I’ve only had good experiences with one big brand regarding customer service through social media, @Jetblue. For the most part, there usually isn’t too much they can do. I tag them in tweets, basically just whining about my flight being delayed. What is the person in charge of social media going to do about that? Call the pilot and tell him to step his game up? They usually just tweet me back letting me know they are sorry for the delay and occasionally answer my question like which gate my flight is departing from. Nothing spectacular. And yet I am blogging about them.
The thing is, customer service doesn’t need to do spectacular things to make an impact. They just need to be present and accountable. Well, in case you haven’t noticed, social media is the most immediate presence out there right now. Whether or not your team is accountable is up to you.
You can add @PayPal to the list of companies I approve of for social media customer service.
Start to finish last night, they fixed my problem in under an hour. AND it was after 10pm and they tolerated my crankiness. The situation was this: I rarely use my PayPal account, for some reason I always forget my password and guess at it about 10 times and set off their fraud detection. Then, I reset my password and PayPal has a bunch of security measures that basically locks me out. It’s mostly my fault but it still aggervates me. So eventually I get to a point where PayPal tells me I need to wait until they MAIL me a letter with a security code to reactivate my account.
Mail. Like the United States Postal Service.
Needless to say I get snarky and whiny but also secretly ask for help by tweeting @AskPayPal, their customer service account. The most I was hoping for was at least a sympathetic tweet back, a la @Jetblue.
To my surprise, @AskPayPal has a person, with a brain, running the show. The delightful and charismatic attendant known only as ^AM (whom my imagination has dubbed Ann-Marie, a charming young lady from New Hampshire). Ann-Marie was able to look into my account, verify a few things via direct message and reactivate my account, no telegram needed! It’s almost like PayPal is running a business in which the CARE about the customer. Crazy, right?
My point is, social media is worth it. It’s quick, easy and makes people who like to share information want to share information about your company. If you can help, help. If you can’t, your sympathy counts too.
