Social Media: CityLink Couriers very nearly get it right
I bought some big stuff from Amazon recently and it turns out they use CityLink couriers. This is a major pain in the arse for me as:
- CityLink don’t provide a timed delivery slot, SMS alert or sod all – leaving you guessing as to when it’s going to turn up other than between 7.30am and 5pm.
- This sort of “timed slot” is a waste of time for anyone who works. I can’t be there and nor can I arrange for someone to be there. Can you imagine the call? “Hi Dad, I need you to stop in at my house all day please – come on, you’re retired, you’ve nothing else to do”….
- They automatically try again the day after – which is a decent enough idea except that this second delivery follows points 1 and 2 above.
- If you then miss attempt 2, they whisk it to their secret hideout in Scunthorpe and you have to go get it. This is something like a 60 mile round trip with a toll bridge in the middle. I know I can give them a ring or use their website and arrange the second attempt delivery but regardless of when delivery 2 occurs, it follows point 1 and 2 above so is still useless.
Previously, I’ve not bought from someone who advertised they delivered with CityLink. It’s too much like hard work to get it. I was unaware Amazon used them for big stuff which is how I found myself in the situation. Anyway, it led me to tweet this:
I might have been a bit heavy handed (it’s been said before!) but my @replies lit up with many people agreeing and with a few declaring Yodel to be another courier to avoid (although I’ve never dealt with them personally).
I never knew CityLink where on Twitter – turns out they are and they were monitoring for usage of their brand name. Their profile declares this:
City Link is the UK’s leading Premium Express Delivery Company providing high quality, flexible and innovative courier services across the UK, Ireland and World
Hmm.
This morning, I came into to find this waiting for me:
The following is the conversation I then had with them.
… and that was that.
Aside from the use of “LOL”, which I think is pretty poor for an official channel of the business, I gave them some credit for engaging with me. It didn’t change the situation I was in, but at least I felt like I’d been heard. I was about to declare it a social media win of sorts until I checked out the CityLink Twitter stream. It’s a list of @replies to pissed off customers, mainly tweeting an apology and an email address where the issue can be “looked into”.
You nearly got this right CityLink, but a Twitter feed of apologies does not help you look like the “the UK’s leading Premium Express Delivery Company providing high quality, flexible and innovative courier services across the UK, Ireland and World”. It makes you like someone who receives a lot of complaints and that’s not a good look is it?
I’m willing to bet this is done in-house. I think if this was an agency running the social media content (such as my wonderful agency – ahem!), the @replies to customers would still be there but countered with some real content. On top of that, the account only follows 14 users , are followed by 111 users and have only tweeted 49 times since their first tweet in November 2008. On top of that, one of the Twitter lists they appear on is called “Bad Companies”. Ouch. (All correct at the time of writing)
Close but no cigar Mr. CityLink Couriers – and to think you so nearly got it right.