Twitter gets a lot of stick. A lot of rubbish is tweeted, a lot of stuff doesn’t make any sense and it’s usually so mundane that you wander why anyone would want to read it, let alone write it.
However, as a customer service tool it sometimes shows which companies put the effort in. A few weeks back we went to Drayton Manor. We had a great day although the staff were perhaps not the most enthusiastic in the world – some were your typical teenage / early-twenties people you see stacking the shelves at Tescos and they looked pretty miserable. In my opinion theme parks should go that extra mile and give people a fun and happy day – you should have fun and happy people greeting you. Anyhow, they have a Twitter account. This is a good thing and the people behind it seem pretty cool.
In my rock-star lifestyle we decided this week to go to Alton Towers. Billy loved Thomas Land at Drayton Manor so we decided to take him to see Charlie and the Chocolate factory at Alton Towers. The staff here are much better. They smile, they approach you, they talk, they laugh. I really appreciated this, as did Billy – to see happy people waving “Hello” and smiling is a better perception of the world for our son, especially at 3 years old. We hired a buggy to push him around when he got tired and noticed that the “Guest Services” team had a Twitter account. They were promoting it quite heavily – they invite you to Tweet them while you’re in the park with any queries or problems. I queued up and noticed some rather greasy looking lady moaning to a member of staff about the fact that water from “The Flume” had got her top wet and it had stained against her jeans.
Now, my reaction would’ve been..
Don’t be so bloody stupid. You knew you were going to get wet, you knew you were wearing a white top and, despite your greasy appearance, you probably had the intelligence to know that. You probably only had a ride on it to get a free wash anyway you dirty fat bint, now get out of here, you’re stinking the place up !
But no… They handled it with professionalism and courtesy. Something I couldn’t have done. Anyhow, I Tweeted them this morning..
They replied with this…
..then I said..
..and they came back with…
See? That’s friendly customer service. All the staff were like this. I have to say that Alton Towers, even though I’m a Dad now and not a teenager running around trying to get on all the rides, it’s still a fantastic day out. Me and Emily managed to go on “Rita”, “Th13teen” and many other rides. I have to say Rita is still the best .. soo bloody quick.
:)
