Good Service?

I got an HTML email from a software company the other day – I won't name them – where they offered me an upgrade patch.

Okay, I may have sped read the email, but I clicked on the link and downloaded the patch and installed the software. I was then asked for the serial number of the software. I dug it out and entered it, but it wouldn't accept it. Puzzled by this I contacted their support service, who got back to me telling me I needed to pay $50 for the latest version of the software.

Puzzled further, I asked why I was on a mailing list that was sending me a patch for software I didn't have? Clearly they knew that I owned version of it, but not the one that needed patching. At no point had they communicated to me that a newer version was available, in fact the first I knew about it was when they sink me a link to the patch, which I assumed was for the version I already had...

This bothered me for a couple of reasons. First, it felt like a cheap scam trying to fleece me. Second, knowing that the product needed patching before I knew it existed put me off the idea of buying it completely. Their communications basically said: "We've got a faulty product, but here's the fix, er.. it costs $50 and er, um... it's new."

Then to compound things, when I pointed this out to them, the senior person dealing with it sent me an email saying they thought the email comms I was complaining about were innocuous... I replied stating that I was not impressed in the least bit with that as a reponse. He replied, sorry I didn't mean to send you that email, it was meant for a colleague...

They immediately issued an apology, an explanation and a discount voucher. However, I'm reluctant to take advantage of the discount because even with money off I'm left with the impression that the product isn't quite right and that the apology was issued for the customer service email gaffe and not my original complaint.

I think there's important lessons for everyone there.

Back in business!

Apologies for not updating the Blog. Christmas just takes over, and before you know it it's new year and well, then it's nearly the middle of January... anyway we've actually only had a little time off over the festive period due to work commitments – but we're not complaining.

The early part of this year is already looking busy, which is fantastic news. A few of the clients that we picked up via the Deal Generator website have come back for repeat work which we put down to our attention to detail, not just to the work but to the working relationship.

Other projects are still on-going, including the website for a property development company that we started last year and may have mentioned before.

We are also pleased to announce that we are working on an extensive branding exercise for a web-based business, details of which we'll post when we have completed the initial stages of the project. All the signs to date are very encouraging so... watch this space for updates.

And of course, if you, dear visitor, are interested in getting a quote from us for any up coming projects, then please contact us via the website.