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A solution? The good ol' government regulation. If companies 'cannot' achieve acceptable standards of customer support service, those standards should be impose

A solution? The good ol' government regulation. If companies 'cannot' achieve acceptable standards of customer support service, those standards should be imposed on them. This game where ordinary customers are so often the victims must be put to an end.

katzgrau 10y ago
Yay, another set of regulations for business owners to navigate (it's pretty hard to keep up with the existing ones) and another government agency to manage and enforce them. I'm more than happy to let the free market work this one out.
- toodlebunions 10y ago
  What specific regulations do you have trouble navigating?
- Waterluvian 10y ago
  Yeah. My internet tech support has been incredible. I have many amazing stories. All possible because the big telecoms were forced to wholesale, allowing competitors to exist in at least a limited capacity. I will never go back to rogers or Bell again simply because of how amazing the support is at teksavvy.
toodlebunions 10y ago
Or the "free market" solution would be to allow those calling tech support to pay an extra $50 per hour fee for priority service with a knowledgable human
- stephengillie 10y ago
  This is my employer's support model, and it works pretty well - all customers get unlimited ticket/email support, and you can upgrade to phone and live chat support for a percentage of your monthly bill. It's like the saying that 20% of your customers use 80% of your support. This way you can incentivize those customers to pay a premium for even more of the support package they obviously want. Everyone else can have the minimal support interaction they prefer.
- andyjdavis 10y ago
  Although if I encountered that as a customer I would be suspicious that the free support is being made deliberately bad to artificially drive revenue of the premium support team.
sverige 10y ago
That's hilarious! Having run a few call centers, the costs involved in upping service levels from, say, 80% of calls answered in 20 seconds to, say, 98% in 10 seconds, grow geometrically. If regulations were passed that mandated service levels, many companies would take Google's approach and simply not offer phone support at all. And we all know how great their support is. The solution is to not use any services from monopolies, as the article points out. But of course, that's impossible for most people.
- Trundle 10y ago
  Google offers customer support by phone.
  - sverige 10y ago
    Really? What's the number for help with gmail? I can't find it anywhere on their site. YouTube either, if it's different. Also, I need a number to reach support at Facebook, if you have it.
    - Trundle 10y ago
      Customer Gmail: 1-877-355-5787 YouTube: 1-855-500-2756 Never done business with Facebook, can't help you there sorry!
      - marksc 10y ago
        Facebook outsources support to certified regional specialists. You can find contact information for your region/niche on their partner directory site: https://facebookmarketingpartners.com/ https://facebookmarketingpartners.com/
    - cornellwright 10y ago
      If you pay for Google Apps they do. I've had to call them a few times, and they were actually fairly helpful, even calling me back the next day to make sure the problem was resolved. Judging by the number they called me from their call center is in Ireland.
baddox 10y ago
Ever interacted with the equivalent of tech support for government processes or services? I have, and it doesn't inspire me to put government on the list of potential ways to solve tech support.
prostoalex 10y ago
Seems like extending 30-day return policies further out might achieve this. Random commoditized tech I get off Amazon/eBay frequently has a note asking to contact them first to resolve any issues before returning and/or submitting negative feedback. I'd imagine the sellers would not be as accommodating, were it not for Amazon's no-questions-asked-customer-is-always-right return policy.
douche 10y ago
Hah. I would give my left nut to have competent helpdesk people on the other end, and I'm a vendor who's dealing with the higher-level management and IT people in these organizations. I can't imagine how poorly trained and skilled the front-line techs are.
smm2000 10y ago
The government can start with improving customer support at DMV Currently, it's 4 months wait to schedule a driving test and 2 months wait to schedule an office appointment. Of course, if you have an urgent issue you can just visit DMV without an appointment but you should be ready to spend 3+ hours waiting in line.
- majewsky 10y ago
  If you're not satisfied with the amount of personnel at DMV, then you should vote the guys out who cut their personnel budget time and time again.
KKKKkkkk1 10y ago
Perhaps said regulator could start by regulating the IRS and the DMV.
pkaye 10y ago
They do need a regulation that we can cancel a service using the same methods as ordering the service. If I can order a service online, I should be able to cancel it online.
vmarsy 10y ago
Which companies would be subject to such regulation? For instance, a startup without an established customer support center would be fined and forced to shut down because of those fines or because of the money spent on customer center ? What would be the kpi for customer service? Time spent on the wait line? Customer ratings?! Business days before an email reply? What if someone malicious starts DDoS me with fake customer service requests just to make me unable to deliver an "acceptable standard of customer support service"?

