Meta’s Undergoing a Mega CX Transformation

On December 15^th, 2022, Meta announced improved security measures across their apps including protections against phishing attempts, account hacking, and bugs.

This is no easy task. If the social media giant makes security measures too tight, it risks blocking innocent users from their accounts. On the other hand, if the measures are too loose, these users will lose their accounts to hackers.

Many brands struggle not only protecting against these issues but with handling the customer complaints the issues produce (look no further than Nelnet on the day student loan forgiveness was announced). Meta is no exception.

To better equip themselves to handle account security breaches for large amounts of users, Meta recommends keeping user contact information (phone numbers and email addresses) up to date, stating “people are two times more likely to recover their Facebook account if their contact points are up to date so we can reach them.” This recommendation is sensible and easy enough for the average social media user.

In addition to this, Meta boasts about additional programs that help customers who lost their accounts reactivate their page:

[I]n certain cases, people can use recently removed contact points to recover access. As a result, this year we’ve helped eight times more people a day on average get back into their Facebook account than last year when they don’t have access to their listed contact points. We’re also running global in-app prompts across Facebook reminding people to confirm their contact points and exploring alternative ways to confirm people’s identity during the account recovery process on Instagram, including using their friend network.

Facebook specifically has begun offering live chat support options to over a million people spanning nine countries and has the plan to expand this offering globally.

These safeguards sound nice but, as far as I was concerned, the security seemed just alright as it was. Anything additional almost felt over the top.

That is until two weeks later when I went home for the holidays and realized: Meta was right.

_{Photo by Joshua Hoehne on Unsplash}

“A lot has happened on Facebook since you last logged in. Here are some notifications you've missed from your friends.”

My mom looked at the email from Facebook and helplessly laughed. “Let me just log in and see what I missed! Oh wait…” she joked as she shut her laptop.

Just a few days earlier, on Christmas Eve, the Gen X-Boomer hybrid received a text message from Meta: “Hi, Your Facebook account was logged into using a confirmation code and your email address on Saturday, December 24^th, 2022 at 7:11 AM (EST) from Milan, LOMBARDIA, IT.” In a panic, she attempted to log onto her Facebook account, which is connected to her business pages, and discovered that someone had already changed her password and blocked her from her own account.

Panicking, she called over my dad— a human encyclopedia of technology solutions. He took control of her computer and began clicking and typing frantically, trying again and again to recover the account.

As he brought the laptop over to the kitchen counter and focused in on the screen, trying to figure out exactly what happened to the account, the couple’s three children walked in, at last home for the holidays.

After her initial greetings were ignored, my sister, a former college IT support agent, immediately walked over to diffuse the situation, sure she could solve my mom’s problem with a few clicks. When the initial attempts failed, she emailed Meta support and got an automated email in response:

“Undeliverable: ACCOUNT LOCKED

Delivery has failed to these recipients or groups: appeals@fb.com

The recipient’s mailbox is full and can’t accept messages now. Please try resending your message later, or contact the recipient directly.”

When my sister looked back over at my mother, the woman had her head in her hands and tears forming in her eyes: “This isn’t just for fun, it’s my business on there. How am I supposed to support clients and share stories?”

Her business in question is to support other local businesses, sharing upcoming events, fundraising opportunities, and charity work. Much of this sharing is done on common social media platforms. One of her subscribers’ favorite websites? Facebook.

So my sister tried another option: calling Facebook support.

She found a number for a department that seemed to be aligned with her problem, listened to the phone ring, and then heard a dreaded alert: “We are sorry, but our office is currently closed.” She tried different numbers only to have the same result time and time again.

Taking matters into her own hands, my sister tried once again to unlock the account herself. Her frustration grew as my brother walked over, bored and confused as to why this was taking so long and why the two were so late getting ready for the Christmas Eve festivities.

“Every time I try to log on to this stupid account,” my sister said, careful to not curse in front of my mother even though it had been years since she lived at home, “it locks me out and claims that someone else is also trying to get in!”

As if the Meta Lords had been listening to the exchange, my mother received another email:

“Hi, We noticed you’re having trouble logging into your account. If you need help, click the button below and we’ll log you in.”

With restrained jubilation, everyone watched as my mother clicked the button, hoping for a miracle.

_{Photo by Mimi Thian on Unsplash}

There wasn’t one. The click brought my mom to the login page where her account could still not be unlocked.

Throughout the days that followed my mom took to Twitter, Reddit, and Meta-owned Instagram to contact Facebook. She explained her situation, begged for help, and emphasized how urgent the problem was.

This moment led to a “could I have possibly been more wrong?” exclamation in my head when I thought back to my apathy regarding Meta’s new chat feature. Something that felt unnecessary before suddenly felt like an urgent need: I was experiencing the type of situation the chat feature was being created for.  

