Using Twitter for Customer Service

Twitter Customer Service –

I am a big fan of using social media for customer service. You can often get results quickly and can avoid being on the phone for long periods of time waiting to reach someone.

I primarily use Twitter for assistance when I need something.

Examples of things that I reach out for:

1. Checking if upgrade space has opened up
2. Checking if flights become available at low level for mileage reimbursement
3. Confirming my hotel status is accurate on an existing reservation
4. notifying a rental car company that I am arriving later than anticipated
5. Issue with rectifying a situation within a hotel
6. Follow up from a flight

This past week I had a couple instincts where I utilized social media when I encountered an issue.

The first one was while I was staying at Hyatt Vineyard Creek in Sonoma. The room that my wife and I were assigned had mildew stains on the wall as well as on one of the pillowcases. I snapped a picture and I uploaded it on Twitter and sent a public Tweet to Hyatt’s customer service team. Within one minute, I received a reply that said someone from the hotel would be reaching out to me shortly.

About three minutes later, the phone in the room rang and the manager of the hotel that morning greeted my by name and he offered assistance in resolving the issue.

The manager at the Hyatt had the room cleaned and he personally inspected it before sending a fruit tray to the room. It was a nice gesture to resolve the issue.

I also use social media to give praise for a great experience.

In this instance, I posted a picture of the fruit tray that the hotel provided.

I also utilized Twitter this week to reach out to United to give praise for good service at the United Club in Minneapolis.

When I have a concern, I typically start with a public message. Once the company responds, I switch over to Direct Message if I need to provide any personal information.

You should never post your Frequent guest number or your reservation confirmation number publicly. In addition, I never post a picture of the barcode from a boarding pass or hotel confirmation document as those could be used by others. Just keep that in mind when you post online.

It is fun interacting with hotels and airlines via Twitter. They have a great group colleagues that work in social media and it is enjoyable having conversations with them at times.

Do you utilize social media for customer service? What happened in your situation?