phone-support
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How do you support players that don't trust your support?
Let's face facts -- people don't like admitting that they don't know something or need help. They'd rather hammer at the problem until they solve it themselves, or they'd rather ask a trusted friend for help. Kids are super guilty of this, as they'd rather not tell an adult when they can't do something themselves.So how do you work with kids when you're the support staff of their favorite game?Steve Wilson, customer service manager of FusionFall, decided to do some digging with support groups to find what they could do better in their customer support. What did he find out? Simplicity is key -- something that goes way beyond just the 8 to 13-year-old demographic. Customers don't want to be railroaded through a knowledgebase, nor sent to be put on hold with phone support. They'd rather perform a quick in-game chat to have their problems solved. He also found out that players would rather consult with other players than a member of a support team, which is why why FusionFall puts such a strong emphasis on their community forums and the support section. Players can ask questions of their fellow players while a support agent can chime into the threads when necessary. It maximizes the agent's time, and it allows the player to feel comfortable. A win-win all around! [Via Parature]
Blizzard HQ temporarily evacuated due to earthquake
Blizzard headquarters in Irvine, California were temporarily evacuated today when a 5.4 magnitude earthquake struck the Chino Hills area in southern California. Chino Hills is about 30 miles from Irvine.According to the information on the login screen, in-game and phone support were momentarily unavailable, however everything is now back to business as usual. No servers or other game services have been affected by the earthquake. All the technology is operating smoothly.Our own Dan O'Halloran was in private chat with us all when the earthquake struck. He reported that while it was a good shaking, it was "nothing to go home about." Perhaps if we're lucky the earthquake shook a few more Beta keys out of Blizzard. We can only hope.Take a look after the break for the full in-game news released by Blizzard.
Customer service stories
Mike Antonucci of the San Jose Mercury News describes his recent customer service interactions on his company blog. He contacted Comcast and Sony about a problem with a PS3, and Microsoft for another unspecified issue. With Microsoft, after a lot of time on hold, he got stuck listening to someone with limited English skills perform an unhelpful script. Comcast and Sony yielded better results, clearing up his issue.While these three results are one person's anecdotes, do you have any other customer service stories to add to the fire? Which companies have been helpful, and which wasted your time?
Live iPod/iTunes Phone Support
At Slate, Timothy Noah tracked down an actual customer service telephone number for iTunes. Here's the dish: With your iPod serial number in-hand, call 1-800-275-2273, Apple Care Service and Support. Enter 70 at the recorded greeting. If rejected, enter 70 again. When prompted for a product name, say "iTunes". When prompted, say either "Macintosh" or "Windows" depending on the type of computer you're using. When asked if you're calling on behalf of a school, say "no". (Or "yes", if you are, you know, calling on behalf of a school.) After all these steps, Noah promises you a live person at the other end.
Working in AppleCare
Ever wonder what the AppleCare rep you're talking to really thinks about you and your problem? Well, after reading this you might not want to know. Adam Knight has recently left his job in AppleCare for greener pastures and he has written a lengthy post about what it was like. It seem that there was little room for advancement (though I think this isn't a slight of Apple's, rather a common Tech support dilemma).Adam still likes Apple, he just doesn't want to work for them anymore.
