Customer care transformed by Twitter

SOCIAL media is changing the face of the traditional complaints procedure – and making it far more effective, research by OnePoll reveals.

Where letters, telephone calls and personal visits once sufficed, today’s web-savvy consumers are taking advantage of more instant – and more public – platforms to launch their tirades.

Even the tried and tested email, once the stalwart of the modern complainant – is steadily losing ground to Facebook and Twitter. According to a nationwide survey of 2,000 web users in Britain, 73 per cent of irate female customers now spend up to 15 minutes a day lambasting products or brands in this way.

An average of 15 per cent say they would write a negative comment “immediately” if they felt wronged or slighted in some way, with the remainder following suit within a few hours.

The overwhelming majority show their social media card as a last resort, and play it only when a company fails to respond to more traditional approaches.

But it’s not only seasoned Tweeters that are forming the virtual complaints queue. Some 24 per cent of women and 33 per cent of men without social media accounts say they would consider creating one specifically to complain.

The only thing that hasn’t changed appears to the nature of the complaints themselves.

No surprises that poor customer service and overpriced goods still grate and form the basis of most complaints.