I've not posted anything on this for a while because I've been working on my other blog. This one will be more personal from now on, with my gaming stuff appearing on Chaotic Good Gaming (which is still very much a work in progress at the moment).
There is one area of common ground, however, that is likely to appear on both sites: customer service (or, more likely, the lack of).
Given that I run a rather busy (under staffed/over worked) technical support department and have a rather significant amount of customer services experience and training, it's a topic that's rather close to home.
The first thing I have to include, when writing about customer service, is that it isn't hard to get it right... it really (really) isn't, it just requires a little effort and thought. That's not to say it's even easier to get it horribly wrong, of course.
There are several things you need to consider if you want to keep the majority of your customers happy. Communication, managing expectation and being realistic.
If
It doesn't matter how bad things are, if you are keeping in touch with your customer(s) and making sure they know what is happening and how you are dealing with their issue, you can easily avoid any angry confrontation. If you leave it until they are frustrated and have to ask you for an update... it's too late. For a prime example of how this should be done, just look at how the community managers for the Star Wars The Old Republic MMO attempt to keep everyone posted about issues during the beta and release, on both the forums and Twitter. Granted, the information flow will never be quite enough for some people, but it is fairly constant and, where possible, personal.
For an example of how not to do it, I will talk about my personal dealings with Rockstar Games technical support further down the page.
For an example of how not to do it, I will talk about my personal dealings with Rockstar Games technical support further down the page.
Managing expectation goes hand in hand with communication. While telling a customer that their issue will be resolved quickly may give you short term relief from their hounding... if, in reality, it is going to take longer, you are simply storing up problems for yourself further down the line. Be honest about timescales and allow for delays (especially when dealing with third parties). Which leads neatly to...
Be realistic! About timescales, costs and required resources... cutting corners only helps your short-term gain. And accept that some people will never be happy with the outcome, no matter how hard you try; but that's no excuse to deal with them any differently.
All in all, it's just seems like common sense to me... but so many companies get it wrong.
All in all, it's just seems like common sense to me... but so many companies get it wrong.
So, on to a little story about poor customer services. This is, in no way, the only time I've experienced poor customer services (trust me) but it is fairly recent and offers some excellent material to demonstrate that not to do:
Waaaay back in May this year, GamersGate were doing a deal on Bully: Scholarship Edition for the PC. Having played a little of this when the game was first released, I thought it would be a good idea to give it another try. Sadly, after downloading, installing and then launching the game it simply 'locked' on the loading page. A quick search of the Internet turned up a lot of people having the same issue (regardless of where they had bought it from) and no one seemed to have a solution. So, after testing a few different solutions of my own (compatibility settings, resolution changes and the obligatory uninstall/clean/reinstall) I decided to log a support ticket with Rockstar technical support. The original ticket, number 28709, was logged on Monday, May 30th. I didn't receive a response from Rockstar was eleven days later (9 if you only count "business" days) on Friday, the 10th of June. Already we're off to a bad start... eleven days before their first generic "have you tried these steps" reply?!
By this point, I'd actually already given up on the game and moved on to something else... but, as they had actually chosen to reply, I figured I'd at least see the technical call through. After attempting all the steps they had supplied without success, I then replied to the call on the 15th of June with my DXDiag and MSInfo files (requested as part of the first response).
The next reply from Rockstar was more prompt... the very next day. Excellent, I though, now we're in the process this should go pretty quickly. Sadly, however, yet another generic reply. Install DirectX 9c, Visual C++ 2008 redistribution and the .Net 4.0 framework. Great... hang on, I've already got these installed... surely you spotted that in the information you requested from the last ticket?! Regardless, I downloaded the packages and re-installed/repaired them just to be sure; I like to be able to say "Yes, I did that" and not just assume my installations are ok (I know how annoying that can be).
After contacting them just an hour later and explaining that the situation, and adding a number of other things I had already tried (in an attempt to avoid any further 'generic' responses), I received my next reply just 12 minutes later... and it appeared to be a personal one asking about other compatibility modes I had tried, and not a 'copy and paste' answer. So, eagerly, I replied explaining all of the different modes I had tried and sat waiting for "Paul C" to reply... but nothing came.
Sadly, at this stage, the team support failed. Having exhausted his list of generic questions, Paul appeared to have given up.
Disappointed that there didn't appear to be any solution, and without any help from Rockstar, there was little I could do but chalk it up to a bad experience.
Then, out of the blue nearly three months later I suddenly get another reply from a different member of their support team requesting further info. At this point, however, I was actually away on my honeymoon so didn't see it and wouldn't have been able to do anything about it if I'd wanted to and seven days after the request, they had closed the ticket because I hadn't responded!
This, however, was not the end. Five days after closing the ticket (it's now the 17th of September) I receive yet another email from Rockstar asking what I'd thought of their technical support. Given that it was now three and a half months after logging the initial ticket, you can imagine that my reply wasn't particularly positive (but entirely factual and honest... without resorting to any cheap shots or abuse),
A few hours after leaving my feedback I received yet another email from them... opening another ticket (99675) and 'defending' their support.
By this time I had completely rebuilt my PC with a new graphics card and a fresh install of Windows (ready for Battlefield 3 and Skyrim, obviously). So, at their request, I re-installed Bully and started again, posting the new information they had requested the very next day.
