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Customer expresses frustration with a mailbox bug, security vulnerability, privacy concern, UI limitation, etc. Or, customer suggests an improvement or feature request to make the experience better for everyone and therefore (theoretically) improve mailbox's bottom line.
Support sends an auto-reply (perpetually on) that they are experiencing a large volume of requests and it will take a while to receive a response, which it does. When a response finally arrives, the problem/proposed improvement is either a) misunderstood b) minimized/downplayed/dismissed c) validated and reported up the chain on command into a black box of "administrators" who will make the decision without your involvement d) sent to Open-Xchange - an enigma within an enimga - where most good ideas apparently go to die.
--- Since everything rises or falls on leadership, I generally try to extend a lot of grace and patience to support staff. They did not invent this dysfunction. They are institutionally captured by it.
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Thanks for this thoughtful response! I'm rooting for mailbox to WIN. One way to vastly improve the support experience would be to REMOVE the two-way mirror which currently exists when a customer asks for a fix or suggestions an improvement. Right now, administrators and Open-Xchange developers can "see" the issues being presented, but there's ZERO transparency or visibility for customers to SEE which changes are being implemented, by who, what the status of those changes are, what the goal for completion time is, where their input ranks in terms of prioritization (if any), let alone being given the chance to actually be part of contributing to the software development to further progress. There is a MASSIVE divide between what the customer says and what the customer sees. And as is, this is by design. Which leads to my original post.
Thanks for this thoughtful response! I'm rooting for mailbox to WIN. One way to vastly improve the support experience would be to REMOVE the two-way mirror which currently exists when a customer asks for a fix or suggestions an improvement. Right now, administrators and Open-Xchange developers can "see" the issues being presented, but there's ZERO transparency or visibility for customers to SEE which changes are being implemented, by who, what the status of those changes are, what the goal for completion time is, where their input ranks in terms of prioritization (if any), let alone being given the chance to actually be part of contributing to the software development to further progress. There is a MASSIVE divide between what the customer says and what the customer sees. And as is, this is by design. Which leads to my original post.
Hi,
and thank you very much for expressing your opinion, we really value this! We understand that this is truly valuabe for our product and our customers.
We understand that our processes can sometimes seem a little bit arduous, but it takes time to address and implement certain changes. When it comes to security vulnerabilities or privacy concerns, we of course try to move as fast as possible.
Yes, our support staff is experiencing a huge influx in tickets, approximately four times higher than last year at this time. We have now have more staff, but it is still a lot of work, so we have to ask for your patience and your understanding.
As to your points: a) Of course issues should not be misunderstood. b) Problems should also not be minimized or downplayed, but of course it can happen that our supporters and/or administrators come to a different conclusion regarding a problem than one of our customers. c) Our administrators are the ones keeping our system afloat, so they are the ones in charge regarding any technical changes. Since they also have a lot to do, it can take some time until they are free to work on or solve some issues. d) Much of our online office depends on Open-Xchange. So for a lot of feature-requests or bugs, we have to wait for them.
Of course we would love to hear, what improvements and changes you would like to see, so we can improve our service.
With kind regards
Your mailbox team
---
Useful Links:
Hi,
and thank you very much for expressing your opinion, we really value this! We understand that this is truly valuabe for our product and our customers.
We understand that our processes can sometimes seem a little bit arduous, but it takes time to address and implement certain changes. When it comes to security vulnerabilities or privacy concerns, we of course try to move as fast as possible.
Yes, our support staff is experiencing a huge influx in tickets, approximately four times higher than last year at this time. We have now have more staff, but it is still a lot of work, so we have to ask for your patience and your understanding.
As to your points: a) Of course issues should not be misunderstood. b) Problems should also not be minimized or downplayed, but of course it can happen that our supporters and/or administrators come to a different conclusion regarding a problem than one of our customers. c) Our administrators are the ones keeping our system afloat, so they are the ones in charge regarding any technical changes. Since they also have a lot to do, it can take some time until they are free to work on or solve some issues. d) Much of our online office depends on Open-Xchange. So for a lot of feature-requests or bugs, we have to wait for them.
Of course we would love to hear, what improvements and changes you would like to see, so we can improve our service.
With kind regards
Your mailbox team
---
Useful Links:
I have to agree. I’ve been trying to get a bug fixed since May and each time I get a response that shows that was the issue is not understood. It’s as though nobody has read the bug report. Over and over again. I have sent in requested information, including logs repeatedly, but it feels hopeless when I then get another request for information that, once again, clearly shows that nothing has been understood.
This kind of response is what I expect from an Indian support centre, but not from a German provider. It’s just not good enough.
I
I have to agree. I’ve been trying to get a bug fixed since May and each time I get a response that shows that was the issue is not understood. It’s as though nobody has read the bug report. Over and over again. I have sent in requested information, including logs repeatedly, but it feels hopeless when I then get another request for information that, once again, clearly shows that nothing has been understood.
This kind of response is what I expect from an Indian support centre, but not from a German provider. It’s just not good enough.
I
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