Lack of Customer Service by Linden Lab/

[Solar Legion]

1. The listed days (Christmas aside) are not wholly consecutive - no problem there
2. Outside of something absolutely catastrophic - such as falling for a Phishing scam (still on you) - there are no time sensitive events over these days
3. Missing a day or two is not going to be that big a deal
   1. Any funds you may make will still be there after these days
   2. These off days are not preventing you from cashing out
   3. Time any product releases a bit better (to avoid potential problems there)

It is not that big a deal.

Period.

Sit. Down.

[Paul Hexem]

58 minutes ago, Love Zhaoying said:

You'd think that a decade would be long enough to get used to it!

You never totally get used to people upset about not getting to have every holiday off when you haven't had one off in years.

[Paul Hexem]

1 hour ago, Sam1 Bellisserian said:

This is beyond ridiculous. For the complainers @belindacarson@Sid Nagy @Paul Hexemon this thread about how 24/7 Live support is essential to you please describe what issue you had during this time and the financial impact that it has had on you. Not something that potential could happen but an actual example of something that happened this weekend that caused you to lose money or not be able to access Second Life. 

I haven't seen one thread on here, besides this one of needless complaining, that anyone has had a life or death issue that they needed Live support and it couldn't wait until tomorrow.

1 hour ago, Love Zhaoying said:

The answer, when we finally get it will probably be something like:

* whine * But I had PLANS over the HOLIDAY in Second Life! 

That's the same attitude as those people that think overnight workers are lazy bums for sleeping past noon.

[LittleMe Jewell]

This thread needs some popcorn

[Scylla Rhiadra]

5 hours ago, Paul Hexem said:

I think this is actually a problem- that it's considered "forcing people to work" any hours that aren't normal, in a society where we do expect those 24/7 essential services. The people that provide those 24/7 services don't and can't possibly have normal schedules, so their needs will fall on times outside of Mon-Fri, 9-5. We're basically telling them they're not important enough to have decent customer service, while expecting them to continue to potentially risk their lives for us. Or at least, live lives with already miserable hours for us.

Well, I'll agree that there is a problem here, but I'm not quite sure what your proposed solution is.

No one is compelled to close their business on holidays. Nor indeed, in the States anyway, are there any federal laws that regulate how much extra employees working holidays should make (I think just two states have such regulations), so if companies are closing, it is likely because 1) they want to retain staff and keep morale high, and 2) they don't think they can make enough money on such days to justify remaining open.

Are you arguing that there should be laws forcing companies to remain open, at a minimal operational level at least, in order to service essential workers who do have to work on holidays? I can't see that going over well.

And which companies? Do you think LL qualifies as a company that should be forced to retain fuller services and staffing?

I think a better solution would be to ensure employers who do keep operations open during holidays, including essential services, are making reasonable accommodations for those workers -- not forcing employees to work consecutive holiday days, for instance. And actually mandating overtime rates of pay (as is the case, for instance, in Canada) rather than leaving it to the discretion of the employer, might be a good start.

[blissfulbreeze]

On 12/24/2022 at 4:58 PM, belindacarson said:

Today, LL live chat unavailable 1030-2pm PDT so no live Lindens.

Tomorrow Live support closed for Xmas, next live agent available 6am 26/12

so 48 hours without access to support.

 

Support closed 1/2 January 2023 so live support unavailable nearly 96 hours/4 days from 31st December/3rd January.

 

Linden Labs - you have a user base worldwide, in many different timezones.

You have thousands (or more) paying customers, so why is access to support so restricted over the holiday period?

 

I'm sure that I'm not the only user who would like to know? other organisations provide live chat support 24/7

 

Cue this post being deleted.

Maybe you should apply to work there, I bet you'd love working all the holidays, to be fair.

[Ceka Cianci]

Hey errbody, it's Monday!! \o/

Them,

Us

[Dune Ravenwood]

21 hours ago, Sid Nagy said:

I bought a new tumble dryer a few days ago. Yesterday when I tried to use it the first time, it turned out to malfunction big time.
So I contacted support and they offered me to replace the dryer today (December 25).  I made that Monday, but that is how a 24/7 economy works.
To me there is no real excuse, that there isn't any support during the holidays.
Look around: restaurants, bars, theaters, circuses, hospitals, supermarkets, police and fire stations a lot of shops, online stores, pizza delivery, and and and.... they are all doing business today. If I call the cable company today, I get support.

