Many organizations are finding both challenges and value in operating capable social media programs. By monitoring social media, companies can essentially take the pulse of their customers and learn how to improve. Also by robustly monitoring, they can nip small problems in the bud before they become large problems. They can also offer customers a valuable service: quick, personalized service that sets the company apart from competitors and keeps customers from placing expensive calls to live call center agents.
Lots of companies do it well. It turns out that Bank of America isn’t one of them. According to a recent article on Digiday, when Mark Hamilton of New Jersey wrote an anti-foreclosure message in chalk on the sidewalk in front of Bank of America’s Manhattan office, police offers approached him and asked him to leave. He continued his campaign on Twitter (News - Alert), where he wrote under his handle @darthmarkh, “Just got chased away by #NYPD 4 ‘obstructing sidewalk’.”
Bank of America responded to his Tweet…sort of. Hamilton received multiple Tweets from various accounts within Bank of America that read, “We’d be happy to review your account with you to discuss any concerns. Please let us know if you need assistance.” (You can see the screen shots at Digiday.)
Since it would appear that the multiple responses were being generated by bots, Bank of America is garnering criticism today for not personally attending to an issue that could virally spiral out of the bank’s control. Bank of America, however, denies that its Tweets are generated by bot.
“All of our interactions are personal and handled by a team of over 100 social-media servicing representatives,” the bank wrote in a statement released to Digiday. ”We respond to mentions of the bank to help identify underlying customer issues in addition to direct requests for help. Our social media servicing representatives have assisted thousands of customers though our Twitter service.”
Just not this time, apparently.
Edited by Rich Steeves