Tweet your ire, you become the sire!

This is as late as last two weeks.  Fresh off the shelf.   And from my twitter handle.  I have been using my twitter handle with increased interest, as more people connect with me  ( I am not a Shashi Tharoor, Chetan Bhagat, SRK, Salman, AB though, far away from it, if followers is a measure)- favoriting my tweets etc., But I have been using twitter to purchase, and as a tool of customer service, so here the story goes.

What excited me was the fact that Facebook acted as a vent for followers, when the status got posted as a Tweet, the results were dramatic.  And there are twitter watchers.  When you shout from the twitter-top, they listen.   They respond.   And action follows.   And results.  It has worked for me.

How?

I had applied for a Reliance Netconnect data card about two months back.  And I had applied for Vodafone connection ownership change about a month back.  The story of both substantiates the headline.

Vodafone:
I gave the phone connection letter with NOC to Vodafone store in Manpada.  An excellent treatment, all done, counterfoil given and back.  I was told that the connection would be changed, with a verification in two working days.

But what happened? Nothing.  Why?  I landed up in a store nearly, and I checked out.   I was surprised that the entry never happened in their system.  I was asked to go to the same Vodafone store in Manpada.

Missing papers on ownership change 

As I beat the queue and investigated, I met a lady, who again was courteous, came and told that there was no entry in their system.  This was the second visit.  I became hot under the collar - and it became only hotter when I discovered that they told that the guy is not around, and the papers are lost.

I left disappointed gravely, then I resorted to what I do best. Write about in social media.  I took to facebook, actually, as a crib.  But the status of facebook appears as a  tweet.   In facebook, few sympathetic friends posted in response.

But it was on twitter, that Vodafone India  twitter handle responded and said I would be called in two days.   They called me after one more crib tweet, now that I had found a response.

I visited the store again few days later, and the manager walked upto me and took me aside. I dare mention her name, as she was kind enough and said that she would be the single point of contact for the issue resolution, and they already have the NOC.

Two days later I gave the documents, and then the service request was raised, and calls from the call center started pouring.

Reliance:  

Then the turn of Reliance.  I had taken this data card connection some two months back.  A week back I could not go to office. Coincidentally, that Saturday, when I was shifting house, the data card stopped working.  I was riled.   I ran to the shop where I had bought it, and he asked to reinstall the software. I did, but the stuff would not simply work.   Then another story came out.

The papers of the data card went missing

There is a 'reverification' of the submitted documents, apparently, and this can be verified only at the customer care.  So, I ran to the store - with address proof and all.  The Reliance store guy told me flatly that the documents are just missing, and I had to visit Reliance customer care.  It was just round the corner' they said.  I ran there, and it was just about closing - and they told that the datacard wont be active for the next three days, as they will have to start the process all over again.   I decided to visit my shop guy, and thanked the customer care rep and went home.

On the way, I ranted on facebook, and got a tweet in.  The Reliance Comm twitter handle followed me promptly and asked for my details.  I shared. Nothing happened.  They said, they have called me, and unable to contact.  This merry go round happened for more than couple of times, and then suddenly, they seemed to connect.

But nothing happened.   But I was saved, meanwhile, by a standby card given by the shop keeper, and it saved grace, time and my work.  But for Reliance, they finally got it work.  Five days later, when I visited the shop, and tested it out accidentally, it worked.  And I returned the standby.

Again the Reliance Comm team followed up and ensure that it was a closure.

Now, may be, more of you, dear friends, might have gone through this ordeal.  Two inferences, I could draw, though.

One, which I am worried - is that in both the cases, there was mishandling of my identity - my address, ID proofs and photographs.  In this era of so many cases of identity thefts and results that can't be spoken of, this is utterly irresponsible and grave on the part of the processing chain of telecom companies.

Another, which I am happy about, is that these telecom companies are listening to us, on twitter - and atleast responding more responsibly, when you visit their stores.  May be it is easier to push of when you are an individual client, but through social media, whatever the reason, it works.   When you tweet your ire, you become the sire!

What say you, dear friend?

- Ashok Speaks