Trying to get some help from the customer service staff at Facebook? Good luck. What I found when I had a pretty simple question, was a “form” email with a “thanks for playing” attitude.
It’s pretty documented (right?) that without my phone I’d be pretty lost. It’s not just a phone to me, it’s an all-in-one communications device. I recently wrote about how frustrated I was not getting my Twitter @replies to my phone. So much so that I wrote my own Twitter PHP script to “reliably” send me @replies. It’s still working, and you can download it here.
One of the things I like so much about Facebook is how it interacts with my phone. I can post messages, status updates and even photos to my profile. I can also get mobile updates from specific friends too. Each time they post to my wall, write me a note or change their status… it all comes right to me even if I’m not at my computer.
Lately though, the notifications on my phone were being delayed. Sometimes by several hours. Which is annoying. I’ll get an update now that can be so old, that friend has posted several other updates. Plus, the once convenient feature of “black out” times for updates no longer works.
I decided to email Facebook support and ask them what was up. Maybe they weren’t aware of this, or maybe there was a fix for it somehow. It took three days, but here was their reply:
Hi Todd,
We are aware of the problem that you described and apologize for the inconvenience. Unfortunately, we do not have a specific date for when this issue will be resolved, but hope to fix it as soon as possible. We appreciate your patience.
Thanks for contacting Facebook,
Sam
User Operations
Wow-not exactly top notch customer service. I realize Facebook is huge, and I’m not paying for the service. However, I am bombarded with ad’s and they are making plenty of money off the marketing data I freely give them on a regular basis. I expect better.
This looks like a complete form letter. Copy/Paste -> Send. Did anyone even READ about my problem? Nice generic comments of vague answers that would fit any problem a user had.
Bottom line–It appears that if you have an issue with Facebook you’re better left trying to figure it out on your own because customer service won’t be of any help. Bummer too. If you do contact them, I hope you have better luck than I did.
What’s your Facebook customer service story?
