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HOW TO: Deal With an Angry Customer on Twitter

The following is a true story.

It was late at night when I arrived at my hotel, a little past midnight.  It was a long day and I had a morning meeting with a client scheduled for the next day, so I was looking forward to getting to sleep as soon as I could.  Unfortunately, circumstances would not allow me to do so: after asking for my name, the hotel, which is part of an American hotel chain with a very well-respected brand image, told me that they had an overbooked situation and had no room for me.

This was the beginning of a very tiring 15 minutes of life, mainly because the person at the front desk as well as the “manager” that was called over to deal with me made me feel like I was the guilty one.  No feeling of apology expressed.  No explanation of how to get to the hotel that they prepared for me.  No mention of the free Internet and parking that I should have gotten at the hotel which had my reservation.  I felt like they were just trying to get rid of me.

Airlines ask for volunteers and offer vouchers when they have overbooked situations.  Why do hotels have the right to just send me away with nothing?  The more I thought about my situation, the more angry I became.

So what did I do?

I felt lonely.  I was perturbed.  I was very tired.  It was close to 12:30 A.M.   But I wanted to tell someone what I was experiencing.  So I tweeted.

I can tell you from my own real-life experience that people who tweet about bad customer experiences use Twitter as a last-resort.  No one will gain a lot of followers on Twitter if all they do is complain.  So it takes something major to push someone over the “social media edge” to share negative experiences.  I have only posted negative tweets twice in the 1 1/2 years I have been on Twitter: this experience as well as when my website went down and, even though multiple Twitter followers told me that they also couldn’t see my website, the hosting service said they couldn’t “recreate” the problem.

What happened after I tweeted my complaint about this hotel should give us all some ideas of how to deal with an angry customer on Twitter.

1) People Love to Vent.  Social Media is the Equalizer for the Consumer.  Get Used to It and Start Monitoring Conversations.

When I checked in to the other hotel that was prepared for me, I told the guy at the reception desk about my tweet.  He didn’t know what Twitter was.  But he did say, “Everyone needs to vent to someone about these things.”  And he’s right.  When we have good experiences we like to share them with our friends.  When we have really bad experiences we also look to others for consolation.  This is human nature.  Social media makes it easy for us to share these types of information, especially Twitter because of its ease of use on a cell phone.  This is not going to change, so if you are a big brand you’d better be monitoring conversations that are happening in social media.  I assume you already have invested in social media monitoring software, but just in case…

2) Global Brands Need to Monitor Social Media 24×7

It was almost 12:30 A.M. when I sent my tweet.  The German branch of the hotel actually responded within an hour.  This was comforting.  Global brands need to have global monitoring and global response teams.  This hotel chain did well in this respect.

3) If You’re Monitoring Twitter, You Need to Learn How to Use Twitter

After I tweeted about my experience, a few of my followers commented through their own tweets.  It was the tweet from my follower in the UK that the hotel chain decided to respond to, not mine!  My UK follower had to tell the hotel chain that it was me, not him, that they should be apologizing to!  This was a major faux pas that did not make the hotel look good…needless to say, if you have a budget to monitor Twitter, you need to spend as much in training your staff how to properly read tweets and respond.  Any mistake in social media etiquette on Twitter that your company does can be seen globally.

4) Take the Conversation Offline…Quickly!

When the hotel chain finally sent me a direct @Reply, they asked me to send them my email address via a Direct Message.  This is an excellent way of taking a conversation offline and away from the huge public chat room that is Twitter.  Good move.

5) Let Your Customer Vent

When the hotel chain sent me an email, they apologized and asked me to simply tell them what had happened.  They let me vent.  I felt better that someone was actually listening.  A simple act for anyone in customer support, but a very powerful one to help an angry customer calm down.

6) Respond with an Apology.  Quickly.

The next day the General Manager of the particular hotel that kicked me out responded via email with an apology and an offer to make up for the bad experience that I had.  I received this email within 24 hours of the incident occurring.  There were other staff copied on the email.  It felt official and sincere.  I was satisfied and moved on.

I am not going to give out the name of the hotel chain because that is irrelevant to this story.  It really could have been any hotel chain, so I do not hold this brand at fault.  I am pleasantly surprised how quickly and, for the most part, properly they responded, so I hope my experience will help guide your company in how to deal with an angry customer on Twitter.

Does your company handle angry Twitter customers in the same way?  Have you ever had a bad experience that you tweeted about and were contacted by the company?  Please share!

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  • http://twitter.com/TSSVeloso TSSVeloso

    Neal, great post, it's just unfortunate that had to happen to you. As you know, I work directly with the Travel & Tourism segment, and it's almost depressing the way hoteliers and travel agents still look at Social Media. Not even for conversation and brand monitoring seems to make sense for them – and you're talking about a major player, imagine the small/medium size hotel…

    Keep the great work!

