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Author Topic: companies fail to respond to web inquiries?  (Read 1011 times)

KD3PC

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companies fail to respond to web inquiries?
« on: April 21, 2021, 08:46:33 AM »

I have sent web based forms to several companies, (american based ham radio) several times in the past month and even more to non-ham radio companies and have yet to get a reply of any kind.  Why have a web based form that is then lost/forgotten or ignored? 

I have legit questions and prefer to hear from the company directly.
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W9FIB

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Re: companies fail to respond to web inquiries?
« Reply #1 on: April 21, 2021, 08:59:20 AM »

The problem is wide spread over many companies and types of companies. Most companies put the form there to make you think they are customer oriented. But like the recent pizza commercial, "an unanswered call is no call at all". Same with those forms. If ignored, its like it never happened.
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73, Stan
Travelling the world one signal at a time.

N6MST

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Re: companies fail to respond to web inquiries?
« Reply #2 on: April 21, 2021, 09:24:46 AM »

I have legit questions and prefer to hear from the company directly.

I would say you got your answers: move along, we are not interested in you as a customer.

At that point I would do exactly as they suggest.
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K7LZR

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Re: companies fail to respond to web inquiries?
« Reply #3 on: April 21, 2021, 10:51:46 AM »

I run a small antenna company and we NEVER treat our customers that way.  Without them we would have no company. I personally answer email messages from our contact form several times each day and also nights and weekends if needed.

What irritates me just as much is the practice of many utility companies to farm out their customer service to some call center instead of being responsible and caring enough to do it themselves. Locally, our natural gas & power companies haven't had physical offices & in-person pay points for years. Long gone are the days when you could pay your bill in person and ask something if needed. Now they're just cheap & lazy and would rather pay somebody else to deal with you. Sad, really.
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KS2G

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Re: companies fail to respond to web inquiries?
« Reply #4 on: April 21, 2021, 03:55:39 PM »

Quote from: KD3PC link=topic=133294.msg1225398#msg1225398 date=1619019993
I have legit questions and prefer to hear from the company directly.
[/quote

Try "Old Technology" -- call them on the telephone.
 ;)
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WW5F

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Re: companies fail to respond to web inquiries?
« Reply #5 on: April 22, 2021, 04:56:08 AM »

What question did you ask?

Maybe someone read your question, rolled their eyes and deleted it.

Did you look elsewhere for the answer to that question before going straight to them?
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K7JQ

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Re: companies fail to respond to web inquiries?
« Reply #6 on: April 22, 2021, 09:16:10 AM »

What question did you ask?

Maybe someone read your question, rolled their eyes and deleted it.

Did you look elsewhere for the answer to that question before going straight to them?

Why look elsewhere if it's a product-specific question? If they indeed "rolled their eyes and deleted it", you don't want to deal with them. That's probably how they will deal with you after the purchase.
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WW5F

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Re: companies fail to respond to web inquiries?
« Reply #7 on: April 22, 2021, 11:52:02 AM »

What question did you ask?

Maybe someone read your question, rolled their eyes and deleted it.

Did you look elsewhere for the answer to that question before going straight to them?

Why look elsewhere if it's a product-specific question? If they indeed "rolled their eyes and deleted it", you don't want to deal with them. That's probably how they will deal with you after the purchase.

Well, having been in the customer service industry for many years, I got tired of people asking me the same very simple (and relevant) questions over and over and over again even though I couldn't make it any easier for them to find the "crystal clear answer" to that question on their own if they had only put just the smallest amount of effort on their own into looking for it.  Many times, it took more effort on their part to track me down and ask me the question than if they had just looked a little bit on their own.

People don't realize how tiring it is for people to take "only a few minutes of my time" and how many other more urgent tasks I'm working on and how much patience it takes to drop everything and do for what turns out to be a total waste of my time in the end.  People don't realize how frustrating that can be.  Especially when you have to stay late to finish what you *have* to do before you go home because you wasted so much time telling people to look at the darn web page or RTFM, the answer's there!  And then being told the reason they called you is so they don't have to look at the web page or read the manual.

The minutes catering to such people add up and become overwhelming at times.  And towards the end, I sometimes purposely ignored requests until I finished what I was doing, which was more important because if I didn't do it, the complaints from others would increase exponentially.  So I had less complaints in the long run if I just simply ignored some people.

That's why I'm curious what the question was.  And I agree 100%  If you don't get an answer to your question, you should move on and never buy that product ever again.  Maybe they don't want you as a customer any way.

Yes, we are a very demanding people, but there are limits.  And sometimes you wake up and realize you don't get paid enough to cater to some people.  It's just not worth it.  This is the world we live in today.

