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>> are very upset. Ranting increases the odds that the company—and other Twitter u sers—will dismiss you as a crank. Do include “#fail” at the end of complaint Tweets. This “hashtag” is used on Twitter and elsewhere to indicate that the message involves a problem or mistake. Some customer service departments make a special effort to respond promptly to messages ending in “#fail”. (If you make a YouTube video about the problem, include a link in your Tweet.) If the company’s customer service department does monitor Twitter, you could hear back within a few minutes or a few hours—response times vary widely. If so, you might be asked to provide additional details via Twitter’s “Direct Message” feature. To send a Direct Message, click the gear icon in the top right of the Twitter home page, select “Direct Messages” from the drop-down menu, click “New Message” and type the Twitter handle of the recipient in the address box.
• Contact customer service via live
chat. If your Tweet does not trigger a
prompt response, check the company’s Web site to see if you can chat online with customer service. Online chat is not as powerful as Twitter, because no one besides the company rep will see your complaint, but when available, it’s usually a preferable option to calling the customer service phone number. Wait times are typically shorter with live chat, and there’s no need to navigate tricky phone trees or struggle with difficult accents. Calmly explain your problem, and propose a fair solution, either through live chat or on the phone.
• Make a YouTube video showing the
absurdity or frustration of your situation, particularly if your problem is visually dramatic. Example: Your luggage arrives at baggage claim looking like it was mauled by bears. Use your smartphone or digital camera to film it as it travels around the carousel, then film opening the bag to reveal the damage inside. Post a video on YouTube featuring this footage. Consider adding audio of
PHONE HELP
Calling Customer Service? Tips to Get Heard Adam Goldkamp GetHuman.com
T
hree new tricks worth trying when you must phone a customer service call center… Get angry at the voice-recognition system (but not at the human phone rep, which will only make him/her less likely to help you). Some companies are adding voice-recognition analysis technology that monitors callers’ speech and transfers them to a person faster if they exhibit signs of anger or frustration—the companies hope to prevent that anger from growing worse. Get specific with the voice- recognition system. If your customer service call is answered by a computer, say the name of the product or service you need help with—even if this hasn’t been listed among your options. With some systems, this will route you directly to the person you need to
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speak with, skipping the tedious phone tree. (If the system realizes that you have spoken but doesn’t understand what you said, try saying something more general such as “agent” or “representative.”) Get a US-based rep if you have difficulty understanding accents. An increasing percentage of large US companies are once again maintaining domestic call centers—but usually only as a small part of an international customer service network. If you don’t get a US agent when you call and you have difficulty communicating, request to be transferred to one. Some companies allow this. Bottom Line/Personal interviewed Adam Goldkamp, chief operating officer of Boston-based GetHuman. com, a free Web site that supplies consumers with toll-free customer service phone numbers and phone-tree tips for nearly 10,000 companies.
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