Vodafone ‘Social Media Expert’ Goes Rogue, Calls Customers ‘Mentally Retarded’ On Twitter

An Australian Vodafone “social media ambassador” and self-proclaimed expert has exposed the industry’s inherent weaknesses of off-the-cuff commentary and individual perspective — two of its greatest assets and detriments — after he was observed ranting about the company’s vendors, employees and customers on Twitter as well as an openly viewable Facebook feed.

The Vodafone social media ambassador is one of a string of social media reps that have either inadvertently or out of pure carelessness reflected poorly on the brand they represent, and due to the casual nature of sites like Twitter, we bet you $20 it won’t likely be the last even just this week.

Arthur Kotsopoulos tweeted and blogged in his capacity as an employee of a Sydney Vodafone shop, where per the Sydney Morning Herald, he freely derided vendors (and their equipment), co-workers and the customers that patronized the shop, without even the cloak of anonymity.

Some of Kotsopoulos’ offensive tweets read:

“HTC rep just walked in get ready for another hour of blabbering about what are the worst phones on the market.”

“[A co-worker] changes music puts on this filthy emo music. Literally want to neck myself.”

“To top it off i’m serving mentally retarded people who buy phones and have no clue how to use them. Asking me to message people for them. Creating contacts for them and dictating me to enter the contact names then screaming at me when I spell it wrong. Speak English idiot!”

The rogue Vodafone rep also indicated a lack of patience for basic customer service, venting on Twitter:

“If I have to serve another person who repeats everything I say like a parrot or I have to explain the same thing to them more then 6 times somebody is going to cop a pimp slap backhand.”

Predictably, Kotsopoulis’ Twitter account has since joined those of the rogue social media reps before him in the great Twitter feed in the sky, and navigating to his page brings you to a “not found” error. Still, thanks to the magic of screenshots, the offensive statements live in infamy, along with a helpful pic of the man himself as his Twitter avatar.

Do you think that companies should lock down social media more thoroughly so that reps like the Vodafone employee are reined in, or is the casual nature of social media part of what makes a company relatable on the services?