What I expect within 24 hours - Page 2

2Slow2Content · 5 Sep 2006, 01:29 AM

I've lurked on these boards on and off for 3+ years now and have never felt the incentive to post until this outage and this thread in particular.

Quote:

Originally posted by publicenergy
It might be more constructive to take on board some of the criticisms rather than argue with your customers like this.

I have to agree. I realize that it's been a crazy four days for everyone at Fastmail and nerves are probably frayed but there's no need to argue with your customers.

If I can add to the list of the things I expect in 24 hours is an apology - not in some thread on a forum and not on the status blog but an email to my Fastmail account and the backup account. Of course, the fact that I had to ask for one kind of defeats the purpose...

I came to these forums today looking for an apology, an explanation of how Fastmail plans to prevent this from occurring again and some sense that Fastmail takes our business seriously. I'm now leaving these forums without any of these.

ScottC · 5 Sep 2006, 01:48 AM

Ok Brong...you want to post on here your answers to your company's problem, then why dont you answer the question so many are asking, WHERE IS YOUR CUSTOMER SERVICE?
As stated in a previous post on this thread I was without my paid for email service for over 4 days and not notified of the outage for the first 3 of those days.
During those 3 days I thought there was;
1. A problem with my computer.
2.A problem with my password.
3.A problem with my username.
For 3 days I spent hours of time trying to fix these problems and was left out in the cold by you and your company as to what the real problem was.I even sent 5 emials to Fastmail and 1 to you personally that where never answered and to this minute have still not been answered.
Its kind of ironic that because of your company's problem and your LACK OF CUSTOMER SERVICE that I found this discussion board and wow,what did I find? That there are so many others like myself that are just as un-happy as me with your LACK OF CUSTOMER SERVICE.
You may all have all the technical answers but you really lack simple customer service and for that reason I will be leaving your company.I will not pay for an email account and then be treated like this time and time again.You have alot of competitors out there and I hope that you remember that.
And to the poster who asked that if I find a better fee based email service to post it on here,you bet I will.
Remember 2 words Brong...CUSTOMER SERVICE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

noi · 5 Sep 2006, 05:18 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by ScottC

You may all have all the technical answers but you really lack simple customer service and for that reason I will be leaving your company.I will not pay for an email account and then be treated like this time and time again.You have alot of competitors out there and I hope that you remember that.
And to the poster who asked that if I find a better fee based email service to post it on here,you bet I will.
Remember 2 words Brong...CUSTOMER SERVICE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I've said from the start it's the lack of customer service (not PR) that I take issue with. Three days ago, I thought I'd still stay on with Fastmail. Today, I'm not so sure.

I don't even want compensation or apology. I couldn't care less. I just want a turnaround in attitude towards what "professional service" means at FM.

I'm really disappointed, not with the outtage I repeat. I can live with outage AS LONG AS I AM INFORMED IN A PROPER MANNER AT A PROPER VENUE AND AS FULLY AND UNDERSTANDABLY AS POSSIBLE.

I don't ever want again to come to a forum in frenzy to get information I should have been provided with more easily at the status blog.

OMG, I'm repeating myself.

nycdave · 5 Sep 2006, 07:43 AM

I keep coming back to the simple: where are the owners? It is not fathomable that they are truly away for so long when there is this type of crisis going on. I agree with all who say they have broken virtually every rule of how to deal with a crisis, but one of the first rules of crisis is divide and conquer. Bron was clearly needed to deal with the technical crisis; someone else (the owners!!! or their customer service-oriented designee) should have been dealing with no fewer than once-per-hour status updates, accompanied with constant apologies. I still can't understand why there has been nothing from anyone 'above' bron...

memac · 5 Sep 2006, 07:53 AM

Isn't Bron "just the tech guy?" No offense intended, honestly. Is he also the customer support person? I thought he was hired to do technical work. If so, it's not really his job to make everything all peachy and rosey in these forums. It's his job to fix things, which he did to some degree... at least most or all of us can now access our email. I don't understand why people keep blasting him. He doesn't buy the hardware or the software, he doesn't make the grand decisions, he doesn't own the company. He's "just a tech guy," yes?

I was one of the ones affected by the outage and switched services as a result, and I am not a mod, but I do appreciate the effort Bron put into getting everything up and running. He does not own the service yet he worked and worked until people started getting access again. He at least deserves some credit for that.

ScottC · 5 Sep 2006, 08:07 AM

Yes maybe Bron is only the tech guy and yes, I do appreciate all his efforts, but nonetheless he is the one who is answering the questions here in public as a rep of the company.So I guess that makes him the default PR person at Fastmail.
When I was without my e-mail for 4 days I was more upset about the lack of information concerning the problem.There was NO information for almost 3 days.I can live without email for that long but the frustration lies in the fact that no-one at Fastmail even cared enough to post the problem.
Any time a company treats a paying customer in this way then I beleive the customer has the right to complain or even more so take his business elsewhere.
I can live with a problem of this type,I cannot live with being treated in the way that I was.
And still...no apology.

pie_o_my · 5 Sep 2006, 09:09 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by publicenergy

I had to go digging, initially at status.fastmail.fm and then in this forum to try and piece together what was happening. I shouldn't have to do that.

