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12-29-2008, 05:02 PM #1Disabled
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After a tech support advisor helped me with my problem on heart internet, I replied to them "Thank you and Happy Christmas".
BUT!
I got NO reply. Surelly a little reply saying Happy Christmas back would not have hurt. I mean after im paying them loads of money per month I would appretiate a bit of politness.
Options:
Maybe they're very busy? Well they should have an automated Happy Christmas reply system.
Maybe the technition doesn't celebrate Christmas? Well maybe a Happy Holiday reply would of done ok.
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12-29-2008, 05:26 PM #2Web Hosting Master
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i dont think a little christmas wishes would have hurt anyone, even not if they dont celebrate it; but i do not see what it has to do with politeness or something you pay for; you pay for technical support, that is what you got; if you want a social chat you better get over here
p/s Merry Christmas!
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12-29-2008, 05:28 PM #3Aspiring Evangelist
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If it was sent into a support system they may have not responded to it as its not a support issue?
As you said maybe they didnt have time to reply.
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12-29-2008, 05:29 PM #4Junior Guru Wannabe
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Would you be willing to trade uptime for them wishing you happy holidays?
I think I speak for everyone who work{s,ed} in technical support when I say we're busy people and don't like working holidays. We appreciate your well wishes, and if we have time, we will be happy to respond to them.
If you send us presents, we'll send back a thank you or give you a credit in your services, we appreciate it.
But really we're busy people, and automating a happy holidays response would be (1) ridiculous; (2) costly; (3) not very personal.
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12-29-2008, 05:36 PM #5Web Hosting Master
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Maybe he just had a lot on his mind. People forget things. Just forget about it.
Have a Happy New Year!
All the best,
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12-29-2008, 05:37 PM #6Web Hosting Master
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Most likely due to the holidays they are under staffed and working around the clock, perhaps didn't have time to respond? There is nothing rude about that. There could be many reasons for no response.
Happy holidays and a happy new year!
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12-29-2008, 05:45 PM #7
I don't think replying back would affect their uptime - it's simply a politeness issue. Polite or not, your perception of their support diminished because of their non reply. I think if I wished someone Merry Christmas in person and they didn't response, it would carry more weight than some remote technician at a your host. There are any number of scenarios that could have played out here to cause them not to respond to your well wishes.
Have a Great New Year
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12-29-2008, 06:01 PM #8Web Hosting Evangelist
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lol, If only all tech support had to worry about was wishing people a happy christmas
I barely ever reply to tickets once the issue is solved.
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12-29-2008, 06:13 PM #9Junior Guru
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Not everyone celebrates a holiday this time of year, it is also polite to remember that not everyone celebrates what you do.
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12-29-2008, 06:16 PM #10Disabled
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Don't be offended. We're coming up on news years and most providers will be on a skeleton staff. The tech's are probably currently being over worked and are already stressed out that there working on a holiday.
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12-29-2008, 06:23 PM #11Web Hosting Master
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I love Christmas, but if someone wrote to me and said "Thank you and Happy Christmas", I'm not sure I would reply back with a "Merry Christmas".
I think of "Thank you and Happy Christmas" as meaning: 'Thank you, my solution is solved, and have a Merry Christmas!' Is a reply needed?
I hate to defend the tech without knowing more, but that's my take! It sounds like he didn't know a response was expected.
-mike
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12-29-2008, 06:26 PM #12Web Hosting Master
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I can't stand when customers reply to tickets just to say "thank you" or "all set". All it does is take up more of my time to re-close the ticket. Tech people appreciate appreciation, but please, don't reopen a ticket just to say thank you, it really irritates us after awhile
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12-29-2008, 06:39 PM #13Junior Guru
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I love Christmas, but if someone wrote to me and said "Thank you and Happy Christmas", I'm not sure I would reply back with a "Merry Christmas".
I think of "Thank you and Happy Christmas" as meaning: 'Thank you, my solution is solved, and have a Merry Christmas!' Is a reply needed?
I hate to defend the tech without knowing more, but that's my take! It sounds like he didn't know a response was expected.
-mike
I agree with Mike. I'm thinking the tech didn't think you were expecting a response.
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12-29-2008, 09:09 PM #14Retired Moderator
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I can't stand when customers reply to tickets just to say "thank you" or "all set". All it does is take up more of my time to re-close the ticket. Tech people appreciate appreciation, but please, don't reopen a ticket just to say thank you, it really irritates us after awhile
Some of us (customers) were educated to do some things in certain ways. When you receive something, you must say "Thank you!". If I don't, I often think bad of myself, so I usually make a point of saying thank you in most instances.
I don't usually expect a reply though, if the message/reply I've received had a proper ending in the first place.
Yes, it costs you a bit of time to re-close the ticket (assuming it was closed in the first place), but it also took the customer time (arguably more) to write. You can't "appreciate appreciation" and be irritated by a "Thank you!" message. In that instance at least, you don't appreciate it.
Back to the OP's issue, yes, when you're wished something it's polite to reply in kind, even more so during holidays. Otherwise it's like in those movies where one tells the partner "I love you!" and the other party says nothing, or says "Thank you!".
Hmm... Looks like "Thank you!" can indeed be irritating in some situations.
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12-29-2008, 09:15 PM #15Web Hosting Master
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While I agree with you completely, at the end of the day, technical support staff are there to provide technical support. Even some of the most respected techs are not known for a fuzzy and welcoming approach, since its the technical and troubleshooting ability which really counts.