Two weeks later (*sigh*) I get a reply, only this time with some reasonably useful information... early versions of the game had issues with 64bit operating systems. Rockstar's suggestion, check the version number by checking the menu screen... which would be great if I could get passed the 'loading' screen (the reason I'd logged the ticket in the first place). Replying as such and requesting an alternative way to check the version number, I'm told to "hover over the EXE" to get the number... which doesn't work either. At this point, the new support member, Paul H, has obviously exhausted his ideas as he doesn't reply for another 11 days, and when he does, it's back to the generic cut and paste answers... DXDiag please? Sure. Another reply the following day for my MSInfo. Couple of days later... please install Direct X, C++ and the .Net 4 framework... *deep sigh*
By the time I'd replied to that email, I'd pretty much given up the will to live (at least in the world of Bully). It's now mid-November and if there was even the slightest spark of desire to play the game it has been well and truly destroyed by their technical support department... but perhaps that is their true purpose. After all, the cynic in my says, they've already got my money right?
Having been quite a fan of Rockstar, it certainly stings a little when you don't get the service you expect... long wait times, no explanation, etc...
I understand that supporting any PC product is going to be a big job, but Rockstar aren't new to this game... and with rumours of Bully 2 on the way once they've got Max Payne 3 out of the way, I can only hope their support department gets some serious investment.
Waaaay back in May this year, GamersGate were doing a deal on Bully: Scholarship Edition for the PC. Having played a little of this when the game was first released, I thought it would be a good idea to give it another try. Sadly, after downloading, installing and then launching the game it simply 'locked' on the loading page. A quick search of the Internet turned up a lot of people having the same issue (regardless of where they had bought it from) and no one seemed to have a solution. So, after testing a few different solutions of my own (compatibility settings, resolution changes and the obligatory uninstall/clean/reinstall) I decided to log a support ticket with Rockstar technical support. The original ticket, number 28709, was logged on Monday, May 30th. I didn't receive a response from Rockstar was eleven days later (9 if you only count "business" days) on Friday, the 10th of June. Already we're off to a bad start... eleven days before their first generic "have you tried these steps" reply?!
By this point, I'd actually already given up on the game and moved on to something else... but, as they had actually chosen to reply, I figured I'd at least see the technical call through. After attempting all the steps they had supplied without success, I then replied to the call on the 15th of June with my DXDiag and MSInfo files (requested as part of the first response).
The next reply from Rockstar was more prompt... the very next day. Excellent, I though, now we're in the process this should go pretty quickly. Sadly, however, yet another generic reply. Install DirectX 9c, Visual C++ 2008 redistribution and the .Net 4.0 framework. Great... hang on, I've already got these installed... surely you spotted that in the information you requested from the last ticket?! Regardless, I downloaded the packages and re-installed/repaired them just to be sure; I like to be able to say "Yes, I did that" and not just assume my installations are ok (I know how annoying that can be).
After contacting them just an hour later and explaining that the situation, and adding a number of other things I had already tried (in an attempt to avoid any further 'generic' responses), I received my next reply just 12 minutes later... and it appeared to be a personal one asking about other compatibility modes I had tried, and not a 'copy and paste' answer. So, eagerly, I replied explaining all of the different modes I had tried and sat waiting for "Paul C" to reply... but nothing came.
Sadly, at this stage, the team support failed. Having exhausted his list of generic questions, Paul appeared to have given up.
Disappointed that there didn't appear to be any solution, and without any help from Rockstar, there was little I could do but chalk it up to a bad experience.
Then, out of the blue nearly three months later I suddenly get another reply from a different member of their support team requesting further info. At this point, however, I was actually away on my honeymoon so didn't see it and wouldn't have been able to do anything about it if I'd wanted to and seven days after the request, they had closed the ticket because I hadn't responded!
This, however, was not the end. Five days after closing the ticket (it's now the 17th of September) I receive yet another email from Rockstar asking what I'd thought of their technical support. Given that it was now three and a half months after logging the initial ticket, you can imagine that my reply wasn't particularly positive (but entirely factual and honest... without resorting to any cheap shots or abuse),
A few hours after leaving my feedback I received yet another email from them... opening another ticket (99675) and 'defending' their support.
By this time I had completely rebuilt my PC with a new graphics card and a fresh install of Windows (ready for Battlefield 3 and Skyrim, obviously). So, at their request, I re-installed Bully and started again, posting the new information they had requested the very next day.
Two weeks later (*sigh*) I get a reply, only this time with some reasonably useful information... early versions of the game had issues with 64bit operating systems. Rockstar's suggestion, check the version number by checking the menu screen... which would be great if I could get passed the 'loading' screen (the reason I'd logged the ticket in the first place). Replying as such and requesting an alternative way to check the version number, I'm told to "hover over the EXE" to get the number... which doesn't work either. At this point, the new support member, Paul H, has obviously exhausted his ideas as he doesn't reply for another 11 days, and when he does, it's back to the generic cut and paste answers... DXDiag please? Sure. Another reply the following day for my MSInfo. Couple of days later... please install Direct X, C++ and the .Net 4 framework... *deep sigh*
By the time I'd replied to that email, I'd pretty much given up the will to live (at least in the world of Bully). It's now mid-November and if there was even the slightest spark of desire to play the game it has been well and truly destroyed by their technical support department... but perhaps that is their true purpose. After all, the cynic in my says, they've already got my money right?
Having been quite a fan of Rockstar, it certainly stings a little when you don't get the service you expect... long wait times, no explanation, etc...
I understand that supporting any PC product is going to be a big job, but Rockstar aren't new to this game... and with rumours of Bully 2 on the way once they've got Max Payne 3 out of the way, I can only hope their support department gets some serious investment.