Though Facebook did not respond to the social media cries for help, other users with the same issue did. We started receiving replies and DMs along the lines of “That happened to me two months ago. Never heard from Facebook so I made a new account,” and “Their customer service is impossible, just give up don’t waste your time.”

_{Screenshot from Reddit}

Before saying goodbye after Christmas, my brother did his best Jerry Seinfeld impression and said, “What, is the deal, with Facebook!”

Though his exclamation was purely for comic relief, this experience truly makes me wonder: what is the deal with social media platforms? And why are the customer support agents for these entities so difficult to reach?

Meta knows there is an issue and is actively working to solve it, but the solution is not coming fast enough for many other platforms. An obscene number of users across the industry are having accounts hacked or disabled every day, losing access to something that has become a cornerstone of their personal and professional lives.

Despite the contact points she had included in her account and her awareness on how to reject phishing attempts, my mother may never be able to access the accounts she built her business on for the last ten years (not to mention personal family photos and memories).

You can, however, prevent your customers from having this less-than-glamorous experience. Here are some tips to save you and your customers a whole lot of frustration.

How to Make Customer Support Supportive (and how to keep your customer happy—even when there are problems)

1. Be available

We all deserve a break, especially around the holidays and especially if you work in the customer service industry. In fact, nearly 60% of service workers state that customers’ behavior is worse around the holidays. It makes sense—customers are stressed about the upcoming gift deadlines, retailers are largely understaffed, and many workers are overworked.

Rather than punishing the customer for being needy, it would be beneficial for businesses to expand their customer support during the holidays. Given that understaffing is an issue, allowing employees to work shorter shifts at untraditional times can not only provide more flexibility for customers that need help on Christmas Eve, but will make it easier to hire more staff members (even if they have limited availability) during this stressful time of year.

2. Be transparent

…about the solution.

Facebook was transparent with my mother about why it could not provide support to her and customers like her: its email inbox was full.

When providing excuses like this, though, companies would likely get more empathy from their customers if they also provided directions or a timeline surrounding the solution.

For example, suppose you are trying to get in touch with a brand’s customer service department but just can’t seem to get off hold. The automated voice on the line may say something like, “Due to staffing issues during the holidays, customers are experiencing extended wait times. We are sorry about this inconvenience.” This is nice, but how much better would it be if, in addition to this, the automated voice said, “Please press 1 to receive a callback or email us at support@examplebrand.com.”

Rather than feeling disregarded by the company, customers would understand why there was a delay and have a tangible next step toward receiving a solution.

^{Screenshot from Twitter}

3. Be consistent

If, as a result of this article, my mother receives access to her Facebook account and gets some free perks, I will not be upset. However, that would be gravely inconsistent. As we see on those Reddit and Twitter pages, there are quite literally hundreds of other Facebook users that had their accounts disabled or hacked and have received no support.

Users of most social media platforms are encouraged to put a great deal of personal information on their accounts—full names, birthdays, workplaces, partners, family members, locations, events attended, etc. It can be terrifying to know that a complete stranger has access to this information and the power to share things on your behalf—both in professional and personal settings.

If you respond to customers who make a big fuss about your product on Twitter but not those who go through the channels on your website, that is far from consistent (and ethical).

Despite how they may complain about it, many customers have the same issues. Just because one is more vocal about it than another does not mean that their issue is less important. It just means they lack the tools (or time) to express to a public audience that they need help.

In other words, social media platforms should support all of the customers using other social media platforms to complain, but they should also go through that email inbox and voicemails to support users who might have been a little quieter about their grievances.

Whether it’s New Year's Day, Labor Day weekend, or your birthday, your customers deserve the best. It is important for your business, however big or small, to be available, transparent, and consistent when solving issues (even ones that happen at inconvenient times).

At the turn of the year, my mom did receive access to her Facebook account again. After the holiday rush, it seems, there was more time available for Meta to support users like herself.

Consider not only learning from this experience but taking into account Meta’s plan for improvement. How are you going to support your customers, even in difficult times in your company journey? Are you available, transparent, and consistent when supporting customers on their quest for a solution? How can you share your plan to be better with customers, like how Meta shared their roadmap to success?

Working on this aspect of the customer experience is not easy, but it is worth it. Not only do your customers deserve it, but your business with benefit from having a happier supported client base.

Header photo: Photo by Kenny Eliason on Unsplash  

In text photo one: Photo by Joshua Hoehne on Unsplash

In text photo two: Photo by Mimi Thian on Unsplash  

In text photo three: Screenshot from https://www.reddit.com/r/facebook/?f=flair_name%3A%22Disabled%2Fhacked%22

In text photo four: Screenshot from https://twitter.com/search?q=facebook%20hacked&src=typed_query&f=live