Seriously what is up with customer service is this business

[IntenseCash.com]

I will be frank, it sucks. It is horrible and I can't believe how bad it is. Even when I take my business to a company you think their customer service would be good but no it is horrible. I email other affiliate programs and never hear back or their email bounces back. I make deals with other companies and do my end of the offer but they never fullfill their end of the deal. I contact companies I am leasing content with and never hear back from them but they are always around when they want their money. I am really fed up with this even for companies not in adult. It seems like the bigger the company the more this is a problem. I don't care how big I ever get I promise to provide excellent customer service, no matter what the cost. Thanks for listening to me rant, hehe.

Mark

[BDBionic]

There are a lot of people in this industry who aren't here because they want to succeed in business, but because they like cock.

I think that's pretty much the root (pun alert!) of it.

[basschick]

mark, i've always had these problems. it's fucking annoying as hell.

a lot of smaller programs don't get back to ya because they are the photographer, the video encoder, the site updater, etc - and there really are only 24 hours in a day. i heard back FOUR MONTHS later from a guy like this - i had forgotten all about him and his program. how great a webmaster program can you have when it takes you for months to answer a single question?

in fact, now this thread has come up, i'm just realizing how many programs have not responded to my emails in the last three months - it's amazing.

as far as the bigger programs, they just don't give a fuck. i'm trying to straighten out a billing problem right now with a plugin company - no one has responded so far. i had a problem for months paying another company - their own forms weren't working for me - and no one from there EVER called or emailed me back. or responded to their icqs. and i know people work there -i've talked to them in the past. i had to take my problem to the boards just to be able to pay them *LOL*

maybe these people should at least get an autoresponder *LOL*

I will be frank, it sucks. It is horrible and I can't believe how bad it is. Even when I take my business to a company you think their customer service would be good but no it is horrible. I email other affiliate programs and never hear back or their email bounces back. I make deals with other companies and do my end of the offer but they never fullfill their end of the deal. I contact companies I am leasing content with and never hear back from them but they are always around when they want their money. I am really fed up with this even for companies not in adult. It seems like the bigger the company the more this is a problem. I don't care how big I ever get I promise to provide excellent customer service, no matter what the cost. Thanks for listening to me rant, hehe.

Mark

[Dzinerbear]

Yeah, it absolutely does. I've bitched about it a lot here, but always kept the focus on people not replying to e-mail. Mark, you've generalized into customer service, and I think that's more appropriate.

I'm proud of MANcheck customer service, although I'm sure we still stumble. But we've got a team of three people who look after site submissions, customer e-mails, webmaster e-mails, and they get stuff handled pretty quickly. It's all about keeping chargebacks down and keeping everyone happy.

And I tried tackling the customer service issue again in this thread: http://forums.gaywidewebmasters.com/...ead.php?t=9239 because I sounded off earlier about e-mail, and then, realized after going through my own inbox that I was a part of the problem.

Mark, I think that a lot of the problem is that many of us are just one-man or two-man operations and things pile up pretty quickly. In my case, I'm working full-time and trying to run four sites, and at the moment, my partner can't help me because of health issues. And then, there's the never-ending need to pump out more galleries, to stay on the top of pile, so you can sustain the momentum. It's never ending. But I hear you.

A while ago, I suggested it would be wonderful to have a resource you could visit to check out a sponsor, site, or supplier and see what other people have said about them. I think expanding this to include customer service concerns is an excellent idea. Whether it'll ever happen ... we're probably all too busy.

dzinerbear

[EonFilms_Rocky]

Mark,

You know form past experience (and I hope I am one of yoru exceptions), that I am very good at customer service issues with our products. Witht he one exception of the list you sent me, which was taken care of within 15 minutes of you reminding me that I hadn't done it.

:-)

Rocky

[Jasun]

YOu have no idea how terrified that I'll end up being one of those people that people complain about never getting back to them.

So.. I stay up late at night answering emails and flagging messages and stuff.

Drives people crazy, but there you go.

[DonMike]

I totally understand. One thing about Pittsburgh that was nice was that you often had great service no matter where you went, the grocery store, the post office, the places you ate at or shopped at. Here in LA the service industry is full of people who are just waiting for their big acting or modeling break and treat you with total contempt because it's your fault they are serving you food or taking your coupons. Except at my favorite restaurant in West Hollywood, Chippys, which is no longer there. I still mourn the closing of that fine eaterie. Best damn meatloaf I ever had in my life, and a grilled Salmon I would put up against Spagos anyday. I hope someone gives my favorite waitress a good job. Anyone who would disco with you while refilling your coffee deserves sainthood in my book.

But I digress...

[johnnyboy]

I'm stuck on the other side of the fence with this customer service issue, I have recently taken on a project and i have been emailing all of the current users of my service to get there feedback on how they feel about what service they are getting and what more i can do for them, it was a fairly short email straight to the point so not to be long and boring or spammy, but only about a dozen out of my first 200 bothered replying which really pissed me off as they are soon screaming that they cant get any help or support when they have problems but when you try to help they cant be arsed to even acknowledge you!!!

Sorry for the rant guys, just had to get it out of my system!!! Hope i have'nt sent you all to

[curiousbunny]

Yea that's why we praise chilihost for the great customer service! :gossip:

[basschick]

i got that email - i was planning to answer it but haven't had a chance. i only just got it, it's not like it's been weeks ;-)

but one thing i noticed is that it didn't look like a program email - the way the subject and from line looked, i almost threw your email away as spam.

I'm stuck on the other side of the fence with this customer service issue, I have recently taken on a project and i have been emailing all of the current users of my service to get there feedback on how they feel about what service they are getting and what more i can do for them, it was a fairly short email straight to the point so not to be long and boring or spammy, but only about a dozen out of my first 200 bothered replying which really pissed me off as they are soon screaming that they cant get any help or support when they have problems but when you try to help they cant be arsed to even acknowledge you!!!

Sorry for the rant guys, just had to get it out of my system!!! Hope i have'nt sent you all to

[IntenseCash.com]

Mark,

You know form past experience (and I hope I am one of yoru exceptions), that I am very good at customer service issues with our products. Witht he one exception of the list you sent me, which was taken care of within 15 minutes of you reminding me that I hadn't done it.

:-)

Rocky

You have always had great customer service so no worries there.

Mark

[gaybucks_chip]

I have to agree with BDBionic, I think much of the problem is that a lot of the people in this industry didn't start out with any business background and don't really "get it." They've probably never read Tom Peters or any of the other gurus who have written on the value of customer service to long-term profitability, and the ways of delivering it effectively and cost-effectively.

We've put a lot of effort into responsive customer service. When we re-launch our affiliate program, one of the key issues that we will be focusing on is customer service to affiliates, and we've hired a new person specifically to help support our affiliate requests. We're also beefing up our end-user response, adding a ticket system that automatically provides likely responses based on keywords in the email, and tracking for all emails to (hopefully) ensure they are promptly answered.

Yes it takes time, but we believe that in the long term, it will be worth it in building our brand with surfers and building loyalty with our affiliates.