How Not to Do Customer Service

Not to keep hammering on Ryan Carson, but I'm amazed how many commenters of his recent customer service story actually agreed with his technique. Luckily Ian and Patrick prove there are still some sane people left in the world. Honestly, it feels like stealing if a customer is unhappy with the product and wants a refund. I can't sleep at night feeling like someone "wasted" their money on my product.

I wrote about this once, and my opinion has not changed much. Over the years I've gotten some sizzlers of support emails, some of my favorites being for my FREE used car service, where people tell me to "get some more F*ckin' carz" or complain that the prices people are asking are too expensive. Even with ChimSoft I got an email from a new customer the other day with the subject of simply "this sucks". When you get an email like that, of course you want to lay into them like Ryan did, but it's totally pointless. The customer will just do a chargeback, or even worse, sue you. On the other hand, refund their money and you may get that customer back one day, or even their friend who hears about your great customer service. A quick refund will seldom result in someone making a [your mISV]sucks.com website.