Twitter Has Become A Customer Support Platform

When Twitter was originally envisioned, it was a way for people to post 140 character status updates, more of a real-time updates system. Did you know that originally you SMS messaged Twitter and not use it through an app or website?

Over time Twitter became a pillar in social causes from uprisings and emergencies. Followed by an alternative way for people to speak their minds, reach new audiences and all in as few characters as possible. And now it has become the official communication platform for United States President Donald Trump.

Twitter recently upped the character limit to 280 characters and naturally, there were concerns the identity of Twitter was being stripped away, I would argue that started to happen way before Twitter changed the character limit.

For a long time now Twitter has been masquerading as a real-time social media platform, but Twitter is actually a giant customer support help desk. It really only dawned on me recently that the last few times I had an issue with a company, Twitter was the easiest way to reach them and get a result.

Case in point, I had an issue with my ISP Telstra (an Australian telecommunications company). They're not the cheapest, but they offer the best speed and highest reliability. A storm knocked down some coaxial cables near my area and I was one of 100 customers affected by an outage. I have HFC internet, so it's delivered by overhead cables.

Every time I would call Telstra, I would be told that they didn't know what had happened or when the issue would be fixed. The people that you call almost always work in overseas call centres, this means sometimes a query can extend beyond what they've been trained to do or can do.

So, I reached out on Twitter. I got a response in 15 minutes and they were able to tell me what the issue was and that it was being investigated. Subsequent communication even yielded the ticket number from their internal issue system and numerous reassurances that the issue was being looked at and fixed.

I was without internet or telephone for 15 days. Every day I would reach out to the Twitter team for an update and they would keep me in the know. They also handled getting my entire monthly bill ($130 AUD) wiped out for the inconvenience. This in comparison to when I called on the phone originally and raised the topic of compensation, they said they don't make consumer guarantees and I would not be compensated for any outage.

This isn't the first time I have used Twitter as a means of getting a complaint resolved, because it works so damn well.

Another time I did an online order for a watch for my wife's birthday from an online Australia retailer. It was a $750 smartwatch and when the order arrived, I signed for it and then took it home and hid it. A few days before her birthday, I wanted to open it up and set it up for her.

I was in shock when I opened the box, it was empty. I had signed for an empty package and it had been a few days, they're going to think that I stole the watch and make it hard for me to get a replacement, I am freaking out.

I tried calling ASAP, but it was outside of business hours. So I reached out on Twitter and even though it was outside of business hours, the company responded and the issue was rectified, all over Twitter direct messaging. The next day a replacement watch was couriered to me and the issue resolved, no questions asked.

Complaining on Twitter gets results

If you're having an issue with your ISP, or a company and you want to get results, it seems Twitter has become the best place to complain and get your issues resolved. In the rare instance that it doesn't work, a public Tweet mentioning the company seems to also do the trick.

Is Twitter really a social media platform or is it just one giant help desk?

Image credit: Pixabay.