This Twitter account is very popular and has more than 31,000 followers. Through following this account, yesterday I noticed a hash-tag that in less than 24 hours, had hundreds if not thousands of people following it and commenting on it. What was the compelling reason? It was all about the shortcomings of mobile communication companies in Saudi Arabia and their inability to fully satisfy their users.

Complaints were about a variety of mobile and Internet issues, but the most common and most frustrating complaint was in particular regarding their customer service phone lines. For years, the customer service number provided was virtually useless and only served to attract the wrath of dialers.

Some complained that when they dialed the number, all they got was an automated answering machine that kept them on a loop and got them nowhere, or they had to wait hours for a customer service agent to finally reply and provide a service! On Wednesday, the hash-tag connected to these complaints caught on like a wildfire, and the response was so overwhelming, it became the No. 1 hash-tag in the Middle East within three hours only.

Here we see the power of online social networking sites like Twitter; in less than 10 hours, the voice of customers were finally heard by communication companies, and their customer service numbers were finally fixed and a human voice is now at the other end of the line — someone who can actually provide help within a few minutes of calling their number.

Thus it is without exaggeration when we say “beware” to companies that claim to provide services if they don’t deliver what they promised, otherwise within minutes an angry customer will hash-tag them in Twitter, and before they can say “Social Network” it will attract hundreds of Twitter followers and they will find themselves shamed into action or the hash-tagging will continue to hound them!