Customer service

jsluder · Post by **jsluder** » Fri Mar 16, 2007 4:04 pm

When you email a question to an online retailer's customer service email address, how long do you wait before deciding they aren't going to answer (because they either did not receive the email or are just blowing you off)?

Joseph E. Smith · Post by **Joseph E. Smith** » Fri Mar 16, 2007 4:13 pm

!-3 days, I'm learning how to be patient.

hyldemoer · Post by **hyldemoer** » Fri Mar 16, 2007 4:34 pm

If I'm going to get a reply (some businesses have blown off my e-mail.) I've been getting the reply usually by one business day, sometimes up to 3 business days.

The last time I e-mailed to a customer service was about the CD of music not being in my issue of the latest copy of "Sing Out" magazine. I sent the e-mail late last Sat. night. My e-mail reply came Monday morning. The CD came in the mail today.

I always hint at the reason why I'm e-mailing in the subject line of the e-mail.

pipersgrip · Post by **pipersgrip** » Fri Mar 16, 2007 4:48 pm

if they are good, then 1-3 days.

aderyn_du · Post by **aderyn_du** » Fri Mar 16, 2007 4:57 pm

<-- Customer Service Manager

A good company will answer within 1-3 business days. Smaller companies really shouldn't take longer than 1 business day.

djm · Post by **djm** » Fri Mar 16, 2007 5:06 pm

Small companies are less likely to check their email all that often (unless they are a 100% web-based business). Larger companies can take up to a week to find someone who can actually answer your question. I wait a week just to give people the benefit of the doubt.

djm

aderyn_du · Post by **aderyn_du** » Fri Mar 16, 2007 6:01 pm

djm wrote:Small companies are less likely to check their email all that often (unless they are a 100% web-based business). Larger companies can take up to a week to find someone who can actually answer your question. I wait a week just to give people the benefit of the doubt.

djm

Ah...true, true. I work for a 100% web-based business, so I tend to think in those terms.

jsluder · Post by **jsluder** » Sat Mar 17, 2007 10:26 am

Thanks for the replies. It's been 3 days since I sent emails to 2 different online retailers (both of which also have brick-and-mortar stores), so I guess I'll give them a few more days.

I hate waiting.

izzarina · Post by **izzarina** » Sat Mar 17, 2007 10:28 am

jsluder wrote:I hate waiting.

Patience is a virtue, you know.

jsluder · Post by **jsluder** » Sat Mar 17, 2007 10:33 am

izzarina wrote:
jsluder wrote:I hate waiting.
Patience is a virtue, you know.

It can also be a curse. I have occasionally been too patient with people, and been burned as a result. Seems more of a balancing act to me: impatient vs doormat.

izzarina · Post by **izzarina** » Sat Mar 17, 2007 10:34 am

jsluder wrote:
izzarina wrote:
jsluder wrote:I hate waiting.
Patience is a virtue, you know.
It can also be a curse. I have occasionally been too patient with people, and been burned as a result. Seems more of a balancing act to me: impatient vs doormat.

I'm not criticizing you in your lack of patience...goodness knows I have absolutely none myself anyway. I'm just reminding you that it's virtuous

jsluder · Post by **jsluder** » Sat Mar 17, 2007 10:37 am

izzarina wrote:
jsluder wrote:
izzarina wrote: Patience is a virtue, you know.
It can also be a curse. I have occasionally been too patient with people, and been burned as a result. Seems more of a balancing act to me: impatient vs doormat.
I'm not criticizing you in your lack of patience...goodness knows I have absolutely none myself anyway. I'm just reminding you that it's virtuous

No worries, Izz. I didn't take it as criticism at all.

Now, why haven't they replied to my friggin' emails?

Innocent Bystander · Post by **Innocent Bystander** » Sat Mar 17, 2007 12:32 pm

It depends to whom the email is addressed. If it's to a group, such as "ITsupport@BigCompany.com" then somebody ought to have fielded it. If it's to an individual, then more slack is required.
I get a lot of emails from my customers, and they know (or they SHOULD know) that I spend a week in the office and a week out at sites. If they're lucky, they have the right week, and I'll respond immediately. If not, I won't see it for a week.

missy · Post by **missy** » Sat Mar 17, 2007 1:00 pm

as someone who does "customer support" for our system, I agree it all depends on how contact is initiated.

If someone calls me (especially if they leave a message on my answering machine) it may be several days before I get it. I'm all around the city, so may not be at my desk, and may or may not call in and see if there's messages.
If someone tries to "sametime" (kinda like instant messager) me, I will probably tell them to send it as a feedback. I often can't take time at that exact second to respond to them because I'm in the middle of something else.
If someone emails me, I'll probably get to it that day - unless I'm on vacation.
But we have a "feedback" system that goes into a special que for us. That is the accepted way of contacting us, and one of the three of us will access that account at least once every half hour during US business times. We also have someone monitoring it 24/7 for emergencies (when the servers go down).

What I'm trying to say is if there is an "official" contact us process in place, it's always best to use that. You may think you'll get more personal attention by trying to circumvent that, but you may wind up having your communication go into the ozone and never be found.

gonzo914 · Post by **gonzo914** » Sat Mar 17, 2007 8:54 pm

I never email businesses. If I did that, I would have to let them past my email filter. I find that if I root around a little, I can usually find a phone number, and if I'm not willing to spend the extra time, then I'm not pissed off enough yet.

And if the company has really pissed me off, I send a real letter to everyone in the corporate offices for whom I can find an address. Businesses know that if you are mad enough to sit down and write a letter, you are on the verge of, at best, leaving them as a customer and at worst, calling your state's attorney general consumer protection division. I have received responses from the CEO's offices doing that, and I usually get a little extra for my trouble.

On a related note, how long do you put up with low-bid, Indian sweat shop customer service before you ask to be transferred back to someone in your own country? And how much crap do you put up with from the untrained customer service droid who is working from a script before you ask for a supervisor? For me, the answer is "about 45 seconds."

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