    @TSSVeloso

  • http://www.facebook.com/SocialMediaTrailblazers Philippe gadeyne

    Unfortunately, this is not an isolated case, customer service is on the decline and few companies understand social media, even fewer understand Twitter and how to use it for customer service. I have had a similar experience with a couple of companies and ended up giving them free advice on how to use Twitter. The companies in question, although well intended made some major mistakes, the main one being to keep the conversation going online without bringing a solution, not leting me respond to them directly and let the issue escalate in public view.

    1-Monitor
    2-When you see an unhappy customer, follow him or her and allow him or her to DM you, thus taking the conversation off the public feed
    3-Ask them for a phone number and call them RIGHT AWAY
    4-Apologize and be sincere, apologizing goes a long way
    5-Acknowledge your mistake if a mistake was made and work out a solution with the customer

    Customer service is or is not part of a company's culture, make it part of your company culture, social networking is a powerful platform and you want friends, not foes using it.

    Genuinely engage your customers and prospects, engage your detractors, most of the time they just have the wrong perception, help them correct their perception and they will become evangelists.

    Ignore them and you will suffer consequences

    Philippe Gadeyne
    http://www.facebook.com/SocialMediaTrailblazers
    https://twitter.com/SMTrailblazer
    http://www.linkedin.com/in/pgadeyne

  • http://twitter.com/windmillnet/status/11092562351 Windmill Networking

    HOW TO: Deal With an Angry Customer on Twitter: The following is a true story.
    It was late at n… http://bit.ly/cZn59i (via @NealSchaffer)

  • http://windmillnetworking.com/ nealschaffer

    Thanks so much for the comment and adding your own contribution to the story. Hotel are definitely ripe for social media…

    @Neal

  • http://windmillnetworking.com/ nealschaffer

    Thank you so much for your invaluable contribution Philippe. I believe your points are bang on…I suppose sometimes it takes bad experiences like these for some companies to see the light…

  • http://twitter.com/salessigma/status/11092806463 Sales Sigma

    RT @WindmillNet: HOW TO: Deal With an Angry Customer on Twitter: The following is a true story.
    It was late at n… http://bit.ly/cZn59i …

  • http://twitter.com/timsstrategy/status/11095091674 Tim Tyrell-Smith

    New @NealSchaffer HOW TO: Deal With an Angry Customer on Twitter http://ow.ly/16TH41

  • http://twitter.com/eweidnerblue/status/11097040457 Eric Weidner

    RT @nealschaffer Great story. Customer complaint and elegant resolution by company – social media power! http://bit.ly/d23XEZ

  • http://twitter.com/brianggilbert/status/11101351873 Brian Gilbert

    RT @nealschaffer Twitter Advice: How to Deal with an Angry Customer on Twitter | Windmill Networki.. http://bit.ly/d23XEZ

  • http://topsy.com/trackback?url=http://windmillnetworking.com/2010/03/26/how-to-deal-with-an-angry-customer-on-twitter/ Tweets that mention Twitter Advice: How to Deal with an Angry Customer on Twitter | Windmill Networking | Social Media Strategy — Topsy.com

    [...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Sales Sigma, Brian Gilbert, Eric Weidner, Tim Tyrell-Smith, Windmill Networking and others. Windmill Networking said: HOW TO: Deal With an Angry Customer on Twitter: The following is a true story. It was late at n… http://bit.ly/cZn59i (via @NealSchaffer) [...]

  • http://twitter.com/emitchellette/status/11113497682 ERIC MITCHELLETTE

    RT @nealschaffer Twitter Advice: How to Deal with an Angry Customer on Twitter | Windmill Networki.. http://bit.ly/d23XEZ

  • http://twitter.com/ricdizon/status/11114362258 Ric Dizon

    HOW TO: Deal With an Angry Customer on Twitter http://ow.ly/1royt (Excellent Post)

  • http://twitter.com/bestbizpractice/status/11114986220 Mike Clough

    RT @nealschaffer Twitter Advice: How to Deal with an Angry Customer on Twitter | Windmill Networki.. http://bit.ly/d23XEZ #smallbiz

  • http://twitter.com/lorirtaylor/status/11117672575 Lori Taylor

    Twitter Advice: How to Deal with an Angry Customer on Twitter! http://ow.ly/1rkLf

  • http://twitter.com/asianpundit/status/11117899677 Michael Alan Hamlin

    RT @lorirtaylor: Twitter Advice: How to Deal with an Angry Customer on Twitter! http://ow.ly/1rkLf

  • http://twitter.com/ka_fredo/status/11117977353 Alfredo Lopez

    RT @lorirtaylor: Twitter Advice: How to Deal with an Angry Customer on Twitter! http://ow.ly/1rkLf

  • http://twitter.com/jamesryanj/status/11118247553 James Ryan Jeansonne

    RT @nealschaffer Twitter Advice: How to Deal with an Angry Customer on Twitter | Windmill Networki.. http://bit.ly/d23XEZ

  • http://twitter.com/dremtee/status/11121360601 Madhup Thakur

    RT @lorirtaylor: Twitter Advice: How to Deal with an Angry Customer on Twitter! http://ow.ly/1rkLf

  • http://twitter.com/katarzynagola Katarzyna Gola

    Great story. I couldn't stop reading :) Unfortunately it happens pretty often. Popular hotels are so overwhelmed with the number of customers that they don't care so much about few disappointed ones. I had some bad experience in a big resort in Vegas. Twitter hasn't been so common yet, but I did complain in email and they never responded with an appology. They are a “big brand hotel” and have more and more customers everyday day, so their focus is on them, not on me.

