A new level of support escalation
Recently, I reached a new low in escalating a customer support issue: adding the company's co-founder on LinkedIn and complaining to them via InMail (tm).
It worked: although the co-founder didn't respond directly, a support agent finally replied to my email a few hours later. How do I know it was my message and not just a coincidence? The little read receipt bubble is enough confirmation for me.
I try to be a reasonable customer, I really do. I'm willing to read the support website and check to see if I can fix it myself. I'm willing to fill out a contact form on your website or call your support number and sit through a phone tree until I reach a person who can help.
But if there's no contact form or phone number on your website? Ugh. If I have to guess that sending an email to support@yoursite will generate a ticket for you, then I get a little annoyed. If the auto-response to that blind email says you'll respond in 24-48 hours, but I don't hear anything for a full week? I'm pretty pissed off now.
Normally at this point, I'll go tweet at the company's Twitter presence. I don't like that loudly complaining will often get you better service than following the rules. It doesn't seem fair. But the longer my issue is unresolved (and often, not even acknowledged), the more willing I am to be the proverbial squeaky wheel.
Beyond public shaming, there's also the big blunt weapon of withholding payment or filing a chargeback. I'm a little hesitant about this nuclear option - I think there's a small but real risk of getting permanently banned from whatever the product/service is. So it's a last resort for me.
The direct-to-executive complaint gives the company an additional chance to fix it. I try to justify it to myself: if I were an executive and my company's support process was so painful that someone bothered to hunt me down and message me on LinkedIn, I would want to know.
Honestly, if anything I do is painful to you, I want to know. You can let me know via the contact form on my homepage (use a throwaway email to stay anonymous if you prefer).