drfreeze49 wrote:I find it interesting that you have had such success...I on the other hand have not even come close to your requests but on several key issues (league directories....Garcia Whereabouts and new player additions...no response) as a matter of fact if you read my "interesting Note...on the forum you will see there is no response} ... I personally think if he could do half the job Bernie Hou did we would have a better product...but hey good for you that you have such great success.
Hack Wilson wrote:Apparently, there is an "in" group and an "out" group for Johnny Boy Garcia. I can't remember the last time I cared enough to try to contact him. But a tip of the hat to those who get responses.
I am aware of the frustration voiced by many in the online SOM ATG community concerning customer service issues and lack of communication from SOM. These are legitimate concerns and my response below is by no means an attempt to minimize those concerns. Nor am I an SOM apologist. I'm merely calling things as I see them.
First, Bernie Hou was roundly criticized in this forum when The Sporting News operated the online SOM game. Bernie was essentially a one man band when it came to operating the site. Not only was he responsible for the day to day technical computer issues related to the operation of the site, but he was responsible for addressing customer service issues for the hundreds of online SOM players in varying formats as well. At times, the job could be overwhelming. While Bernie did a good job overall in trying to address the needs of the community, he was not immune to criticism, which sometimes was overly harsh. Now, as the community looks back, he is gradually becoming St. Bernie!
Secondly, it almost goes without saying that posting a generalized complaint or requesting action from SOM in this forum is not the best way to get action from SOM. If action is needed, use the Info/Help drop down menus and click on the "Contact Us" link, just as you would for any other company where help is being requested.
Thirdly, while some may consider this naive, I don't believe that SOM customer service is petty enough to play favorites with customer service requests, with the clear implication of some of the posts in this forum being that SOM ignores customer service requests from vocal critics of the company. I have been critical of the SOM from time to time, but have NEVER felt that such criticism impacted the customer service response. To the extent that others have experienced delays in customer support requests, based on my own experience, John Garcia's response time is generally great when it involves a fix that he can make himself, but sometimes response time lags when he has to rely on others at SOM for information, help or an answer. Although it has been rare, there have been times when I've had to send John a follow up email to get an answer or action. In such cases, based on the nature of my customer service request, I strongly suspect that John had to go elsewhere within the company to get info to address the request and that his response was delayed because he had to rely on others to answer the request. A perfect example of such is the question "When will the new cards be released?" John's answer was usually delayed and generally greatly missed the mark. But, based on what I've read here in the forum regarding the new card process, John does not price the new cards or set the time table, if any, for the release. Nor does he prioritize the work within SOM. Like us, he is at the mercy of those within SOM who give him the information to pass on to the community. So, when there are delays in issuance of the new cards, giving rise to the inevitable community frustration, John gets egg on his face and is left holding the bag.
Lastly, much ado has been made in this forum about the disappearance of "Garcia's Blog". The blog was widely criticized from the outset. The first criticism was that community members could not directly respond to the blog. The second criticism was that meaningful content was allegedly lacking, with the blog allegedly being a thinly veiled conduit for the promotion of SOM products. Essentially, the criticism stated that the blog was worthless. Is it really surprising that the blog disappeared in the face of this criticism? Moreover, isn't it ironic, that despite the criticism that the blog was worthless, that folks have complained for months about the disappearance of the blog? My suspicion is that John Garcia did not always have complete discretion on blog topics and certainly did not have the final say on whether to continue the blog.
This rather lengthy post can be summarized by saying that based on my experience, blaming John Garcia for SOM's customer service issues is greatly misplaced.
Fri Nov 30, 2018 10:54 pm