So today I had an interesting customer service experience. Not only was it a waste of more than an hour, but I still didn't get my issue resolved.
Where to begin? A few months back, we purchased a copy of Microsoft Office 2011 for Mac from Staples. The computer we originally installed it on was for an intern and once the intern left, we uninstalled Office from the computer. The box that Office came in tells us that we could install the software on 3 separate computers. Well, today, we tried to install it on computer #2. Of course, the product key didn't work when installing on our new computer. What do we do? Go to Microsoft customer support, expecting some kind of help. Once there, I first look through the FAQ's. Nothing there really helps. They provide a number to call for help with your product key. So, I call the number. Concurrently, Rini, our CEO, starts an online chat with a customer service rep. After a 10-15 minute back and forth through chat, Rini was unsuccessful at getting any help. Keep in mind, I'm still on hold on the phone. 35 minutes goes by...and I still haven't talked to a human being. Finally, the person on the live chat gave us a different number to call. We call the number and finally talk to a human! Only to be transferred to a different department. After the transfer, the operator tells me I need to contact the store I purchased it from to get any kind of help since we purchased it retail and the license is through the store.
Does this make sense to anyone? Not only did my issue not get resolved (and it took forever at that), now I have to go back to Staples and see if they can help us with our product key situation.
To top it all off, during this whole thing, I was tweeting to @MicrosoftHelps. As you know, we have been doing a blog series on social media customer service and we wanted to see what kind of response we would get from Microsoft. Needless to say, they wouldn't get any points on the timeliness of their responses. When I did finally get a response, it came a few hours after my initial complaints. Plus, it took 3 different tweets to get a response.
Moral of the story: I don't need to do in-depth research into Microsofts' customer service strategy to see where they stand. Their online chat was not helpful. Their phone support was even worse. I had hope for their social media, considering they are a tech company. Alas, that failed me as well. So...I guess I'll take my hind-end to Staples and see if they can help me. Please don't let me down @staples or I will be right back here doing the same thing!