Since When Did Waiting Days For A Response Become Acceptable ?
I currently have to wade thru the crap on 20+ blogs that we operate … every single day.
I hate spam and spammers.
That’s not what I’m here to talk about though.
If you look at the comments on Lorelle’s post, you’ll see one from Seth.
Seth said he’s tried twice to contact the people over at Akismet to buy a couple of licenses, with no reply.
Lorelle gives the standard response that they’ve had server trouble, which is a cop out created by the internet that I hate with a blazing, burning, bigass passion.
She then says to give them a few days to respond. What !?
OMG ! A few days !?
People fall in love, get married and move entire households faster than that in Vegas.
And we have to wait that long for a response to an email from someone we want to give money to ?
My company has 18 locations if four states and we answer every single call, with a live operator, before 4 rings.
If we don’t, the prospective customers go somewhere else and current customers become former customers. Period.
A few days !?
To sell something to someone ? Not a freakin’ chance.
That crap started with the internet, but it needs to stop … now.
It doesn’t work for Starbucks.
Me - ” Hi, I’d like a white chocolate mocha latte venti with whipped cream please. “
Them - ” Okay, but today is Thursday and right now we’re taking orders for next Tuesday. “
Nope. They’re a real business serving real people, so they make it right now.
They charge a fair price and spend some of the profits on stores, employees and phone lines. Try it.
If you can’t answer all of your emails before the end of the day, don’t end the day. Hire people. Fire people. Raise prices. Whatever it takes to actually give customer service to actual customers.
Memo To The World - I’m certainly not aiming this towards Lorelle, nor at Akismet, but at all the companies that claim to do business on the internet.
Please don’t read anything vindictive into this, the comment just spurred a rant and they happened to be the ones involved in rattling my brain into action.
Akismet’s name just happened to be the one used in the post, that just happened to be written by Lorelle.
I don’t use Akismet’s service, so I can’t comment on their responsiveness.
The real issue here is the vast majority of anonymous companies that try to do business on the ‘net … anonymously.
Why in the heck does anybody deal with anonymous businesses ?
Would you eat dinner in a restaurant that wouldn’t let you see their face, hear their voice or shake their hand ? Me neither.
I’d have to be pretty damned hungry to do so and I’ll have to be pretty desperate to buy from an anonymous company on the ‘net.
No phone line ? No deal.
No way to contact you except email ? No chance.
No physical address to see ? See you later.
You want my money but don’t want me to know who you are ? Forget it.
Why do you think that internet only businesses can get away with only having email contact with their clients ?
Should they at least have some hours during the day to answer a phone ?
Should we even care ?
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6 Responses to “Since When Did Waiting Days For A Response Become Acceptable ?”
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The reality is that they usually respond within minutes, so the words were mine, not representative of WordPress or Automattic. I always take the conservative approach. As for me personally, I have it right on my contact and about pages of all my blogs that you may need to wait for a response as my lifestyle and work keeps me traveling a lot, often far from modern technology and conveniences, sometimes even where toilet paper is a treasured item.
So the reference was totally personal, not anything to do with how they work. I’m sorry for that.
Hi Lorelle,
Seth’s reality is that they did not respond at all, so we’ll leave that to a matter between them.
That’s not why we’re here, as I have no beef with the fine folks over there at Akismet or WordPress.
You have no reason, nor do I, to have to respond in minutes or days, as neither of us sells anything on our blogs … per se.
I tried to make it clear that I was ranting about websites that try to sell a product or service.
I think I did so.
Again, the rant came into my brain as I read the post, not because of either party associated with the post.
I spend lots of time in my vehicle, riding between jobsites, so I don’t always respond to email on a moments notice … BUT, everyone of my clients has my cellphone number and can reach me or get a call back withing minutes and I’ll be all over their problems like hair on a gorilla.
My day doesn’t end on time, it ends when all the customers have what they need, irregardless of the clock.
I’ll say it again, if you can’t answer all the requests for info by the end of the day, don’t end the day.
This applies to all who sell a product or service, not those who give away their info like Lorelle, whose blog posts are book-like and educational to a fault.
Nor does it pertain to the fine folks at WordPress who give away this wonderful work free of charge and make the world a better place by doing so.
You keep giving advice, but you’ve been doing this for quite some time and still don’t have any success. Why don’t you start taking the advice of those who know what they are talking about and stop regurgitating your “advice” which doesn’t work?
Well let’s see Anon.
I sell millions of dollars worth of product every year.
I’m paid thousands of dollars every month to give advice to companies.
I own and operate, with my staff, over 50 sites.
Uh, I have a site and email to link back to, unlike you.
I’m not afraid to show those sites and my name, like you.
Maybe you’re the one with the lack of success ?
Yep, I believe that’s it and now everyone around Germantown, MD, where you’re from, knows it.
Sucker.
(my anti-spam word was ’slow’, do they always match the context of a post so well?)
It is exactly that issue of invisiblity that made me move from my previous blog-host to Mike’s hosting service. My previous host became very flacky and stopped answering trouble-tickets. And they didn’t have a direct email address. I hunted down a phone number (through whois) but their voice-mail box was full. What a nightmare. In the end, I wasn’t sure they really WANTED my business.
I can assert from personal experience that Mike would NEVER let a customer go that long with no response.
When I was looking for a host for my blog he replied as fast as he got my question. And anytime I’ve ever had a problem or a question, he’s replied just as fast.
So, I don’t read this post as a mere rant (not that I think there’s anything wrong with a rant) but an affirmation of his business principles and goals.
Thanks for everything, Mike. You’ve made my blogging experience a joy rather than a nightmare!
Thanks Catherine !
There’s always a way to improve your service.
It’s those that won’t even try to provide acceptable service, let alone improve an already good service that make me want to scream.