012 / 8:49 pm
Willingly I accept. In my opinion it really is actual, I will take component in discussion.
Mar 1st, 2012 / 3:48 am