Customer Service - don't just Twitter it, deliver it!

I recently bought a Breo watch. They're cheap, but I find them comfortable to wear and I like the design.
After a couple of weeks I noticed it didn't keep time very well, slipping by around 20 mins a week.
Now, it may have only cost about £8, but that's not the point. Surely keeping reasonable time is something even the cheapest watch should be expected to achieve? It's a core competence.

So I sent it back for repair/replacement.

After 5 weeks of radio silence, I sent an email.

No reply.

A week later I sent another email.

This time they replied, said they had a backlog, and that it would be dealt with within 2 weeks.

After 2 weeks, nothing.

I sent another email. But this time I also Twittered about the poor service I was receiving from Breo.

Within minutes Breo had replied to the Tweet saying a replacement been dispatched at lunchtime (lunchtime was several hours previously, so they must have been dealing with it all along, and not simply reacting to my complaint?). Funnily, I then received an email reply saying a replacement was being dispatched the following day (contradicting their Twitter statement, but I won't dwell on that point).

What this demonstrates is the power of Twitter (and online networks), where the last thing a brand wants is negative public comments damaging their reputation. A consumer can tell hundreds of people within minutes when a product or service fails them, and bad news travels faster and further.

However, any business that spends more time monitoring their Twitter feeds than dealing with their customer service won't last long. So yes, businesses should be aware of what's being said about them online, and use the opportunity to engage and communicate with their customers, but never forget that this should be in addition to delivering a great experience, not instead of.