The Negative Hashtag You Never Want To Be Associated With

Our Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook feeds are filled with hashtags. Some are clever. Some are useful. Many are dumb and haphazardly thrown at the end of a post for no good reason.  #Thosehashtagsdriveeveryonecrazy.

But then there are those hashtags that deserve some of our attention. And no, I’m not talking about Jimmy Fallon’s hashtags, although I wouldn’t discourage you from following those either.

Today I am specifically talking about hashtags like #pickupyourphone and #answeryourphone. You might assume these hashtags are exclusively used by girls who can’t seem to get a hold of the object of their affection. See exhibit A:

When he's ignored you for a week but you keep calling his phone…#pickupbae #answeryourphone #singlebecause #imastalker

— Single Betch (@thesinglebetch) August 24, 2015

But it turns out this these hashtags transcend the drama of teen dating. There are plenty of adults using these hashtags to get the attention of businesses. GASP! You heard right—businesses. Social media has put the power in the hands of the consumers, and they are speaking up when businesses do something as silly as failing to pick up their phone.

Why would a business not answer their phone, you ask? I don’t know. That sounds like a crazy thing to do when phone calls mean new customers or the opportunity to turn a dissatisfied customer into a loyal patron.

Now, I don’t want to throw anyone under the bus, but I’m going to because it’s funnier that way. Here are some of my favorite tweets from customers who just want to have a conversation with a business:

@SouthwestAir I really appreciate you until I have to call you. Still holding 19 minutes strong… #pickupyourphone

— Krisy Lemons (@KrisyLemons) March 11, 2015

@DirectLine_UK making a claim on your insurance has been a disaster, expected to do the work myself. #answeryourphone bad #customerservice!

— Viral Oddity (@viraloddity) June 2, 2015

@GameStop I have spent a total of 1.5 hours on hold over the past 2 days to fix my email address that an employee typoed. #pickupyourphone

— Justin Demetroff (@justinde) May 19, 2015

Congratulations @FromYouFlowers, ordering flowers has never been more of a pain! #neveragain #notrocketscience #pickupyourphone

— Lilly G (@WonderLilly) May 7, 2015

Called @AnthonysPizza six times and got no answer. The other place answered first call. #pickupyourphone #fail

— josh Aus10 (@jjaus10) December 10, 2014

Uh, yeah @comcastcares I don't think you want me taking this "How are we doing?" survey right now. #pickupyourphone pic.twitter.com/VvsDIQP12K

— Jags Movie Guy (@MoviePaul) March 1, 2015

Hopefully, these businesses have already seen these tweets and made everything right with their customers. Maybe they’ve changed their ways and answer every phone call promptly and professionally, which is really what these customers wanted in the first place. And let’s just pray their tweets weren’t a matter of life and death, like this poor girl:

If I was close to dying and decided to call @gosh_darling for help..I'd die #pickupyourphone

— Michelle Wempe (@Michelledw96) October 5, 2014

Here’s the moral of the story: as a business, you need to take phone calls seriously. The only possible outcome of ignoring phone calls is super annoyed customers and lost business. So no matter what you do, answer your phone!

If you want to learn more about making phone calls a part of your marketing strategy, download the 2015 Call Intelligence Industry Benchmark now!