A client contacted me because their email service was no longer receiving incoming messages.
I was given admin access to their Godaddy account. I checked their domain products – domain registration, web hosting & email – all provided by Godaddy in the same account. All were previously connected and working properly.
After a quick inspection, I see that the IP address of the domain is not pointing to the hosting server’s IP address. I quickly conclude the account has been hacked and inform the client. They’ll need to change account passwords and review any charges on their registered credit card immediately.
Digital Consultant: Maintaining Accurate Knowledge with Industry ‘Check-Ins’
As a digital consultant, I believe it’s important to regularly check various industry options for website services. Godaddy was a favorite of mine for years. However, as their company grew the customer service tanked while pricing rose. It reached a point where I could no longer recommend Godaddy to my clients for hosting services.
But everyone deserves a second chance, and I like to know my recommendations are accurate and up-to-date, so I occasionally check in on companies to see where their product offerings and customer service are at. This particular issue was a great opportunity to see if the current Godaddy customer service experience had improved.
Assessing the Customer Service Experience
I contacted the Godaddy customer support chat. I explained the problems – that the website was not showing the correct site and the email wasn’t working and asked them to fix it.
Their response was that I should change the IP address on the domain to that of the server.
Which of course, I already know. But I was surprised that this was seemingly the end of the conversation. They didn’t offer any additional information or direction on how to accomplish that fix or offer to make the change for me.
Good Customer Service Should See Problems Through to the END, and Then Confirm the Resolution
The expectation was that the customer should now be equipped to solve the problem. I find this surprising. A typical customer would not only not know what do to, but they also wouldn’t have the confidence to do it even if they had the correct information.
I asked the customer service representative to make that change for me. After a brief hold, they said they had completed the update. I checked the domain in a browser and the wrong site was still appearing, I checked it in an incognito window – still not working. Knowing that could be due to propagation, I gave the Domain IP address a quick peep and low and behold it was not updated.
I said that it was not still working. They told me it was due to propagation.
Problem NOT Solved
At this point, if I was a typical customer, the call would have ended with absolutely NOTHING fixed. The customer would have spent over 30mins on the helpline at this point and it would be a complete waste of time for everyone.
Although the issue was identified, it was not fixed. Propagation would never occur and the customer would have to start over the next day once the requested 24-hour waiting period elapsed.
I then pointed out the mismatched IPs. Another brief hold.
Ending the Support Chat with 1 of the 2 Issues Corrected
This time when the representative informed me it was ‘fixed’, I could see that the IP addresses now matched. At this point, I know that once the domain IP is propagated the correct site will appear. So issue 1 is solved. The representative asks if there is anything else – ie, they forgot that I identified 2 issues initially – the website and the email not working.
I remind them that the email isn’t receiving incoming emails. They tell me that it will also be fixed when the IP address propagates. I can see that the DNS does not have any MX records so I am skeptical the representative is correct. I mention this lack of zone records. They assure me it will automatically resolve.
Like a typical customer, I’m forced to believe them.
Issue 2 Still Not Resolved
The next day I clear my browser cache and see that the propagation has occurred and the correct site is appearing. I test the email address and it’s not a big surprise that it is returned with an error that reads “It’s likely that the email server isn’t correctly set up to receive and relay messages from your domain…”
As I had suspected and mentioned to the service rep, the DNS needs an MX zone record. So I head back to the support chat to request it be added. Not only that, but the client will have to wait for another roughly 24hours for propagation.
What a complete waste of time!
Result: Poor Customer Service Experience
I give this customer service experience a rating of POOR.
A few simple guidelines for customer service representatives:
- Once the issue is identified, offer to apply the fix.
- Confirm issues are actually resolved.
- Address ALL issues the customer raises.
- Have a good working knowelge of the field within which the fix is needed, or pass the customer on to someone more knowlegable.
- If you don’t know the answer, ask someone who does instead of ending the help call.
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