Monday, May 03, 2010

Yahoo, is it time to move on?

Ya know, I've heard people complain about Yahoo and trying to reach them with problems, but usually after several minutes of digging around their site, I could find a contact form to fill out for my particular problem.

A month or so ago, I noticed that my Sitebuilder was not working.  I did some digging, discovered that it's not compatible with Windows 7 and was able to reach them by a contact form.  Helllloooo, most places would try to come up with a fix right away.  Instead, I was instructed to uninstall, then reinstall following a troubleshooting option.  Okay, worked, I edited, published all was good with the world.
Until the next time I tried to edit my site.  Sitebuilder would not work.  Apparently, the installation method did not save the settings.  I contacted them again, asking if maybe I was supposed to uninstall and reinstall EVERY time I needed to edit my site?  I was given the same directions, with a little more to save the settings...again, I worked, edited, published.
Then a few days later...do I need to say more?  I contacted Yahoo once more, to receive a message stating that I could call them if I needed help.  I was really hoping not to have to go that route.  There are times you want to speak to a live person, then others when a simple email conversation is preferable:  this was one of those times.
If you check out my site, there are pictures that are glaringly pixelated in brilliant red blue and green hues.  Why?  Because I really did not feel like calling Yahoo.  Seriously, I am considering moving my site, and I've been there from the beginning--of my site that is.  :)

Last week, I did wind up calling them.  I received a 'final notice, account suspension' email apparently from yahoo billing.  Well, a few things made me suspicious.  #1:  the payment to them each month has been showing up on my credit card statement.  #2:  the amount stated just didn't add up given my monthly payment.  #3:  A 'final' notice?  Don't I have to receive at least one notice prior before receiving a 'final'?
So, I called them to ask for an address to report a possible phishing scam.  The gentleman gave me an address, I happily forwarded the email, full headers and all, explaining that I was sure it was a phishing attempt, that although *I* did not click on any links, others might be more trusting and give out personal information.

The response?  Well, first, it was an automated message telling me they couldn't help me, to fill out a form at 'this' address.  Okay, clicked...had to click another link...then another...think there *may* have been another...then finally found the form to fill out.  The response?  Came from BILLING, telling me that if I was concerned about an overdue payment, that I could call to check my account status.
Uh...HUH????  Do these people READ their bloody emails?  In full I mean, not just skimming?

So, I may be 'house hunting' for my site.  Bravenet comes to mind...
And put that together with Ning doing away with their free sites and our Etsy team may have to move from there soon, I may be looking at major upheaval.

1 comment:

K4TT said...

Unfortunately MOST sites are going the way of 'ignorance' when it comes to customer service. It is cheaper to just annoy and ignore (and risk - which is often a safe bet - that you cannot afford an attorney to take things farther)
If you are paying Yahoo! for hosting, you might want to look at registering a domain (.com/.ca/.net) instead of paying monthly a few dollars. MANY domain registries now offer FREE hosting for the people who register a domain thru them. When I was in Multimedia - I used a service named DotEasy.com and they were the BOMB! I loved them to pieces. Yrly domain fees are about $25US but if you have basic html knowledge, it may be worth it to look into - Good Luck :)