I tried to bash jet blue on my twitter account as an experiment in class to see if they'd start following me. Didn't work...

Comcast Frank responded to my Twittering call for help in less than four minutes late at night.

My girlfriend's co-worker bashed ComCast on Twitter a while back, complaining about poor service and a general horrible experience. The Twitter account "ComCastCares" got into contact with him within a week and extended an offer of a $100 stipend to make up for it.

Ditto on Comcast Frank. He worked with me over the span of two weeks to get a new internet connection functioning properly. Even called me once within 5 minutes of a tweet. They guy is the reason I didn't go with DSL or another ISP and he didn't disappoint.

I've received twitter responses from Cox Communications as well. After complaining about the fact that Cox called me and tried to get me hooked up to their cable, I posted to twitter that I really wish Cox treated its customers better (and didn't lie to them about the digital transition in Feb). Had a reply within hours.

@GrantGannon: So how does that work? Is there a way you can get a feed on anything that goes out into the Twitterverse? I'm just wondering how these companies keep up with it. (I'm a relative noob to Twitter so the answer might be relatively simple.)

isnt metschick a regular on the deadspin comment boards?

@CountryJustice: You can subscribe to particular feeds,and there are some sites (lost to me) that can do mass scans of Twitter looking for a particular keyword. The simple app is just search.twitter.com.

@pb5000 It's important to us that we remain aware of WHY a customer talking about us. If they're talking about JetBlue on Twitter rest assured, we're certainly seeing it, but may not automatically follow or responsd and risk appearing "big brother-ish" - trying to stop them from expressing themselves.

We also may not always follow those simply trying to "test" our response time. Encouraging those sorts of activities can quickly create an environment where we might loose track of those looking for information or assistance in a rush of people looking to play.

We will follow someone on Twitter if they're addressing us with a question, have a misconception, or concern we can directly address, or if they choose to follow us. We love the community, and are certainly always adjusting how we interact with users on based on feedback from the community. If you think we need to adjust our strategy on Twitter, all you need to do is tell us!

- Morgan @JetBlue

@ThinkGeek 's twitterator/twitteratrix are constantly helping people and putting out their coupon codes. I follow them SO HARD.

comcastcares on Twitter is great

Which just goes to show the biggest truism of customer service. The squeaky wheel gets the grease. The louder the squeak, the more grease.

@Mr. Guy: I hope this isn't what her next Waxing Off piece will be about. Not nearly salacious enough.

Frank has helped me in the past, really the only reason i use twitter...

@Mr. Guy: That is me.

zappos ceo @zappos is also a good tool, he reads all the comments and feedback, but people rarely have issues with him so I don't know if you'd ever need to twitter him.

CNN anchors and MSNBC anchors also have twitter.

Southwest is following me, because I made a comment about a fun corporate event.

When I found out that my Mother was in the hospital dying on memorial day, Jet Blue was the only airline that would help me get out of vegas when all flights were booked. Thanks to Jet Blue, I got to spend 12 hours with her before she passed. I am forever grateful.

I had a technical problem with Comcast that had happened once before, only this time, everyone up to and including the call center manager (two steps above the supposed "end of the chain" supervisor) insisted there was no possible way to fix the problem.

One message to Comcast Frank and within 30 minutes the "unfixable" problem was totally resolved.

I still don't get Twitter. Or understand why companies are wasting their time on it. Think of all the ways you could have contacted JetBlue: by phone, by email... you say those are too slow? Well, Twitter was only faster because no one else really uses it (relatively speaking). If hordes of people start using it to make requests of JetBlue, it'll be no more faster than phone or email. If you could call or even email JetBlue and know you'd immediately be talking to someone who would help you, would Twittering make any sense at all?

Twitter is just a gimmick that is fashionable for companies to use and generate some quick PR. Companies would do better to improve their phone and email customer service than waste resources trying to support another source of customer communication.

@QuanikaJulisa: Because twitter is a highly visible site, anyone can see how you respond to it. its free press.

@QuanikaJulisa: I was on the phone to Jet blue, and made a comment on Twitter. I did not expect a response from my "tweet".

Not all airlines have crappy customer service.

My grandmother took a flight from Montreal to Madrid a few months ago. She was taking Air Transat.

We took her to the airport and lined up with her at the check-in counter (we weren't going, just seeing her off). To our surprise, the representative from the "VIP" line (you know, for people who pay extra or have some sort of premium subscription or however that stuff works) called us over, letting us bypass the long check-in line. The representative helped her re-pack her luggage after it turned out that her suitcase was slightly overweight, got her a wheelchair (she could walk just fine, but standing in lines for extended periods of time is tough for an elderly lady with diabetes-induced foot issues), and arranged to have her picked up by the staff to join the groups of children and elderly that get accelerated through security.

There are indeed caring human beings working for these airlines, and sometimes you get lucky.