Edit:  Another possibility is NONE of his web page form requests were *actually* sent because of a simple mistake on his part.
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KD3PC

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Re: companies fail to respond to web inquiries?
« Reply #8 on: April 22, 2021, 02:49:35 PM »

I received on screen confirmations after submitting.  My only indication that I successfully provided the expected information in a format that the web page could handle.

My questions were very specific on what "added software" was needed or provided to actually work new digital modes using their latest hardware.

As a current Flex user, I found that my 1500 and 3000 needed virtual audio cables, virtual serial port emulator and so on to do digital modes and while some were purchased product others were public domain.  All had their quirks and support issues.  Yet without them, the Flex wass not as useful as it could/should be.  The new Flex require DAX and other software.

Other SDR radios still require an outboard sound card assembly and appropriate software in order to gain digital mode functions.

The last question was whether and when the radio needed to be connected to a PC that was connected to the internet.  This for a radio designed to be portable and stand alone.

hope this helps
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K7JQ

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Re: companies fail to respond to web inquiries?
« Reply #9 on: April 22, 2021, 03:39:39 PM »

If one's job is in customer service, and the website has a form to submit questions about a product that your company sells, then maybe you should be in some other line of work if the questions are a waste of time, and you get tired of answering or ignoring them, no matter how simple they may be.
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WW5F

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Re: companies fail to respond to web inquiries?
« Reply #10 on: April 22, 2021, 04:14:52 PM »

@KD3PC - another one of your problems may be that your questions are pretty broad.  They're not as "specific" as you think.  Even when I read them, the first thing that pops into my head is, well, what exactly are you trying to do?  There's a lot of software, both free and pay, that will do a lot of different things with radios in a lot of different ways.  For example, what "specific" software is needed to run the latest digital modes?  Off the top of my head, there are now three software packages that will do FT8.  And FT8 is not the only "latest digital mode."  Have you looked at their manuals?  You may key in on something more specific that'll answer some questions for you.  Have you looked at their web sites and found what kind of software/drivers are available for the radio you're looking at and what operating systems they are for?  That, too, may answer some questions for you.  Same types of things for radios that are designed to be portable and stand alone--those words alone imply they don't need the internet.  On the other hand, if you're going to hook a computer to them and operate FT8, you'll need accurate time.  But there are also ways to get accurate time with or without the internet.  The problem from their end is that they have a very low chance of answering your question accurately and then you'll be even more frustrated.  They know this and are also trying not to frustrate you.  You may have better luck talking to some of your local friends, seeing what they're doing and how they're doing it.  That may also lead you to ask some more "specific" questions about a particular radio.

@K7JQ, I never had a "customer service only" job in my life.  My jobs in computers/communications were both technical (install/operate/maintain) AND customer service in between intalling, operating and maintaining.  The only "customer service only" jobs I know of are associated with large companies, like phone carriers and internet service providers.  They call it "level 1" call center service.  I would venture to say it would be difficult to find a Ham Radio only company that has a position or positions of "only providing customer service."  And, yes, if that's all you do and you don't do it well, or don't want to do it any more, then, yes, it's time for you to move on to something else.  I moved on from the computer/communications business 13 years ago mainly because of some of the impossible customer service predicaments I was put in.

Just providing my perspective.  It can be a very difficult thing to "GIVE" everything to anybody who "DEMANDS" everything be handed to them without any effort on their part.  There has to be some effort from both parties if there's going to be an effective exchange of useful information.  Been there.  Done that.  Moved on.
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W9IQ

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Re: companies fail to respond to web inquiries?
« Reply #11 on: April 22, 2021, 04:31:34 PM »

The problem from their end is that they have a very low chance of answering your question accurately and then you'll be even more frustrated.  They know this and are also trying not to frustrate you. 

Ignore a customer so as to not frustrate them? See how well that worked?

Perhaps they could ask a question in return if they are uncertain? There is no excuse for ignoring a potential customer unless you are trying to dissipate that potential. It appears they are highly skilled at that.

- Glenn W9IQ
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- Glenn W9IQ

God runs electromagnetics on Monday, Wednesday and Friday by the wave theory and the devil runs it on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday by the Quantum theory.

WW5F

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Re: companies fail to respond to web inquiries?
« Reply #12 on: April 23, 2021, 06:14:16 AM »

The problem from their end is that they have a very low chance of answering your question accurately and then you'll be even more frustrated.  They know this and are also trying not to frustrate you. 

Ignore a customer so as to not frustrate them? See how well that worked?

Perhaps they could ask a question in return if they are uncertain? There is no excuse for ignoring a potential customer unless you are trying to dissipate that potential. It appears they are highly skilled at that.

