When I worked as journalist I occasionally used the threat of exposing piss poor customer service in order to ensure that my complaint was resolved quickly. And if there was work to be done around our house or on the car, leaving my union card visible almost always guaranteed efficient service at a reasonable price.

It’s an abuse of power that shouldn’t be warranted of course, but now the web has provided internet savvy consumers with the same audience and as a result authority in seeking retribution for customer complaints. I’ve had two experiences recently where sharing my complaints with people in my social network combined with direct action has resulted in an incredibly quick resolution.

Last week I posted a photo on Flickr of a Caterpillar suitcase with a broken zip that I’d bought a week earlier from Excess Baggage at Heathrow Terminal 5. Including a link to the photo in an email to Excess Baggage resulted in the offer of an instant replacement where calls to the shop had failed.

On Valentines Day Hotel Chocolat failed to deliver chocolates to my wife and daughters. It later transpired that the blame lay with the courier that Hotel Chocolat used but two ranting tweets later and a letter of compliant to the managing director resulted in a partial refund and placatory gifts for the ladies in my life.

Thank you Excess Baggage and Hotel Chocolat. Not only will I continue to use your products and services, but I’ll tell all my mates how great you were at exceeding my expecations in dealing with problems.

Conversations about a company’s products and services are taking place in networks and smart organisations are listening and taking action. Social media isn’t just a means of promotion but it’s also a powerful customer relations mechanism.

ps. Steve Earl posted a blog rant about media directory publisher Hollis four days ago and its sales techniques. See: Hollis – hopeless (and humilating). He’s still not had a response.