“Twitter is a none (sic) communication tool for large customer oriented businesses like Air

Canada, they shouldn’t even use Twitter. If an Air Canada customer has a problem, there are only two communications options, in person or via a phone call to customer service. Twitter is like texting, they are none (sic) conversations, it’s people babbling, it’s incoherent nonsense & gibberish!”

In a follow up comment ThePope clarifies a bit in saying “I also did not say Air Canada shouldn’t use Facebook of Twitter, only what AC shouldn’t use it for! AC has a Facebook account which they post promotions on, which is more than sufficient.”

I disagree.

First of all, telling anyone what to say or do on Twitter is like telling them what to say or do on the phone. Twitter is merely a conduit. Phones have been used for years to lovingly call Grandma and scream at travel agents, call 911 and to blow the whistle on wrongdoers. Just because people babble occasionally on the phone or use it to arrange drug deals doesn’t mean it’s good or bad for one purpose or another, it just is. Human behavior fills the pipe. Ditto for Twitter.

In the good old days, say three years ago, customer service was a private matter between an individual and a company, mainly because a customer had no other choice. Oh sure, you’d get the odd screamer, the occasional door slam or huffy departure, but mainly people grumbled under their breath and voted with their wallets. That was the private part of poor customer service. Then the public part, word of mouth, would kick in. And they would tell everyone not to go to that restaurant, tire shop, carpet store or airline. It was a long, slow death of a thousand paper cuts.

The difference now is, word of mouth is amplified. In a transformation of Gutenbergian proportions, the public just got a shiny new printing press called social media. No more calligraphic monks patiently transcribing the customer help bible. No sir, now the pulpit is for the masses. Oh yeah, and it comes with your own free television station, radio station, and bonus mobility package via smart phone. Hallelujah!

This is more like a “come to Jesus” meeting for customer service than a non-event. It seems newspaper commenter ThePope is just as slow as the Vatican’s version to come to terms with the modern world.

Regardless of what anyone wants, people will express their satisfaction and dissatisfaction with companies on social media, period. What companies choose to do with that is just good old fashioned customer service savvy – ignore the screamers, watch business slide, reach out and solve problems and be ambassadorial, watch good will expand.

Don’t take my word for it – just ask cable giant @comcastcares, the poster child for turning around a bad reputation via Twitter. Or @DellCares, where Twitter played a part in suppressing the computer maker’s “Dell Hell” reputation. @SouthwestAir is well known for solving various customer issues via Twitter, as is our own @WestJet.

The past two weeks alone I had excellent personal experiences with companies like EasyDNS, Network Solutions, Shaw, and Sysomos. In the past year I could add Rogers, TELUS, MediaTemple, Mailchimp, and Q4 Web Systems to that list.

Customer service belongs everywhere customers are, including on the social web. If you do or don’t like how this column has served you, head on over to Western Union (@WesternUnion on Twitter) and fire me off a telegram. Or, as usual, send me your feedback on Twitter at @dblacombe or via e-mail doug@communicatto.com.

Doug Lacombe is president of Calgary social media agency communicatto.