A Way To Improve Support Reponse Time

[SiteSmarty]

If the vBulletin staff member who responds to a support issue would be so kind as to address the issue in more than one sentence and offer solutions to the problem or direction are where a file for example would be located, days could be saved in waiting time.

If there was a manual, I would read it and try to find a solution. If the answer is on the forum, I would search and try to find it. I'm the customer and I'm doing everything I can to fix your software. If your support staff is overwhelmed by requests for help, maybe you could stop selling vBulletin until you get caught up, so that those of us who purchased your software could get it working.

As a customer I'm upholding my end of the seller—buyer relationship. As the seller you are not. Please, if the vBulletin staff is going to respond, at least try to help or be up front and just say we can't help you.

Disappointed Customer

[chloe]

Seconded

[Mike Anime]

i understand the frustration of waiting for support.

they do the best they can and they have regular buisness hours.

with the bugs they have left to fix you can imagine how swamped they are with people asking for help on a bug that won't or can't be fixed till 4.0.2 is out.

things will return to norman soon after 4.0.2 is out and most if not all the big bugs and many of the smaller ones are squished as well.


comming from a ex support (NOT vB support) staffer things are not as easy as most people think it is and sometimes a one line answer is all that is needed

if they replied to a support ticket just saying they got it and are looking into it you just droped from the top of the list back to the bottom of the list and then you have to wait till your name rises back up to number one again. this is why sometimes why it takes them a while to get back to you.


like i would reply to jhon smith and tell him how to fix something after figureing it out if i could not fix it i would pass it on to someone who could or take the time to learn something and then get back to the person before responding at all to the ticket.

some issues would take days to fix and there is just no way around it. when dealing with modifying code ANY code it takes time to get it sorted out sometimes. if you get an error they have NOT seen yet they do have to see what can cause the error so they test out different things and then get back to you with a fix.

i hope this post enlightens you to how things work in the world of tech support.

[SiteSmarty]

Mike: Give me a break. I've used vB since 2004. I've rarely ever asked for support and now when I need it, it's lousy. I've waited for the new upgrade, paid in advance. Support answered my issue, more than one time, with one line answers, not expanding on the topic to provide giving me the information I need to fix the issue. My compliant isn't how long it takes to get back to me. My complaint is about the one line answers. The last reply didn't even answer the question I asked. I can accept a one line answer if it is a solution to the problem.

I'm ready to launch my site and I need the CMS portion to tie everything together. Why not stop selling vBulletin and catch up on the support so we can get the software working on our sites? Answering support questions with one line answers without expanding on the solution, may be the way it works in the tech support world, but it's unacceptable in the real world. Customers shouldn't have to resort to water boarding techniques, just to use their software.

Here's the question: How do I get the widgets back to the CMS?

[Mike Anime]

Mike: Give me a break. I've used vB since 2004. I've rarely ever asked for support and now when I need it, it's lousy. I've waited for the new upgrade, paid in advance. Support answered my issue, more than one time, with one line answers, not expanding on the topic to provide giving me the information I need to fix the issue. My compliant isn't how long it takes to get back to me. My complaint is about the one line answers. The last reply didn't even answer the question I asked. I can accept a one line answer if it is a solution to the problem.

I'm ready to launch my site and I need the CMS portion to tie everything together. Why not stop selling vBulletin and catch up on the support so we can get the software working on our sites? Answering support questions with one line answers without expanding on the solution, may be the way it works in the tech support world, but it's unacceptable in the real world. Customers shouldn't have to resort to water boarding techniques, just to use their software.

Here's the question: How do I get the widgets back to the CMS?

i know it is frustrating they should have helped more.


sales, support and codeing are different departments and have different team members. even if they suspended sales that would not really help the support times at all. the idea does have merit though.

[Nick]

i understand the frustration of waiting for support.

they do the best they can and they have regular buisness hours.

with the bugs they have left to fix you can imagine how swamped they are with people asking for help on a bug that won't or can't be fixed till 4.0.2 is out.

things will return to norman soon after 4.0.2 is out and most if not all the big bugs and many of the smaller ones are squished as well.


comming from a ex support (NOT vB support) staffer things are not as easy as most people think it is and sometimes a one line answer is all that is needed

if they replied to a support ticket just saying they got it and are looking into it you just droped from the top of the list back to the bottom of the list and then you have to wait till your name rises back up to number one again. this is why sometimes why it takes them a while to get back to you.


like i would reply to jhon smith and tell him how to fix something after figureing it out if i could not fix it i would pass it on to someone who could or take the time to learn something and then get back to the person before responding at all to the ticket.

some issues would take days to fix and there is just no way around it. when dealing with modifying code ANY code it takes time to get it sorted out sometimes. if you get an error they have NOT seen yet they do have to see what can cause the error so they test out different things and then get back to you with a fix.

i hope this post enlightens you to how things work in the world of tech support.

Honestly, there is no excuse for the lack of quality support. It is not the customer's duty to be sensitive to the company's foolish moves and resulting influx of support inquiries. The customer purchased the product, and is entitled to support. We expect quality support and when we don't get it, it only hurts the company's reputation (just when you thought it couldn't be hurt any more).

Telling customers to "understand that we are swamped, so please be patient" is fine and dandy when you're dealing with customers who don't have priorities with their vBulletin license. But for those that do, support is a must-have, and it needs to be prompt and helpful. It wastes everybody's time and helps nobody when support gives stupid one-line answers that don't even remotely benefit in the resolution of the problem or situation.

There's nothing the support staff can do or say to make up for their lack of quality support in this busy time, other than to fix it and make it right.

[Steve Machol]

TBlogger, I looked at your support tickets and I honestly don't understand what you mean. As far as I can tell you recieved answers which matched the info you provided.

Please start a new ticket to my attention and provide more detailed info so I can understand this situation better. Thanks.

[SiteSmarty]

Steve: No need to worry about it Steve. You're the customer support manager and if you think the support ticket was handle in a manner satisfactory to you, then there is no issue.

[ZippySLC]

Steve: No need to worry about it Steve. You're the customer support manager and if you think the support ticket was handle in a manner satisfactory to you, then there is no issue.

If you're going to make a thread about something, and then the manager of the department that you're complaining about comes in and offers to help, you probably should. Either vB needs to have their expectations set at a reasonable level, or there's some serious miscommunication being done between you two. Either way they're offering to help, so why spite yourself in order to prove a point?

[s0lidgr0und]

I don't blame TBlogger. He's still looking for an answer and after going back and forth in a ticket without a sufficient answer, he's told that the first ticket looks fine, but submit a new one for good measure?