Angry Customer Used Promoted Tweets to Chastise British AirwaysA miniature PR fiasco unfolded on Monday night as a British Airways customer used promoted tweets to publicly reprimand the airline for losing his father's luggage. Here's what happened.
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British Airwaysis getting a sharp reminder thatsocial mediais a bully pulpit that welcomes big companies and little guys alike, after one disgruntled customer used promoted tweets to complain that the airline had lost his father's luggage.
Promoted tweets are typically used by brands to gain visibility for their products and promotions. But Hasan Syed, whose Twitter handle is@HVSVN, used them to call out the airline for allegedly ruining his European business trip and failing to address the issue.
Syed reportedly bought his tweets in the New York City and United Kingdom markets, aiming to reach other British Airways customers on both sides of the Atlantic. As the hours went by and the airline did not respond, his one-man campaign attracted attention, much of it admiring and supportive.
According to The Guardian and other news outlets, the airline finally woke up to the problem and made haste to address it, saying in a statement Tuesday: "We would like to apologize to the customer for the inconvenience caused. We have been in contact with the customer, and the bag is due to be delivered today."
Read the story as it unfolded below:
Don't fly@BritishAirways. Their customer service is horrendous.
— (@HVSVN)September 2, 2013
British Airways sucks. Don't ever fly with them#britishairways@britishairways@british_airways
— (@HVSVN)September 2, 2013
@HVSVN@BritishAirways@British_Airwayshow much did you pay to get that promoted onto my timeline?
— Matt (@mattb3012)September 2, 2013
@mattb3012@BritishAirways@British_AirwaysIts not about the money at this point. I'm going to run promoted ads until BA fixes this mess.
— (@HVSVN)September 2, 2013
Syed continued to lash out at the airline:
@BritishAirways@British_Airwaysis the worst airline ever. Lost my luggage & can't even track it down. Absolutely pathetic#britishairways
— (@HVSVN)September 2, 2013
I'm sorry for spamming everyones feeds. It just has to be done. The customer is usually right.
— (@HVSVN)September 3, 2013
Which prompted other Twitter users to begin sharing their stories of bad experiences with British Airways:
@HVSVN@British_AirwaysMy friend Diana got downgraded from business cos#BAhad overbooked! They offered £200 compensation!#poorservice
— Rami Aidi (@rammbi)September 3, 2013
@HVSVN@British_Airwayslost my bags too last month! Items were stolen from my bags. Do NOT let down!
— Rafael Balbi (@rafaelbalbijr)September 3, 2013
JetBlue Airways' senior vice president of marketing took notice:
Interesting; a disgruntled customer is buying a promoted tweet slamming a brand where they had a bad experience. That's a new trend itself!
— Marty St. George (@martysg)September 3, 2013
Fellow travelers continued to show their support:
只是读到你提升微博。对你有好处。The airlines have sucked the fun out of travel. Hope they listen!@hvsvn@BritishAirways
— Jeff Abramo (@JeffAbramo)September 3, 2013
What if patients were more forward and public with their frustration with hospitals like@HVSVNwas with@British_Airways?
— witt (@_foreward)September 3, 2013
Syed wasn't happy about the continued silence from British Airways:
7 Hours & counting with no response from@British_Airways. Guess they don't care about customer service or Twitter, LOL
— (@HVSVN)September 3, 2013
An airline representative finally responded, but the exchange didn't go well:
@HVSVNSorry for the delay in responding, our twitter feed is open 0900-1700 GMT. Please DM your baggage ref and we'll look into this.
— British Airways (@British_Airways)September 3, 2013
@British_Airwayshow does a billion dollar corp only have 9-5 social media support for a business that operates 24/7? DM me yourselves.
— (@HVSVN)September 3, 2013
@HVSVNWe can't DM you as you aren't following us. If you'd like assistance we will need your baggage reference.
— British Airways (@British_Airways)September 3, 2013
@British_Airwaysjesus. I have been following you already. Did you even bother to check?
— (@HVSVN)September 3, 2013
United Kingdom-based marketing agency TBG offered a helpful suggestion to a competing airline, Virgin Atlantic:
Hey@VirginAtlantic, why not buy@HVSVN's dad a new suitcase & clothes since#BAwon't help him out?http://t.co/kIN7HbiATz#nicegesture
— TBG (@tbgdigital)September 3, 2013
Finally, the night ended with Syed promising to divulge analytics data on Tuesday:
Going to sleep. Will reveal final spend & engagement metrics tommorow for the social media geeks ✌️
— (@HVSVN)September 3, 2013
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