A Plus Updates

In a surprising "coincidence," a week to the day after an unsatisfactory phone call with A Plus, I got an email indicating that they "noticed that you do not have an account manager" and were assigning me one.  Before I even read the email, I got a call from the person who had been assigned, indicating she was my new account manager and casually asking how things were going. 

I knew exactly why they were calling and repeated my previous complaints, as well as indicated my plan to leave their services.  After listening, my "account manager" apologized profusely for the unprofessional behavior of the previous person I had talked to, and offered to give me the domain service that had prompted my original call for free.

For the price of a phone call, an apology, and a $6 perk (well, it saved me $6; it cost them nothing), they kept a customer who pays them $50-$60 per year.  That's doing business the right way.

A Plus moves to my Do-Not-Buy list

Another company bites the dust.  After buying over a half-dozen domains from A Plus.net, my next domain purchase will be from a different company.  My primary complaints:

1. Terrible security.  They actually require you to give them your password before they'll help with your account.  Verifying who the account belongs to is good; asking a user to give up a password is a huge no-no.  Any security professional can tell you that.  No one but the customer should ever have access to or know their password.

2. Terrible customer support.  When a customer calls with a complaint, immediately responding with a bad attitude is very poor service, especially if the customer is (I thought) polite.  Giving them the run-around about not being able to talk to a manager before putting them permanently on hold is worse.

Goodbye, A plus.net.  You get an F in my book.

And more.

While I was typing that last post, Child came in and said, "I need to vent some frustrations." She had three different companies she's trying to call (to give them money!), and 5 different phone numbers between them. No one answered.

Seriously, businesses. Do you honestly feel good running this way? I still think dark thoughts about Comcast, Dell, and Brent Brown auto, whose reps at various times misled, lied, and simply hung up on me.

Prof IDs Types of Ticked-Off Customers

...which kind of customer are you when a company does you wrong? KSL had an article about a professor that identified three different kinds of ticked-off customers.

Utilitarian: just wants the problem fixed. Don't bother saying "Sorry," that might even be construed as trying to buy off the customer with emotion.

Oppositionals: aggressive, see the interaction as a battle. Give them options, let them feel victorious.

Relationals: all about the relationship. They want the "I'm sorry," save the compensation for after the apology.

Thinking back to three (more or less) recent experiences with big-name companies (T-Mobile, Comcast, and USAA Insurance), I think I fall into the Utilitarian category. Each time, I simply wanted them to refund me a incorrect charge, a month's payment for the month I was without service, and an incorrect late fee (respectively). I measure how sorry a company is by how willing they are to correct their mistake.