  • http://twitter.com/conradsoriano/status/11157862672 Conrad Soriano

    RT @TimsStrategy New @NealSchaffer HOW TO: Deal With an Angry Customer on Twitter http://ow.ly/16TH41

  • http://twitter.com/VetLovingPetsHB Huntington Beach Vet

    So will you be staying at that “hotel brand” again? Or will you go to the second hotel in the future in your travels? Was the response satisfactory enough that you'll continue to do business with said hotel?

  • http://windmillnetworking.com/ nealschaffer

    Hey Katarzyna, thanks for stopping by and commenting. Yes, indeed it happens a lot in the hotel industry, especially in big cities when there are exhibitions or corporate events going on. I wonder if social media will even start affecting the way that these hotels treat the consumer…time will tell.

    @Neal

  • http://windmillnetworking.com/ nealschaffer

    That is a point blank and excellent question. To say that the brand image has not been tarnished would be a lie. This hotel chain may not be my first choice; however, I am willing to give them a second chance should the opportunity arise.

  • http://twitter.com/VetLovingPetsHB Huntington Beach Vet

    So will you be staying at that “hotel brand” again? Or will you go to the second hotel in the future in your travels? Was the response satisfactory enough that you'll continue to do business with said hotel?

  • http://windmillnetworking.com/ nealschaffer

    Hey Katarzyna, thanks for stopping by and commenting. Yes, indeed it happens a lot in the hotel industry, especially in big cities when there are exhibitions or corporate events going on. I wonder if social media will even start affecting the way that these hotels treat the consumer…time will tell.

    @Neal

  • http://windmillnetworking.com/ nealschaffer

    That is a point blank and excellent question. To say that the brand image has not been tarnished would be a lie. This hotel chain may not be my first choice; however, I am willing to give them a second chance should the opportunity arise.

  • http://twitter.com/kidatomohiro/status/11230464047 木田知廣

    むー。客商売をやっている人は読むべき。これがリアリティ　RT @IHayato: 著者自身が体験したホテルの不手際から学ぶ、怒れる客への対処法(英語)。体験から語れている面白い記事です。ちなみに著者のニールさんは日本語も達者なソーシャル http://bit.ly/cvgU58

  • http://twitter.com/lorirtaylor/status/11312813900 Lori Taylor

    even your boss can engage with customers. Look at Marriott Hotels! http://ow.ly/1s9Hz

  • http://twitter.com/juanpittau/status/11313045473 Juan Pittau

    HOW TO: Deal With an Angry Customer on Twitter http://bit.ly/buqYv1 by @lorirtaylor cc/ @advei @ripollgustavo @gabymenta @jbaldovino

  • http://twitter.com/dotdynamic/status/11362745273 Matthew Shepherd

    RT @WindmillNet: HOW TO: Deal With an Angry Customer on Twitter: The following is a true story http://ow.ly/1rf6X (via @NealSchaffer)

  • http://twitter.com/tah99/status/11457144044 Tom Hume

    RT @nealschaffer Twitter Advice: How to Deal with an Angry Customer on Twitter | Windmill Networking | Social Media St… http://bit.ly/d23XEZ

  • http://twitter.com/dwesterberg/status/11457281787 DWesterberg

    RT @TAH99: @nealschaffer How to Deal with an Angry Customer on Twitter | Windmill Networking | Social Media St… http://bit.ly/d23XEZ

  • http://twitter.com/jsiefert/status/11497572551 Justin Siefert

    RT @nealschaffer Twitter Advice: How to Deal with an Angry Customer on Twitter http://bit.ly/d23XEZ

  • http://twitter.com/jennalkempie/status/12454920910 Jenna L. Kempie

    When Customer turn to #Twitter to vent: The importance of monitoring social media.
    http://ow.ly/1Ab3r #sm

  • http://windmillnetworking.com/2010/07/06/is-your-customer-service-ready-for-social-media-the-virgin-america-twitter-campaign-case-study/ Is Your Customer Service Ready for Social Media?

    [...] Account quickly sent me a Direct Message and asked for any feedback that I have.  As I wrote in how to deal with an angry customer on Twitter, just knowing that they were listening and wanted to hear my feedback was sufficient to appease [...]

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