It is a lame excuse not to have to fork up the extra dollars they have to pay during the holidays.
At the very least, they show that they don't care for their customers, but for the extra buck that is to be saved into their profit accounts IMHO.
They simply know they have us hooked, we will go nowhere when displeased, there is still no real alternative.

THIS is the attitude and self entitlement that ruins holidays for everybody and makes this world as screwed up as it is today. It is a holiday. Relax!

[SodaGnome]

Arby's was closed Xmas eve and Xmas here. I had to adapt and go to Jack in the Box. So bigger things than SL customer service are out!

 

[Sid Nagy]

So discussion is not wanted any longer on this forums.
It goes straight of in making a naughty and nice list and personal attacks and cheesy attempts of being funny.

In a civilized discussion there should be arguments, not personal attacks.
Have a good one, you all.  I'm out of this thread.
 

[Dune Ravenwood]

21 hours ago, Sid Nagy said:

For the average user: Yes that is true, people who want to complain because their Santa hat from 2009 somehow doesn't rez can easily wait.
But there are people who make their living out of SL. Huge landlords, big designers...
So SL isn't only an entertainment tool that can wait a few days, like for most of us.

Even business can wait, it's Christmas for Pete's sakes. It's Second Life not an emergency ward. Priorities need to be set. (rolls eyes).

[Marigold Devin]

 

[Love Zhaoying]

On 12/25/2022 at 5:54 AM, Sid Nagy said:

Look around: restaurants, bars, theaters, circuses, hospitals, supermarkets, police and fire stations a lot of shops, online stores, pizza delivery, and and and.... they are all doing business today.

These from your list were nearly/almost all closed in my part of the US (I am certain): shops, supermarkets, our version of "circuses" (which surely must mean something different), and nearly / most all restaurants (not counting a few ethnic or fast food places). I hardly see how "online shops" being open has anything to do with it, there's not always a person on the other side of your internet scurrying to prepare your order the moment you place it.

[Ceka Cianci]

1 hour ago, Sid Nagy said:

So discussion is not wanted any longer on this forums.
It goes straight of in making a naughty and nice list and personal attacks and cheesy attempts of being funny.

In a civilized discussion there should be arguments, not personal attacks.
Have a good one, you all.  I'm out of this thread.
 

I agree, there is no reason for things to escalate beyond just normal discussion..

[Marigold Devin]

16 minutes ago, Love Zhaoying said:

These from your list were nearly/almost all closed in my part of the US (I am certain): shops, supermarkets, our version of "circuses" (which surely must mean something different), and nearly / most all restaurants (not counting a few ethnic or fast food places). I hardly see how "online shops" being open has anything to do with it, there's not always a person on the other side of your internet scurrying to prepare your order the moment you place it.

Where I live here in the UK a lot of shops are open, not least for the Boxing Day sales. 

And the online bots have been out in force sending me discount codes for all the online stores.

Christmas isn't celebrated by everyone in the world, and this bloody thread really has run its course. Pissed off people pissing off other people who were already pissed off really pisses me off. 

 

Edited December 26, 2022 by Marigold Devin

[Love Zhaoying]

2 hours ago, Sid Nagy said:

So discussion is not wanted any longer on this forums.
It goes straight of in making a naughty and nice list and personal attacks and cheesy attempts of being funny.

In a civilized discussion there should be arguments, not personal attacks.
Have a good one, you all.  I'm out of this thread.
 

Translation: too many people disagreed with you? 

[Love Zhaoying]

1 hour ago, Marigold Devin said:

Where I live here in the UK a lot of shops are open, not least for the Boxing Day sales. 

And the online bots have been out in force sending me discount codes for all the online stores.

Christmas isn't celebrated by everyone in the world, and this bloody thread really has run its course. Pissed off people pissing off other people who were already pissed off really pisses me off. 

 

Interesting, to me at least, that it's not recognized that different countries do indeed have different holidays, with different expectations of businesses being open, support, etc.

I was reminded in the news this morning that today (Monday 12/26) is the "official holiday" since Christmas fell on a weekend. This means we in the U.S. "should" expect certain things to be closed / services not be available today (Monday 12/26).

It's quite an interesting thread, with so many excuses for "entitlement"! 

Good job! And thank you Linden Lab for observing the holiday in any way at all.

