SHORT NEWS ALERT: Larry is BACK IN THE USA. He just arrived and we will be compiling our updates as he gets settled. We will post them as soon as they're ready.
Now, our FEATURE PRESENTATION:
Hi everyone, it's Jarek. I wanted to clarify some things that may have been misconstrued or maybe not thoroughly explained.
A lot of people are expressing some frustration over why their tickets are not being answered, and rightfully so.
I was hired originally as a Social Communication Lead. My role in the company was to help Larry and the team express to the backers the events that were unfolding behind the scenes, provide updates, answer general questions, etc. through the social media frontlines (IGG, Facebook, forums, etc.).
I was NOT originally hired to run the ticket system or work on tickets in a dedicated, continuous manner (at least starting out). I was hired for a set number of hours per month, part-time, and my role was to advocate for the customer, grease the channels of communication, and as time permitted or events unfolded, I could reach into the ticket system and try to help where possible (escalating certain tickets, resolving various extreme situation tickets, etc.).
That however, tends to straddle the line of Customer Service, and that's just the nature of the job. But in my role, it is supposed to be a fairly light touch, except in those more extreme cases. I did come to Larry with a set of goals and ideas on how to improve the Customer Service aspect for the customers, and Larry was very open and appreciative to all suggestions. We are both actively working on making those goals come to life.
In the spirit of trying to familiarize myself with the various company back end systems, I have expanded my role to a large degree by actually working on tickets and trying to sort out the BigCommerce system and orders (something Larry is very eager to get done), and generally trying to improve the overall customer experience. That also involves a lot of cleaning up the actual ticket system and learning how it functions and operates.
Again, please keep in mind, my primary role here is to keep channels open, provide updates, and help out where I can. Right now, I am the only person working the ticket system, generally speaking. Matt is doing RMA ticket work, and Larry is working with vendors full time on getting hardware done and manufactured. I am monitoring the ticket system and forums in between (currently) learning the BigCommerce system and actually physically working on tickets.
Our primary goal right now is to sort and work on BigCommerce tickets, so that is what I have been focusing on. We've got between 300 and 400 tickets on BigCommerce alone (so far) that I am sorting through and working with Larry on.
So what we're facing is a staffing issue. I am working on getting some people onto our team to help out on tickets and BigCommerce. This is slow-going, but I am hopeful we can get these certain individuals on our team. These people have an excellent work ethic and have the necessary experience in sales and management, which is why I invited them to join us. Hopefully soon we can finalize things, but I have no exact timeline on this. There is always the chance it doesn't work out, but I do have possible back-up options as a contingency plan.
So I'd just like to reiterate: if you haven't received a response yet on your ticket (no matter what it may be), we are not ignoring you. I am working the best I can on the ticket situation, within the parameters that were set when I was hired. The updates take a long time to do and the frontline work is also fairly intensive, so the general tickets unfortunately do take a backseat to learning BigCommerce and general frontline work.
I know this probably doesn't help anyone feel better (certainly not me) and I'm not trying to make an excuse -- I'm simply trying to explain what is happening behind the scenes. But please note that you do have someone in your corner; I am reading and taking your questions and comments and I am working on tickets/requests as I see them, whenever I can. Things are progressing in a positive way behind the scenes, even though I know it (understandably) doesn't feel like it to most of you.
Please continue to communicate with Larry and myself, and we'll do our best to improve the flow of information and get the back end sorted out.