I just got off the phone with a prospective client… oh, wait, now they ARE a client. They are having problems with their web host providers who have essentially taken their website captive. Oddly enough, the host provider is not doing anything nefarious, but often times inaction is just as bad as a corrupt action.
For three weeks my new client has been calling, emailing, leaving voice mails and sending faxes, trying to get the host company to make a few minor textual changes on the web site. Three weeks! Of course, this is one of those companies that don’t provide FTP access to their client so the client has absolutely no way of getting in and making the changes themselves.
I pride myself on the customer service we provide our clients, so I really don’t understand when people can’t get things done in a quick and timely manner. I really don’t get companies that don’t allow their clients easy access to their representatives.
As I started working on setting the client up with a new host and transferring the data we have access to, the web host finally began making changes. But still they have yet to call her back or communicate with her in any way. That’s just bad, bad, bad.
How hard is it to reply to an email? How hard is it to pick up the phone and call the client? These things are not hard at all, but for some reason they are typical with web host providers. I’ve gone through probably a dozen web hosts over the past 8 years and have found only a few that provided any kind of quality customer service.
Customer service should be an absolute priority for any company. I’m loyal to any company that I feel is loyal to me, and that loyalty is displayed in good customer service.
Got any customer service horror stories you want to share? Speak up below.