Web.com Review: Customer Support (2.5 stars)

Customer Support Needs Improvement

Web.com’s customer support system has potential but needs major improvement.  The phone support system was unreliable.  Online documentation needs to be integrated into one master system.  Email support was slow and provided answers that are hard to follow. 

24/7 Phone Support is Unreliable

We recognize that it takes a lot of time and company resources to run an effective phone support system, but if it’s going to be done, it should be done right.  First of all, like many other builders with phone support, the number is hard to find when you’re actually in the builder.  The only place we could find it was on the Web.com home page.

When we actually called the number, the wait times were varied.  Half the time we got right through to a rep, the other half we waited on hold 20+ minutes after which we were disconnected or we just gave up.  During the wait, there was no music or voice message indicating that we were in fact still on hold. 

When we did talk to customer service reps, we found them to be generally helpful.  There was one time when the rep was having trouble figuring out a problem we were having with Miva Merchant and we had to wait on hold several times before getting the answer we needed.  Another time, the rep we were talking to kept breaking up during the call.  But other than those times, we always got the help we needed when we got through to a rep.

Email Support Not Very Supportive

The email (or ticket-based) support system didn’t provide much relief either.  To submit a question, you have to choose from a list of categories, then a list of sub-categories.  It was hard to find the right category for our questions and the system wouldn’t let you skip choosing a category.

Though their email support is 24/7 (most other builders only offer it during business hours) response times were longer than average.  They ranged from 2-3 hours.

When your question has been answered, you get an email to let you know, but to view the answer, you have to log into your account.  The answers themselves come in a big chunk of text without numbered directions or screen shots.  It’s really hard to follow the instructions without these things.

 
Within the Ugly Block of Text Lies the Answers to Our Questions

Online Documentation is in Three Different Places

The online documentation is a bit jumbled.  There are separate documentation systems for Miva Merchant, Constant Contact and SiteBuilder itself.  And they all have different ways of looking up information.  It would be much easier if all the info you need was in one master documentation system.  There are also no screen shots to help you understand the directions provided, nor is there a search function.

No Screen Shots in SiteBuilder’s Help Docs

A Few Helpful Extras

There is a printable PDF document available to all customers.  It is easy to follow and understand and comes with screen shots.  There are no explanations for Miva Merchant though.  There is also a series of flash videos to help you along with the set-up of your website.