How long should we wait for a response to a ticket?

[eJM]

Is there a guideline for how long we should wait to get a reply or response from support on a trouble ticket? Seems like 12 hours might be about right, but I have waited more than twice that and still haven't gotten a response. I don't want to get antsy unless it's warranted. What would be reasonable and what should be done if there has been no response in a specific amount of time? What should be done if there is no response the second time?

Just looking to ease the stress load. Thanks,

Jim

[Asvin]

It all depends on the complexity of the matter,availability of support staff, etc...

Be patient...

[eJM]

I am trying to be patient. I have no idea what the time limit should be. Shouldn't some indication be given to the customer so they don't needlessly complain about inaction?

[Wayne Luke]

We try to respond to new tickets as fast as possible and the standard is to try and reply to existing tickets within twelve hours. What are the first 6 digits of your SID number?

[slappy]

eJM:

Go to the Member Area link at the bottom of the Forums. In the Left Column, last entry is one for response time for support:

"Average response time
(last 30 support issues)
0 hr : 24 min

Please note this is NOT a guarantee that every ticket will be responded to in this time frame. This is an average, more complicated problems may require more time to resolve".

So there is your answer, in "general terms" for the last 30 "support issues."

Regards,

[Floris]

We try to answer everybody with 24 hours, our goal is 12 hours I believe. And in reality customers usually do not wait longer then a few hours tops. A first response is in most cases given within the hour, if not within minutes.

[OS,]

I must say, the other day my ticket was responded to very fast, i cant complain.

Maybe eJM the time you submitted a ticket nobody was around?

[Steve Machol]

Please note that in order to ensure continuity and avoid confusion, each ticket is assigned to a specific individual who
generally stays with that ticket to the end. Given this, none of us are instantly available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to immediately respond to everything. In fact, sometimes we even need to take breaks and occasionally sleep too.

The fact is that it almost never happens that a ticket does not get an initial response within 12 hours.

[slappy]

I'm shocked to hear support actually gets to take breaks and occasionally sleep.

What is this world coming to?

Regards,

[eJM]

We try to respond to new tickets as fast as possible and the standard is to try and reply to existing tickets within twelve hours. What are the first 6 digits of your SID number?

That's the kind of information I was looking for. I know that initial responses can be very quick and, over the years, I have not had problems that needed a lot of responses or hoop jumping through. This last problem was a head scratcher and I still don't know what the cause was, but Steve Machol helped me through it.

eJM:Go to the Member Area link at the bottom of the Forums. In the Left Column, last entry is one for response time for support...

Thanks, Slappy. I've seen that, but that isn't an indicator of how long it actually takes to resolve the average issue, only in how long it takes to respond to one.

Please note that in order to ensure continuity and avoid confusion, each ticket is assigned to a specific individual who
generally stays with that ticket to the end. Given this, none of us are instantly available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to immediately respond to everything. In fact, sometimes we even need to take breaks and occasionally sleep too.

The fact is that it almost never happens that a ticket does not get an initial response within 12 hours.

You made your first response to my ticket about an hour after I submitted it. And I can certainly understand the need for food and rest maybe even a weekend break. Unfortunately, my problem took over 10 days to resolve. I don't want to place blame and I'm sure I would have to take responsibility for much of that too, but that's a lot of time for frustration to build.

I'm glad you were able to figure out a solution and help me get that test site operational. It's good to know what kind of patience one needs before getting too anxious. I'm sure you know better than most how easy it is for some of us to let the stress get the better of us. Maybe this topic will help someone else feel a little more at ease over the necessary wait time for some issues.

Best R'gards,

Jim

[---MAD---]

I must say, the other day my ticket was responded to very fast, i cant complain.

Maybe eJM the time you submitted a ticket nobody was around?

Support here is 24/7. As Steve said, once someone answers your ticket, generally it is assigned to that person so only he/she will respond to it. If that person goes off, you will have to wait till (s)hes back on .

[Wayne Luke]

You made your first response to my ticket about an hour after I submitted it. And I can certainly understand the need for food and rest maybe even a weekend break. Unfortunately, my problem took over 10 days to resolve. I don't want to place blame and I'm sure I would have to take responsibility for much of that too, but that's a lot of time for frustration to build.

While many problems are quick fixes, not understanding a function or simply not knowing where something is located, others are not. Some problems are definately not easy fixes either. Often times we have to go to other staff members for feedback, try to recreate the problem(s), develop a workaround or fix, test issues and then get back to you. There are even times when users come to us with problems that we have never experienced before and could be related to a myriad number of issues including things outside our control like Server OS, PHP Version, MySQL Version, Version Incompatibilities, default variables in those applications and a lot more. We still try to answer as quickly as we can.