The Internet is very powerful for reaching potential customers, potential employers and generally anyone who uses it, however the net is also useful for the sacred British tradition of complaining, as complaints made online tend to be heard by a great many people, including the subjects of the complaint.
Andrew Savage from Mythbusters (on the Discover Channel) in the US used the Internet this week to complain about a phone bill he had been given (in his eyes wrongly) and managed to get the phone bill cancelled. Savage was using his mobile while in Canada for the purpose of surfing the Internet, and was horrified to discover that he’d been hit with a bill from AT&T for $11,000.
Most people would be on the phone complaining at this point, but Savage, like many Internet savvy people, realised that the best weapon in the fight against consumer dissatisfaction was the Internet, and Twitter in particular. Savage posted on Twitter the following unhappy Tweets:
AT&T is attempting to charge me 11k for a few hours of web surfing in Canada. Pls RT!
Almost forgot: Hey AT&T! I will fight this bull****.
They’re claiming I uploaded/downloaded 9 million kilobytes (9 gigs) while in Canada. Frakking impossible.
The rant caused AT&T to find themselves at the top of Twitter’s trends, something no company wants to be unless it’s for a very different reason. The rant worked and AT&T contacted Savage to apologise profusely and to rescind the charges, as Savage Tweeted:
Today the tweeps became twoops. Just got off the phone with AT&T and they’ve taken care of everything to my great satisfaction.#twitterrules.
If you’re unhappy with something, perhaps Twitter should be your first port of call instead of the 0845 number?
