Who's Your Daddy?

One of the most reassuring sounds ever experienced by any webmaster who has, in the course of either building a new site, or revamping an old one, is the soothing voice from far away, telling you not to worry, they'll help you fix the mess that you have created. This voice, or voices in my case, as I had to call tech support no less than 10 times within a 24 hour period this weekend, is almost angelic compared to the usual gruff customer service treatment we Americans have become accustomed to when out shopping.

Without seeming to be advocating one business over another, nor plugging for any particular domain hoster, (well, maybe just a little), I relate this weekend's experience merely to thank the tech support people at GoDaddy for showing us what customer service is all about.

Tired of news sites that have pop up ads, mouse over ads, dazzle and razzle before you get to actually see what the news is, I decided to revive a site I had abandoned awhile back called Vigilant Watch. Shamelessly plugging now, without posting the link, I tell you it's name and that it's at a dot org address. I rebuilt the site with no ads, no pop ups, nothing but news feeds from as many sources that I could gather, and while not completed yet, it already is filled with a wealth of content, all gathered in one place.

But I digress. Having been a long time customer of Yahoo Domain Hosting, I first tried to build my site from there again. After a week long battle with their tech support team, they had still not figured out the problem I was having getting my pages published, let alone why I couldn't get into my own control panel. It was but last year that I wrote glowing reviews about Yahoo, and while I don't harbor any ill will towards Yahoo in general, needless to say, I got fed up on Saturday, and cancelled my plan.

What to do? What to do? Pondering my options, an online friend wrote to me about GoDaddy. Laughing out loud, I sighingly went to their site, and poked around. After a bit, I decided the price was right, and went ahead and set up an account. Within 10 minutes of trying to apply all I knew about site building that I had been practicing with Yahoo, I had made a complete wreckage of what I was trying to do. My hands trembled as thoughts raced through my head of the jumble I had just published online, and swiftly looking up the number for GoDaddy's tech team, I was pleased that they answered on the first ring. That was the first of many calls throughout the night, and on into Sunday. Each call was answered promptly, no half an hour waiting time here, and they listened patiently as I heart brokenly explained my latest feeble attempts gone awry.

No problem, here's what you do, they replied each time, taking my hand, and walking me step by step through each of their processes. Lo and behold, and Vigilant Watch is back online, better than before, sleek looking, etc. etc. etc.

My point is, I guess, is that when companies like Yahoo, for whom I still feel a certain loyalty, as I maintain yet another site over there, get too big, they sometimes forget that it's the customer who pays them, not the other way around. And as the conglomerates start to neglect their customers with longer wait times for tech support, or have no answers, and are actually starting to outsource their tech support to other countries, it has been a rewarding weekend for me personally to find out that there is still such a thing as an American company, that values it's customers. So to the web giants of today, I say this, look behind you as you stomp your way forth. There is at least one company coming fast on your heels shouting out gleefully " Who's Your Daddy Now"? Batmanchester