Usenet Providers & Customer Support
September 20, 2010 - NewsAdmin Staff Writer

We're amazed by the number of providers offering Usenet service. At one time you could count the number of commercial providers on one hand, but those days have passed when you consider that 90+ providers currently deliver Usenet service in one form or another. In order to set themselves apart from the pack, newsgroup service providers (NSPs) are constantly working to deliver a better product at a better price. While this arrangement benefits consumers, the competitive process will typically separate NSPs into broad categories of good and bad, leaving end-users with several quality options to choose from when shopping for a Usenet provider. Even though the weak can been separated from the herd, selecting a provider is not an easy task because you're left with a collection of quality NSPs that appear to deliver the same product on paper... similar retention times, content, connection speeds, pricing, etc.

If you're shopping around for a NSP, and find yourself evaluating several providers that offer a similar level of service, you may want to consider how their customer support staffs compare. In our experience, customer service can vary significantly among the NSPs, and it will often be the one feature that separates one provider from the rest. In some respects customer support is like a traveling companion on a long road trip... when you purchase a NSP membership their customer support staff is along for the ride, so it's important that you get along, they don't slow you down, and they can provide assistance if you need to change a flat tire along the way. When evaluating NSPs and the quality of their customer support, you may want to consider the following items.

Timeliness
We've all been there at some point, you've just purchased a NSP membership, you crank up your newsreader with the expectation of accessing your favorite newsgroups, and you're unable to connect. A variety of factors could be preventing your access... bad login, incorrect server address, newsreader setting, network issue... but one thing is certain, you don't want to spend several frustrating days attempting to troubleshoot the problem on your own. When you submit a support issue or open a support ticket, premium NSPs will guarantee that it will be answered within 24 hours, second tier NSPs will typically set a limit of 48 hours, and third tier NSPs will respond with carrier pigeons and smoke signals or they may not reply at all. While no NSP is going to guarantee anything less than a 24 hour response time, in our experience most premium providers will answer inquiries within 1-6 hours, which can greatly reduce your stress level on those occasions when your ^&#&*!?@ newsreader refuses to connect to the newsgroups.

• Test - Most NSPs offer a free trial period, and you can use that opportunity to evaluate their support staffs. In respect to timeliness, submit 3 separate questions to their support staff and note how long it takes each NSP to respond to your inquiries. If you narrow your list to a few NSPs, and there's not much that separates them in the way of features, performance and pricing, support response time may set one NSP apart from the rest.
   

• Keeping It Fair - While it would be nice to receive immediate replies to our support questions, it's not a realistic expectation. If a NSP can reliably respond to inquiries within a 24 hour window that's an impressive accomplishment considering that my overpriced broadband ISP (who will remain nameless) frequently takes 48 hours to reply to my questions if they reply to them at all. When contacting a NSP with a technical issue, make sure that you provide enough detail to troubleshoot the problem. If you neglect to include relevant information... login settings, error messages, your contact details, etc... it will needlessly prolong the troubleshooting process.

Competency
The benefit of a timely response is lost if a customer support staff is unable to correct a problem, or provide enough information so that you can fix it yourself. In an effort to shorten response times, some NSPs will shoot themselves in the foot by automating aspects of the support process. Responding with long, impersonal template letters that do not address your specific question, or directing you to a web page with an enormous list of frequently asked questions (FAQs) in hopes that you'll leave them alone and figure out the problem on your own. Alternately, some NSPs make an honest attempt to answer support inquiries, but they do not have the technical expertise to troubleshoot end-user problems. In these situations you may exchange numerous emails or phone calls with a NSP, but are unable to resolve your support issue. Regardless of how well meaning a NSP may be, if they're unable to adequately answer your support questions, you may be better offering shopping around for a different provider.

• Test - During a NSP's free trial period, send them a few technical questions that you already know the answer to. As an example intentionally use an incorrect news server address, submit a bad login setting, or initiate an excessive number of concurrent newsreader connections, and see if their support staff is able to accurately pinpoint the problem. If a NSP takes an unreasonable amount of time to troubleshoot the problem, if they're unable to determine the problem, or if they place the burden on you to dig through a FAQ list to find the answer, you may want to look for another NSP.
   

• Keeping It Fair - A support staff's response will be as detailed as the details you provide. If they are given little to no information regarding the problem you're experiencing, they're not mind readers and will probably struggle to answer your inquiry. This would be similar to telling a mechanic that your car is running poorly, but not providing them with a description of the problem you're experiencing. Additionally, NSPs should not be expected to answer questions that are unrelated to Usenet or their service. If you're having trouble installing Windows Vista, if your firewall is blocking your access to the Internet, or if your microwave isn't heating your bagel hotdogs properly, a NSP is not in a position to address questions that have no direct relevance to their service.

Contact Options
Nowadays NSPs offer a variety of options for communicating with their support staff, such as email, phone, live chat and web-based contact forms. Generally speaking it shouldn't matter if a NSP offers all, some or one of these contact methods, as long as they're able to receive and answer your support inquiry in a timely fashion. With that said, if I had a particular preference it would be an arrangement that allows me to contact an NSP via phone and web-based contact form. With email spam reaching epic proportions, most companies use filtering devices to separate junk mail from legitimate messages. Unfortunately the filtering logic is not perfect, and NSPs may accidentally filter your support email along with the spam messages they receive. A web-based contact form typically eliminates this dilemma, and has become a more reliable contact method than email. Live chat support is not necessarily a bad option, but it can be time consuming and frustrating if your typing skills are as horrible as mine. Rather than spend 30 minutes typing a support dialog via live chat, I'd prefer to pick up a phone and reduce that dialog to a 5 minute conversation.

• Test - While evaluating a NSP through a free trial, attempt to communicate with them through each of the contact methods promoted at their website (email, phone, live chat, etc.). You'll want to note if they provide consistent customer support throughout this process, or if the quality of their support fluctuates from one contact method to the next. If a NSP offers a toll-free phone number but provides incompetent support, or if it takes a NSP several days to reply to an email inquiry, there's not much value in having access to those contact options if they're not going to deliver helpful support.
   

• Keeping It Fair - Multiple contact options do not always translate to quality customer support. We've received horrible support from NSPs that provide multiple contact methods (email, phone, live chat, etc.) and fantastic support from NSPs that only offer one method of contacting their staff. With that in mind, you should not immediately dismiss an NSP based upon the number of contact options they do or do not provide, until you've had a chance to evaluate the quality of their support (timeliness, competency, etc.).

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