Have you ever experienced  difficulty communicating with a business? Would social media have made it easier to get noticed or get your problem solved? If not, have you ever had a positive experience communicating with a business through social media?

One of the biggest issues we ever had with a company was with Cox Communications (our cable and internet provider).  A few years back, the telephone poles were being replaced and put farther in from the roadway.  Cox had to come in and they replaced and rehung all the cable lines.  From the day the pole outside our house was moved our services were horrible.  We called and spoke with their technical people for over a year, each time explaining what happened and they kept coming back stating that it had to be the wiring in our house.  We explained we had had all the cable wiring and connections replaced with “top of the line” products because we thought maybe age played a factor in the horrible cable service and internet connection.  Their response was that they showed a strong signal was being sent.  After more than a year of “arguing” with them (and I also filed a complaint with the FCC), I agreed to take time off work and meet a cable technician.  He showed up at our home, and decided to climb the pole and look at the connection there.  He discovered that the connection box had been crushed and so thus our connections were damaged, and, the weather had taken its toll on the components.  Once he replaced that, we had very good reception and for the most part internet service.  It should not have taken more than a year of phone calls, my taking the cable box into Cox and replacing it, and finally contacting the FCC for them to finally take into consideration my issues. 

Would social media have made a difference?  Definitely!  I have since posted on a customer site about issues with Cox, and I immediately received an email, followed up with a phone call!  Our replacement cable box for some reason decided we need parental controls set, even though no one in our house is under 21 except for our pets.  We had contacted the technical support a few times and they had upgraded and re-booted the software while on the phone, but it still did not correct the issue. It has come down to us now having to take this box in and obtain another new one.  Only this time I am requesting a new box and not a refurbished box (we did not know it was refurbished at the time Cox gave it to us).