Week 3A - Personal Experiences Communicating with Business on Social Media
I live in an area of San Diego County where getting good internet service is almost impossible. Our only option has been AT&T DSL. Because we are far away from the hub the top speed we ever got was about 2Mbps. Many many calls and service visits did nothing to help. I can't say I posted anything about this experience on social media, knowing that our location meant that AT&T would never put any money into upgrading our connections. It would just not be cost effective for them.
Then began the search for new ISPs. Utter futility. Satellite might get decent download speed but uploads... no. My kids are teenagers and playing video games are as important to them as breathing. Then one day I noticed some guy in a white jeep driving slowly in front of my house. Since there are only 7 houses on our street, I was suspicious. I went out to talk to him, and guess what? A small cable company has had our street wired for cable for over 15 years, delivering speeds of up to 100Mbps! And the guy in the jeep was the owner! Happy happy joy joy!
We signed up. They took about a month doing what they had to do to actually bring it from the poles to the house but then we got great speeds.... for about a week. After living with it for a while, I called them and they came out the next day... mind you the OWNER came out.
Since that time, I have posted all over Facebook about how great this little cable company is. My neighbor signed up. many people on the next street signed up.
Until yesterday I was happy with their service, and then the internet goes out again. Completely. My kids were about to implode because they can't play games or skype their friends ... and I can't post my blog post. So I text the owner tonight - Saturday at 7:42 PM and he texted me back within the hour. Looks like it's not their service but my brand new routers. Amazing. I am going to have to find his business on Yelp and talk about how responsive he and his company is.
As far as other businesses, the only times I have complained or praised a business on social media has been on Facebook (my own personal page, not theirs) and Yelp. My guess it that it has been less than 10 times total. The only time that a business responded back to me was on Yelp when the Restoration company I had hired tried to make me out to be the looney. It was far from the case. They left me sitting without 3/4 of my house for 3 months... with no work being done at all. Other people had similar experiences. I hope collectively we put those people out of business.
If it were my own business, then I hope I can be very quick and resolve the issue to the best of my ability. I screen my potential puppy buyers extensively and develop a rapport. I seldom have issues but gosh, one bad review could do me serious damage. As I develop my social media venues, I will need to find a way to monitor any postings and respond quickly.
Then began the search for new ISPs. Utter futility. Satellite might get decent download speed but uploads... no. My kids are teenagers and playing video games are as important to them as breathing. Then one day I noticed some guy in a white jeep driving slowly in front of my house. Since there are only 7 houses on our street, I was suspicious. I went out to talk to him, and guess what? A small cable company has had our street wired for cable for over 15 years, delivering speeds of up to 100Mbps! And the guy in the jeep was the owner! Happy happy joy joy!
We signed up. They took about a month doing what they had to do to actually bring it from the poles to the house but then we got great speeds.... for about a week. After living with it for a while, I called them and they came out the next day... mind you the OWNER came out.
Since that time, I have posted all over Facebook about how great this little cable company is. My neighbor signed up. many people on the next street signed up.
Until yesterday I was happy with their service, and then the internet goes out again. Completely. My kids were about to implode because they can't play games or skype their friends ... and I can't post my blog post. So I text the owner tonight - Saturday at 7:42 PM and he texted me back within the hour. Looks like it's not their service but my brand new routers. Amazing. I am going to have to find his business on Yelp and talk about how responsive he and his company is.
As far as other businesses, the only times I have complained or praised a business on social media has been on Facebook (my own personal page, not theirs) and Yelp. My guess it that it has been less than 10 times total. The only time that a business responded back to me was on Yelp when the Restoration company I had hired tried to make me out to be the looney. It was far from the case. They left me sitting without 3/4 of my house for 3 months... with no work being done at all. Other people had similar experiences. I hope collectively we put those people out of business.
If it were my own business, then I hope I can be very quick and resolve the issue to the best of my ability. I screen my potential puppy buyers extensively and develop a rapport. I seldom have issues but gosh, one bad review could do me serious damage. As I develop my social media venues, I will need to find a way to monitor any postings and respond quickly.
All I can say is AWE!! Your template is so cute!
ReplyDeleteYou must live out in the sticks, lol. That is super awesome this company's owner is on it when resolving technical difficulties. He certainly wants to provide good service as I think he will have the dominating competition. Sometimes it is hard to deal with those bigger companies because they practically monopolize the industry and don't care if you blast them on social media because they know there is not much of a choice. Like you said too if not posting on their social media site it would certainly go on someones personal and it may not be direct but it reaches many. I for sure would be giving this internet company rave reviews with customer service like that!!
I agree Yelp is great place to get your opinion heard.
ReplyDeleteYour internet story was quite the adventure to read. The timing could not have been more perfect on the white jeep cruising by. Who would have thought there was a small company that could provide you the service. I usually go for the big guys when I am searching on the internet, I guess mostly for a good deal and reputation.
ReplyDeleteI have been noticing more Yelp reviews on many businesses and I didn’t even considering doing one for my own business. It seems to be a great place for ratings and feedback. My goal is to have a Yelp for my business by the end of this semester.
D-
Janet,
ReplyDeleteI am sorry to hear about your internet connection. The is a disappointment to not have high-speed internet connect and live where you want to. There are still some areas were the internet connection is not as clear, as living in the city and more populated areas. My sister has the same problem. However, he house is beautiful, the only disadvantage is the poor internet and cable connection.
I like your idea about your own business. I like how you would work to respond to all comments and review on a timely manner. That's excellent customer service.
Keep up the great work!
-Jasmin