Social Media as a Catapult

We’ve all had that experience with customer service where a company’s policy beats your desire for a solution to your problem. Companies, in some ways, have become like castles with moats, drawbridges and high walls designed to keep customer service inquiries at bay. 

Social Media has become a new channel of access and empowered consumers to raise issues with companies.  Think of social media as this era’s catapult enabling consumers to get over the castle walls and find solutions to their problems.

The following is a short story about someone who faced one of those problems, refused to take “no” for an answer and, instead, used social media to get a “yes.” That someone is me.  

Recently my car developed some corrosion in two different places and I pursued the matter with the manufacturer. After some discussion, an exchange of digital photos and meeting the regional representative, I was told that only one of the damaged areas would be covered under warranty.  



They could not cover it all because the other section of damage in question had been modified from its original state due to an accident. The corrosion and the accident were unrelated and the repair certainly did not cause the corrosion. Regardless, the rep said they would not cover the corrosion damage for that area under warranty because the repair was deemed to be third party modification. The irony is that the third party was one of their dealerships, but they told me that they treat them as third parties.



Leaving the dealership in frustration, I tweeted why I was upset and the word “FAIL.” Within fifteen minutes, one of my followers tweeted back with a toll-free number and the name of a customer service advocate at the manufacturer’s corporate headquarters.



I called the customer advocate and explained the situation. They said they would look into the matter. A week went by and I received a call from them repeating the decision of the regional rep.  I was still going to have to pay for half of what I felt should be covered under warranty. 



After stewing on it for a day or two, I decided to check LinkedIn to see who might come up from the manufacturer. I found the Director of After Sales Service and sent him a message. I later received a call from a member of his staff. I explained the situation and sent the digital pictures. She said that she would look into the matter.



I am happy to report that I took my car in for repairs this week. They agreed to cover everything under warranty. Yippee! I respect the fact that they must try to keep warranty coverage costs in control but I felt I had a case. Their reasoning seemed illogical to me and, based on principle, I felt justified in pursuing the matter.

This is just my story but there are many more like it being talked about in the media. Brands need to understand that consumers have more tools and channels with which to complain to or about them. It was not difficult or complicated for me to reach the company. I knew where and how to look for the information I needed.  



As more people become familiar with social media, the more they will use it to directly or indirectly engage companies. More consumers will get over the moat and climb the castle walls of a corporation. The choice companies have now is whether they want to continue to fight off consumers from the parapets or engage in a new type of conversation.  


Let’s see how it plays out. Hopefully, some companies will see where things are headed and proactively adjust their approach to customer interaction. In the meantime, I am going to keep working on my social media catapult.

Comments

[Andrew Ballenthin]

It's going to be an interestng landscape to watch. As I'm doing my book research I'm finding some companies that are customer centric and desire to be new technology oriented are making the effort. I have also found there are many companies bound by policies, tradition and risk adverse growth pratices that may care what people say but do not have the organization will power to use social media yet. It will be interesting to watch change over time to be certain.

[Keith McARthur]

Thanks for mentioning us Jenny. Glad you noticed :-)

[twitter.com/Yoono]

Hi Jenny. Thanks for the shout out! This is a great post as well.

We do our best to be there for every single user & potential user. Listening to feedback and offering help is a great way to help grow our user base and improve the product!

[Jenmy]

Great story Andrew! There are a lot of stories like this happening out there in the social media world. I know that Rogers is becoming more responsive to their customers. Personally, I have been contacted by Yoono (great application to use that aggregates your various social media/IM programs together on a side browser) on various occasions when I tweet about them. Now that's responsive! It's about engaging consumers in the right way. They're going to talk about you anyway, might as well listen in and respond accordingly.