What is it with ISPs? Allow 72 hours for a reply?

We don’t actively write about our vendors or business suppliers. It isn’t good business practice and it isn’t professional. Yet today, I felt compelled to post something about traditional ISPs and how customer service can be a world apart from that of us web hosts.

 

The background

We use Kingston Communications/KCOM/KC (this is one and the same but after recent name changes, I’m not sure which is technically correct) for our primary office connectivity in the UK. Kcom are one of the better business broadband ISPs and have a fast and mostly stable network. We like working with them. We have backup wireless (wifi) and wireless (mobile) connections meshed in to give us redundancy and it keeps us online around the clock.

We’re expanding our office in the UK to help accommodate and fuel future growth. As part of that expansion, we contacted Kcom to discuss additional connectivity/bandwidth options. After an initial phone call to discuss our requirements, several emails were exchanged while KCOM conducted a feasibility assessment with a view to coming back with us with some options. Today, I sent a follow up email asking for an update on the assessment and our options to be met with

Thanks you for getting in touch with the KC Business Care Team, Due to the high volume of emails, we endeavour to get back to your enquiry within 72 working hours.

Making sure you’re happy with the service we deliver is really important to us. If you would like to talk to a member of our team in the meantime give us a call on 0800 915 5777 which is a free number from your KC landline or why not use our Help & Support http://www.kcbusiness.co.uk/contact

section on the KC website you may find the answers you’re looking for here.

72 hours? That’s 3 days! Can you imagine waiting 3 days for a response to a sales enquiry or technical support enquiry to us? As a company that strives for 20 minute response times to all emails and tickets, 3 days seems like an eternity.

I feel bad for singling KCOM out here. They are definitely one of the better ISPs and we’ve mostly been happy with their service. This post is mostly to highlight the big gaps between leading web hosts and the service they provide versus traditional, older ISPs.

Stay tuned for pisc of our office expansion

Matt