ttama

I contacted BA on twitter about a booking issue, via DM (direct message) so not in public view. But having clarified the issue with them (that my booking states that seats can only be assigned at check-in, and I don't have access to seat availability in order to pay to reserve seats in advance) they seem to have responded openly rather than by DM, and in doing so have made public what I told them about aiming to reach gold status soon.

I'd been trying to avoid another phone call after queuing for over an hour earlier today, so it seemed a good idea to respond to BA's offer to help on twitter. But the info they've tweeted openly is not what I'd like to see in the public domain, and I especially wouldn't want family, friends or colleagues to see it. I'm not sure how to delete their tweets (I've requested that they do so, but I'm not sure when or what the response will be), and I'm now questioning the wisdom of using twitter in this way.

So this is a warning to others who're considering using twitter's DM to talk to BA - anything you say privately might then be repeated back openly. Don't be as naive as I was - use a sockpuppet!

corporate-wage-slave

I am sorry to read about this, there are members of the Twitter team here, so they will see your feedback and doubtless take it on board.

I would gently point out that using Twitter for what you regard as private information is possibly a bit naïve. I appreciate that BA should have taken a different approach, but the essence of Twitter is that it is all in the open, as various members of Britain's fringe political parties have found to their cost. Indeed it's one of the reasons I'm loathed to use Twitter.

Having said that, I wouldn't worry too much, it probably irks you a lot more than your contacts would every appreciate.

Incidentally, I guess your ticket hasn't been issued yet, which is a typical reason why seat selection doesn't pop up. If you are Silver or Bronze already then you should still be able to select seats (Bronze in last 7 days).

ttama

Actually, it's not just that I was naive, it's that I'm a total idiot in my lack of understanding of how twitter works, and I should apologise to BA for my post. I've logged in as another user and I can't see a thing. So even though the replies to me weren't DM's, I'm guessing that they can't be seen if BA typed my twitter handle as the first part of the message.

Thank you for responding at such a late hour, and maybe I shouldn't post when tired I'll send an apology to BA via DM too.

corporate-wage-slave

Actually it's my morning here in Hong Kong!

I think Twitter is best for teenagers, though it scares me how their life chances are on the line, given that their random short message jottings will now be preserved for as long as Planet Earth is with us. Glad it wasn't around when I was young, I dread to think what could come back to haunt me!

I must admit when I read your message I thought it highly unlikely that BA would be too public, since I understand their modus vivendi is that after an initial open exchange of messages, BAEC do as much as possible in private rather than openly. Knowing their corporate lawyers I'm sure they were very careful to get that procedure right.

worjackie14

I'm sorry to hear that! When you message by DM the standard is to respond with a DM especially if it is containing personal information. The only time this would change is if the person is no longer following the BA Twitter feed so we can no longer DM back. However we normally just tweet asking to follow again. This sounds like a DM was meant to but a puclic tweet was sent by mistake. I know you've already tweeted about it but it could have been missed due to high volumes this week. Send another tweet, it'll be picked up and deleted.

Sorry Again!

Banana4321

Are you sure you sent a DM? You can only send a DM to those that are following you.

If you started a tweet "@British_Airways...." then that is in the public domain and not a DM.

It would be unlikely that anyone would accidentally tweet in response to a DM as that would take some effort as replying to a DM gives rise to a DM to you.

paul4040

It is surprisingly easy to do on some platforms. BA social media, like almost all corporate Tweeters, use bespoke front end systems rather than Twitter.com to manage their content.

Ldnn1

This for me is why it's such a shame that Twitter is now the most effective medium for getting a response from BA (and many other companies). I don't use it for the reasons articulated by c-w-s, but I can imagine myself resorting to it if I had an issue and was getting nowhere through the usual channels.

Much as I wish it were all a fad, it looks like Twitter customer service is here to stay.

ttama

Yes, I'm sure. I contacted BA openly, then they followed me and requested that I DM them, which I did. The reason why BA couldn't then DM me back was because I hadn't followed them. So they could only message me openly. I'm still not entirely clear how open it was, but I do think my initial reaction was unfair. I'm afraid that despite having had social media training, I still occasionally get confused by twitter. But I will continue to use it because I've had some very responses from companies who provide support on it. However I may, in future, use a different account and only disclose my real details via DM, rather than use a twitter account that's known to friends, family and colleagues. If I don't want them to know everything about me, I need to be more discreet.