Phil Simon
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I awake early (as usual) this morning and feel inspired to post on platforms. I go to my site ready to write and it’s down. According to the über-useful Down for Everyone or Just Me, it’s not just me. Time to call BlueHost.
I make the call and, after waiting for ten minutes, talk to a rep who tells me that the site is undergoing maintenance. I suspect that my waiting time stemmed from the fact that other people like me placed similar calls. Within an hour, my site should be back up.
Argh
I get it. These things happen and you get what you pay for. BlueHost is no WPEngine (affiliate link), a premier hosting service that costs four times as much and powers the site you are currently reading.
I don’t have a problem with the site being down early. I do, however, have a problem with a company not using basic tools and data to proactively communicate with customers. Why not shoot a quick email out to customers before or during the outage? Why not preempt angry calls to your reps? Why not be proactive? Hell, give me 140 characters! (A search for the last hour revealed no performance updates from @bluehost.)
Simon Says
Today, we can use myriad tools and data to get things done. Too many companies, however, lack common sense and business acumen.
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What say you?
You are so right Phil! It amazes me how many companies are not proactive with customer services. As you said there is no shortage of tools to “reach out and touch someone”. Companies with good customer service have become the exception not the rule. Sad but true!
I can’t agree more. Basic communication takes so little time and really makes a difference. So, why not do it?
Exactly similar experience for few times with BlueHost. All we need is an email notification telling us about the possible downtime and everyone is happy. But more often than not, there is very less importance given to customers (Not just BlueHost, any organizations in general). These companies should understand that addressing such simple things is what makes them a preferred service provider over tons of options available.
Just found this doing the exact same thing as you – looking for some communication. My site is down again for the 2nd time in 2 weeks. Is that 99% up time? Anyway, it takes all of 10sec max to through up a tweet. How this isn’t done is beyond me.