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Stripe is built around processes and programs, not people. Behind every investigation that results from HN is a team of people. I’m just one person on that team

Stripe is built around processes and programs, not people. Behind every investigation that results from HN is a team of people. I’m just one person on that team—many of my teammates are equipped to respond here as well (and, in fact, do so today). We care a lot about the HN community which is why we’re always on here—HN isn’t meant to be an official support forum. It might look like the number of absolute support issues landing on HN is increasing, but proportionally, the rate remains steady. We survey users after support interactions, and the satisfaction rate has been at ~85% for the past three years. For that remaining 15%, though, we have a couple projects in flight that hopefully will bring that number down. But as a meta point, I’m not leaving Stripe anytime soon.

mr_throw_89 4y ago
Waterluvian 4y ago
What percentage of your customer base does the HN community represent? Why do you “care a lot about the HN community?” Is there something in particular that makes the HN community an important subset of your customers to care about?
- jokethrowaway 4y ago
  Obviously people on HN are more likely to decide to use stripe or influence someone who can. It's all business. That said, I had positive interactions with Stripe support without complaining on HN (and I'm not well connected, a big shot or moving significant amount of money).
  - fortran77 4y ago
    > Obviously people on HN are more likely to decide to use stripe or influence someone who can. Why would this community be any different than any other community of businesspeople in, say, a subreddit or on Facebook?
    - naasking 4y ago
      More people working at startups and/or VC-connected, which are probably a big part of Stripe's business.
      - Waterluvian 4y ago
        Maybe. But I think startup/VC community is drastically over-representing itself again.
perlgeek 4y ago
> It might look like the number of absolute support issues landing on HN is increasing, but proportionally, the rate remains steady. This means Strip still hasn't created a working escalation process for customers. Going public with a complaint isn't something most people are willing to do (specially b2b) or even have the ability to do. If it still regularly occurs, you really need something better to deal with the "hard" cases. Think about it: how many people people are able to get an Ask HN on the front page? And how is that rate growing? (probably not much). Compare that to the overall customer base and its growth. When I make this thought experiment, it seems that many desperate customers don't reach working support through HN, and that the relative rate is still constant (and not declining) should really be a headache to anybody worried about customer support quality.
mdoms 4y ago

mr_throw_89 4y ago

Waterluvian 4y ago

What percentage of your customer base does the HN community represent? Why do you “care a lot about the HN community?” Is there something in particular that makes the HN community an important subset of your customers to care about?

jokethrowaway 4y ago
Obviously people on HN are more likely to decide to use stripe or influence someone who can. It's all business. That said, I had positive interactions with Stripe support without complaining on HN (and I'm not well connected, a big shot or moving significant amount of money).
- fortran77 4y ago
  > Obviously people on HN are more likely to decide to use stripe or influence someone who can. Why would this community be any different than any other community of businesspeople in, say, a subreddit or on Facebook?
  - naasking 4y ago
    More people working at startups and/or VC-connected, which are probably a big part of Stripe's business.
    - Waterluvian 4y ago
      Maybe. But I think startup/VC community is drastically over-representing itself again.

perlgeek 4y ago

> It might look like the number of absolute support issues landing on HN is increasing, but proportionally, the rate remains steady. This means Strip still hasn't created a working escalation process for customers. Going public with a complaint isn't something most people are willing to do (specially b2b) or even have the ability to do. If it still regularly occurs, you really need something better to deal with the "hard" cases. Think about it: how many people people are able to get an Ask HN on the front page? And how is that rate growing? (probably not much). Compare that to the overall customer base and its growth. When I make this thought experiment, it seems that many desperate customers don't reach working support through HN, and that the relative rate is still constant (and not declining) should really be a headache to anybody worried about customer support quality.

mdoms 4y ago