Popular woodworking customer service is horrible :(...

[john davey]

For those that were wondering Megan did get me in touch with someone that got my issues resolved. thanks for that Megan.

[paul cottingham]

nice to hear! I'm not so lucky.

[Ron Kanter]

Nor am I.
I can now log in using Firefox.
It recognizes my account and has all the correct information.
HOWEVER, when I try to play a video it tells me that "You do not have access to this video." That is the message I get no matter what video I try to watch. Meanwhile, my subscription period is wasting away. I am going to try tech support, again!

[Doug Ladendorf]

Disappointed to hear about the trouble. At least a modicum of actual support is price of admission to selling. That content is too good to have poor stewardship. I have been close to subscribing a couple times but will wait until things are sorted.
Doug

[Ron Kanter]

Spent ten minutes on the phone with Customer Support - No Joy.
Gave her my Firefox version number and my operating system version number. She didn't have a Mac to try to test from her end.
Said she would take it to a higher level and get back to me.

[Megan Fitzpatrick]

Paul – please send me a message either here or via e-mail with the trouble. I'll see that it gets addressed.

[bridger berdel]

Paul – please send me a message either here or via e-mail with the trouble. I'll see that it gets addressed.

Megan, it sounds like there are some, ah, *structural* issues there at the magazine, aside from poor coding on the website. The best avenue to tech support is via one of the editors? sounds like there is a problem. either tech is badly under resourced or badly mismanaged, can't tell from here. so while intervening as you are doing is the right thing to do in the short term, in the long term it only entrenches the problem. it's a good magazine, one of the best currently publishing. I'd really like to see it succeed in this mixed paper/web world.

[Tony Leonard]

I usually don't bother chiming in on these types of discussions, but my expreiecne with them was awful at best. Various technical issues attemptint to download purchased videos, very poor customer service, etc. I quit subscribing a while back and wouldn't dare send them any money for DVD's or downloads. I just don't trust that I'll get them and the quality has not been that good anyway. And they bombarde you with emails! My goodness...I've never gotten as many emails from anyone as I do from them.

I pick up the magazine at the bookstore and give it a look now and then and it just confirms that it is not worth the price (for me - where I'm at in my woodworking).

Tony

[Simon MacGowen]

I... I just don't trust that I'll get them and the quality has not been that good anyway. And they bombarde you with emails! My goodness...I've never gotten as many emails from anyone as I do from them.

I pick up the magazine at the bookstore and give it a look now and then and it just confirms that it is not worth the price (for me - where I'm at in my woodworking).

Tony

I can't comment on the customer service aspect, etc., but I agree on the comment regarding spams. I unsubscribed all their emails/links shortly after they began bombarding.... When will retailers learn that more is not necessarily better? This actually applies to bloggers, too. I have stopped checking out most blogs because they think quantity is quality. Paul Sellers' blog is usually very good, but he posted some garbage today; Chris Schwarz loses it too sometimes (especially when his side kick fills the void for him -- how many people really read the long essays there?). Some of the amateur bloggers are even worse...why do they think they have to produce a daily post to keep their audience? They may not know they are pushing people away.

Daily posts are fine if you have something interesting or technique to share, or better some interesting photos to show (David Barron's is a good example).

Simon

[john davey]

Now that I am back online (happy for that) I can comment that I have had issues with my browsers as well. I am a Mac user as well and have had issues with different browser versions. I am guessing the web site staff there is one person part time and it is a struggle to keep it afloat. IT resources are expansive. Sadly the print industry is going to digital and PW better get on top of this as it is probably going to be their bread and butter soon. When my problem was resolved they asked me if I would share any issues with them which I agreed to do but have not heard back from them. For the record I work for a large Gov't agency in the IT department and help with the infrastructure to a web site that gets millions of hits. Our Quality Assurance tests all possible browser versions plus many other things well before something makes it's way to production. My guess is there is no budget here for equipment or people to test it. So if it works on the computer/browser they have it is live. With customers literally all over the world this will fail and these issues will never really get resolved. I don't really have a good answer to them as the fix really does involve a serious amount of cash. But a PC and a Mac with Chrome, Safari, Firefox and IE at a minimum for testing would probably eliminate many issues. Hoping for the best with this as I am a fan of the site and the mag....John

[David Weaver]

Some of the amateur bloggers are even worse...

I think a lot of their readership expects them to. When you subscribe to people on youtube, the ones who are making money off of their videos feel obligated to, because it's a race to keep subscribers and get new ones. More subscribers means more views means more money. Take a day off and you get fewer, but it's a fine line between churning material and losing subscribers because of that vs. just losing them for not posting anything.

[Megan Fitzpatrick]

I sent a note to the fellow in charge of the site, Ron. He (Rocky Landsverk) or his co-worker, Bryan Griffith, should be in touch w/you shortly.

[Derek Cohen]

Hi Megan

I agree with the spam comment above. It detracts from what is for me a fine magazine. On the other hand, I experienced excellent support from Rocky a few months back, when I had difficulty viewing a video. He was prompt with replies and very helpful, even checked that all was OK. That was an example of customer service at its best.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Megan Fitzpatrick]

I absolutely agree that, no, the editor is not the best avenue for tech support, and I'm taking a discussion re that up the chain so that we can get the problems addressed on a global basis. (But in the meantime, I'll get as many things solved individually as I can – so please don't hesitate to let me know if/how I can help!) And thank you for your kind words about the mag – much appreciated.

[paul cottingham]

Megan, I posted a message thanking you for taking an interest in resolving my issues, but it seems to have disappeared. So, thank you!