Could this be the next trend for people to finally get the attention of large companies with bad customer service? It’s so much easier now to embarrass companies through Twitter and Facebook by reaching out the very customers they need to stay in business. Unfortunately it will lead to crack-pots doing the same thing for minor or insignificant claims – or competitors doing likewise to ruin good reputations. This could be beneficial for a short time until it’s abused and then companies might abandon Twitter & Facebook altogether!   – TravelBloggers.ca

Angry Customer Buys Promoted Tweets To Bash British Airways For Losing His Luggage
British Airways allegedly lost a man’s luggage, then wouldn’t return his emails. The man turned to Twitter to vent. But he didn’t just vent to his 500+ followers.

Instead, he purchased promoted tweets, Twitter’s form of advertising, to spread his message far and wide:

“Don’t fly @BritishAirways,” the man with the handle @HVSVN wrote on Sunday evening. “Their customer service is horrendous.”

His tirade continued: “BritishAirways is the worst airline ever. Lost my luggage & can’t even track it down. Absolutely pathetic.” He also wrote, “Thanks for ruining my EU business trip #britishairways. I shouldn’t have flown @BritishAirways. Never flying with you again.”

He targeted his ads to all British Airways 302,000 followers and vowed to continue running the ads until “BA fixes this mess.” He told followers he doesn’t care about money, just about getting his precious cargo back.

Mashable picked up the man’s disgruntled tweets. Other unhappy customers chimed in, patting the man on the back for speaking out against British Airways on Twitter.

Yesterday, British Airways finally responded to the angry customer. They blamed the delay on its Twitter feed only being open “0900-1700 GMT,” not 24 hours, and asked the customer to send over his luggage information in a direct message.

In the meantime, other airlines are joining the conversation. JetBlue’s SVP of marketing Marty St. George tweeted, “Interesting; a disgruntled customer is buying a promoted tweet slamming a brand where they had a bad experience. That’s a new trend itself!”