ULPT: Don't Call Customer Service, Share Your Issue on Social Media!
Posted by BorkInk@reddit | UnethicalLifeProTips | View on Reddit | 18 comments
I worked in a call center for six years. Our training was entirely about preventing refunds/ cancellations, not about actually resolving the issue. This was back when call centers were still inhouse, not 3rd party or overseas agencies. Today, the CS rep you're talking to likely doesn't even work for that company!
So: if you want your issue resolved, complain about it on every social media platform you use. Tweet it. Gram it. Facebook Fuck it! Blast your complaint as far around the digiverse as you can and you'll get actual support in minutes.
Bonus points if you leave online reviews and get others to reply on the thread sharing their own issues. They don't care about you, only their reputation and stakeholder satisfaction; hit 'em where it hurts and they have no choice but to help you!
tooquick911@reddit
While I agree this is a great idea. This isn't an unethical pro tip. The only unethical part are from these shitty companies. I had to deal with shitty Samsung recently and they were horrible.
buffaloshvantz@reddit
Great products for the most part but, the worst customer service experience I've ever had.
tooquick911@reddit
Not their refrigerators, those are pieces of crap. Their TVs are crap as well. Yes, you can spend a bunch and get a decent one, but on a value stand point they have cheap parts and you're better off getting pretty much anything else.
catmambo@reddit
Need to go one step further… email a handful of senior-ish execs and copy in even more senior execs and general counsel.
These kind of emails are like a nuke going off in any big company. People are falling over themselves to help because their bosses and legal are in copy….
psykokittie@reddit
I have done this. I googled the executives of the company and emailed the EVP of Customer Relations (or something close to that title). I sent a scathing email and used phrases that would stand out like “I’d have a better chance of getting Barack Obama on the phone than someone in the correct department….” It worked like a charm.
_007notJohn@reddit
I had to do this with mattress firm
Jwzbb@reddit
Yes this and to make it even more annoying: use a tool like rocket reach or lusha to get their mobile numbers and WhatsApp them or call them. I got a call from a specialized team within a day once I started reaching out to C-Level executives.
Jealous-Friendship34@reddit
Agreed. I am dealing with AT&T and customer support on the phone and letters to customer care are worthless. I went into an AT&T store and the manager suggested I file a complaint with the BBB. That is how to get attention.
Certain_Tangerine836@reddit
As another option, contact the Bureau of Consumer Protection or similar agencies. It can be a little time consuming, because they want a detailed report with lots of evidence. I had to do that for comcast bc they installed my internet incorrectly (in 2020 mind you, when a lot of people were working remotely), and my connection would always drop and I had to have several Comcast folks come out to diagnose the issue. I kept getting different stories until FINALLY one of the tech people said it was never installed properly to begin with. I had all the receipts and info to submit a case, and immediately got a call from Comcast who was magically so helpful and even gave me some money back. They also kindly asked that I don’t submit any more cases in the future, and I says sure well next time install my internet correctly 😆
ThePureAxiom@reddit
This is another way to go about it.
BBB is voluntary and has no regulatory teeth, the point system is also set up so that as long as they're "responsive" to complaints, it doesn't impact their score a lot.
However, formal complaints through BCP and state AGs get reported and are weighted heavier against them on BBB, and they get nervous when regulators are looking at their practices and resolution closely during investigations.
freecodeio@reddit
You are thinking too highly of companies. They'll just respond we are looking into it to gaslight the other readers.
ThePureAxiom@reddit
Has worked reliably well for me. They generally want customer issues off their main feed, and getting it into DMs and actually resolved is pretty much the only way to assure that.
BorkInk@reddit (OP)
Exactly. They'll waste your time transferring/ holding, but when you're sitting back scrolling Twitter it's on them to get it done. The longer they wait, the more traction your negativity gets. And we all know how handsomely a negative post on the internet grows
hectorxander@reddit
Yeah except now they are removing and hiding negative comments to a large degree. Like negative reviews are often removed by the company they are posted at after the original company complains, search engines often don't provide problems with products on search pages anymore, reviews are almost openly gamed by the companies being reviewed.
Best buy for instance, all sorts of faulty new mp3 players, bad solder connections, bad programming that goes haywire, some almost right away, no returns after a month. The only pages search engines now give me are the help forums operated by the company that produces them that they curate. I found out it's a common problem too. The internet is being gamed, search engines are being gamed on a number of fronts.
IllMutation@reddit
With what companies did that work for you?
ThePureAxiom@reddit
Microsoft, HP, and Motorola come to mind, there were a few more but I don't remember who. Weren't big or costly issues mind, it's just their internal support was so godawful to work with (unrelated macro responses most of the time), and this was significantly faster/less headache each time.
Sidewalk_Tomato@reddit
Try CS first (it has mostly worked for me) and skip to Twitter if they shit the bed.
thegooncity@reddit
Oh, fuck yeah buddy. I’ve been doing this ever since those assholes fired Brad’s wife from Cracker Barrel.