Twitter and other social media sites have become the go to place for customer complaints
It used to be that if someone received bad service on a flight, you would find them at the customer service counter causing a scene. With social media on the rise, things have changed.
Now as soon as someone has a bad experience, they immediately post it to their twitter account. Airlines, like Delta, have social media monitors that watch for these kinds of comments. They have a computer program set up to find words like “Delta sucks.”
When there are delays, cancellations or even weather related delays, the tweets begin to fly. Delta can now respond with specific information on why there might be delays. They have even seen customers tweeting from 35,000 ft using the plane’s on board Wi-Fi. In some cases airlines can make sure the passengers are rebooked before they even land.
According to the airlines, it’s better to resolve the problems right away, than wait for passengers to really start to fume.
A few cases do end up going viral. A perfect example of this would be musician Dave Carroll, who made a YouTube video song titled “United Breaks Guitars,” which was viewed more than 9.4 million times.
Another example was a passenger that complained to Delta Air that she hadn’t received frequent flier miles. She was told because it was a partner airline, they wouldn’t count. She immediately complained on Twitter and shortly after she was contacted and given her frequent flier miles.
Delta claims they gave her miles because it was a computer glitch that kept them from showing up.
Other airlines such as Southwest Airlines, American and US Airways say that they are trying hard to give the same kind of solution to those that call or email in a complaint, and not special attention to those that use Twitter.
