Tweeting Good Customer Service

I love Twitter.  Sometimes I tweet a lot during the day, other times, I feel I have nothing to say and stay quiet.  I like that you can dip in and out, jump into conversations when it is appropriate and have the odd rant.

It’s interesting to see companies using Twitter well and others who have just joined the service to push their products.

Recently, I was using Shutterfly to print some photos.  The photos I needed were to go into photo frames for a gift, so I needed them to look good.  I’d arranged to collect them at my local Target but, when I picked them up, I found they were covered in smudges.  The sales assistant explained that they must have been the first run prints of the day and that’s what happens.  I asked for them to be re-printed, only to be told that I would have to re-order them online, as they didn’t have access to my order as it was from Shutterfly.

I was exasperated and also had a deadline for the gift.  I drove home, re-ordered the prints and later on drove back to the store to collect them.  Meanwhile, I tweeted my annoyance with Shutterfly and Target.  I also sent Shutterfly an email letting them know how frustrating it was dealing with Target.

Interestingly, I first received a three-paragraph email from Shutterfly.  It was as though it had been cut and pasted from their online instructions, detailing how Target prints the photographs.  I had no sense of them having read my email or dealing with me as though I was a customer.  It was just another annoying email that needed to be responded to.

Then I received a reply to my tweet from ShutterflyGuru.  He wanted to know the order number and deal with my problem.  This is how customer service should be done.  And what a shame that I needed to tweet my annoyance with Shutterfly to get the correct response.  More and more companies are using Twitter to interact with their customers and monitor their brand using the search facility.  Yes, Twitter is a social network but companies shouldn’t forget that someone sending them an email is human to.  They also want a personal response.  Learn from how you are treating your customers on Twitter.  This is how it should be.  I shouldn’t have to whine on Twitter to get better service.

Obviously no one is seeing my private email that is sent to a company with a complaint.  When you complain on Twitter, all your followers see.  It’s important to monitor your name on Twitter to see what people are saying about you, interact with people, answer questions and handle problems.  But that customer service should follow through in all areas of the business, not just those on public display.

Shutterfly gave me some free prints for my inconvenience and I’m now back to being a satisfied customer.  Although I think I may use their mailing service rather than Target.  The first print of the day is worrying me.  And Target hasn’t contacted me at all.  Maybe someone should start monitoring Twitter for them.