- Glenn W9IQ

@W9IQ - See how well that worked?  Well, it depends on your perspective, I guess.  We don't see the other side of this particular issue.  I've been on the other side of this issue.  I left my profession because of this particular issue.  Nobody can spend a life time in a profession doing this particular issue.  Those in this particular profession don't last long because they can't last long.  It's always an entry-level position.  It's always "do what you gotta do and then get outta there."  People are people.  And it seems a growing number of customers think they're the center of the universe because they still have the $100 or $1,000 or $5,000, or they've already spent the $100 or $1,000 or $5,000.

I see you are a prolific poster in this forum and the other popular ham forum.  You don't see the kinds of questions that are asked over and over and over?

And, I'm guessing, you've never been in a position to serve customers?  And you've never been in a position to pay someone who serves the customers of your business?  And you've never had to evaluate if your "customer service employee" actually has a return on investment?

https://christinekane.com/6-kinds-of-clients-that-arent-worth-the-money/
https://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/which-customers-are-worth-keeping-and-which-ones-arent-managerial-uses-of-clv/
https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/297622
https://hyken.com/customer-experience-2/customers-arent-worth-business/
http://www.sbnonline.com/article/know-customers-arent-worth/
https://www.joepaduda.com/2009/11/24/some_customers/
https://www.pinterest.com/kimberlycwest5/some-people-arent-worth-your-time/

It may look like I'm saying something bad about KD3PC but I'm not, because I still don't know and still don't have a majority of the specifics.  KD3PC, I'm still assuming you're a kind and honest individual trying to get some real answers to what you view as perfectly relevant questions.  But what you may not realize is that you may be unintentionally being thrown into a group of people where you don't belong.  That's just a fact of life today.  I'm just looking at possibilities from the other side.  Maybe the businesses he's trying to get answers from is going straight to the owner and the owner is too busy trying to fix a lot of other things in his or her business (current example:  MFJ -- it's patently obvious to me MFJ is still struggling through a complete restructure) before trying to answer questions being thrown at him or her.  Maybe some of these companies are getting an avalanche of questions and there's just no time to answer them all in a timely manner.  Everybody needs *some* sleep every night.  Maybe, and I'm not accusing KD3PC of this, maybe he's recognized as "one of those customers" that just cannot be satisfied no matter what you do because you've done everything you can do in the past with this customer and there's just no satisfying him or her so there's no point in even trying any more.

Maybe maybe maybe...

It seems we, as a society, are getting more and more frustrated because we, as a society, are losing empathy.  Seen *anything* in the news lately?  I'm just trying to point out there are valid excuses/reasons for ignoring a potential customer.

KD3PC, I sincerely wish you good luck.
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W9FIB

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Re: companies fail to respond to web inquiries?
« Reply #13 on: April 23, 2021, 08:04:01 AM »

Seems to me if your in the customer service business that a customer is an individual who is seeking information/product help. Now just because a whole bunch of individuals (none of which are aware of any other individuals' similar questions) ask the same thing; don't they deserve a proper answer without the attitude that you answer the same thing 1000 times to 1000 individuals and griping that your job is so stressful?

Nothing says "I don't care" or "I hate this job" more than blasting individuals or ignoring them just because they are not the only individual asking a similar question. And when a representative of a company portrays such an attitude, that can add up to lost sales. Also it does disservice to the company as people will come to public places like this and complain about the bad service they received. Which in turn will drive away potential customers that may have looked at your business. More lost sales.

How many people you decide "are not worth my time because I made it so easy to get the information" will have a direct negative effect on sales over time. You do realize just because the info is easy for you to find in your own website does not mean that everyone else can find it that easy. And you do realize that a lost customer is very difficult to get back no matter how much "good effort" you try after you blew the individual off.

Customer service either serves each and every individual in a timely fashion or it is not customer service. Such a simple concept all too many people in business forget. But the lost customer never forgets.
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73, Stan
Travelling the world one signal at a time.

K7JQ

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Re: companies fail to respond to web inquiries?
« Reply #14 on: April 23, 2021, 08:24:36 AM »

A few months ago, I went on a company's website "contact us" page with a couple of very legitimate questions about a (expensive) ham radio product. After a couple weeks of no response, I re-sent my questions to their general email address. To date, still no response. I thought about a landline call, but thought "screw it...if they don't want my money, I'll buy elsewhere". They're off my list. 

A business that doesn't see the value in servicing its customers after the sale, or potential customers before the sale, won't last very long. And shouldn't be in business in the first place. The same thing applies to rude treatment or responses to customer queries, no matter how simple they seem to be. Of course, the only exception is if the customer is rude or unreasonable in their demands, and all attempts to satisfy them is exhausted. Those people do exist, and having them as a customer just isn't worth it.

Remember, nothing happens until the cash register rings ;).

Bob K7JQ
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