Feb 2, 2016
I’ve been experiencing issues with Comcast, my Internet provider, for quite some time. The point when I had no TV and no Internet — right before I left for Disney World at Christmastime — was only the beginning. Comcast isn’t known for it’s great customer service. Remember the recorded call where the man attempted to cancel his service?
Well… how about one where COMCAST called ME to see if the recent onsite service call (that didn’t happen because they didn’t show up) fixed my problem…
I was so excited to receive a call so I could explain that no one showed up on the day of my service appointment… and I kept asking to speak with a supervisor because (you know already if you’ve ever had to call Comcast for technical assistance) if you finally make it that far, they often give you a transfer code. A transfer code (from what I understand from the explanation I was provided) means that if you need to call back, you don’t have to go through the same entry level assistance regarding rebooting and more.
Sadly, I’m pretty sure this treatment can’t be blamed on outsourcing calls to India, but it is more proof that Comcast doesn’t care about their customers.
Jul 18, 2014
Email servers sputter and hiccup under heavy loads (junk email marketing is saturating the workplace, isn’t it?) — and that’s exactly what was happening to our poor, overworked one. Email was arriving a day later instead of minutes and sometimes messages lost their way home never to be heard from again. Our predicament was so frustrating, I even started to miss the 1k SPAM email messages that are always ready to greet me at the break of every dawn. Yesterday morning I took the plunge to Google Apps for Business.
Switching up requires that you have the ability to access your domain’s MX records and knowledge insofar as how to modify them. Everything took less than 30 minutes to set-up and complete for our office, and I was excitedly waiting for propagation to complete so I could start getting all those diet and insurance garbage emails once again. But after several hours passed with no email messages, I figured I should attempt to contact Google — if something WAS wrong in the set-up, we wouldn’t be down another day waiting on another period of propagation while we continued missing important business connections.
Clicking “contact” from my login area, I was provided a pin and a phone number. I expected that I would get similar treatment as I receive when calling my host company of over 15 years — low level phone support forcing me to create a trouble ticket for a issue that could be resolved in 5 minutes with a properly trained employee — with a promise that an engineer will review my trouble ticket and respond with a bajillion hours. Or, even worse… I wondered if I would get a person that I couldn’t understand — and that couldn’t understand me.
I was amazed when an Enterprise Support person answered my call on the 3rd ring (NO WAIT TIME?!?!?). A live person, you guys! Now I’m not going to tell you that he was talking to me from Indiana, USA — but I can tell you that we had no issue communicating. He was happy to review all settings to make sure everything was correct while I was right there on the phone. (And I’m thinking… “why can’t my host company do that?“) Five hours sleep later and I wake to see my garbage email is back on track and waiting to greet me.
Even better… I know if I have an issue, I can pick up the phone, call Google, and get a REAL LIVE PERSON to help… all without waiting on hold or filling out a time-consuming trouble ticket form (that is supposed to expedite my issue… yah, right). Libby loves Google Apps for Business too! She’s a fan of anything that makes it easier for me to spend more time with her…
Mar 4, 2014
They say that eyesight is the first to go as you age. I would agree. I have glasses with bifocals that work just fine except when I’m working at the computer (you just try tilting your head back for hours); therefore, I also have glasses I wear at the computer but I can’t use them to read. Matter of fact, I have so many pairs of glasses that even Gracie has taken to wearing them just because she’s a fashionista.
My current computer glasses, purchased from the Dollar Store for a couple bucks, are showing their age so I thought I’d splurge and order something decent. After all, the glasses I choose to wear while working basically live on my face. I head on over to Eye Bobs and pick a funky pair I like. I order them online at 3:22 PM EST. At 4:05 PM EST I get an email letting me know my order has been fulfilled and shipped! Seriously? That’s amazing…
But when I opened the email, I got a treat! It read:
Great news – your eyebobs order has shipped! It’s okay if you want to do a little happy dance, we’ll wait…
Your eyebobs will be there before you can say “flexible spring hinges” (In other words, 2-5 days for US orders, 7 -14 days for international). If you find yourself with any questions, concerns, comments, or tasty casserole recipes for us, please reply to this message. We’re ready and waiting to knock your socks off with our service.
Irreverent & slightly jaded,
Bob (state-of-the-art eyebob wearing email robot)
Maybe it’s because I live an breathe distinction (thanks so much, Scott McKain), or maybe it’s just because I like that personalized touch — but this makes me want to do business with Eye Bobs again. I get excited when I think that any company that is happy to take my money is also ready and waiting to knock my socks off with their service! Probably because that never really happens. Ever.
Please note — it doesn’t matter how cool or jaded their robot is if their product isn’t the quality I expect for the money. I’ll let you know how I feel about that quicker than you can say, “Gracie, you are one sexy fasionista!”
Nov 29, 2013
I’m not a BLACK FRIDAY shopper. I don’t brave lines or fight traffic anymore (I did it ONE TIME — never again). But I do shop online. Today, I had two totally different customer experiences and didn’t even leave my house…
- I ordered a front door and side panels, as well as a skylight from a local company. The gentleman who helped me (by phone) was extremely kind and helpful. After conversing with my contractor, my order was placed. So at 8:30 AM EST (!!!) on the Friday after Thanksgiving (today), I get a call. They want my credit card number for payment. No problem (other than he woke me up), I already offered the card number to him about a week ago pre-order. I authorized the charge. At about 11:30 AM, he calls back and tells me: “I ran your card and the payment was denied. I ran it again for half the amount and that went through. Then I ran it for the other half and that was denied. So I ran it for 1/2 of the 1/2 and then 1/4 and then I called you.”
If you remember, I explained that I was a victim of the Adobe hack. When my card was replaced, it had the default daily limit — not enough to cover my purchase. A simple call to my bank and that was fixed. Dude ran the card again while I waited on the phone and all was just fine. But then, I started thinking about why he would frantically run a bajillion transactions instead of just calling me. It’s a LOCAL BUSINESS, you guys. Were they that afraid they weren’t going to get paid? Heck, they haven’t even delivered the items yet.
- On Wednesday I made a Christmas purchase online. Today, I get a call from that company — Sweetwater. The gentleman said he was calling about the order I placed for a Christmas gift and just wanted to let me know my business was appreciated, and inform me that the item I purchased Wednesday went on sale today. He reduced my total purchase by almost $100. Sweet, Sweetwater!! And then, I get an email that said: “It was good talking to you today. I am looking forward to future business with you. If there is anything I can help you with, or if you have any questions, feel free to give me a call. I Graduated from Musicians Institute for recording and live sound, and have done much of both since graduating. I am also a guitarist in an active band where I do most of the writing and producing. If there is anything you need I am confident I can help.”
Personal. Engaging. Obviously, either the employee or the employer GETS IT (or maybe both!).
While I will absolutely do business again with Sweetwater, I’m not so sure about the local company in example 1. In the words of Scott McKain, “The purpose of any business is to profitably create experiences so compelling to your customers that loyalty becomes assured.”
My contractor sent the following by text message — measuring for countertops today!! Yay!
