Web Serve Canada Sucks and Receives The First ShanesWorld.ca Seal of Suckiness

Web Serve Canada, you are on the receiving end of my wrath and I have one thing to say to you - your customer support system sucks worse than a rancid Tiberian bat with an infected toenail trying to screw in a flaming light bulb while encased within fifty tonnes of concrete. It sounds like that sucks, doesn't it? It makes as much sense as your support department's availability. It also makes as much sense as why it takes them forever to respond to anyone they actually need to talk to: like customers. Do I hear you asking "why"? This can't come as a surprise, Web Serve Canada. I am here to tell you exactly why:

Live Chat System Free From Pesky Live Chat

I want to comment on your 24/7 live chat support system. Of course, I think you need to remove the "live" and "chat" portion in that statement as there is never anyone there. Thus, it becomes a "chat window" with no response or communication. You should replace it with one of those madlib auto-complete systems that provide auto-responses to questions.

Question: "My web site is down!"

Response: "I am down with potato-stuffed chicken."

It is important that you actually have someone there to chat with. I have posted (and left messages) on your chat system and have never once heard back from anyone. If you advertise it, why not have some people there? Otherwise, I suggest you drop the chat support. It feels like you're trying to be something you are most definitely not.

Support Phone System That Forwards to People Who Sound Like They Are Driving Down Back Country Roads While Speaking Through A Garden Hose

Now, I am sure you are saving money by farming this service out to another company (at least, this appears to be the case) but why not choose a company that has a decent phone system? The phone quality of the support group has got to be one of the worst I have ever encountered.

Question: "Hi, my web site is down and I want to know why I haven't heard back from tech support since I called last week?"

Reponse: "(static) I can't (static) beer (static and some dude asking about stock tips) whales and corn (static with a rendition of a tune from the 1980s I'd rather forget) your phone connection is terrible (static with the wooblies)."

This usually leads to the eventual hang up.

I have called support using Skype, my cellular phone and two different land lines. But the quality is always the same. What is really funny is the tech support people blame not their phone system but our phones. Don't they realize their phone system is pitiful and horrible? No matter from which phone or communication technology I call with the person on the other end sounds like they are sitting inside a tin can placed in an empty hockey rink at three in the morning. The phone system you use for your technical support team sucks anal hairs of a rabid goat.

Support Ticketing System Treated Like An Ex-Girlfriend

The people on the other end of the phone (the three I have talked to) know there a ticketing system, right? I provide them with ticket ID numbers from the online ticket system and they sound stunned or confused like the number I read out was spoken backwards and I threw in a few random click noises as I spoke (probably the crappy connection). Actually, I wonder if you really use this system. The only response from one of the tickets I posted was for a different client about a domain I have never heard of. Let me repeat: I got a single response for a different client for a domain I do not have. How screwed up is that?

And Just Who The Hell Is Level Two Support?

I know, I know. I understand the joke. They don't exist! Is level two support meant to placate me until I just give up all together? I have been escalated to level two twice (and now a third time) and I have never heard anything back. Nothing. Not even a "piss off" letter. I would appreciate any communication.

Suggestion for a Solution

I really don't care if you don't want to talk to people (you know, those pesky clients?) but, please, at least fake it that you care during office hours. If you need to drop the 24/7 support to do this, fine. I don't care. You don't need to remain open that length of time to please me. Just be there during the day. I don't care what my web site is doing at four in the morning. I need to sleep. You need to sleep. Any horrible down time isn't going to spontaneously set people on fire. But, you are not going to maintain any sort of customer base with support that appears to be on line and available all the time.

What I suggest is that you hire some more staff or find a new support provider. (I am still running on the assumption that you farm support outside of the company.) If you really want to run a company like yours, I am sure you have enough money to hire some staff to take on support responsibilities. It isn't hard. They don't need to be paid a whole lot. Just, please, get some that aren't unhappy to help.

I also didn't do this review lightly. I did check the company out to see if my experience was unique. Sadly, it wasn't. Read this site for more people complaining about Web Serve Canada. (There are some decent reviews in there as well, but they are written in a similar fashion and I am a little suspicious. You be the judge....)

This is for you, Web Serve Canada.