A few weeks ago I posted this on Twitter:
My request for help came after a phone call to my mortgage lender revealed I could no longer adjust my mortgage payments with them over their telephone banking service. This is despite this information on the website:
“TelNat gives you more than access to efficient Telephone Banking Solutions. You can also get answers to all your questions, as well as information on your banking affairs and sound advice when you need it.”
Although mortgage services are not explicitly listed on their “Smart Solutions” webpage I have been using this service to adjust my mortgage payments with the lender over the years – until recently.
Turns out after my last phone call to my lender I was informed I can no longer use TelNat for changing my mortgage payment. Was I using a service for many years that didn’t exist or did the lender’s policy simply get reinforced with me? It didn’t matter. I took to Twitter to find out. Turns out Twitter works as expected, it’s a rather effective way of getting some customer service.
Within a day, I had a National Bank employee call me to complete my transaction. I even had paperwork sent to me to confirm everything was done according to my needs. I have a direct line to the banking representative now.
Here’s what you can learn from my social media experience for your future requests for help:
- Be direct – this will get more attention, avoid ambiguous messages, make your tweet to the company (e.g., @nationalbank).
- Be polite – you can be direct and assertive without being a pain in the a$$.
- Follow-up – take opportunities to respond to the company via social media, acknowledging you received the information and what the next steps might be.
With social media managers and staff as part of any new business norm, my advice is to use these solutions when it makes sense. You might get some immediate and positive customer service results like I did.
Have you used Twitter for customer service requests? If so, how did that work out for you?
I have used twitter many times with @TelusSupport. Works extremely well and much better than waiting on hold for an hour! Great tool!
Thanks for sharing Jason, glad it worked out for you!
I had a good experience using Twitter to get through to Telus when we first moved into our new house and a tech said they couldn’t send someone to hook up internet for three weeks. They moved it up the chain quickly and Telus sent someone from Calgary the next day.
My theory is that companies need to justify hiring someone solely to monitor social media and so they’re more likely to come through with a positive resolution for customers. It also acts as a public and transparent customer hotline, rather than just calling the toll free number to complain.
Great to hear about your positive Telus story Robb. I think anything that is public and transparent tends to get some customer service attention – this works in the consumers favour.
I’ve found twitter to be useful for getting the attention of large companies, especially when all they have is a generic 1-800 number to call. Nice to see they’re monitoring their twitter account. The next time I need to have a chat about my insurance costs maybe I’ll mention it on twitter 🙂
Great to see companies monitoring their Twitter account. And for sure, give it a try for your insurance renewal!
Great story, Mark. I had a similar experience with TD for my home insurance. I sent a tweet about my premiums increasing 50%. I promptly received a reply. TD was willing to give me a 10% discretionary discount just for asking. Not bad!
Not bad at all Sean!
Nice to know that national bank answer well by twitter, I’ve got some bad answer from Telnat last time I called them.
I’ve used twitter just to contact my hosting company after their services was down. I’ve got a faster answer than calling or using the live chat support.
Thanks for sharing your story Financial Tech!