Angus McDorble
Caldari
GoonFleet
GoonSwarm
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Posted - 2007.05.30 03:27:00 -
[1]
Edited by: Angus McDorble on 30/05/2007 03:27:53
To everybody on every side, I am going to say a few things about customer service here. See, as a current retail drone and a former hash slinger (specifically, I was a waiter), I'd like to talk to you about some customer-relations sort of things, as I am one that has dealt with customers on a daily basis at work for YEARS.
First off, this isn't a perfect analogy and screw you if you think that this is a stupid comment.
So, a customer comes into my restaurant and something goes wrong that delays their dinner that they have so happily been waiting for while munching at their salad. Let's go over a few different ways customer service can go.
First - I don't say anything, just sort of ignore the fact that their food isn't ready yet. The delay becomes excessive and, the customer, unable to see what is going on in the kitchen is obviously going to start wondering and, eventually, ask what's up with their dinner. When they ask, I blow off the question. They write it on the placemat and wave it in my face. I just tear it up. Customer asks to speak with the manager, who blows it all off. The food eventually comes out. Good food or not, the customer service RUINED the experience. I just lost a customer.
Second - The food never comes. I ignore everything the customer says and expect them to pay anyway. I just lost a customer.
Third - I walk over to the table and say "Hey, somebody knocked over the plate your sammich was on. No worries, though. Another one's down." Transparency? Yes. I kept a customer, as something went wrong and it got explained and fixed as quickly as possible.
Why do I post this? Allow me to explain.
Customers come to a company to purchase something because they WANT to buy it. They WANT to enjoy and love it They WANT to consume it. It will enrich their lives. Good customer service here would have been more like option 3. Explain why the dev gave himself director roles. Explain why t20 wasn't fired. Explain why BoB is allowed to have direct MSN dev access and devs in their corp, but Goonfleet can't have a GM in their forum. If there's a problem, fix it and let us know HOW you're fixing it.
See, if you're in a restaurant and the waiter is stonewalling you when you ask what's taking so damned long, chances are you are going to automatically assume the worst. That's where all the tin foil garbage comes into this. Do I believe all of it? No, but the fact is, this COULD have all been washed away with more transparency. Forget vows of secrecy, what matters now is not the REALITY of the situation, but the PERCEPTION.
Why do I say that? Well, instead of spinning the subject, ignoring the problems, and dividing the playerbase, fix the problem. Step back and say "Sorry players, we have a problem here...let's step back and fix it. Here's what happened, here's what we did to fix the cheating, here's how it's going to be stopped int he future." As it stands, we have no idea what the crap is going on and can only speculate. That leads to rumors and, true or not, will create a negative undercurrent among the community.
Word of mouth is a real killer when it comes to customers. At one point, I would have happily told people that EVE was an awesome game and that everybody should come play. Now? Probably not. The t20 incident, after I heard about it, made me want to quit. Then I start reading more. Then this stuff goes down. Next thing we know, CCP vaguely threatens a lawsuit against part of its customer base. That tells me there is less concern about serving up a nice, lovely game we can all enjoy and more concern about flailing at falling pieces of crumbling reputation.
Me? I'm going to leave it at this for now. Sorry for the rambling nature of this post but my mind wanders. Either way, I'm thinking it's time for me to bow out of the discussion, grab some popcorn, and watch what happens. I can't do much other than add another "wtf CCP?" voice to the pile.
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Sorry I stunk up the factory.
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