Absolutely Disgusted with new Sitelink Employees.-TERRIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICE

PSC

I'd like to know if I'm the only one. I have to rant here. 

I've been using Sitelink for years for 5 properties! Ever since the merge with Sparefoot the great customer service has completely vanished. 
The new employees know absolutely nothing about Sitelink, when I call for THEIR help them I feel like they're actually getting a training session from me without ever answering my questions. It is becoming ridiculous.

I was actually just HUNG UP ON by a Sitelink customer support agent. I called back to report the employee and the gentleman who answered the phone didn't care, and wouldn't help me or tell anyone. I had request to be sent to a supervisor's voicemail. (I'm sure I'll never get a call back.) 

I am absolutely disgusted and will forever miss the 5-10 guys who used to answer the phone and be extremely nice and helpful. 
We will most definitely be looking into spending our money elsewhere for management software. At this point I am 110% dissatisfied with the customer service I am receiving. 

CVSSSTORAGE

I have noticed it has went downhill. 

[Deleted User]

Here at SiteLink, we take pride in delivering exceptional customer service. We recognize that this particular experience is absolutely unacceptable. @PSC
- We’d like to speak with you more about the experience you’re having so we can address it expediently. You will be hearing from a support manager shortly via email.

Drew_Scadoo

It's been pretty ridiculous to get an answer from them and when they do answer and connect remotely it takes them a couple of times to fix something.  

Orkocean

Thankfully in 8 years i've reached out to sitelink only a handful of times but it was always good service when I did. Now you guys and gals got me worried for the next time I may have to reach out to them, also got me worried about my contact at Storsmart since they got purchased as well and I absolutely love dealing with them when I have to.

A piece of advice I would give to avoid even having to contact them is play in demo mode, truly LEARN the software and all of it's features, settings, nuances etc.. A lot of questions I see that get brought up on the forums or problems I see mentioned are super easy fixes that just need someone who understands the program or has the proper security clearance to make the fix.

Our stores have it easy, if they do have a problem they just have to contact me and have me remote in

Self_Storage_Life

Yes I have noticed it too!!!  Takes forever to get a problem fixed and most of the time they play it off like it's fixed or you don't have a problem.  I am becoming more and more disappointed with SiteLink!!

Eric_Lewis

Thank you for being a valued customer. We’re committed to your needs, and we’re well aware that improvements need to be made to better serve you. We’d like to provide you with an explanation for recent holes in support that we’ve identified, and a plan for rectifying the situation.

Our company has been experiencing rapid growth and accelerated change. Unfortunately, this has caused inconsistencies in our support department. Although we have tried to stay ahead, we’re aware that these changes have resulted in longer hold and response times and a support experience that fails to fully meet your needs. We take full responsibility for this problem and we empathize with you.

In an effort to rectify this problem, our teams are implementing the necessary changes we need to make in order to improve your customer experience. Some of these changes include:

Complete- An aggressive hiring plan that includes increasing our support staff by 50% within the next 45 days Q3/Q4- A new ticketing system to expand our ability to address our customers’ issues ~August 2019- An improved phone system with the ability to have autodial returns to reduce wait times and make it easier for you to reach a support representative In Progress: Additional training for our support representatives to expand their knowledge of our products and tools In Progress: Surveys for our customers to provide feedback on their experience with support

As we navigate through these changes, we would greatly appreciate your patience and understanding. We deeply regret any problems our lack in support may have caused your day-to-day business. If you have individual questions regarding these changes or are still in need of support, please PM(Private Message) me directly.   Thank you again, Eric Lewis Manager, Internal Training and Escalations

ESS

For some reason I am being censored in the forums! Not even sure if this will post either grr

Ashley_D

Hi Angela, I just wanted to follow up on this thread as well. Occasionally a post may get flagged by the system as needing review and a moderator will review those as quickly as we can. Your original comment has been approved and posted to the thread. 

i43storage

Thank you, @Eric_Lewis.

ESS

Ashley_D said:

Hi Angela, I just wanted to follow up on this thread as well. Occasionally a post may get flagged by the system as needing review and a moderator will review those as quickly as we can. Your original comment has been approved and posted to the thread. 

