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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Aug 2002
    Posts
    163

    Christmas - An excuse for lousy service?

    Hello,

    I don't know about you but I'm a little bit annoyed by this whole Christmas thing

    In my opinion most companies use it as an excuse for their lousy service/support. I would like to know if anybody shares the same opinion. Maybe I'm a bit harsh but I'm working in Christmas and I expect reasonable response times from the companies I'm dealing with.

    Thanks

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Dec 2004
    Location
    New York
    Posts
    15
    For me , I already did my Christmas "spirit.time" but I agree with alot of hosts,sites etc that are having fun ...most of the people i know should really take this break because i know how hard they work ...im not saying everyone should but ...is not an excuse is just how alot of people get their breaks on Christmas* week so they should too... I advised people that this was happening to me too and they were fine with it.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    May 2003
    Location
    Kirkland, WA
    Posts
    4,448

    Re: Christmas - An excuse for lousy service?

    Originally posted by ferzan
    Hello,

    I don't know about you but I'm a little bit annoyed by this whole Christmas thing
    Do you celebrate christmas?


    In my opinion most companies use it as an excuse for their lousy service/support. I would like to know if anybody shares the same opinion.


    Christmas is the one day a year that really should be strictly family. I'm sure whatever religion you celebrate you have those times too...some religions have those times every weekend at sundown, etc....

    If you do celebrate christmas, I apologize, you're a dedicated worker. Otherwise, I think you're being very disrespectful in general to those who do.

    Now I'm not saying that they should shutdown service, however "lousy service" is to be expected. As long as the servers stay up, and emergency issues are taken care of, what's the problem?


    Maybe I'm a bit harsh but I'm working in Christmas and I expect reasonable response times from the companies I'm dealing with.


    Is it just another day to you? or do you celebrate it?

    Honestly, I'm tired of all these folks who insist that they are working normal shifts on christmas...IT'S CHRISTMAS, chill. Only thing that should be operative on christmas is emergency support, all server monitoring/system administration, etc. Anything else, delayed response times should be 100% expected.

    Sure this is a 24/7 business. But I'm sorry, "How do I install phpBB?" sent in at 8am on christmas morning can wait. All of our clients received good service on christmas day just like any other day, but none of them pushed questions that weren't neccessary.
    Nick Nelson
    Sr. Director & GM, VAS
    Demand Media
    425.298.2282 nn@demandmedia.com

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Oct 2002
    Location
    /roof/ledge
    Posts
    28,088
    How would you feel about a mySQL problem (causing a forum to fail) where the user could not restore a database? I had a ticket in from around 6PM Christmas day, and it wasn't answered for 25 hours. Once answered, the fix was insufficient, and it's now waiting an additional 18+ hours (and counting).

    I managed to find a workaround to restore the part that had a problem, but this is more than a little "Christmas break", I felt. I'm still being patient, due to this host's reputation, but wanted to point out that hosting support shouldn't take a holiday....

    I won't say what host, because it's not important to the issue, and I'm otherwise satisfied with them.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    May 2003
    Location
    Kirkland, WA
    Posts
    4,448
    Originally posted by bear
    How would you feel about a mySQL problem (causing a forum to fail) where the user could not restore a database? I had a ticket in from around 6PM Christmas day, and it wasn't answered for 25 hours. Once answered, the fix was insufficient, and it's now waiting an additional 18+ hours (and counting).

    I managed to find a workaround to restore the part that had a problem, but this is more than a little "Christmas break", I felt. I'm still being patient, due to this host's reputation, but wanted to point out that hosting support shouldn't take a holiday....

    I won't say what host, because it's not important to the issue, and I'm otherwise satisfied with them.
    Of course this isn't acceptable. However what the poster was talking about wasn't the same...at least he didn't clarify, his post simply came off as someone who doesn't celebrate christmas showing no respect.

    Like I said, sysadmins...no break, 100% on shift...emergency support...100% effective....normal "how do I create a mailman list?" not a priority.
    Nick Nelson
    Sr. Director & GM, VAS
    Demand Media
    425.298.2282 nn@demandmedia.com

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Mar 2004
    Location
    Pennsylvania, U.S.A.
    Posts
    1,585
    Although I don't celebrate Christmas you got to understand that Christmas is a very religious holiday. As nickn said for most people it is the one day a year that is for family. Just think about the support techs that have to work on Christmas and other holidays. If they work at home, it isn't that bad, but those that work at the office miss out on extra family time.

    Nick I agree with you 100%, a e-mail that is sent Chirstmas morning about how to install phpBB or something like that could wait a few hours.

