Hosting companies no phone support - Servage the dinosaur

[temi]

In the early days of web hosting, hosting companies with no telephone support was the norm, this days hardly any hosting company exist without telephone support. One of the few remaining dinosaurs of this era is Servage.
If you visit their contact page, they have a postal address and email address non customers can use, but if you are a customer, you are asked to login to the support system, what if your problem is that you cannot access the support system? No contact phone number not any other ways of telling them what your problem is?

 

[Gorkfu]

what if your problem is that you cannot access the support system?

Then your screwed, lol. They think they are saving money by not having phone support, but I think those companies lose more customers in the long haul.

My old domain registrar had no phone support and never answered my e-mails. Which is why I ended up moving my domains to godaddy. I would do the same if I had a hosting company with lack of support like that.

 

[DanielEZPZ]

We don't offer phone support, but we see it as a positive.

We're not a large enough company to be able to afford dozens of staff waiting by the phone. Instead, we have a few people manning the support desk.

If I were to have 3 people answering phones, and 6 people tried to call at the same time then three of those people would have to wait in a queue. If I had 3 people answering support tickets then the ticket would be submitted instantly, read by someone straight away and the member of staff can work on both tickets at the same time.

Its one of the easiest and most productive ways of handling support problems. Not to mention it saves money. Some of the largest web hosting companies don't offer phone support for the reasons i've outlined above - Dreamhost for example.

 

[redsy]

Personally, when am pulling my hair out with a hosting problem i'd rather beable to speak with someone. Just my opinion.

 

[temi]

I agree with you about speaking to someone, the problem is most of the time, the people you speak to do not have a clue and you are paying for calling them

 

[redsy]

How right Temi, i forgot about the quality and took this for granted, maybe wishful thinking.

The online support is often manned by different people and levels of expertise than the phones.

EUK host am thinking of going with soon. The sales lines were good when i spoke with them, but sales is far different to support.

Anyone experience of EUKhost please pm me or leave response on thread in web host section. Cant leave link, am a newbie here.

 

[vicdigi]

To my understanding, Servage offer adult website hosting.

Maybe they do not want to be contacted so easily for fear of abuse from the general public!

.

 

[temi]

I bought a site hosted on Servage, I left the site there and I am quite happy with Servage services.

They are quite a lot of restrictions on their server but its very stable.

To my understanding, Servage offer adult website hosting.

Maybe they do not want to be contacted so easily for fear of abuse from the general public!

.

 

[dbbrock1]

I am not a fan of offering phone support. Its just more expensive and time consuming that other methods. What is the worst is that your tech is only able to handle one thing while on the phone...compared to multiple issues at once over helpdesk

 

[blacknight]

It depends on the type of hosting you offer and the type of clientele you attract.

 

[temi]

Phone support separate the boys from the men in web hosting term. Its also a fantastic marketing opportunity.

I am not a fan of offering phone support. Its just more expensive and time consuming that other methods. What is the worst is that your tech is only able to handle one thing while on the phone...compared to multiple issues at once over helpdesk

 

[blacknight]

Phone support separate the boys from the men in web hosting term.

Yes. Those who cannot afford to offer it will make excuses about how it's so "bad" or how it's a "problem" for X Y or Z reason ...

 

[temi]

Paul,
Servage is good for basic sites, if you need to host complex sites there are the wrong company. There servers are too restrictive, you cannot even pass parameters to a php contact form on their server.

I agree with you that their support is quite fast.

I have used servage for around 2 years and find them quite good. I host 4 sites with them and have only once had to contact support and I got a helpful reply within 1 hour. They are not based in the UK so I guess perhaps easier when question in written form. Just my take on this....

Paul

 

[[Tsohost] Darren]

We're looking to expand the hours that we cover phone support, simply because whilst it is used a lot less than the email/ticket systems, it is very reassuring for prospective customers.

That said, a phone number on its own doesn't mean anything. You should be able to get through and not have to wait in a queue, and when you speak to someone, you should be able to speak to someone knowledgeable that can solve your problem there and then rather than someone reeling off things from a script. You should also not have to phone a premium rate line.

 

[ms2134]

My company has both a support ticketing system, with fast replies, (Within a few minutes). And also we have a phone contact which you can call.

 

[krystalpaul]

The ability to call up for support during the working day is one of the best ways of offering good customer service. Allied with a ticket centre where non urgent problems can be raised, you have a great support mechanism.

Support is often seen as dead time however the amount of new business we have earnt simply through offering great support to our customers has proven that it is worthwhile paying lots of attention to!

 

[krystalpaul]

We're looking to expand the hours that we cover phone support, simply because whilst it is used a lot less than the email/ticket systems, it is very reassuring for prospective customers.

That said, a phone number on its own doesn't mean anything. You should be able to get through and not have to wait in a queue, and when you speak to someone, you should be able to speak to someone knowledgeable that can solve your problem there and then rather than someone reeling off things from a script. You should also not have to phone a premium rate line.

Agree with everything in this post.

 

[BurtyB]

Since I hate using the phone, offering phone support isn't going to increase the companies "worth" to me unless its something more than hosting/dedi (i.e. transit/etc).

Also any "internet company" that requires me to use the phone makes me cringe and that includes Nominet and thier "you cannot pay for membership applications online".

ChrisB.

 

[krystalpaul]

I think a number of support channels are key as everyone is different yet each person has their preference.

 

[krystalpaul]

Slightly off topic, I wonder how many customers appreciate the "livechat" feature on some web sites? This is something I have been looking to incorporate, but am not sure whether a large percentage of customers would use it....