You are here because you are going to be asking for help from a variety of resources – many of whom do not know you, and therefore, may not trust you. In order to save you time, frustration and keep you from irritating those you are contacting, you need to know HOW to ask for help.

When CALLING support:

  1. State the general topic first: “I can’t access my dead mother’s account.” “Someone has been hacking my account, and I can no longer get in. ” “I don’t remember the email my account is under to reset my password.”
  2. Speak with a hopeful tone, not with anger, whining or grumpy. They’ve had a long day too and will more willing to help if you keep your frustration in check.
  3. Keep notes with pen and paper for whom you spoke to, what date/time and any case numbers. Don’t rely on anyone to email it to you. If this information isn’t volunteered, get it from the person you are speaking to.
  4. If leaving a message, say your area code and phone number CLEARLY TWICE so they can hear it to call you back. Many message taking services transcribe through software, so you need to be clear when speaking. Spell your name if it’s not simple. I still spell. “Finch – like the bird: F I N like Nancy, C like Charlie, H.”
  5. If leaving a message, keep the message short – ask them to call you back regarding, and thank them at the end.
  6. Keep smiling when you speak to them. They can hear it through the phone and it affects your ability to listen.
  7. If you are getting frustrated, without being condescending, politely ask them to escalate the call since you don’t seem to be able to explain it to them clearly. They are usually more than happy to pass you off if you are getting frustrated.
  8. Be focused when you are speaking to them, have the website open to follow along with their instructions, tell them that you are doing each step they are helping you with so they know you are keeping up.

When EMAILING support:

  1. Keep your subject clear: domain name – 3-4 word issue. This is not clear and is annoying: “website is broken” – PLEASE don’t ever be that vague. No one can help you with that little information.
  2. Include the account number in the email or online form.
  3. Copy/paste the page URL that has the issue.
  4. If there is an error on the page, get the URL AND copy/paste the error message or screenshot it.
  5. Explain the steps that got you to that issue: I went to your home page, clicked “login” and attempted to login with this email address and my password (never list the password), I hit enter and got this error (copy paste the error) on this page (copy /paste the URL in the browser bar at the top).
  6. Tell them what you are using: phone app, Mac or Windows desktop/laptop, tablet, which browser, which operating system. They need to know this to try to replicate the issue and narrow it down. If you tried it in more than one browser, tell them that: “I tried this from my  Windows 10  PC in both Firefox, Edge, Safari and Chrome – same issue.”
  7. Ask for the solution you want, “I need to gain access to this account ASAP…” “I need to submit the form…” “Need my website to be viewed on all devices….”
  8. Include your phone that you will answer, your email, time zone and best time to reach you if they call, then thank them for their assistance.