 We've noticed that some companies are simply better at customer service than others. Here's a space for them.
Kudos Apple provides straightforward support for customers (even those who don't pay for an extended warranty) via their AppleCare support line. While there's never a guarantee of getting great support from a company as large as Apple, they typically do a good job of answering basic questions, providing tutorials, and offering options for replacing faulty equipment. Yahoo, surprisingly, is another shoutout. They are one of the only consumer-oriented tech companies that provides easy access to account recovery over the phone phone when clients are locked out of their email accounts. A straightforward process of verifying your identity with a snapshot of government ID can help folks regain access to their email accounts (make sure you're talking to Yahoo and not an imposter before doing this. We can help). Yahoo has been through the wringer over the years, getting acquired by various companies, but at least they provide this service. They charge a small fee for people who don’t use their premium subscription in order to go through the account recovery process, but for clients who were otherwise locked out, it was well worth it. Hall of Infamy In today's world of corporate cost cutting, many companies are unfortunately asleep at the wheel or even actively hostile against their customers. Microsoft's software, especially Outlook, is failure prone and frequently requires troubleshooting. Unfortunately, reaching out to Microsoft for help is a difficult process, requiring lots of hoop jumping to get to a real person, with phone support not always a possibility. If you find a glitch with Microsoft's software, a fix often means waiting weeks, months, or longer while the issue ping pongs around Microsoft's vast corporate structure. The complexity of Microsoft's products also leads to security problems, as recently reported on (not to mention the recent "CrowdStrike" issue with Windows computers that led to airports around the world grounding their flights). It's just one thing after another for this ungainly company, and it's unlikely to get better anytime soon. Facebook deserves special mention for having no customer service at all. We've found it impossible to talk to a real person at Facebook. If you get locked out of your Facebook account, Facebook may ask you to submit your sensitive identity documents, but they typically never respond, failing to actually help people get their accounts back. If there were ever an argument to made for regulating technology companies and requiring them to offer real person-to-person tech support for account recovery, Facebook would be the prime exhibit. Love them or hate them, using a computer or smart phone usually means having to work with some of these companies. We've got the experience and patience to make things as easy as possible on you if you need to cross that bridge, or help you find an alternative. Don't hesitate to reach out to us if you need support.  Corporations continue to suffer data breaches and leaks of customer data. Recently we have seen Ticketmaster, Rite Aid, and ATT suffer intrusions.
What's a concerned individual to do? 1. Use a password manager. If a company you do business with is hacked, you can should change your password and check to see if you used that same password on any other websites. Want to be proactive? Most password managers offer to check your current password list to see whether you are reusing any passwords, or if any of your current passwords are already known by hackers. In 1Password, it's called Watchtower. Using a password manager also means it's easy to randomize your passwords so that if one site gets hacked, it will not affect your other logins. 2. Be wary of scams. They could come via phone call, email, or text message. If you're not sure what to do, we can check any email or text message for authenticity. You can forward suspicious messages to us (remote support via email or text message starts at $50). Ultimately, if a service you use reaches out and you're not sure whether it's legitimate, login to your account directly at the company's website by typing their website into your web browser. Don't click the link in a message. |
AuthorJensen Gelfond is the Founder of Asheville Digital Lifestyle. He helps people use their technology more effectively and joyfully. Categories
All
|
RSS Feed