I agree. I had to read through some 50+ forum messages on this board in order to figure out what was going on. Discussion threads here were more informative and updated than the status blog.

Fastmail has my gmail address in case I lose my password, yet during the entire three days I was without email access I received absolutely no communication from FM regarding what was going on with my account.

A year from now, I probably won't remember what emails I missed out on replying to or receving.

What I will remember is that Fastmail's customer service did not adequately inform me of what was going on in a timely manner.

Lawrence · 6 Sep 2006, 09:16 AM

Well, it's been more than 24 hours. Doesn't look like Mac'd is going to get what he wants--which is a pity.

I first came to Fastmail about three years ago. Seems to me that back then, you could count on Jeremy or Rob posting in the forums whenever something came up. Part of what drew me to Fastmail was a sense that the owners were deeply involved in the nuts and bolts of the operation, and that somebody cared and would help when things went wrong.

Contrast that with what has transpired in the last six days. Jeremy and Rob flew off to various parts of the globe, leaving (apparently) one very overwhelmed tech support guy to tend to matters. I'm sure Bron worked his butt off to get things back up and running, but there should have been some communication from the two men who founded Fastmail and who have been the very public face of the company--at least, the face those of us in the forums saw--for the last several years.

When Bron posted on the status blog that Jeremy had "just got off a flight," I thought we would finally hear something. I am absolutely stunned that there has still been no communication. Yes, I know Jeremy apparently suffers from RSI, but there are ways to deal with that. There must be communication from the proprietors when something goes wrong with a service one is paying for. Before anyone says that it isn't Rob's or Jeremy's job to hold our hands when things go pear-shaped, I beg to differ. I rely on my email, and when all I was getting from Fastmail was sporadic and ever-lengthening estimates of when things would be right again, I had no choice but to move my domains to another provider--Tuffmail. Funny how John Capo was responsive and helpful even though it was a holiday weekend here in the U.S., whereas we still have not heard from Jeremy.

I don't blame Bron for not communicating with us more often, since he was up to his hind end in alligators as my grandpa used to say (albeit somewhat more colorfully). I do blame Jeremy. It's his company, and he's responsible for whatever happens on his watch. Part of what we're paying for is confidence that the service is well-designed, well-managed, and reliable. I would argue that all three of those things have been called into question.

Lastly, it is somewhat ironic that one of the last emails I received before the server melted down was notification that one of my accounts was due for renewal. I can promise you this: if I decide to keep it open, it will not be at the current level (Full). Right now it's just a backup account, and it will work nicely for that at the non-paying guest level. Whether or not I keep it at all--and whether or not I keep my other Full and Enhanced accounts open--will depend on what happens in the next 24 hours.

**gpdoyon** · 6 Sep 2006, 09:31 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by publicenergy
It might be more constructive to take on board some of the criticisms rather than argue with your customers like this.

Aside from the technical problems behind this, your customer service skills suck quite frankly - working on fixing that might go some way to making your customers more understanding when you have problems like this.

Your comments are not "constructive". No personal attacks.

publicenergy · 6 Sep 2006, 03:45 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by gpdoyon
Your comments are not "constructive". No personal attacks.

"Your" is meant to refer to FastMail as a whole and not an individual - although the face of FastMail during this crisis seems to be just the one individual so it's hard to separate the two. FastMail's customer service has been awful and needs sorting out.

A response to something like this should be to give information out and not argue with customers - we can bicker in this forum as long as we like, meanwhile no communiction comes from FastMail about the problems.

I don't know what book about customer service they have raid, but they need to find one that doesn't say the best way maintain a good relationship with your customers is to ignore them or argue with them.

It seems like FastMail is going slowly down the tubes which is really sad.

5 Sep 2006, 01:48 AM	#17
ScottC Junior Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Chicago Il. Posts: 3	Ok Brong...Answer The Questions Ok Brong...you want to post on here your answers to your company's problem, then why dont you answer the question so many are asking, WHERE IS YOUR CUSTOMER SERVICE? As stated in a previous post on this thread I was without my paid for email service for over 4 days and not notified of the outage for the first 3 of those days. During those 3 days I thought there was; 1. A problem with my computer. 2.A problem with my password. 3.A problem with my username. For 3 days I spent hours of time trying to fix these problems and was left out in the cold by you and your company as to what the real problem was.I even sent 5 emials to Fastmail and 1 to you personally that where never answered and to this minute have still not been answered. Its kind of ironic that because of your company's problem and your LACK OF CUSTOMER SERVICE that I found this discussion board and wow,what did I find? That there are so many others like myself that are just as un-happy as me with your LACK OF CUSTOMER SERVICE. You may all have all the technical answers but you really lack simple customer service and for that reason I will be leaving your company.I will not pay for an email account and then be treated like this time and time again.You have alot of competitors out there and I hope that you remember that. And to the poster who asked that if I find a better fee based email service to post it on here,you bet I will. Remember 2 words Brong...CUSTOMER SERVICE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Last edited by ScottC : 5 Sep 2006 at 02:12 AM.

