amuck-landowner

Expectations in regards to ticket reply

danni

New Member
Hello,

I would like to know what you guys expectations are in regards to support ticket response time.

If we devide them into 3 provider types

- Budget

- Standard? / Generic
- Premium

Thanks
 

serverian

Well-Known Member
Verified Provider
It doesn't matter if you give them away for free. You need to reply emergency tickets within the first 10 minutes. Regular tickets can be replied within the first 1-2 hours.
 

MannDude

Just a dude
vpsBoard Founder
Moderator
Within a couple hours.

I mark my tickets accordingly. If it's a low priority request I mark it as such, and for those I'm  happy with an update in 24 hours. Regular priority, an hour or two max. HIGH priority, as soon as possible.
 

danni

New Member
Thanks for your answers guys.

Right now im just very angry, its been 2 days since last reply from my current provider, which just to me is very unacceptable.
I bumped the ticket 11 hours ago, just to see if the ticket was being overseen, but still no reply.
 

drmike

100% Tier-1 Gogent
Yikes, folks sure are liberal with the ticket times.

Regardless of pricing, I expect to see 30 minute or less ticket responses.  Those might not be complete resolutions, but at minimum a live human working on the issue and some update to that effect.

Average ticket times that sit at or above 30 minutes across all the tickets indicate a problem with the provider --- to me at least.
 

WebSearchingPro

VPS Peddler
Verified Provider
I usually expect within 30 minutes during weekdays at normal operating hours for the companies locale. Otherwise, on weekends and nights I expect it to be replied to on Monday or at least the next morning. 

It also depends on the scale though, if there is a major outage, I expect it to be worked on without any tickets or notifications from me as a customer regardless of time/day.
 

MannDude

Just a dude
vpsBoard Founder
Moderator
Yikes, folks sure are liberal with the ticket times.

Regardless of pricing, I expect to see 30 minute or less ticket responses.  Those might not be complete resolutions, but at minimum a live human working on the issue and some update to that effect.

Average ticket times that sit at or above 30 minutes across all the tickets indicate a problem with the provider --- to me at least.
I'd rather wait for a detailed response that is helpful and addresses my problem, letting me know the support tech actually read my inquiry as opposed to getting a fast response that is lacking in content.
 

Francisco

Company Lube
Verified Provider
I'd rather wait for a detailed response that is helpful and addresses my problem, letting me know the support tech actually read my inquiry as opposed to getting a fast response that is lacking in content.
I agree.

Getting BS replies of 'yes we have picked up your ticket' does me no good if I need something fixed up.

Granted, getting a solid reply right away is excellent too ;)

Francisco
 

Magiobiwan

Insert Witty Statement Here
Verified Provider
I, personally, do my best to not make filler replies. As a client, I also prefer meaningful replies which are actually USEFUL, rather than a "We are working on this problem. I hope to have informed you sufficiently." response.
 

TheLinuxBug

New Member
The group I work with specializes in an average response time of 15 minutes.  This may be just an update to let you know we are working on the issue, or a complete resolution to this issue depending on the severity.  Now, this is by no means low end support services, but we do have a mixture of services from shared cPanel to HA Cloud Servers.  We extend the same support quality to all of our services. 

Now, for low end services like we are used to here and on LE*, I think at least receiving a response that the ticket is being handled is nice with-in the hour.  The resolution can take up to 6 hours and I will still see that as acceptable.  However, sometimes when companies don't take the time to at least know they are working on things,  6 hours can seem like a long time.   Some groups on the very low end still have a 12 hour response, which can be acceptable if I am only paying a few dollars a month for that service.  Things on the 7-20$ a month range I would expect at least an update with-in the hour and a resolution with-in 4-6 hours.

My 2 cents.

Cheers! 
 

HostUS-Alexander

Active Member
Verified Provider
I try to get all tickets <1 hour, but sometimes if a ticket is at an awkward time (say i go to a drive to the shop) It ends up being a few hours.

- Alexander
 

maounique

Active Member
Here is a mixed picture.

Basically, it depends.

We have automated warnings about problems, from ping and ssh monitoring to DoS, both incoming and outgoing so those are handled within a few minutes without needing any ticket. Same with storage latency, load, even pps count.

The remaining issues are usually about specific problems, like customer being unable to find the rDNS setting in solus or getting an error because the subdomain is not yet propagated, sales inquiries, maxmind issues, asking us to deliver the server faster (if the order is done today and payment tomorrow, it may be that it slips under the first page and  might be overlooked). Those are handled within a few hours at max. It did happen to have a few tickets overlooked, some for days until got bumped, I hope it didnt happen for a couple of months now.
 

WSWD

Active Member
Verified Provider
Thanks for your answers guys.


Right now im just very angry, its been 2 days since last reply from my current provider, which just to me is very unacceptable.


I bumped the ticket 11 hours ago, just to see if the ticket was being overseen, but still no reply.
Just to note that "bumping" the tickets will normally put them back to the bottom of the queue as it will be showing up with a newer time.  Very frustrating, I know, but bumping the ticket is usually the last thing you want to do.
 

blergh

New Member
Verified Provider
24 hours is acceptable if it's just some 10$/M VPS, i expect less as the amount gets higher.
 

TheLinuxBug

New Member
Just to note that "bumping" the tickets will normally put them back to the bottom of the queue as it will be showing up with a newer time.  Very frustrating, I know, but bumping the ticket is usually the last thing you want to do.
@WSWD,

Sorry, but, what?!  If you bump a ticket in most systems that I have seen (assuming you sort your tickets newest to oldest to be able to see new issues and emergencies first) it end up at the top of the list as it is the newest.  It sounds strange to me that you would do this in reverse and have them on the bottom?  

Cheers!
 

maounique

Active Member
Just to note that "bumping" the tickets will normally put them back to the bottom of the queue as it will be showing up with a newer time.  Very frustrating, I know, but bumping the ticket is usually the last thing you want to do.
Nope, we do not take them in order, we solve each and every ticket as soon as we are on it and dont stop until all are done. I suppose most providers on the low end do the same, those with hundreds of thousands of customers and a dedicated helpdesk are rare.
 

drmike

100% Tier-1 Gogent
Cost shouldn't have any bearing on responsiveness.

Companies experiencing high wait times on support even picking up the ticket for processing really need to reconsider their business model and affording actual helpdesk staff.

I do expect / allow lousier customer support where cost is less.  That's basically quality of responses, not the timeliness of such.

Two styles of support I detest:

1. We copy everything from Google / know nothing.

2. Our comprehension of English is so small that automagic language translation tools from native tongue would be improvement in communications.  Folks outsourcing helpdesk/support to these folks, GROWL just throw your money in a chipper.
 

perennate

New Member
Verified Provider
I expect VPS and billing issues to be handled. I don't require replies to the former.

If I fail to understand how to use the system (something common like SolusVM) I don't necessarily expect a reply but it's nice to get one.
 
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