I'm looking for some validation here before I go too far down the path of anger and frustration. Please read the next few paragraphs - just a couple of minutes of your time. Or just the paragraph in red if you're really in a hurry. If you think I'm blowing things out of proportion then shoot me an email, post your thoughts here or just close this page. If you think I'm on target, please email anyone you think can help, whether it's advice or someone working at Microsoft. We can prove the "six degrees of separation" theory again and maybe spare some other sap from the frustration I'm experiencing.
Short story: I've Been working for the last three weeks or so to build a new Web site with Microsoft's OfficeLive. I even wrote a glowing article in the Snohomish County Business Journal about this great product. Come Friday evening all the magic stuff to transfer byteslaves.com to the OfficeLive (OL) servers had been done. The pages were all tested and - except for some content - we were ready to go.
Saturday morning problems showed up on the OL side. I contacted support and a helpful agent found some "behind the scenes" problems. More of this Saturday evening and another call to support and more behind the scenes work. I called it a night with plans to finish Sunday. Logged into the control center but could not access the Web design feature. "Technical difficulties - try later" said the message. Finally I calledthe supportnumber in my soeed dial. The woman I talked to managed to lock my accounbt by entering the wrong login information too many times. Can't fix that. I'm locked out for 24 hours. With no recourse.
I finally convince her to get a supervisor. Rules is rules he says. Try it again tomorroew night. More discussion and he finally agrees to open a troubel ticket. Twenty-four hours go by, I try again, still no joy. I also find I (and my customers) can't access my site using Vista and IE7. Great. Some even complain about XP. Locks up the browser. I call my speed dial buddies again.
I talk to a guy who tells me 1) he can't help, it's in the other department. 2) I can't talk to anyone in that department. 3) He can't give me a status. 4) There's no one that can give me a status. 4) There's no one I can call or write to with complaints about the service. I have to wait 24 hours. Excuse me? This is "support?"
Today, as I write this, I'm talking to my speed dial buddies. Oops. They goofed again. It's going to be ANOTHER 24 hours before I MIGHT have access. And still no status and no one else I can talk to. No estimate on when my visitors might be able to successfully visit my site.
I want to send a message to these folks that it is NOT OK to provide this kind of service to any customer. I know my problem will get resolved one way or another eventually. But if we don't make ourselves heard, who's going to hold big business accountable? They couldn't care less if I close my account. So tell me what you think I should do. Get your friends to weigh in. Help me rattle some cages.
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1 comment:
I am stunned and astounded by your experience. I also feel your pain as I understand what it is to rely on technology and how frustrating it can be for it not to work and/or for the support personnel not to respond in a timely, helpful manner when help is most needed.
A well worded letter to the top executive in charge of customer service would be one idea to consider, along with your request for a remedy that takes into account your frustration, lost productivity, and lost opportunities.
In the best and worst of times, timely and attentive customer service is essential. What remedies can this vendor offer that can satisfy your needs going forward?
And what will the vendor do to ensure that other customers don't suffer the same unfortunate experience?
Again, I am so sorry for your trouble. I feel your pain. And I want your problem to be resolved in a timely, helpful way so your business can be retained and you can feel good moving ahead on that score.
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