Tweeters will know the punch up I've had over my car; persistent fault, snooty dealer and customer service people sending me on a Kafka loop designed to torture me into submission.
You may also remember my row with a regional airport; arrived first thing in the morning, hundreds of passengers, only one, out of about eight, X-ray thingamabobs open. The queue of elderly people, families with kids and the rest stretched back to passport control.
I solved my car problem by taking to Twitter; naming the car maker (I won't do it again, Jaguar get very upset), posting pictures of my broken down jalopy shaming them. Within 24hrs the head of Social Media, was asking 'If he could help?' Code for please stop. I did and they fixed the car.
At the airport I Tweeted a picture of the queue and added #leedsairport and within 20 mins more staff had whizzed us all through.
This is not heroic or smart, frankly it's smug but I could have had months of correspondence with the car people, ending up with a lawyer's bill. I could have sweated it out in the airport queue and written a snotty letter to the head-honcho and been ignored.
The power of social media is... well... very powerful. If a company has a complaints department, avoid them it means they have so many complaints they need a department to cope. If you ring and they so; 'Oh, really, you want to complain? Just a minute, I'm not sure what to do... can I put you through to the boss?' ...you know this is a company that doesn't get many complaints!
You can complain by email; go to this website for the email address of pretty well every big company boss. But, companies are cute and your email will probably be diverted to the customer services wasteland.
Social media works... as doctors are finding out. An article in Management in Practice tells us patient complaints about doctors, on social media, have driven 400% more calls for help from the Doc's defence union.
Figures released by the MDU reveal patients are increasingly turning to websites such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and NHS Choices to criticise doctors.
For ages, the NHS has been fiddling about with social media not knowing what to do. The public do!
What gets lavatories cleaned in a waiting room in a hospital? A letter to the Chief Executive or a picture of the bog on Twitter with a #hashtag naming the hospital? What will improve the food? A letter to the Chief Executive or twenty or so pictures of plates of goo with the Trusts @twitter address (theyall have them) included?
A picture of a hospital acquired bed sore on Twitter with a caption, 'Given away free at the #St Anywhere NHS Trust' should do the trick. A meal left out of reach, a bell pull draped beyond pulling - post a picture and #name the @Trust. Oh, and smart phones do videos and record sound, don't they?
Waiting in the GP surgery twenty minutes overdue for your appointment and no explanation - a picture and a caption into the Twitter-sphere.
Comm's people who don't manage and monitor electronic media have a shock coming. Indeed, if they were smart they would post a #hashtag around the hospital inviting comments. My bet is you'd get some really nice compliments as well. How about encouraging a few 'selfies'... #meandmyfavouritenurse @Trust. Invest in an App for instant feedback like the beautiful Birmingham Children's Hospital.
I know, not everyone has a smart phone, but those who have can help raise management awareness for us all.
Either we make it easy for people to complain or they will easily make sure we take the blame. Instant complaints can be fixed with an instant response and with the maximum of Fuss. Fast; fix it right now. Unreserved; no blame-shifting, take it on the chin. Sorry; just say it. Sincere; and mean it.
Like it or not, this is going to happen. The NHS belongs to the people, so does social media; the combination is a powerful voice and probably the most democratic form of communication, ever.
Free, instant and hurricane quick. It might not be fair and might not tell the whole story but it will happen.
