Almost every web hosting company will have pages and pages outlining their superior technical support policies and guidelines. Many will even go so far as to buy reviews praising their company trying to lure you in. While there may seem to be thousands of criteria about “good” technical support, there are only a few which are imperative.
How Knowledgeable Are They?
When you contact technical support, you expect an answer to your problem. Be wary of companies who forward you to FAQ pages, outside sources, or send you technical instructions which read like a technical manual for building the space shuttle. Good technical support personnel should be able to say, “Oh… This is your problem, and you fix it, by simply doing that. If that doesn’t work, call us immediately.”
Response Time
Anything longer than a twenty-four hour response time to your support request is too long. Look at it this way. Anything longer means that they have so many technical problems that it’s not worth the money you’re paying, or they don’t care enough to hire adequate technical support personnel.
If you have a problem, you don’t want to wait three to seven business days for an answer or help. For a business website that could mean thousands of dollars in lost revenues, not to mention the loss of potential customers.
Human Beings
When you call or email technical support you expect to have contact with a real person, especially when calling. A thirty minute electronic phone menu followed by a two hour wait time to speak with someone is a big indication of “bad” technical and customer support.
Another aspect of “live” technical support is who is actually answering the phones. If you call customer support in Illinois, you certainly don’t want to talk to a call center employee (with no technical knowledge) in India. So who you speak to is just as important as actually speaking to a human in a timely manner.
If you don’t have the three aspects of technical support listed above, chances are that you’re wasting your time, energy, and especially your money. Don’t settle on anything less than excellence.
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Really bad tech support
Submitted by Danyn on Sat, 01/17/2009 - 15:33.This what happened to me yesterday:
1. 16 minutes waiting (it was a free number)
2. directed to faq, which I have already read
3. got an answer which doesn't solve my question
4. got rephrased answer (like I'm stupid and don't understand English)
5. "I don't have permission to answer that question"
Than I hung up. Called back today in the morning, got another person on the phone and problem was solved in two minutes.
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