Annual Survey response

[shera]

Hello,

I've been a customer of Sonic.net since 2007 and I've always been happy with the service. I still am. However, this year when I completed the annual survey, rather than giving the usual 9-10 stars, I only gave 5 stars. This is not because I'm unhappy with the service and I tried to make that very clear in the comment I left.

The survey asks how likely you are to refer family or friends to Sonic.net. I have been a customer for so long, they don't even offer what I have to new customers, and it's extremely unlikely that my address will ever get Sonic fiber. That's why I'm unlikely to recommend Sonic.net to my friends and family.

It's not because the price keeps rising, which I understand. It's not because my connection is so slow I have to connect using an ethernet cable so I can watch TV or participate in Zoom meetings.

A few days after completing the survey, I received this response from a supervisor:

Hello!

I would suggest looking into a new service provider if you need more speed or better quality service. I am sorry if this was not the email you were looking forward to.

Best Wishes!

Well, it's true that's not the email I was looking forward to. In fact, I wasn't expecting an email at all. I don't understand how a supervisor would think it's a good idea to send an email like this to such a long term customer. Unless, of course, they're actively trying to get rid of me...

Just wanted to get this off my chest. Thanks for reading!

[virtualmike]

I think it's more a case of the person acknowledging that Sonic currently can't offer the service you would like to get, if somewhat awkwardly.

It's heartening that Sonic staff actually review the feedback. So many times when I answer such a survey honestly, I'm certain that the survey was created in a way that no matter how I answer, (a) the results will look positive, and (b) no one will actually see the comments I write. Indeed, I rarely get any feedback after completing such surveys.

[shera]

OK so let's assume that maybe it's possible they're acknowledging that I already know I'll never get Sonic fiber at my address before I die, and that because I'm such a long term customer, no one else can ever get the service that I have, and that's why I am unlikely to recommend Sonic.net to my friends and family. But the supervisor just writes really awkwardly worded emails that don't even come close to conveying what he really means.

Yeah I don't think so. I would have been happy had they acknowledged any of that, but they didn't. What they "acknowledged" was that they think I need to find another service provider, and that they don't care about my 17 years as a customer.

Don't get me wrong... I'm glad they read the comments. I'm glad they read the survey responses. That's just one of the many things I've always liked about Sonic.net, and it's also why I never would have expected such an indifferent response to this particular survey question.

[jacob.karinen]

Hello Shera

We truly appreciate your long time patronage of our service and, while I don't want to make excuses, sometimes it's hard to figure out a reply to long time customers when there isn't a whole lot we can do to get better service for them. Unfortunately building our own network takes time and in some areas it's not feasible to expand our fiber currently. I wish we could offer some kind of service that better suits your needs but right now it's not an option that's available to us.

The reply you got in the survey was terse and I'm looking into it and will discuss it with the supervisor who sent it. It's not the level of customer service we strive to offer and I'm sorry that it came off as abrupt and uncaring. If you have any other concerns feel free to direct message me here or send an email to support@sonic.com with the subject: Attention Jacob K. and I'll be happy to address them.

Best regards

[shera]

Hi Jacob,

Thanks for your reply. I really appreciate it.
Unfortunately, when I tried to send you a private message here, it says I'm not authorized to send private messages. What's up with that?

[jacob.karinen]

That is weird, I dont have any settings that restrict who should be able to message me and when I check your profile I don't see anything there that should prevent sending a private message. I went ahead and sent you one to see if it will let you reply back to me via it.