Support Operations Test 

Task 1
I created a hypothetical situation with a really stressed client. Please read the background of the issue and then
client's message. Try to write a response to his/her email.

Explanation of the situation:

We create websites(themes) for photographers using the platform WordPress. The client uses the theme called
Rosemary 2.
He has an issue whereby his logo is not visible because he installed a service (called CDN) that optimizes the
speed of their website, which conflicts with our product. After several messages from our team, the client gets
more annoyed with our approach and sends us the email below.

They're looking for help from other developers, companies, they all point out that the issue is with our product,
but in reality, it is not.

Question 1: What do you do in this case? You need to describe shortly what approach you'd take with our team
to respond/troubleshoot/solve the situation with the client.

Question 2: What conclusion can you take from this client's message about the performance of our team
handling this situation? If you find an issue with our approach described by the client, what 3 measures you'd
take to avoid this type of situations in future cases?

Don't read the below until you respond to question 1.

Since we don’t expect you to be familiar with the technical details of the matter, here's the explanation that you
can use in your email, feel free to tweak it if you feel the need:
You had the CDN enabled which is used for stocking images and improving your site's performance (you
already know that). At the same time, you had the server cache plugin which temporarily stocks your scripts
and stylesheets. The issue with the server cache plugin is the fact that it didn't stock the right URL for the logo -
which caused the issue. We have disabled this plugin and the issue appears to be solved for now.

Client's Message:
Hi Angel,
I'm having a hard time understanding your response. You told me to look into the CDN, we did. We talked to
the host, we have chased every thing we could. Everyone we spoke with suggested it was probably the theme,
and regardless of how little detail they provided with that opinion, the fact is everything was fine until we
switched to rosemary 2.
I am shocked that we are having such an important problem and the only responses we are getting are shirking
responsibility. I don't care how or why I just need help to get it fixed. I am profoundly disappointed in the
responses we have received on this issue. Looking back at your emails, do you see any empathy, concern, or
urgency for what we are facing? Any useful suggestions? Anything that could actually help? I don't. Even when
one of you points us in a direction, it couldn't possibly be more vague. What the heck kind of support is this?
We need to resolve this. At this point I don't care why it's happening, I just need to get it resolved. We are ready
to pay someone to fix it or to pay another company for another theme. I will tell you this…If we have to start
YET AGAIN because of YET ANOTHER Flothemes related bug or quirk, then I will personally make sure its
known within your reviews and among the photographers we speak with on the subject of websites.
We have been very happy with Flothemes up until recently.  We have spent hours on the phone and nervously
check our website through the day, often finding our logo gone. What kind of impact do you suppose that's
having on our business and on our clients' perception of our reliability and professionalism? When we try to
contact you, THESE are your responses? It seems that you couldn't care less and that all you're interested in
saying is "not me, not mine, not my problem." If we have to rebuild AGAIN because no one in the world can
solve this problem while using this theme, that will represent a huge cost to us and I will share this saga in detail
everywhere and anywhere because I have been shocked and disappointed each time I open an email from you
guys on this issue.
Please help us.
Best,
Robert.

Answer to question 1:
First thing I would do in this situation is to suggest the support team to search for specialized information on
authentic websites and when showing them that they’re wrong(the fact that they’re wrong should be said in an
indirect way, not direct, just to be sure the customer won’t feel accused by our customer support team) to link
the statements with external information in order to ensure them that nobody is trying somehow to deny
responsibility for their work but to explain them it’s a problem regarding the CDN they’re using, as it is in
conflict with the developed product by Flothemes.

Answer to question 2:
After reading the customer’s email I can say for sure that he has already got a lot of emails from Flothemes and
still didn’t succeed to solve his problem, basically that is the point where all his frustration come from. I can
truly understand him and the only way of solving his problem so he would be satisfied of Flothemes approach is
to stop sending emails to him and to make a call(if it’s possible), I consider this to be the most efficient way in
such situations.
In order to avoid this kind of situation in the future, I consider that is necessary to inform customers before they
place any order that Flothemes’ products can work unproperly if some additional extensions are installed.
Another thing that should be done is to contact an independent developer and to make a common conference
call with both customer and developer where Flothemes’ developers show that the product is fine and works
without any problems until the CDN is added so all the statements that were said by Flothemes are true.
Last but not least, considering the customer’s email I can assume that Flothemes’ tried somehow to excuse
themselves and to explain to the customer that nothing is wrong with their product but I consider this is not
sufficient. As I’ve already mentioned in my answer to the first question, the best way in my opinion to show to
the customer that he is wrong, is to use third party’s information as it is for sure an independent source of
relevant content.
The reply letter:

Dear Robert,
We really regret that you are having a bad experience using our product.
We truly understand your frustration regarding the difficulties you meet while using the product. As we have
already mentioned, we tested many times the product we delivered to you and the only point where it starts
working unproperly is when we add that specific CDN you said you are using, which is used for stocking
images and improving your site's performance, at the same time, you had the server cache plugin which
temporarily stocks your scripts and stylesheets, the issue with the server cache plugin is the fact that it didn't
stock the right URL for the logo - which caused the issue, so we have disabled this plugin and the issue appears
to be solved for now. We want you to understand that we are not trying to shirk responsibility, we really assume
the control of the work we have done and please accept our apologies if some of our previous emails somehow
showed that to you.
We truly hope this email will help you to understand what is the issue with your website and that it can be
solved by simply deactivating that plugin.
Don’t hesitate to contact us directly with any other concerns you may have.
Best regards,
Angel.