[Orwar]

   The live chat service is open office hours regularly (9 AM - 5 PM SLT), it never has been a 24/7 kind of deal. It being closed for Christmas for two days isn't anything peculiar. It's not even the primary means of getting support from LL, it's just a bonus feature for premium users; you can still write support tickets, you can still AR stuff in-world, you can still call for billing issues, you still have access to the help portal.

   Calling it a 'lack of customer service' because that one venue of support is unavailable on an internationally observed holiday does feel rather petty and entitled. If it were the sole feature of being a premium user in SL, sure, a case could be made that December might not be quite as much a bang for your buck compared to any other time of the year, but I kind of doubt most premium users consider it the primary reason that makes them willing to pay for premium to begin with.

[Sphynx Soleil]

On 12/24/2022 at 4:58 PM, belindacarson said:

You have thousands (or more) paying customers, so why is access to support so restricted over the holiday period?

Feel free to volunteer for the holiday support line. :) 

I personally am glad to see SOME companies giving their employees some TIME OFF. Which I'm sure is something we can all agree people need more of with all the chronic stressors in the world.

[EliseAnne85]

20 hours ago, Rowan Amore said:

Limited support is not the same as no support at all.   I'm sure many places that are actually essential in the world also have limited their support staff for the holidays.  

Most essential places that are open on holidays have a limited crew.  My Mom used to be the *only* person at work in her area when she worked the holiday at the hospital she worked at.  The usual workers in that area were about 10.  My Mom received triple pay per hour which she was very happy about, being a single Mom of course.  And, that triple pay was well over $60 dollars an hour, which seems a lot of money even today.  Luckily, Mom worked the 3 to 11 shift so we spent Christmas morning and early afternoon with Mom and then she left for work about 2:30.  Since it was triple pay, my Mom was usually the one who volunteered to work the holidays as the other people had a significant other to go home to.  Working the holidays was volunteer but it paid very well. She took many weekend trips throughout the year to go and have fun plus had a paid vacation leave.  So, yes, essential places have very limited staff.  Some areas may have only one person.

 

[Shiloh Lyric]

When I was a kid, absolutely nothing was open on Holidays. Not on Sundays in my state, either. And, believe it or not, the world was 24 hours, then, too. My grandmother worked 3rd shift for 2 decades at an RCA plant before she retired, so her 'normal' hours weren't really 'normal' at all. She wasn't the only one. Yet, somehow, I'm still alive and kicking.

I work for a US National lawncare company. People get REALLY upset about weeds and bills. Yet, the company, including Customer Service, is closed today. They were closed Friday and Saturday, too, because we get 2 paid days off for Christmas. That doesn't include weekends. I'm sure there are people upset about a bill right now. Guess what? They'll still be upset tomorrow when Customer Service is there to help them. But, today, those CSR's get to spend time doing what they want to do in their personal lives, while not having to hear customers whine and scream at them. Good. For. Them. 

 

PS. And if you're butthurt about having to work Holidays while other's have off, and you don't consider your position "essential", then maybe take that up with your employer or find a new one who respects your time. It's almost 2023. Workers matter as much as 'customers' do.

Edited December 26, 2022 by Shiloh Lyric

[Love Zhaoying]

I propose a general solution for this issue.  My proposed solution will have several benefits.

The solution is to hire "support staff" (answer emails, live chat, etc.) in each country where Linden Lab has Second Life customers.

The many benefits include:

- Local Staff would be fine working on days where "other countries" - but not "their country" - may consider those days "general holidays".  ("Everyone works on Christmas in my country.")

- Local Staff would be fine working the same hours as the majority of users in their country. ("My country is in GMT+12.")

- Local Staff would speak the language of the majority of their country's customer base.  ("My country's main language is XXX.")

- Local Staff would be aligned with, and aware of, the local morals and customs.  ("In my country, they call it a 'game' but do NOT bring up the 'adult activities'!")

 

[bigmoe Whitfield]

3 hours ago, Love Zhaoying said:

- Local Staff would be aligned with, and aware of, the local morals and customs.  ("In my country, they call it a 'game' but do NOT bring up the 'adult activities'!")

 

Brushing my tail is not an adult activity.  *huff*

[Love Zhaoying]

58 minutes ago, bigmoe Whitfield said:

Brushing my tail is not an adult activity.  *huff*

* takes notes *

 

[belindacarson]

14 hours ago, blissfulbreeze said:

Maybe you should apply to work there, I bet you'd love working all the holidays, to be fair.

I've worked most holidays for almost 50 years