Customer Focus

Here's a message to the customer service department of Typepad, which provides our blogging service:

"Guys... Great -- no -- Awesome service. But if you can't handle problems like the one I am having then you're headed for a cliff. I am a customer who CAN and really really WANTS to pay you. You are not helping me... this is a little frustrating, which is enhanced by the fact that there's no way to talk to any of you... ever... even after multiple attempts via your ticketing system have failed to resolve this problem. Would you PLEASE have the owner of your company call me so I can get this resolved... If costs are an issue re: support then call me collect if you have to. -- Benjamin Pratt"

Sure, it's a bit whiny and annoying.  In my defense, this message is the culmination of several months of attempting to resolve a pretty basic billing isssue -- I'm using a valid credit card that works for Amazon and everyone else, they (according to my bank) aren't posting to my account (i.e. I am the typical customer and think it's their problem). 

Here's the response I got:

Hello Benjamin,

Thank you for your note, and the compliment.

I know billing issues can be very frustrating. I do apologize, but nobody is currently available to offer you telephone support. All of our support is done online through the Help Ticket System.

It looks like your account has been updated with a new card as of today, and is currently up-to-date. Presently, the system is showing that it has been accepted without a problem, but we will have to see if we receive a message from your creditor that payment has been verified and processed after the billing cycle runs again.

Please let us know if you have any further questions. We do appreciate your patience.

Thanks Benjamin,

Vanessa

The response, typical to the others I have received, was patient, curteous, and kind.   But not very helpful, since I've updated the credit card info every time to no avail - so this is  a "do the same thing and expect a different result" cycle.  In fact, given the long history, it was actually perplexing to me and I started thinking... What's driving this behavior?  Isn't it weird that someone would say that they can't use the phone?  Are they in India and the phone expenses would be cost prohibitive if they are a small company?  Are the service reps given the policy, "no phone calls, ever, no matter what?"  Is it the fact that the do have the authority to use good judgment and resolve issues by phone, but my case in comparison doesn't warrant that in Vanessa's opinion?

I don't know enough about the company's vision and operating model / competitive environment to say her approach  is right or wrong.  As a customer, though, I don't have to know anything other than it didn't address my issue to my satisfaction.  I'm left now with a choice -- is the value of the service greater than the cost of dealing with the service?   So far it is...  Basically because I contintue to receive premium service without getting charged.  But I have started shopping around to see if there are other blog services that are better, which I hadn't done up until this response...

I'm curious to hear what others think.  If you would be so kind,  and give me your thoughts by clicking on the "comment" just below the last line of this post.  Given the limited information at hand, is this company customer focused?  What else would you want to know?

Comments

[Kristin Webb]

I can certainly see why you are frustrated. It's as if the customer isn't listening. They are, however, practicing what they believe to be good customer service, which is being nice and polite. That's only a part of delivering good customer service. The other part, which I'm guessing Vanessa must believe is out of her control, is that of having good processes. What is within Vanessa's control, however, is to really listen to her customer, "think outside of the box" and take accountability to see that this process gets fixed or at least worked on. That might mean as you've said that they might need to do something different.

[Brian Carpani]

Ben,

A business that doesn't want to take your money is probably one that won't be in business long. Better make sure you have a backup plan whereby you can move your blog hosting in the event they shut their doors. I enjoy reading the blogs out here and would be disappointed to see them go away.

[Dante]

Hi. In the future I'm going to keep here links to their sites. But I do not worry about the sites where my link is removed. So if you do not want to see a mountain of links, simply delete this message. After 2 weeks, I will come back and check.