The problems at Nat West bank continue on through day three and the backlash from their customers on social media is huge. At one time a problem like this would have been reported on the news and in the press and most of the rest would have been complaints between people you actually saw. Now your customers can get online and let the world know how they feel – that they’ve run out money, that they can’t pay their staff, that they can’t complete their house purchase.
So, it’s even more important that organisations know how to respond in an authentic way. Looking at the @NatWest_Help Twitter feed just now the only thing that struck me was that they had no idea what to say. Within a few tweets they had repeated the line that “This is an unacceptable inconvenience for our customers for which we apologise.” It begins to sound as authentic as the recorded messages you get on call centre systems that say “your call is important to us”.
Since this problem started they haven’t responded to anyone who has answered their tweets although that seemed to be the policy prior to this event – they are just pushing out messages in the hope that it looks like they are doing something. I understand that the staff who are managing their social media don’t have anything to do with the technical issues that they are suffering with however it might just be that organisations need to include social media responsiveness in their disaster planning these days?
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I’m the Managing Director of Florizel Media. I love working with businesses to help them get the best out of social media and being online. I’ve a dreadful weakness for techie toys, chocolate and handbags. Would love to chat about how we can work together 
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