A disgruntled British Airways Twitter user took to the service to moan about his less than stellar travel experience — but unlike most of us tweeting into the wind, the person tweeted through “promoted” tweets, paying money to ensure high visibility.
User @HVSVN, or Twitter user Hasan Syed as he’s known in real life, had it up to here with British Airways when they lost his dad’s luggage and seemed disinterested in resolving the situation.
When it comes to airline customer service , we’re all pretty used to insincere apologies and the whole thing of needing planes to get across oceans, so Syed probably didn’t expect much in the way of making it right.
Instead, @HVSVN took matters into his own hands by purchasing promoted tweets guaranteed to shame British Airways following the frustrating experience.
Normally, bad customer service can and very well may go viral on its own, but Syed took the unusual step of paying for the tweets — to which the airline didn’t immediately respond. The Twitter user confirmed that both New York and UK markets were targeted in his Twitter offensive, as he told fellow travelers that the airline was not wholly responsive after they lost his father’s luggage.
Syed tweeted the following during the beginning of his Twitter assault on British Airways, telling followers:
@BritishAirways @British_Airways is the worst airline ever. Lost my luggage & can’t even track it down. Absolutely pathetic #britishairways
— (@HVSVN) September 2, 2013
Thanks for ruining my EU business trip #britishairways . I shouldnt have flown @BritishAirways @British_Airways . Never flying with you again
— (@HVSVN) September 2, 2013
@rubigodi @BritishAirways @British_Airways Yes. I’m promoting my tweets to all BA followers since their Customer Service is horrendous.
— (@HVSVN) September 2, 2013
@mattb3012 @BritishAirways @British_Airways Its not about the money at this point. I’m going to run promoted ads until BA fixes this mess.
— (@HVSVN) September 2, 2013
@since73me @BritishAirways You just used BA with Ryan Air in the same sentence. Talk about low standards.
— (@HVSVN) September 3, 2013
@E_J_E_LHR Actually I flew business class. And I’m not interested in BA’s bankruptcy. I’m merely interested in getting my luggage back.
— (@HVSVN) September 3, 2013
@marksixtynine @BritishAirways Promoted by a disgruntled customer who should have flown another airline.
— (@HVSVN) September 3, 2013
What is taking @British_Airways customer service so long? They’ve had over a day to figure this out.
— (@HVSVN) September 3, 2013
Of course, a hashtag was born:
@HVSVN Agree with you. Horrendous experience with @British_Airways customer service and support. #BAsucks
— Aravind (@aravind) September 3, 2013
Late last night, Syed’s problem still hadn’t been resolved, as he added:
Hey @British_Airways ! I can haz my luggage back PLZ?
— (@HVSVN) September 3, 2013
I refuse to stop running Twitter Ads until @British_Airways finds the lost luggage
— (@HVSVN) September 3, 2013
Finally, the company responded publicly — and quite poorly in proportion to the campaign’s visibility. Telling Syed that their customer service was only open from 9-5 on weekdays irritated the man further, and he replied:
@British_Airways how does a billion dollar corp only have 9-5 social media support for a business that operates 24/7? DM me yourselves.
— (@HVSVN) September 3, 2013
British Airways then told Syed they were unable to DM him, and he shot back:
@British_Airways jesus. I have been following you already. Did you even bother to check?
— (@HVSVN) September 3, 2013
While no resolution has yet been confirmed, Syed did say he’d tell us a bit more about the effects of the British Airways tweet and its cost:
Going to sleep. Will reveal final spend & engagement metrics tommorow for the social media geeks ??
— (@HVSVN) September 3, 2013
While @HVSVN’s tweets are visible, they do not seem to show on British Airways’ Twitter replies list.