The power of social media

When I put up my last post regarding my war with K-Electric a lot of my friends and colleagues told me that I was wasting my time, that nothing would come of it.

That post was read by 1200+ people within a few hours, several people shared their experiences; the Facebook status I put up was shared by 36 of my Facebook friends; several people tagged people they knew at K-Electric.

The result was that I was contacted by half a dozen K-Electric staff offering to help resolve my issue – two of them actually at senior level – a Deputy GM and a Director. Within a few hours my Rs. 40,000 bill was revised and I received a bill by email for close to Rs. 8.900. I was told that unfortunately there had been an error in generating the bill and an apology was rendered.

I responded by email making enquiries regarding some of the lingo used on the bill and a very patient and polite Deputy GM actually phoned me and clarified each of the reservations I had. He also offered to send a mobile unit to check out the meter and replace it if it was necessary.

Appreciative though I am for the immediate resolution of my problem, I am left to ponder on whether this is the power of social media or is it because I have a certain profile online that I received this special treatment? One lesson I did learn through all of this was that one should at least try and redress the problem and not just take it lying down.

Nonetheless thank you K-Electric; thank you Taha Siddiqui and thanks to all the people who empathized with me and shared their stories and experiences.