Thank you! All is well after you fixed it

websterb

We have noticed a "decline" so to speak to actual customer service, but sad to say, I think its a sign of new times. Everything is becoming so automated. We've experienced more issues in the last 3 months than ever before and it takes a dozen phone calls to get the problem rectified, if they can fix it. We have a Report issue that has been going on for a year and still no fix. I will say that the last phone conversation with  a Tech support gentleman was very productive and he was very helpful.  We try harder to figure out the issue and fix them ourselves if at all possible.

teamcapitola

I have noticed the "Quality" of support seems to have changed in the last year; I used to talk with tech support and always felt like I was working with a tier 2 tech at least. Coming from an IT services background, it was really nice to talk with somebody who just got to the point and solved my issue.

Lately support questions seem to be answered more by email rather than an actual phone call. Several times I've actually had to correct the "tech" who emailed an incorrect answer, or an answer that had no relevance to my original question.

I'm still impressed by Sitelink, but have to say that they seem more focused on tertiary add-ons than their core product. I honestly don't care about the MY Hub app when they cannot answer a simple security audit question about it (see my unanswered question regarding my hub)

https://storageforum.sitelink.com/discussion/1844/log-in-history-in-myhub#latest

Its the current "Move Fast and break Things" mentality that seems to permeate the industry. Its too bad really. The fact that it started sliding with the SpareFoot merge??

But with all that said, I still feel value with the product, and believe it's the best CRM/POS for self storage at the moment.

Orkocean

@teamcapitola Now that you mention the lack of knowledge of the reps it does sound familiar. I didn't think anything of it at the time when we had some issues I called in for at the end of the year but it was the first times I ever had to call in, have a tech remote in only to have them get ANOTHER tech to remote in to show them what to do. I just brushed it off as a new guy needing help. I can see the lesser knowledge techs being useful as quite honestly, how many calls do you think they get a day that are truly a simple fix from someone who just doesn't know what they were doing at a site which would bog down the higher ranking techs time. So a funneling system to elevate the issues does sound like it would be useful if they're limited on properly trained techs. 

I don't think i'll ever have an issue unless they get to the point like some tech reps that insist you have to go through "step 1, step 2, step 3" of their "help book" and refuse to skip steps when you tell them you've already done those and aren't just a random person who knows nothing about the system.

ESS

@Orkocean I had to call a few weeks ago and have them remote in. The lady I was speaking to kept putting me on hold to talk to someone else. She came back on and stated "She says you gotta do....to fix it". I thought the same thing, someone in training, but now I'm thinking this is just how it goes. Thankfully our issues are few and far between so I don't have to call often. I believe this was only the second time since I've been with my company, nearly 2 years

Orkocean

@ESS I wouldn't be surprised if half their days are taken up by "reverse payment / email not working / merge unit" questions. One of the things that I never understood is their "hidden buttons" thought process. I have a list of all the hidden buttons in sitelink but why they hide them in the first place makes it feel like they want to keep people from fully learning their software. The more people know about how to use it the less people would need help with.

ESS

@Orkocean yes! The hidden button features! What is up with that? I feel the same way! I only know of the Company>Utilities screen. Care to share any others?? And I wouldn't doubt if that is the majority of their calls, maybe from a lack of proper training at facilities?

CVSSSTORAGE

I always come to the forums first before calling Sitelink and search my problem. If I do not find it I ask the question and am normally helped by the people here. I love those hidden buttons

Faye

ESS said:

@Orkocean yes! The hidden button features! What is up with that? I feel the same way! I only know of the Company>Utilities screen. Care to share any others?? And I wouldn't doubt if that is the majority of their calls, maybe from a lack of proper training at facilities?

Please share more hidden buttons. I also only know the  "Company>Utilities screen"

LinderISS

I dread calling tech support and in 8 years I have contacted them a handful of times because support was so unsatisfactory I would avoid at all costs.   BUT today, I got lucky and got Angela.  Wow, coherent, capable of understanding ALL parts, sense of humor but professional.  Hopefully from now on (until they promote her) I will get lucky and get Angela for tech support.  

MamaDuke7

In the Utilities Screen:

 

Shift-Control-Q = Form Backcolor and Button Backcolor

Shift-Control-R = Reverse Last Daily Close (I believe this requires a code from SL)

Shift-Control-T = Move Ledger to Another Tenant

Shift-Control-U = Update Charges for All Tenants

Shift-Control-S = Reset Computer Clock from Internet Time Servers

Shift-Control-D = Defragment and Repair Local Cache Database

Shift-Control-E = I don’t know because it requires a password above my pay grade!!!

Orkocean

Well since multiple asked figured it'd be easier to just put em here. Most are pretty useless for you on a site manager end. Merging ledgers and switching the edit charges screen are the two most used in my years.

