You Heard It Here

I hit the trifecta of bad online support over the last couple of weeks. First, I purchased a discounted router on Buy.com using Google Checkout. Ten days after the purchase I had no router and neither website revealed what the hell was up with my order. After two emails to Google Checkout and a couple more to Buy.com I finally had an answer (back ordered). Then I had an issue with my Wall Street Journal subscription. Two emails in four days went unanswered. My questions were answered only after spending nearly 20 minutes on hold, followed by a chat with a WSJ rep. And then there’s the online backup service Mozy. I’ve been mostly happy with it, but a week ago it stopped backing up and started giving me error messages. Two emails to tech support were never answered so I used their live tech support chat system. Two different people promised follow-up emails, but neither arrived. (The issue has magically been fixed, so Mozy must have done something at their end but elected not to share the secret.)

If you’re going to have a support email address, please, PLEASE give me a human response within 24 hours!