The Twitter Effect     1st Jul 2009

Forget the Butterfly Effect, today I am celebrating the Twitter Effect. Well, to be strictly accurate, the Twitter and Blog combo effect.

After my blog update on the horrors of the iPhone and O2's crumby ‘customer service', I mentioned the post on Twitter. It seems this little tweet was Retweeted (RT'd to the Tweeters amongst us!) and eventually got back to those folks at the O2 crisis avoidance department.

At teatime last night I got a phone call from Chris at O2 (apparently the customer service department, but I suspect it was the equivalent of an SAS specialist task force). Chris introduced himself and explained my tweets and blogs had come to their attention at O2. He then apologised for the ridiculous situation O2 had left me in. Unreservedly. He admitted they were wrong, very wrong, and said it should ever have happened.

Hallelujah!

[Once again, queue parting of cloudy skies, uplifting music and bright shafts of sunlight]

Unlike my earlier experience with O2 employees, this one was actually quite calm and productive, he seemed to know what he was talking about, was coherent, genuinely emphasised with my situation and wanted to help me - not end the call as soon as possible so he could get a mars bar from the vending machine. Chris accepted the situation was O2's fault and has offered to pay 50% of my fees to date.

Result.

Admittedly I could have squeezed them for more, but I have iPhone exhaustion and this seemed like a good ending to a bad story.

So the lesson here? Don't accept the ridiculous excuse for customer service the call centre will try and pass off to you 99% of the time. It seems perseverance and a little twittering pays off...