I have been a big fan of LinkedIn since it first started and have enjoyed watching it grow. I have touted it in various articles and networked through it with the best of them. I dutifully review each networking request, responding “yes” to those I actually know and “no” to those who somehow had me in their address book but couldn’t accurately answer the question “what color is my hair?” Most recently, the media team at my agency has been evaluating LinkedIn for various Renegade clients. So you can imagine my surprise when I got this email yesterday:
Dear Valued LinkedIn Member,
In a recent review of your profile, we have found that information other
than your first and last name appears in the name field of your LinkedIn
account. The LinkedIn user agreement requires use of true names rather
than pseudonyms, business names, associations, or groups when
registering on our site. Attached is a link to our Terms of Service for
your review:
We at LinkedIn do our best to accommodate all users? individual needs
and although we appreciate the use of our site for recruiting purposes,
LinkedIn offers several solutions for your recruiting needs in a more
proficient manner. Attached is a link that can assist in using our site
with a more efficient approach:
Because we believe that any information other than first and last names
in the name fields compromises our site and the service that we offer,
we have removed the profile in question. We would be happy to discuss
any questions you may have and look forward to assisting you with all
your professional networking needs.
Thanks for using LinkedIn!
Brian F. Customer Support Specialist
Ouch! Tossed out of the game without so much as warning. At first I thought this might be some kind of joke from those crazy folks at the Onion. But no I was locked out like Fred at the end of every Flintstone’s episode without a Wilma to let me back in. I started to wonder who this Brian F. guy was and whether or not he really “valued” me as a customer. So I sent Brian F. a note suggesting that this might be some kind of a mistake. Here’s what I got back within an hour:
Dear Drew,
This is an automated response email, we don’t mean to be impersonal but
want you to know that we received your inquiry sent to LinkedIn Customer
Support. We appreciate the time you have taken to contact us and we
will get back to you as soon as possible.
Thanks,
The LinkedIn Customer Service Team
Please note: This is an automated message therefore your reply will not
be answered. Please feel free to contact us at cs@linkedin.com with
additional questions or concerns.
Okay, so they get points for quick response time but now I have to write another note and I’m beginning to tire of this game. I figured, why not simply express my frustation about LinkedIn on this blog and see what happens. But I need some help with some protest slogans. Here’s a few:
* Linked Out and Proud
* LinkedIn Blanked Out
* I’m a LinkedIn Drop Out
For all you clients out there, be careful how you treat your customers. If you have a Brian F. on your customer service team, give him an F on his next evaluation. If you leave customer relationship decisions to your computers, then expect your human customers to get pretty annoyed and share that annoyance with the world.
Let me know your protest slogans. The winner will be saluted in my next network whatever that might be (can you say Plaxo?). In the meantime, say hello to all my LinkedIn friends for me since I’m Linked Out.