said by TSI Marc:We've been doing network outage notices for ages...
If you want to know what's going on, you can call in as we always update the IVR, you can see the web site, we always post here on dslr also... we're on twitter.. before the teksavvynetwork handle was created we did it on one of the other handles.
I think the conclusion people are coming up with, even those many would consider proponents of the TekSavvy service, is that you could be doing better in this regard.
said by TSI Marc:Furthermore, none of these things are on our network, so we can't say conclusively what's actually happening until we get positive feedback from the incumbents unless if it's on our own network. We always post those... so to spend a massive amount of time trying to fish for problems in the dark is really not efficient. It amounts to a best effort kind of thing on our side, which is what we do and have always done.
Again, this could be improved. Are you suggesting you don't need to improve? People like myself should be left in the dark for months about why they're having a problem with their connection? Again, ideally, you need to be able to find out which of your customers are affected and why, so you can inform them. "Best effort" has left me with subpar service for more than two months. Personally, I don't feel that's good enough. I'm sure anyone in my position (past, present and future) would agree.
said by TSI Marc:As for the link being prominently available on the front page. Yeah, sorry, not going to happen. Just add the link to your favs... the location has changed since we launched the new site but we've had that for years. We're doing the very same things as we've always done.
I'm sorry, but this comes off as "Tough, deal with it." Is that TekSavvy's attitude? Again, we had no idea you were posting network updates... not one person mentioned it until you posted. Making that more visible is a good thing for your customers - it shows you care that they are informed.
said by TSI Marc:As it is internally, we're more worried about the message it's sending to the average person because there are so many notices. Just look here on dslr and twitter... there are multiple notices almost each and every week.
This is the current service you provide, like it or not. What's wrong with informing your customers (who may be affected by these things) what's going on? How many of your customers frequent DSLr daily, to get apprised of issues that may be affecting them? This is a good place to share information, of course, but I don't feel the average customer has any idea what they need to do to get informed. That's where TekSavvy needs to up their game. I don't feel that putting efforts into informing your customers, as best as possible, is a waste of time. Rather, asking many of them to go through troubleshooting when there's an area problem is a waste of time ... both for them, and for your staff. Part of the reason you have to put out fires (such as training more tech staff to man phones) could be mitigated with proper communication. Rather than spending 30 mins. on the phone, they could simply be told there's an area issue and you'll keep them updated as to when it's resolved. The IVR you mention, no doubt it's only updated with "major" outages that you're certain of. Again, this could be improved.
If you care about your customers - and, really, without them TekSavvy doesn't have a business - then you owe it to them to keep them apprised of anything affecting their service. Sure, the bigger picture is you need to make changes with the incumbents, etc. to get to the level of support that would be ideal. When is that going to happen? If not within the immediate future, then you are providing a service "as is" - and you need to compensate by doing whatever you can to support your customers.