If you had any doubts that travel companies are monitoring what customers post about them on Twitter, just ask Evan Reeves, whom I quoted in last week’s Practical Traveler column on using Twitter to complain.
Mr. Reeves, a 27-year-old Web developer from Portland, Ore., had called Travelocity to redeem a travel credit, but was placed on extended hold. So he tweeted about it: “@travelocity
your hold times are whack, bro. 56 minutes and counting!”
Someone at Travelocity quickly tweeted back, but it only added to the frustration. No one called to follow through.
When my column came out, Mr. Reeves, naturally, tweeted about it. “Quoted in a NY Times piece about Twitter + Travel.” Once again, Travelocity, offered to help: “Saw your quote in the @michellehiggins article. We’d like to make it up to you.” It also gave an email address for a Travelocity spokesman, Joel Frey.
When Mr. Reeves replied in an email, Mr. Frey offered to waive Travelocity’s $30 change fee and sent him a promotional code good for $250 toward a future hotel or vacation package booked on the site. “With so many eyes watching tweets,” said Mr. Reeves, it’s interesting to see how “they’ll jump on it real quick to put out the fires.”
Related
Comments are no longer being accepted.