The mistake of trying to cover up your mistakes.
I recently had Hostgator switch over my MX settings to Google so that I could try out Google Apps for Business. I mainly wanted to check out the ability to manage multiple email accounts from right within the same space. After a day or two of testing it out the emails were very delayed in showing up there, which is obviously not how you want your business email to behave, so I decided to have my MX settings switched back and use my same ‘ol reliable Mac Mail setup with multiple separated accounts.
So I started a live chat with Hostgator to ask them to switch the MX settings back. They said it would be switched over shortly. I waited and waited, then finally called back. They said that the problem was definitely on my end since their work had all been done. But the settings and accounts in my Mac Mail had not been modified since the change over. Those accounts have been setup in there the same way for years, so if everything on their end was the same, and everything on my end was the same, why wouldn’t it work? Good question. I spent hours on it, finally calling back again and the person said their settings were never changed. Argh!
Hours go by, it’s still not fixed. I call back AGAIN! This time the guy actually fixes it on the spot, but says “I can understand why they thought it was set correctly. Because [blah, blah, blah].” Never says sorry, never takes the blame, never tried to make it up to me. This costs me hours of time, and them a decent amount of time as well. It’s okay to make a mistake every now and again, but several times in a row, and costing the customer hours of time for your mistake deserves at least some acknowledgment, preferably an apology, and ideally something something to really show you care (a month of free hosting? C’mon, my monthly bill is $9.95, I think they can afford to let that go just once). If they really cared about their customers they would do all these things. It’s really these simple things that go a long way. And it’s cheap. A simple “I’m sorry, it is something easily overlooked but it was our fault. I will make a note in our documentation to try to keep this from happening in the future.” would have been satisfactory.
Treat your customers with respect. Take responsibility, and show you learn from your mistakes. Trying to cover up your mistake is a bigger mistake than the mistake your trying to cover up. Own up!
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