When you have a problem with something you bought; either a product or service, getting help can be an exercise in pure frustration. Very often, your phone call, text message or chat session will put you in touch with a customer service person in another country. Very rarely will your problem get resolved. You will be banging your head on the wall in due time.
The solution is to find out if the company that sold you the product or service has a social media site. And, if they do, if they offer customer service through that platform. In most cases, the people who perform customer service through sites like Facebook are actually based in the U.S.
Here are two examples from personal experience. We get our Internet connection (ISP) through Centurylink. I have had problems with the service being down on several occasions. Trying to go through voice support or email support was useless. Although I see the phone company trucks in the neighborhood or out on the road, the customer service people are based overseas.
They read from a script when they talk to you with pre-formatted and pre-written responses to everything you might ask about. Worse yet, they go through the same predictable steps, even when you know the source of the problem, and waste your time. They always assume the problem is with your equipment.
I understand routers and modems, servers and pinging and packet loss. I know when the problem is with their equipment. When you contact their overseas support, they always assume the problem is with something in your house. In every instance, in the past, the problem was with a faulty port that was about a quarter mile away in a junction box. Every technician who has visited our home has said the same thing.
I learned that if I contacted the support for Centurylink through Facebook, the social media support people were U.S. based and they would get things fixed right away. Every time I went through web support, it cut through all the useless scripted nonsense and wasted time on the phone and got a technician summoned to come out and repair the problem.
Samsung Problem Solved
The other day, I had another experience that confirms this approach as the best. I have made 17 contacts with Samsung regarding the repair of my Gear Fit2 fitness band. The first 10 contacts were just to prove the proof of purchase. Finally, I got a shipping label and sent it to their repair facility in Texas. Using their online repair tracking webpage, the fitness band did not even show as received, although the UPS tracking showed it had been signed for many days before.
For more than a week, it appeared to have been lost, even though I had included a packing slip with the model number and serial number and my contact information all listed. I had also sent the charging cradle because Samsung advises to do this.
When the device did not show up online, I had contacted Samsung through both text and chat support. The contacts yielded no information and all they do is tell you to call voice support. Calling voice support is just as useless and frustrating because every call goes overseas and nobody can say where by Gear Fit might have gone.
Through one contact, it became obvious that someone had attached the wrong serial number and product number to the “ticket” that accompanied my repair. They had listed the device as an S7 Edge instead of a fitness band. It took two more contacts just to clear that up, but nobody was sure where my Gear Fit was or when (or if) it would be repaired.
My first contacts through voice, chat and email had gone back a month and the total contacts had reached 17. I happened to be on Facebook and had just read somebody’s recommendation to use the social media support, so I began following the Samsung service page. This allowed me to send a private message to that group.
Within about 15 minutes, a guy named Sean had replied to the description of the problem I provided. He was apologetic and promised to get the problem resolved. Sean asked for the ticket number, which I promptly provided.
Another half hour later, he responded again. He had contacted the repair facility in Texas directly and spoke with a technician who located my device. He promised that they would make the repair on Monday and expedite getting it back to me. Sean was obviously U.S.-based, judging by his messages and he got resolution within 45 minutes, after I had spent a month and 17 contacts, getting nowhere. He also apologized again for all the aggravation. He asked if I would like to give feedback on the social media support I had received and I was glad to do it right away.
This a miniature version of what is often called a “case study,” but I hope it helps you in some way in the future. The moral of the story; always go straight to social media support if a company offers it. Stay tuned for updates.
