is your company supporting your support team?

I was happy to see a recent offer from Skype in my inbox with the promise of 30 minutes of free calls to land line and cell phones around the world. As a start-up, we need to keep our operating expenses low and Skype allows our team to stay connected from anywhere in the world. So I eagerly redeemed my voucher and promptly saw a balance of USD$0.74 appear in my account.

Obviously I misinterpreted “land line and cell phones around the world” because my gift of 30 minutes was actually 24 seconds.

I’m used to disingenuous marketing campaigns so I wasn’t surprised to discover that I was misled by Skype’s promise. But because I like their services and I plan to continue supporting Skype, I thought some clarification would help with the bitter taste in my mouth. I wrote to their support team about my experience and asked for clarification about the promotion.

To Skye’s credit, I received an answer within twenty-four hours. Unfortunately, the answer didn’t explain much:

The voucher you received states that you can receive “up to 30 minutes of free calls.” The voucher has a value of CAD$0.71 which adds up to 30 minutes charged at the Skype Global Rate. The Global Rate is not applicable to every location.”

Presumably, I am in a location outside of the globe.

This is just one of a thousand examples of a support team operating without the tools to support them. The rest of the response was a canned response from an FAQ which didn’t actually answer my question. As a customer, it left me feeling cheated and unappreciated. I will probably remember this experience the next time I reach for my credit card to top up my Skype minutes. And I will definitely remember this experience the next time a competitor offers me a promise that isn’t wrapped in caveats and disclaimers.

As a start-up fighting to gain or keep market share, every customer is priceless. As always, we can learn from the successes and mistakes of market leaders. The next time your company makes a promise to your customers, make sure your entire company can stand behind it.