katzgrau 10y ago

Yay, another set of regulations for business owners to navigate (it's pretty hard to keep up with the existing ones) and another government agency to manage and enforce them. I'm more than happy to let the free market work this one out.

toodlebunions 10y ago
What specific regulations do you have trouble navigating?
Waterluvian 10y ago
Yeah. My internet tech support has been incredible. I have many amazing stories. All possible because the big telecoms were forced to wholesale, allowing competitors to exist in at least a limited capacity. I will never go back to rogers or Bell again simply because of how amazing the support is at teksavvy.

toodlebunions 10y ago

Or the "free market" solution would be to allow those calling tech support to pay an extra $50 per hour fee for priority service with a knowledgable human

stephengillie 10y ago
This is my employer's support model, and it works pretty well - all customers get unlimited ticket/email support, and you can upgrade to phone and live chat support for a percentage of your monthly bill. It's like the saying that 20% of your customers use 80% of your support. This way you can incentivize those customers to pay a premium for even more of the support package they obviously want. Everyone else can have the minimal support interaction they prefer.
andyjdavis 10y ago
Although if I encountered that as a customer I would be suspicious that the free support is being made deliberately bad to artificially drive revenue of the premium support team.

sverige 10y ago

That's hilarious! Having run a few call centers, the costs involved in upping service levels from, say, 80% of calls answered in 20 seconds to, say, 98% in 10 seconds, grow geometrically. If regulations were passed that mandated service levels, many companies would take Google's approach and simply not offer phone support at all. And we all know how great their support is. The solution is to not use any services from monopolies, as the article points out. But of course, that's impossible for most people.

Trundle 10y ago
Google offers customer support by phone.
- sverige 10y ago
  Really? What's the number for help with gmail? I can't find it anywhere on their site. YouTube either, if it's different. Also, I need a number to reach support at Facebook, if you have it.
  - Trundle 10y ago
    Customer Gmail: 1-877-355-5787 YouTube: 1-855-500-2756 Never done business with Facebook, can't help you there sorry!
    - marksc 10y ago
      Facebook outsources support to certified regional specialists. You can find contact information for your region/niche on their partner directory site: https://facebookmarketingpartners.com/ https://facebookmarketingpartners.com/
  - cornellwright 10y ago
    If you pay for Google Apps they do. I've had to call them a few times, and they were actually fairly helpful, even calling me back the next day to make sure the problem was resolved. Judging by the number they called me from their call center is in Ireland.

baddox 10y ago

Ever interacted with the equivalent of tech support for government processes or services? I have, and it doesn't inspire me to put government on the list of potential ways to solve tech support.

prostoalex 10y ago

Seems like extending 30-day return policies further out might achieve this. Random commoditized tech I get off Amazon/eBay frequently has a note asking to contact them first to resolve any issues before returning and/or submitting negative feedback. I'd imagine the sellers would not be as accommodating, were it not for Amazon's no-questions-asked-customer-is-always-right return policy.

douche 10y ago

Hah. I would give my left nut to have competent helpdesk people on the other end, and I'm a vendor who's dealing with the higher-level management and IT people in these organizations. I can't imagine how poorly trained and skilled the front-line techs are.

smm2000 10y ago

The government can start with improving customer support at DMV Currently, it's 4 months wait to schedule a driving test and 2 months wait to schedule an office appointment. Of course, if you have an urgent issue you can just visit DMV without an appointment but you should be ready to spend 3+ hours waiting in line.

majewsky 10y ago
If you're not satisfied with the amount of personnel at DMV, then you should vote the guys out who cut their personnel budget time and time again.

KKKKkkkk1 10y ago

Perhaps said regulator could start by regulating the IRS and the DMV.

pkaye 10y ago

They do need a regulation that we can cancel a service using the same methods as ordering the service. If I can order a service online, I should be able to cancel it online.

vmarsy 10y ago

Which companies would be subject to such regulation? For instance, a startup without an established customer support center would be fined and forced to shut down because of those fines or because of the money spent on customer center ? What would be the kpi for customer service? Time spent on the wait line? Customer ratings?! Business days before an email reply? What if someone malicious starts DDoS me with fake customer service requests just to make me unable to deliver an "acceptable standard of customer support service"?