Today, I found out that FBM Software’s website incorrectly lists my NetBrute software as a Trojan.  Though, they may actually think that NetBrute is a Trojan, what’s more likely is that they don’t have a category for “Useful programs that hackers might use”, so they simply listed it as a Trojan, which is completely false.

So, anyway, I went to their website to look for an email address.  When I saw a “Live Support” link, I thought, wow, I’ll get to chat with a live person and get this matter taken care of today, rather than trying to have a conversation through email.

Well, here’s what happened when I clicked on the link:

I waited for over an hour as I continued other work.  Nobody ever came online.  The screen didn’t change.  I’m still waiting…

Maybe I would have gotten help if I clicked that I owned their software instead of the “General Information” link.  I don’t know.  In my eyes, the customer that I don’t have is at least as important as the one I do have.

If you’re going to offer online support options, make it clear before the user even clicks the button whether there is anyone available.

On the live support options on the yProxy website, if I’m not available, the buttons are grayed out or they provide a message saying that they’re offline.  Not simply, please wait… infinitely.

I ordered some electronic components from Mouser Electronics through their online order process.  I only bought about $3 in components, but the total was $6.51 cents.  So, you get the picture–most of the charge was in shipping.  Realizing this, I had even ordered extra parts, just in case I needed them in the future.

Immediately after I placed the order, I decided that I should have ordered 4 of one of the parts instead of 2 because there were 2 of them on the circuit board, and if I ended up replacing both, I wouldn’t have any spares.

Well, on the email order confirmation that I received from Mouser Electronics, it stated:

Thank you for placing your order with Mouser Electronics! Your order has been entered as listed below. Please contact us immediately if you would like any changes to this order. As soon as your order ships, we will e-mail a shipment confirmation that includes final shipping charges and your shipment tracking number.

So, I called them up.

“Hi, this is Amanda, how may I help you?”

I said, “Hello, I placed an order online about 15 minutes ago.  I’d like to increase the quantity of one of the items on the order.”

Amanda went into a long tirade of how I could not change the order because the credit card transaction had already gone through, and I placed the order online, yada yada yada.

I interrupted and said, “Don’t worry.  Just keep the order as it is.  The only reason that I thought I could change the order was because your email said I could.”

To that, her response was, “You can’t.”

Why not be more clear in emails that are sent out to customers?  Assuming that there is a case that I could actually change my order, like if I had a net 30 account with them instead of paying by credit card, then why isn’t their software smart enough to know the difference?  If the software isn’t smart enough, then why not be more descriptive in the email?

Mouser Electronics, you gave me false hope because when I called upon you to do something that you offered to do, you let me down!  That was bad customer service, period.

I try to make all emails that I send out as clear as possible.  Clear and concise is best, but don’t be afraid to make the email longer, if needed, to ensure that it’s clear.  A concise email that provides more information is going to be longer.

You can keep long emails readable and less intimidating by included plenty of white space and using section headings.

Put the most important and most significant stuff up front,  and put the less important and less significant stuff at the end.  Most of your readers might only read the first paragraph or two, whereas most of your special cases will still be handled with further reading.

It’s best to answer the customers’ questions before they come up, and definitely be clear.