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12-29-2008, 11:18 PM #16Web Hosting Guru
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When I first read the title of this thread I thought that the op would have something serious to complain about. There are not many people who would actually take their time and post on a forum when a host did not wish them happy holidays. As others said I do not see any reason for you to be really upset about it unless support next time does not actually help you in a technical issue.
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12-29-2008, 11:19 PM #17Retired Moderator
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It's not rude per se, but I don't see the harm in the technician replying back to that. It does build customer relations, but I don't think it should be an expectation. It's just a nice gesture in the end.
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12-29-2008, 11:55 PM #18Retired Moderator
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sorry if this sounds rude, but are you having a laugh or something?
Imagine this, its Christmas time and you are up to your eyes trying to sort some technical issues, you are also getting a lot of grief from home cause you are working, maybe you are the owner of a company and no one will do support so you are having to login from home. On top of that you are about to launch a massive discount for the new year and are busily making sure your shared hosting environment is up to the task..
take any of that, your host is likely very busy and/or very tired
I know i am and had to put off a lot of things today due to exhaustion showing as being sick.
I can see why you would like the host to respond to it, but is it really worth it to come on here and post it?? i really doubt it
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12-31-2008, 04:42 AM #19Web Hosting Master
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It doesn't seem like something that warrants a response.
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12-31-2008, 07:14 PM #20Web Hosting Master
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While I agree with you completely, at the end of the day, technical support staff are there to provide technical support. Even some of the most respected techs are not known for a fuzzy and welcoming approach, since its the technical and troubleshooting ability which really counts.
I agree, although I am always very impressed when technical support personnel are warm and friendly, too. Such companies stand out. Apple comes to mind - whatever you may say about their hardware or pricing, their technical support people have always been (in my experience) very warm.
-mike
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12-31-2008, 07:49 PM #21
I agree, although I am always very impressed when technical support personnel are warm and friendly, too. Such companies stand out. Apple comes to mind - whatever you may say about their hardware or pricing, their technical support people have always been (in my experience) very warm.
-mike
Considering how hard it is to acquire new clients versus keep existing clients, it behooves management to impress upon those techs who have direct contact with your prospects or clients - proper communication to give the perception of NOT great, but RAVING customer support. These are the companies that stand apart from the rest.
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01-01-2009, 01:10 AM #22Junior Guru Wannabe
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I don't think this is too much an issue but a simple reply can obviously make our clients happy.
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01-01-2009, 05:27 AM #23Too smart for her own good.
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I can't stand when customers reply to tickets just to say "thank you" or "all set". All it does is take up more of my time to re-close the ticket. Tech people appreciate appreciation, but please, don't reopen a ticket just to say thank you, it really irritates us after awhile
Bingo.
To the OP, please do not be offended that you weren't wished a Happy Holiday or whatever. It is very likely the tech you were working with is very much like Nick H (and Nick, I'm not criticizing you at all here) ... frankly they don't want to hear from you, and they aren't going to "waste" their time replying back with niceties. (They see niceties, and even flushed-out written explanations of technical issues [which they believe you should just look up in Google yourself], as being a waste of time. Communication is not their strong suit.)
These are people who work this job because they totally dig computers and software and technical stuff. They do not have any emotional investment in your issue, nor in you, and no matter how hard you (or I as a company owner) pound on them about it, they're not going to change. This is how they're wired. This is how they tick. It is as ingrained into them, as sharing niceties is ingrained into us.
Truly it's not an insult to you. The tech is not trying to be rude, and he doesn't see how his lack of response could even be construed as rude. He answered your question. End of story. That's just how these guys tick.
So roll your eyes at the screen if it helps, hit the power button on your computer, and go spend this holiday time with people who care about you. Your energy is much better spent there.
Bailey
Edited to add ......... a couple of companies I've worked for where we had techs like this, I pushed very hard for the supervisors to please work with these guys on better communication, because they end up not talking to their co-workers either, which leads to servers and scripts getting totally screwed-up. At both companies I ended up the scourged black sheep because of it. The techs don't see the need to change, they don't see a problem, and they believe problem is everybody else who gets mad and expects them to change for no reason when they are doing nothing wrong!! Surely you can appreciate the struggle here.
The only solution really, to avoiding this from happening at your hosting company, is simply not to hire these folks. Put your applicants through an extensive screening process which really focuses on communication.
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01-01-2009, 05:44 AM #24Too smart for her own good.
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I think I speak for everyone who work{s,ed} in technical support
No, you don't speak for everyone... Not by a long shot.
I strongly disagree with your approach and I know other company owners too.
I'm not suggesting trading server-down time for niceties, but you absolutely always follow up later. Never, ever leave the customer hanging. I don't care if they're asking "how's the weather there?" That's called relationship-building, which builds loyalty, which in turn keeps that customer paying good $$$ month after month after month, which is used to pay YOUR PAYCHECK.
Pony up and carry on a friggin' conversation. If this is so hard to do, you can dig up money to pay your bills some other way. I'm not having a non-communicative tech alienating my customers.
^^^^ This is my personal opinion and approach, obviously. The "you" is not specific to any one person, it's a general you. *plink, plink*
Bailey
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01-01-2009, 07:10 AM #25Web Hosting Master
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"Thank you and Happy Christmas"
And back at you "Happy Christmas" and Merry New Year.
Or is it Merry Christmas and Happy New Year?