Many mega companies are turning to Twitter to assist with customer service. In the past, we’ve written about companies who do it poorly. But it’s time to give credit where credit is due. I had a great customer service experience via Twitter with Delta airlines.
My mother was sitting in Atlanta, waiting to catch her flight home to Indy. She was exhausted after a cross-Atlantic flight, and just wanted to get home. But her flight was delayed. And delayed. Then they switched gates. Three times. The flight was delayed more than five hours, and the flight attendants had not said a word to the frustrated, weary passengers. After talking to her on the phone, I decided to take matters into my own hands.
After I sent this tweet, I discovered that Delta had a dedicated Twitter help account. They even gave the hours that they watch the feed. So I sent them a message, as well.
@deltaAssist , can you tell me what is going on with Delta 378 to IND? Flight delayed 5+ hours, 3 gate changes, no info from gate agents.
Within minutes, I had a response from the @delta account:
@AllisonLCarter We’re listening. There were heavy rains affecting air travel in the Northeast today. This caused many changes in flights.^JH
Soon after, messages came from @deltaAssist, too:
@AllisonLCarter I’m sorry, the heavy rain fall was in the Northeast & Southeast, Atlanta included. Pls call 1-800-221-1212 for details. ^JH
I’m a (mostly) reasonable person. Flights get delayed due to weather. But Delta was not providing adequate service. My response:
Don’t blame u for weather, but do for lack of info to pssngrs RT @DeltaAssist: I’m sorry, the heavy rain fall… Atlanta included.
The immediate reply:
@AllisonLCarter Thx I understand. I’ll send a message to the station manager to ask his agents to make more announcements. ^JH
And he actually did it! When my mom finally arrived home safe and sound, we talked about the experience. Right after I sent the tweets, the gate agents started communicating with the passengers, apologizing for the lack of updates and the inconvenience. Amazing!
So JH, whoever you are, thank you for your help. Thank you for not only being present on social media, but responding quickly and sympathetically, and actually following through on your promises.