Comments on: The T-Mobile Sidekick Data Outage: A Lesson in Social Media Crisis Management http://451heat.com/2009/11/10/the-t-mobile-sidekick-data-outage-a-lesson-in-social-media-crisis-management/ Just another WordPress weblog Tue, 09 Mar 2010 04:11:09 -0800 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 hourly 1 By: admin http://451heat.com/2009/11/10/the-t-mobile-sidekick-data-outage-a-lesson-in-social-media-crisis-management/comment-page-1/#comment-197 admin Tue, 17 Nov 2009 20:09:35 +0000 http://451heat.com/?p=720#comment-197 That's too bad about your Blackberry, Vera. Hopefully T-Mobile is going to get it together with a social media crisis plan and better customer service after this mess. - Crissie That’s too bad about your Blackberry, Vera. Hopefully T-Mobile is going to get it together with a social media crisis plan and better customer service after this mess. – Crissie

]]> By: 451 Heat » The T-Mobile Sidekick Data Outage: A Lesson in Social … | Twitter Bootcamp Money Marketing Machine Secrets Skills | Targeted Twitter Traffic http://451heat.com/2009/11/10/the-t-mobile-sidekick-data-outage-a-lesson-in-social-media-crisis-management/comment-page-1/#comment-156 451 Heat » The T-Mobile Sidekick Data Outage: A Lesson in Social … | Twitter Bootcamp Money Marketing Machine Secrets Skills | Targeted Twitter Traffic Wed, 11 Nov 2009 21:57:22 +0000 http://451heat.com/?p=720#comment-156 [...] Read the original here: 451 Heat » The T-Mobile Sidekick Data Outage: A Lesson in Social … [...] [...] Read the original here: 451 Heat » The T-Mobile Sidekick Data Outage: A Lesson in Social … [...]

]]> By: Vera Papisov http://451heat.com/2009/11/10/the-t-mobile-sidekick-data-outage-a-lesson-in-social-media-crisis-management/comment-page-1/#comment-152 Vera Papisov Tue, 10 Nov 2009 21:40:55 +0000 http://451heat.com/?p=720#comment-152 I had a similar problem with my Blackberry. When T-Mobile promised me a replacement phone in August, under warranty, I ended up with a refurbished Blackberry that decided to wipe its memory clean every 17 days. It took me two months of begging, crying, and tweeting at T-Mobile in order for them to send me another one, but not before they insisted on having their Blackberry technicians check it out for four days. Two months of lost emails, lost contacts, calendar data - pretty much my entire digital life - was gone. After hearing about all the Sidekick problems, I'm slightly offended that I wasn't offered a monetary apology or free data service. But, I think the way they handled my situation was better. A new, working phone is way more valuable than $100 and free data for a month. What can $100 even buy you these days? 2 cups of coffee? With that said, it's frustrating that it took T-Mobile so long to address my problems. They only did so after I sent them about 23 angry tweets involving iPhone threats. 23 tweets were more efficient than FIVE REAL TRIPS to the T-Mobile store? Very interesting. BTW, I actually just covered this in my Principles and Practices of PR class last week. My professor told us that about 95% of organizations say having a plan for crisis communications is necessary, but only 50% actually have one. Peer-to-peer communication (i.e. Twitter) is exponentially fast and has a huge impact on the ruckus that a crisis like this makes. I completely agree that they should've been updating the situation on their media channels. Why keep quiet on your Twitter account activity when the problem is a trending topic? Beats me. In my opinion, they should have broadcasted the problem before the problem broadcasted itself in the form of angry customers. I just can't believe they weren't using their social media channels to ease customers. By cutting off communication like that, they made it so much worse! T-Mobile acted like a deer in headlights. I don't think they had a plan in place for social media crisis communications. I had a similar problem with my Blackberry. When T-Mobile promised me a replacement phone in August, under warranty, I ended up with a refurbished Blackberry that decided to wipe its memory clean every 17 days. It took me two months of begging, crying, and tweeting at T-Mobile in order for them to send me another one, but not before they insisted on having their Blackberry technicians check it out for four days. Two months of lost emails, lost contacts, calendar data – pretty much my entire digital life – was gone. After hearing about all the Sidekick problems, I’m slightly offended that I wasn’t offered a monetary apology or free data service. But, I think the way they handled my situation was better. A new, working phone is way more valuable than $100 and free data for a month. What can $100 even buy you these days? 2 cups of coffee? With that said, it’s frustrating that it took T-Mobile so long to address my problems. They only did so after I sent them about 23 angry tweets involving iPhone threats. 23 tweets were more efficient than FIVE REAL TRIPS to the T-Mobile store? Very interesting.

BTW, I actually just covered this in my Principles and Practices of PR class last week. My professor told us that about 95% of organizations say having a plan for crisis communications is necessary, but only 50% actually have one. Peer-to-peer communication (i.e. Twitter) is exponentially fast and has a huge impact on the ruckus that a crisis like this makes. I completely agree that they should’ve been updating the situation on their media channels. Why keep quiet on your Twitter account activity when the problem is a trending topic? Beats me. In my opinion, they should have broadcasted the problem before the problem broadcasted itself in the form of angry customers.

I just can’t believe they weren’t using their social media channels to ease customers. By cutting off communication like that, they made it so much worse! T-Mobile acted like a deer in headlights. I don’t think they had a plan in place for social media crisis communications.

]]> By: AJ Gerritson http://451heat.com/2009/11/10/the-t-mobile-sidekick-data-outage-a-lesson-in-social-media-crisis-management/comment-page-1/#comment-150 AJ Gerritson Tue, 10 Nov 2009 20:03:37 +0000 http://451heat.com/?p=720#comment-150 This is a tough call. I wonder if they (1) had a plan in place for social media crisis communications, and (2) if they did, how much they stuck to it? This is a tough call. I wonder if they (1) had a plan in place for social media crisis communications, and (2) if they did, how much they stuck to it?

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