Paizo Order # 4421612 - Poor Customer Service

[sergiogq]

Dear sirs

I have no other choice but to write here about my problem. I sent an email to Paizo customer service on October 15 reporting that I had not received Pathfinder Adventure Path #122 (order #4421612). Having not received any answer, I emailed again on October 25. No reply yet.

Unfortunately, this is not the first time I have seen this with Paizo customer service. I emailed this summer for a different issue and, after not receiving any answer after several emails and weeks, luckily I was able to sort the problem out by myself. However, that problem was about setting a different payment method and that delay caused me to miss the start of the Starfinder Adventure Path subscription, whose issue #1 now I have to wait for as a backorder that is on my sidecart since 2.5 months ago, not knowing when will be made effective.

I hope that by writing here, my request will have more visibility and somebody from Paizo customer service will contact me.

Kind regards.

[Steve Geddes]

Hi. I don’t work for Paizo, however I’ve been a customer for a while and have needed way more than my fair share of CS attention over the years. Hopefully this is useful information, apologies if it comes across as dismissive.

The CS team usually works Monday to Friday, so unfortunately it’s unlikely they will see this for a couple of days. I thought I would warn you, in case you got frustrated at a lack of reply in the meantime.

As a general rule, I’ve found they answer emails to [e-mail] within a day or two. However, in the last few months they have been overwhelmed by a combination of many things (staff absence, issues with misprinted books, an influx of new subscribers and most recently a barrage of computer glitches). Unfortunately, that has put them seriously behind schedule in answering customer queries and has led to a large backlog.

They are digging their way out (and have advertised for an additional Customer Service representative to expand the team, hopefully helping mitigate the impact of situations like this in the future). However, they are still a long way behind.

I’m sure they will address this post quickly (and also get to your emails as soon as they can) but I figured it might be helpful to know they are currently dealing with an out-of-the-ordinary kind of “perfect storm” that is slowing things down way more than usual.

That doesn’t help resolve the issue, of course, but I figured I’d mention you may not get an answer until Monday afternoon (Seattle time).

[sergiogq]

Hi Steve,

Thanks for your post. Your feedback is appreciated.

I am aware that Paizo only works Monday to Friday, Pacific Coast time. Indeed, I have waited until the end of this week precisely for that reason, so that maybe they would answer my email(s) of previous days.

I am also aware of some problems on the last weeks with customer service because I read these forums from time to time. Still, I do not think it is acceptable to be without answer for weeks, as this is the second time it happens to me. I am not someone that complains without good reason, on the contrary, I hardly ever do it (and it is the first time in many years as customer that I post here). If this time I decided to do it is to make Paizo (more) aware of the problem they have, since it is a company I really appreciate and that I would like to continue supporting.

[Steve Geddes]

Absolutely. I was in no sense trying to suggest you were being unreasonable. :)
I’ve just seen people post on Friday night then again on Monday morning, expecting they would have been answered within 48 hours.

Fingers crossed a CS person will be able to help and sort everything out for you swiftly.

[Sara Marie]

Unfortunately we have been experiencing a significant backlog, not just the last few weeks, but pretty much since Gen Con. You are correct that the current wait time over this summer and fall has been unacceptable. My team has made herculean efforts, including working overtime for several weeks, to cut our backlog down and they are continuing to make steady progress against it. Additionally I am in the hiring process for a fourth representative for our customer service team.

Thank you for your feedback on this. We are indeed aware of this issue and are working as quickly as we can to reduce the backlog and answer folks' inquiries.

Thanks,
Sara Marie

[sergiogq]

Hi Sara.

Thanks for the prompt reply and for the honest explanation. I have also received your email. All the best for the Paizo team and I wish you to be back to normal as soon as possible.