5 Sep 2006, 07:43 AM	#19
nycdave Junior Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Posts: 7	I keep coming back to the simple: where are the owners? It is not fathomable that they are truly away for so long when there is this type of crisis going on. I agree with all who say they have broken virtually every rule of how to deal with a crisis, but one of the first rules of crisis is divide and conquer. Bron was clearly needed to deal with the technical crisis; someone else (the owners!!! or their customer service-oriented designee) should have been dealing with no fewer than once-per-hour status updates, accompanied with constant apologies. I still can't understand why there has been nothing from anyone 'above' bron...

5 Sep 2006, 07:53 AM	#20
memac Senior Member Join Date: May 2002 Posts: 196	Isn't Bron "just the tech guy?" No offense intended, honestly. Is he also the customer support person? I thought he was hired to do technical work. If so, it's not really his job to make everything all peachy and rosey in these forums. It's his job to fix things, which he did to some degree... at least most or all of us can now access our email. I don't understand why people keep blasting him. He doesn't buy the hardware or the software, he doesn't make the grand decisions, he doesn't own the company. He's "just a tech guy," yes? I was one of the ones affected by the outage and switched services as a result, and I am not a mod, but I do appreciate the effort Bron put into getting everything up and running. He does not own the service yet he worked and worked until people started getting access again. He at least deserves some credit for that.

5 Sep 2006, 08:07 AM	#21
ScottC Junior Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Chicago Il. Posts: 3	Yes maybe Bron is only the tech guy and yes, I do appreciate all his efforts, but nonetheless he is the one who is answering the questions here in public as a rep of the company.So I guess that makes him the default PR person at Fastmail. When I was without my e-mail for 4 days I was more upset about the lack of information concerning the problem.There was NO information for almost 3 days.I can live without email for that long but the frustration lies in the fact that no-one at Fastmail even cared enough to post the problem. Any time a company treats a paying customer in this way then I beleive the customer has the right to complain or even more so take his business elsewhere. I can live with a problem of this type,I cannot live with being treated in the way that I was. And still...no apology.

6 Sep 2006, 09:16 AM	#23
Lawrence Member Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: California Posts: 57	Well, it's been more than 24 hours. Doesn't look like Mac'd is going to get what he wants--which is a pity. I first came to Fastmail about three years ago. Seems to me that back then, you could count on Jeremy or Rob posting in the forums whenever something came up. Part of what drew me to Fastmail was a sense that the owners were deeply involved in the nuts and bolts of the operation, and that somebody cared and would help when things went wrong. Contrast that with what has transpired in the last six days. Jeremy and Rob flew off to various parts of the globe, leaving (apparently) one very overwhelmed tech support guy to tend to matters. I'm sure Bron worked his butt off to get things back up and running, but there should have been some communication from the two men who founded Fastmail and who have been the very public face of the company--at least, the face those of us in the forums saw--for the last several years. When Bron posted on the status blog that Jeremy had "just got off a flight," I thought we would finally hear something. I am absolutely stunned that there has still been no communication. Yes, I know Jeremy apparently suffers from RSI, but there are ways to deal with that. There must be communication from the proprietors when something goes wrong with a service one is paying for. Before anyone says that it isn't Rob's or Jeremy's job to hold our hands when things go pear-shaped, I beg to differ. I rely on my email, and when all I was getting from Fastmail was sporadic and ever-lengthening estimates of when things would be right again, I had no choice but to move my domains to another provider--Tuffmail. Funny how John Capo was responsive and helpful even though it was a holiday weekend here in the U.S., whereas we still have not heard from Jeremy. I don't blame Bron for not communicating with us more often, since he was up to his hind end in alligators as my grandpa used to say (albeit somewhat more colorfully). I do blame Jeremy. It's his company, and he's responsible for whatever happens on his watch. Part of what we're paying for is confidence that the service is well-designed, well-managed, and reliable. I would argue that all three of those things have been called into question. Lastly, it is somewhat ironic that one of the last emails I received before the server melted down was notification that one of my accounts was due for renewal. I can promise you this: if I decide to keep it open, it will not be at the current level (Full). Right now it's just a backup account, and it will work nicely for that at the non-paying guest level. Whether or not I keep it at all--and whether or not I keep my other Full and Enhanced accounts open--will depend on what happens in the next 24 hours.