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> Technology companies need an "ombudsman" - a contact that customers can go to when the normal tech support processes have failed. All companies should have t

> Technology companies need an "ombudsman" - a contact that customers can go to when the normal tech support processes have failed. All companies should have that!

sbarre 7y ago
This sounds nice in theory, but you know that tons of people would just go straight to the ombudsman, thinking they can jump the support queue or bypass established process. The "shit filtering" workload would be tremendous..
- wolco 7y ago
  The way this works everywhere is you go through the normal support process until you reach top level support if the situation isn't resolve you go to the ombudmen. If you go before you tried support they will direct you to support first.
  - sbarre 7y ago
    Yes I understand the process, but as I said that "they will direct you to support first" work would be non-stop.. Not saying it doesn't work, just that a lot of people wouldn't follow the process, and anyone who sets this up should be prepared for a lot of triage work.
ignoramous 7y ago
In Amazon's case, Bezos' email is just that. For AWS, Andy Jassy's (CEO) or Charlie Bell's (SVP) might do just as fine. Source: Someone who emails them from time to time to get impasses resolved.
- bbarnett 7y ago
  Just had to chime in here, but fifteen+ years ago, Bezo's email was ombudsman like, with him or a top level person reading it. Now, it's just another level of very poor, very scripted support. I'm fairly sure Amazon has taken the (perhaps wise, in a business sense) approach of not caring if a small percentage of users leave, due to support issues. The cost of keeping customers with certain support issues, greatly outweighing supporting them. This is why you have to hunt madly around Amazon's webpage to find contact info, why all forms of help point away from contacting a person, including their chat being bots now, until you move outside of their scripts.
  - ignoramous 7y ago
    Just one data point but, sending Bezos a nice hello and airing my grievances has worked for me every single time. Obviously, Bezos may not read those emails but his aides and assistants who do have access to his inbox and act on the emails on his behalf do inherit his complete authority. Some refs: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16341154 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16341154 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17193363 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17193363 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22286350 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22286350 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9356182 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9356182 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20782392 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20782392 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13512106 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13512106

> Technology companies need an "ombudsman" - a contact that customers can go to when the normal tech support processes have failed. All companies should have that!

sbarre 7y ago

This sounds nice in theory, but you know that tons of people would just go straight to the ombudsman, thinking they can jump the support queue or bypass established process. The "shit filtering" workload would be tremendous..

wolco 7y ago
The way this works everywhere is you go through the normal support process until you reach top level support if the situation isn't resolve you go to the ombudmen. If you go before you tried support they will direct you to support first.
- sbarre 7y ago
  Yes I understand the process, but as I said that "they will direct you to support first" work would be non-stop.. Not saying it doesn't work, just that a lot of people wouldn't follow the process, and anyone who sets this up should be prepared for a lot of triage work.

ignoramous 7y ago

In Amazon's case, Bezos' email is just that. For AWS, Andy Jassy's (CEO) or Charlie Bell's (SVP) might do just as fine. Source: Someone who emails them from time to time to get impasses resolved.

bbarnett 7y ago
Just had to chime in here, but fifteen+ years ago, Bezo's email was ombudsman like, with him or a top level person reading it. Now, it's just another level of very poor, very scripted support. I'm fairly sure Amazon has taken the (perhaps wise, in a business sense) approach of not caring if a small percentage of users leave, due to support issues. The cost of keeping customers with certain support issues, greatly outweighing supporting them. This is why you have to hunt madly around Amazon's webpage to find contact info, why all forms of help point away from contacting a person, including their chat being bots now, until you move outside of their scripts.
- ignoramous 7y ago
  Just one data point but, sending Bezos a nice hello and airing my grievances has worked for me every single time. Obviously, Bezos may not read those emails but his aides and assistants who do have access to his inbox and act on the emails on his behalf do inherit his complete authority. Some refs: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16341154 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16341154 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17193363 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17193363 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22286350 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22286350 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9356182 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9356182 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20782392 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20782392 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13512106 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13512106