Customer service/tech support wait times

[FrustratedinCAN]

So when we submit a ticket, we meed to respond within 15 minutes in order to recieve "live" support. However, when an agent is speaking to us, they can take between 20 to 70 minutes to respond. How is that fair to customers?

[darlicious]

@FrustratedinCAN 

I believe the requirement to respond within 15 minutes for "live" support is referring to being selected for "live chat" via text. The time limit allows pm to filter out customers whose urgency to resolve their issue is less important or time sensitive than others and are happy enough to respond via private messages under the normal time protocols.

The majority of the time back and forth responses are about 10 minutes in wait times between the customer and the agent as they field their open tickets. While on occasion responses can take longer it depends on the nature of the issue and whether or not the tech team needs to get involved. Sometimes an agent gets busy and is slow to respond to your messages. Most of the time an issue will resolved in as little as 10 min up to an hour or two.

[Patchio · Accepted solution]

@FrustratedinCAN Your criticism of PM's customer support model is valid, even if the PM community is not totally receptive to it.

This community tends to be protective of PM whenever it seems like it's being attacked, so that's why most of the responses to your post have been negative. As a long time lurker AND someone who signed up for PM recently, I would say that being a PM user is all about compromise and tolerance. If you require cell phone service that's completely reliable with the ability to reach customer support on demand, then PM might not be what you're looking for.

PM does provide good value when you have no issues with your service. It only becomes problematic when you do have issues. If it's a minor issue, customer support can usually resolve them with minimal back and forth correspondence. However, if it's a major issue that's time-sensitive like a sudden service disruption, or your credit card was overcharged, or your account was compromised, or your US add-ons don't work and you're already in the US, then waiting 20 to 70 minutes each time for a response from customer service can seem awfully unfair.

After all, if you're telling someone to wait and be patient when their cell phone service is down, and their phone is their only connection to the outside world, then it doesn't seem like you're treating the situation with the same urgency as the person that's being affected.

[baseline]

I tried to look for your other posts to see if you posted here , but didn't see any other posts

What did you need help with? I found this community to be super responsive and helpful

[BKNS27]

@FrustratedinCAN 

I was in contact with a CS_Agent. I was busy doing other things around the house and finally replied to an CS_Agent an hour later. They responded within 20 minutes of my reply.

[hTideGnow]

Hi @FrustratedinCAN  isn't that just like calling a real helpdesk?  You called, waited 15+ mins, finally  you got to a first level person.  They asked you couple easy question but they said, oh, that's  a different department, I will forward you over.  Then go back waiting again for anther hour.. the loop goes on

Honest, with 20 to 70 mins is not that bad.  It can be worse.   But unlike  a call, you don't have to sit tight there.  You can do your work, come back and check for update when you have time

[dabr]

@FrustratedinCAN    Unfortunately, waiting for a response and replying can be time consuming which is one of the downsides of an online only model, but that is also the reason why we're paying a little bit less for the service.