What happened to "asking for help"?

51–52 of 52 posts

Re: What happened to "asking for help"?

#51

Post by SomeCallMeTim » Thu, Nov 10, 2011, 3:10 AM UTC

extension wrote: post #49

SomeCallMeTim wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the Android Market, there's a "Contact Developer" button for every app. Click it and write an email. No "registering" or complex forms to fill out. In my game, there's also a "feedback" button. I say early in the app description to please contact me if you have any problems. I answer any questions that come in, and am polite even to the insulting emails. Well, at least mostly polite. ;) And I typically answer them…

I can understand how anything other than instant gratification from a mobile game would justify a bad review. This is bite-sized software. Most games only provide 30-60 minutes of entertainment anyway. If it takes that long just to get it running, you've pretty much blown it. I'm a mobile game dev and I don't like it either, but I understand why it's right for users. We've gotta give them a seamless experience, like…

I'm a professional game developer who's jumped into indie/mobile. The problems people with my game are having are not (in general) things not working -- there are tutorials, and it's in the Angry Birds genre, so people know how to play it pretty quickly. I just got picked up by a major publisher (hint: they've had the #1 revenue app on iOS for a large percentage of the last two months...), so I'm not the only one who thinks my game is fit to run in the big leagues.

One problem is occasionally buggy devices or firmware. I have one crash where a WebView is dying trying to display an ad, and while the ad is possibly conflicting with the WebView, I'm not sure how to FIX that, since the ad being provided isn't under my control (aside from choosing another ad provider).

And don't get me started on Samsung and the SoundPool class. It will just lock up your Samsung device to USE a SoundPool on it in a game. But only intermittently. Sigh.

When the problem is they don't like ads -- well, it's a free game, and there aren't words I'm willing to use on HN that are sufficient to describe what I think of those...individuals.

Re: What happened to "asking for help"?

#52

Post by pasbesoin » Thu, Nov 10, 2011, 3:32 PM UTC

jellicle wrote: post #43

I think the average customer service response from a company nowadays goes something like this: Me: "I'm having a problem with the fribbulator. It appears to be broken - the metal is snapped cleanly in two." Them: {no response} Me: "I sent you this last week but didn't receive a reply. I'm having a problem with the fribbulator. It appears to be broken - the metal is snapped cleanly in two." Them: "Here are instructio…

After 7+ hours on the phone with Adobe Support until I finally convinced one of them to push a manager to execute a 10 minute fix (including walking over to and appropriately chatting up the manager, and passing on my explanation of what actually needed to be done -- whose product/support role is this, anyway?), I was all too happy (as a turn of phrase) to write the strongest cogent complaint I could manage on the site where the installation package was purchased.

I see two common scenarios:

Disposable products lead to or correspond with an attitude that customers are disposable. (And a corresponding, irritating frenzy around "customer acquisition" to address the resulting churn.)

Hotel California: You can check out, but you can never leave. You're dealing with a quasi- or literal monopoly, who know all to well that they can simply tell you to fuck yourself. Once in a while, they'll say it to your face. Most of the time, they'll just ignore you until you give up pestering them.

When I do have a genuinely positive support experience, I usually am willing to go out of my way to credit it, internally or externally.

But these days I'm predisposed to expect a bad experience, especially when I'm not dealing with the other party face to face (or even voice to voice).

It's part of what makes what would otherwise be an uneventful purchase so agonizing: You know that if you "choose wrong", essentially you're screwed. Or if the warehouse pulls the dropped, shaken, stirred, or restocked package for your order.

P.S. I guess my comment isn't really adding anything. I thought I'd gotten over that 7 hour experience -- maybe not quite yet.

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