Screen:            Keys:                             Function:
Backup - CTRL+SHIFT+B - Allow selecting C:\ as backup location

Edit Rent & Modify Units - CTRL+SHIFT+E Allows editing of fields that have different initial values

Edit Ledger - CTRL+SHIFT+S - Show "Add Prepaid Security Deposit" button

Ledger Settings - CTRL+SHIFT+D - Allow edit of move-in date/rent start date

Maintenance or Utilities - CTRL+SHIFT+T - Show "Move Ledger to Another Tenant" Button (Batch and UnBatch)

Past Due Tasks - CTRL+SHIFT+W(or R) - Reset Past Due Events

Tenant Edit - CTRL+SHIFT+D - Show "Test drivers license swipe" button

Utilities - CTRL+SHIFT+R - Reverse Last Daily Close (Requires failsafe pswd from SL Support)

Utilities - CTRL+SHIFT+U - Unhides the Update Charges for all Tenants Button (Requires Pswd)

Utilities -or- Reports Screen - CTRL+SHIFT+CC - Show "Custom reporting" button

Maintenance - CTRL+SHIFT+A - Import Australian Forms

Payment Screen - CTRL+SHIFT+PP - to allow a change in the payment date

Reprint Forms - CTRL+SHIFT+T - Allows user to print/email letters on a per tenant or unit/ledger basis

Payment Screen - CTRL+SHIFT+H - Allows one time ACH Payments

Utilities - CTRL+SHIFT+S - Reset computer clock from Internet time servers

Utilities - CTRL+SHIFT+D - Defrag & Repair Local Database

Payment Screen - CTRL+SHIFT+Z - Enable new "Edit, Charges & Payments"

Pictures / Start Webcam Screen - CTRL+SHIFT+W - Shows additional webcam configuration options

i43storage

I also use:

SetUp/Program Defaults:  Ctrl+Shift+R to retrieve old notes

Goodteam

Yes, I have noticed they don't seem to be as competent as they were before the merger.  I have had to call 2 times about a problem.  The first time, they wouldn't even log in and help me because she didn't know 
what to do.  The 2nd time she did log in, but didn't have any answer either.  I think I knew more than she did.  Just hoping I don't need to call again.

teamcapitola

Ok. After todays tech call, I have to agree with everyone; the tech support for Sitelink hasn't just gone downhill, it's doing 80mph off the grand canyon!

 just going to vent a bit....

I had a simple tech support question; Historically would just submit an emailed support ticket and await the callback. This time, when I didn't get the call, I called in and got a level 1 tech reading off a checklist.

I just about lost it when he pulled the "Captain Hindsight" comment "...what you should have done before close that day..."

No S*** guy... I'm calling BECAUSE we didn't do it the right way. Seriously...how long have you worked there?!?

"let me gather the resources needed to take care of your problem"  then placed on hold until I get hung up on 20 minutes later!

The issue I had has happened before, it's just been so long I forgot the correct way to fix....I've been so used to getting a knowledgeable person on the phone right away, that this was a total shock. I actually remembered the fix while I was on hold!

CVSSSTORAGE

I hate to sound like an old lady yelling at kids to get off my lawn but it seems like the norm everywhere. Customer service just isn't what it used to be. I remember companies used to want your business and let you know how much they appreciated you being their customer, now they are just like eh if you leave we have a million other customers so oh well. I find myself quoting my grandma every time I have to call customer service from any company now hell in a handbasket she always said lol

teamcapitola

The best part of this story - the email I received this morning in reply to my initial support question.

It amounted to "here's how to void a transaction if the daily close hasn't been performed"

SERIOUSLY?!?! gee.. thank you for giving me step-by-patronizing-step instructions to what is likely the most basic correction a DM can do in Sitelink and please ignore the fact that I said the close had already been performed in my original email!

I'm sure I've forgotten how to do that in the last 8 years of working with the software!

i43storage

teamcapitola said:

... It amounted to "here's how to void a transaction if the daily close hasn't been performed" ...

UN.  BELIEVE.  ABLE.

Eric_Lewis

As mentioned on July 24th, support completed a massive hiring initiative to increase the number of techs by 50%. That process is complete and we are working hard to level up the experience on the support desk to provide customers with the support they have come to know and love.  I appreciate the candid feedback and would like to assist you with any unresolved problems you still have. Please DM me so I may provide some guidance to resolve your issue.