Coffee and a Conversation
As Told Over Brunch is a home for intelligent discourse from the twenty-something perspective - so the stuff you gossip about over mimosas on Sunday morning or over takeout on your friend's couch when happy hour ends too early. We love chatting about our lives, whether it be the relationships we’re building (or destroying), lessons we've learned at work, struggles at school, growing pains we've felt, or even the food we’re talking over.
If you visit our “Meet Us” tab on this blog, you will see that Sara and I both share a secret about each other. In her response, she writes, “It’s hard to tell you a secret about Cazey because he’s often an oversharer on the blog (I mean, did you read about his anxious bladder?).” Except she originally wrote IBS.
Me in the past: “I have never ever written about my IBS, and that is not something I want to share with the general public.”
Read MoreA few days ago, I hit my last straw with my bank. I've been banking with them since high school, and have had it with their lackluster customer service and mismanagement of my account. I have gone in person to speak with someone, only to be turned away. I've called the hotline, only to be hurried off the phone without my problems resolved. So I took my message to the streets.
I tweeted: "Bank of America blows. I'm going on record to say they consistently, bar none, have the worst customer service available. #salty"
I did this for lots of reasons. I did this because I thought of the Dell Hell blog that caused Dell to reinvent its customer service. I did it to inspire change within the organization. I did it to make them take customers complaints seriously. I did it so they stopped thinking they could walk over me. I did it to warn my followers that if they want a pleasant banking experience, they should go somewhere else. And lastly, I did it because I was alone in my office and needed to complain to someone.
My dad then called me up to inform me that I am petty, immature and that "as someone that's in the business of social media, you should know the limits of what should be tweeted."
I took it all in and contemplated it. Among the tweets up for debate:
If my boss knows I watch Kelly and Michael at work, what's the problem with saying that it makes me happy to do so?
My boss also says she's glad for the weekend. She's used the #TGIF hashtag before. And not to compare, but she referred to Beyonce as porn, so how is that any less petty to put on social media?
And lastly, if I tell people in person to bank elsewhere, what's the difference between telling my online network? I literally work my bank into conversations in order to warn people, so why should I not tell people online about my feelings? Is it rude? Potentially. I tried other means to talk to the bank, but bar none the most immediate response I got was via my tweet. They even followed up with me days later via twitter. When I call them or go see them in person, I don't even get that kind of compassion. Clearly, tweeting to them helped on some level.
46% of people look online before making purchasing decisions, so isn't it in the best nature of helping others to warn people of a company I strongly suggest avoiding? If this bank won't change, shouldn't I tell people to be wary? I gave them ample chances to make me a happy customer, but they didn't, so now they should live with the repercussions.
My sister tells me just to leave if its so bad. I'm going to leave the bank eventually, but why do I have to go quietly and let people blindly decide to go there without at least some chance of knowing how they will be treated?
Is tweeting badly about a company a bad thing? Or am I right in wanting to bring to light customer service that is not up to my standards? Is it justified because it's they only avenue that they took me seriously on?
Let's get some dialogue going about this below.