July 7th, 2010 by Jeannie Walters

Really, United? Twitter Version of Hanging Up.

United Airlines is trying to do the right thing here. But this is a great example of misfiring using social media. It’s NOT connecting with customers. This tweet is basically the Twitter version of “Let me transfer you.” Click.

So Charles Porch, a real, live customer, says “Can’t purchase” and this tweet basically says “Good luck to you, Sir.”

Why not respond directly with how to help? Request a direct message with a phone number? Offer an incentive to stick it out with United, even through the challenges? Web sites aren’t perfect, technology lets us all down, but this looks like an immediate issue that could have been addressed.

Charles was more than gracious, saying “Thanks for looking into it.” But seriously…what about customer support?

I’ve ranted about social media and communication before. But this is what drives me crazy about social media or any other communication with customers – it’s not just communication for communication’s sake. This customer has a real problem and the company isn’t willing to reach out and help. Lame.

What do you think? How should United have handled this? Am I wrong to think this is incredibly lame?

Posted in Blog, Communications, Social Media

Tags: communication, Customer Experience, customer service, linkedin, Social Media, Twitter

10 Tweets 5 Other Comments

6 Comments

1. Steve Woodruff
   4:56 PM on July 8th, 2010

   They absolutely needing to start direct dialogue and take the issue off-line, and into particulars. Unless their SM people are not empowered to actually DO something…which would be a whole ‘nother issue.

2. Jeannie Walters
   5:01 PM on July 8th, 2010

   Great point. There’s a chance the person responding isn’t empowered to do much. Yikes!

3. Why Your Customer Experience is Directly Tied to Your PR – Now More Than Ever | The Fight Against Destructive Spin
   11:59 AM on July 26th, 2010

   [...] thanks for telling us” without trying to connect with a customer you can help. (I wrote about United’s failed attempt at connecting with customers as an example of [...]

4. CharlesPorch
   5:19 PM on July 7th, 2010

   Shout out from new Twitter Friend: RT @jeanniecw Lame tweet was like hanging up on a customer trying to buy. New post. http://bit.ly/dqVz8S

   This comment was originally posted on Twitter

5. swoodruff
   4:54 PM on July 8th, 2010

   Yes, I do. RT @jeanniecw: I think this was a customer experience opportunity lost. Do you agree? http://bit.ly/dqVz8S

   This comment was originally posted on Twitter

6. CharlesPorch
   12:03 AM on July 9th, 2010

   @AvWeekBenet We were comparing them to an experience I had with @UnitedAirlines yesterday. See @jeanniecw’s blog post: http://bit.ly/dqVz8S

   This comment was originally posted on Twitter

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