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Do Autosport actually care about customers ?


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#1 Touti

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Posted 13 January 2011 - 15:04

People I'm sorry but my patience has ran out. Last week I posted a message here about an app called Autosport that I found in the Android's market place, I asked if this came from Autosport and I never got a reply. No big deal but not impressive customer service either.

Last week I also had to re-download all the Autosport Digital Edition files which I have paid for. Most of them, I'd say about 75%, can't be opened. I tried with two PDF readers and on two different computers and I always get errors about the files either not being PDF or being damaged. I contacted Autosport about that on Monday, we are now Thursday and I have yet to hear from them.

So let me ask the question again, does Autosport actually care about their customers ? Because frankly, at over a $150.00 a year I expect to be treated as any paying customer should be and I will take my money somewhere else if I don't have access to what I paid for and don't get answers when I ask about it.

Edited by Touti, 13 January 2011 - 15:04.


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#2 JimFosterAutosport

JimFosterAutosport
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Posted 13 January 2011 - 17:00

Hi Touti

First things first, of course we care - I have plenty of emails from customers who have been very satisfied, indeed sometimes surprised, with the levels of care we have afforded them in the recent past. If you want some testimonials I am happy to pass them on!

Second, apologies for not yet responding to your email. Let me try and explain why. Basically, we get hundreds of emails each week (as you'd expect) and it's only little old me that deals with all that mail. This week it's been a little tough to keep up to date instantly with them, because we're all up here setting up and now running the Autosport Show at the NEC. I know this sounds like a bit of an excuse (to be honest, it is!) but it's also the reason why I haven't been as on the ball as I usually am when it comes to replying to customer emails. In an ideal world, all queries should be responded to instantly, certainly within 24 hours. I subscribe to The Times website behind the paywall and this is what they do; I wish I/we could do the same but the resource available to me just doesn't allow it.

All the same, I am sorry that I haven't got round to replying to your email just yet.

Let me deal with both of your points now.

With regard the Android app, no, that isn't us. If someone is using the Autosport brand name there they are doing so illegally, so please don't use it / buy it. We are in the process of developing our own Android app, it should be ready for release sometime in late February or early March (all being well). We'll announce it in due course.

With regard your digital issue sale, please PM me with your username and password details and I will ensure that you receive generous compensation for this. I will also ensure that our technical man looks into the reasons why this might have occurred, so that this doesn't happen again in the future when and if you buy another digital issue.

Best wishes

Jim





People I'm sorry but my patience has ran out. Last week I posted a message here about an app called Autosport that I found in the Android's market place, I asked if this came from Autosport and I never got a reply. No big deal but not impressive customer service either.

Last week I also had to re-download all the Autosport Digital Edition files which I have paid for. Most of them, I'd say about 75%, can't be opened. I tried with two PDF readers and on two different computers and I always get errors about the files either not being PDF or being damaged. I contacted Autosport about that on Monday, we are now Thursday and I have yet to hear from them.

So let me ask the question again, does Autosport actually care about their customers ? Because frankly, at over a $150.00 a year I expect to be treated as any paying customer should be and I will take my money somewhere else if I don't have access to what I paid for and don't get answers when I ask about it.



#3 Touti

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Posted 13 January 2011 - 17:53

Jim,

It can be very frustrating for a customer not to get any kind of reply, not even a simple acknowledgment, for 3 days. I can understand that you are overloaded sometimes and can't respond quickly but may I suggest that you implement some sort of automatic response to let your customers know when it's the case.

I didn't send an email, I used the "Contact us" link on the web site and I would have been satisfied with an automated reply saying "We are busier than usual because of so and so, it could take us a bit more time than usual to respond to you but blah blah blah....". The problem with not getting anything is that we don't know if our messages have been received, lost, forgotten or simply not read yet.

As for the Android App. It does look very similar to Autosport (colors, logo etc) and it is not free, the creator sells it for about 1$. I didn't try it but from what I can understand it basically takes your RSS feeds ands redistributes them through that app. I actually wondered if they were doing this legally or not if it turned out not be be an official Autosport App and that is why I asked about it here.

Concerning the Digital Editions. I tried again this morning after posting and somehow they work now. I'm downloading them one at a time, trying each one after the download is complete and so far they all opened without problems. Maybe there was an issue with the server last week that got resolved, I couldn't tell but as long as I can get them everything is fine.

About compensation ? I don't need any, I'm perfectly happy getting what I paid for, nothing more.

Edited by Touti, 13 January 2011 - 17:56.


#4 JimFosterAutosport

JimFosterAutosport
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Posted 21 January 2011 - 11:51

Thanks, Touti. We do value your custom - very much, in fact. If you do experience any issues in the future, feel free to PM me at any time.

Best wishes

Jim


#5 alfa1

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Posted 18 February 2011 - 02:57

First things first, of course we care
Basically, we get hundreds of emails each week (as you'd expect) and it's only little old me that deals with all that mail.
... the resource available to me just doesn't allow it.



Or in other words, while Jim cares, the Autosport company doesnt, and is only willing to pay one single solitary person to do a job that should clearly be done by several.
Lets hope he never wants to have a day off work.