With social media in the picture, you have a powerful new weapon for getting satisfaction when a merchant wrongs you — as well as new ways to prevent a problem from happening. Businesses know that tweets from an angry or frustrated customer are visible to people who “follow” his or her feed. So the sooner a business stamps out small fires online, the less likely it will have to extinguish a conflagration later. If you know that a business has a strong presence on Twitter — and especially if you’ve heard success stories from other customers — you may save time by going straight to Twitter with a problem. Or, tweeting about it may be step two if you’re unhappy with how a business has handled your complaint using other channels. Search for the company’s name at Twitter.com, and address your tweets to the business’s account. (If your search turns up a page designated for customer service, send your messages to that account.)
Specify your problem, and don’t be surprised if the rep asks you to switch to a conversation using direct messages, which are private. Still, you don’t have to forgo the advantage of a public spotlight — you can continue to tweet your dissatisfaction if the private exchange proves fruitless. Don’t send anyone sensitive information, such as credit card or account numbers, on Twitter or other websites that aren’t secure. If such information is required, you should move to a phone call.
The influence you wield on social networks could affect how a business treats you, says Joe Fernandez, chief executive of Klout. Klout scores the influence of individuals on social media based on several factors, such as how far a user’s messages spread across Twitter and how effectively his or her posts generate responses from others. Some Las Vegas hotels have the scores built into their reservation systems, he says. They know which guests could cause the most painful public headache were they to broadcast complaints to their online networks — or generate the most positive publicity if they told everyone about their outstanding service.
Some call centers also use the scoring system to route calls so that people with the most online influence get priority service. When Fernandez had trouble redeeming a flight voucher after calling and emailing Delta, he tweeted to his followers, “This is why I never fly Delta.” Delta saw it, responded quickly to resolve the issue and told Fernandez that if the airline had previously realized how much “clout” he had, it would have been more helpful from the start.