    So if you complain that the service is bad on Chirstmas, why don't you go into the employee's shoes and wonder how it would be if you had to work on a holiday, away from family. Think about it and then maybe you won't complain and then maybe you will understand that everyone deserves a break.
    Golden Globe Hosting | It's Time To Get Online.
    www.goldenglobehosting.com
    info@goldenglobehosting.com

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Aug 2001
    Posts
    261
    "My people" had a failing fan replaced Dec 25. Just because it's a calendar holiday doesn't mean things should be let go. We're on call all hours, every day.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    May 2003
    Location
    Kirkland, WA
    Posts
    4,448
    Originally posted by Rax
    "My people" had a failing fan replaced Dec 25. Just because it's a calendar holiday doesn't mean things should be let go. We're on call all hours, every day.
    Again, a failing fan is different than lousy service.
    Nick Nelson
    Sr. Director & GM, VAS
    Demand Media
    425.298.2282 nn@demandmedia.com

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Nov 2003
    Posts
    1,093
    Agree with nickn, while I had my mobile on all day receiving ticket summaries and so forth, there's no way I could possibly work a proper shift on christmas day. Family comes before anything, and in our busy lives it's important that at least one special day a year is spent with them
    ManageMyServices was sold by me in September 2009. I no longer have any affiliation with this company.

  10. #10
    That's being a tad harsh . Sure, a webhost probably has alot fewer people tending to problems around christmas which would come up as what you would call lousy service. As the others said, questions asking how to forward emails isn't a priority. Of course, if you were to say "Is Christmas an excuse for server downtime and other failures?" then I think we can agree with you. In vivehosting's case, I luckily have a few guys who don't celebrate christmas to stick around and keep things intact, although questions weren't going to be answered as quickly as usual, things ran smoothly.
    viveHosting
    http://www.vivehosting.com
    Affordable Hosting, Reliable Service

  11. #11
    In my opinion, service should be expected by what is advertised. If your webhost advertises 24x7 service, but around the holidays, they send an email stating "Holiday Hours", I find this acceptable. However, if you have received no such notice and your host advertises 24x7 service, then it simply doesn't matter what day it is.

    I personally celebrate Christmas, but accept the fact that not everyone does, therefore, Christmas needs to be treated like any other day unless stated otherwise. We notify our customers of any change in hours...including "holiday hours".

    So with that said, I agree with Nickn to some degree. If you have been told that holiday hours are in effect, then you should expect some decline in response times and support hours. However, if you have been told that the holidays will not affect service, then I think you have a case.
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  12. #12
    Join Date
    Aug 2004
    Posts
    1,461
    I do not celebrate christmas because I have no kids etc. (I'm just 22) and am not very religious. Therefore I also work on the holidays.

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Sep 2002
    Posts
    1,585
    Generally I do not tolerate hosts that promise 24/7 support and do not provide it, but there are only 2 exceptions I make - Christmas, and Easter. I should point out that one company I used, Northtrex, still operated support as usual and to a high standard on Christmas day. they weren't helpful, but they tried.

  14. #14
    Comes down to this...just because one is Christian (and I am) and I celebrate Christmas, that does not mean your clients are and do. A company, regardless of size, needs to make allowances for that.

    This can include temp staffing for the holiday, regulating support to emergency tickets only (server down, site down stuff, not "hey my email doesn't work because I'm a moron and don't know how to use Outlook!" types), and clearly posting this on your site or helpdesk.

    Not only did I handle support on Xmas...I handled it on my birthday as well (day after.. ).

  15. #15
    Nothing is really an excuse for horrible customer service. Business is business. Some people have a difficult time distinguishing between the two.

  16. #16
    of course it's all about marketing!

    on the other hand, good company has a chance to make good Christmas offer.

    =)

  17. #17
    Join Date
    Nov 2000
    Posts
    3,046
    This is why I stay out of the crazy Internet market. Business was closed on Christmas. I have a guy that is willing to be on call on Christmas for emergency's but other then that we have nothing going on. Fortunately, since 99% of my customers are local businesses, they don't really care too much about it, since they are closed up as well.

    And, of course, Christmas went by without so much as a single problem... saving me that aweful double-time and 1/2 .

  18. #18
    very busy in christmas.

  19. #19
    Join Date
    Sep 2003
    Posts
    3,857
    Wouldn't say an excuse for lousy service. You need to plan well ahead for xmas. Everything went smoothly however we received a lot of orders just after xmas. Support staff worked throughout xmas, no problems at all.

    I also did a pilot for live 24x7 sales chat to see if it was worth it (xmas seemed the best time to test such a thing).


    Rameen

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