Twitter Helps Lead The Complaint Revolution

Posted 07/08/2008 at 9:30am | by Chris Moody

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Could Twitter help you get your cable fixed? Boston.com reports that C.C. Chapman, who noticed a blemish in his high-definition TV’s reception during the NBA playoffs he posted a gripe on his Twitter account about Comcast. Within minutes a Twitter user named ComcastCares responded and within 24 hours a technician was at his house to fix the problem.

I’ve been complaining about my Comcast service for months, that On Demand comes and goes, that the cable box sometimes runs slower than my old Windows 98 box and all I get for help is requests to reboot the cable box to fix the problem (maybe they do have Windows 98 running the cable box). Who knew all I had to do was post on Twitter to get their attention!

Of course hating the cable company is as American as apple pie. The latest ratings from the American Customer Satisfaction Index show Comcast hit an all-time low in an industry that consistently ranks near the bottom of satisfaction rankings. You know it’s bad when their repairmen fall asleep on your couch waiting for customer service, or they drive a little old lady to go on a hammer rampage. An important thing is happening however, Comcast appears to be listening to our digital complaints, and other companies are too. The internet revolution continues and even corporations are now beginning to recognize the power of individuals and the buzz generated online.

Advertising Age columnist Bob Garfield started the ominous sounding blog, ComcastMustDie.com. Users there often post their account numbers while venting their complaints since Comcast trolls the site looking to set things right. I have to give kudos to Comcast for showing some initiative to sort these things out.

You can be sure that it is not just Comcast that is trolling Twitter and the World Wide Web looking for trouble. Southwest Airlines’ social media team includes a chief Twitter officer. Dell even has a 40-member "communities and conversation team" that includes employees doing outreach on Twitter.

Today with shrinking margins and the power of internet buzz it’s important for companies to really take a look at what the buzz is online about them. You can’t burn a customer and let them get lost in the press. They may surface online with a bone to pick with your company and you can’t afford the bad press. Whether you land in MPC’s Dog Pound or on Twitter, it may cost you sales. Welcome to the revolution.

(Image Credit: comcastmustdie.com)