Customer feedback.

Hey everyone, Chappers here.

I've spent the last few weeks catching up on threads and forum posts as I have been otherwise busy with life in general. So you can imagine my shock and awe when I start to read threads about the community and moderators not getting on, threads being locked for one reason or another, and being quiet frank alot of people being pissed off at this website's management of the site. To even hear of talk that people will not be renewing memberships, not being as active on the site as they have been pre 'update' and even talk of people walking away from the site entierly! Sorry but WTH!!

Firstly this is all my own opinion, and if this get me into trouble with the powers at be then so be it. I feel that strongly about all this.

Ever since the 'update' was implimented things have taken time to 'iron the kinks out' and get the community section of this wonderful website working well, and even as I type this work is still ongoing to continue this process. Having had previous experience in running a website with a forum attacted to it (though nothing to this size or complexity) I can sympathis how frustrating it is for both users and moderators/IT personnel when the community section gets into technical difficulties. Such as pages taking time to load up, slow or unable to load photo's, e-mail notifications not working and so on. Quiet simply put, the more complex the website/community forum the easier it is for something to go wrong on it whether it be a small something or a very large something. However, this is all pretty logical stuff i'm talking about. So, why am I posting?

When things get a little tense and not all is working well, we humans can get pretty tetchy with one another. We moan and grown about this and that and on the flip side the one's that are working hard to try and solve the problems feel like they are being miss treated or picked on i.e. "You should have gotten it right in the first place!" type of feelings and conversations.

Well, at least this is what I believed in untill resently. I actually had time for the moderator's and the IT staff trying their hardest to make this work, but like I said at the beginning of this post, I have become shocked and awed at the way members of this community have been treated by the management of this forum! Now i'm no clever boy here and wouldn't want to even guess at how many people work behind the scene's to keep the site running, however when you place yourself out there for all the public to see, you have been given a incrediable amount of responsibility to represent the RSPB voice and opinion.

Just going slightly off topic for just a second, my point will come clear shortly. When I was a younger man, I spent 13 years in the retail trade selling suits to food, being a saturday part time staff to a manager, served Sir Paul McCartney to being held a knife point for the cash in a till. I'd pretty much seen it all, AND done it all. I loved my jobs I did, and the best bit. being trained on how to give the customer  the best customer service possible they have ever experienced. I became besotted with it, working harder and harder to maximis my ability to make that one person for so bloody special that they would come back again and again. I have left the retail trade now for a more fullfilling role, but I have never forgotten the idealolgies of what I was taught and use the ever single day whether it opening a door for a lady and letting them go first, or smiling at people as you walk down the high street (you will be surprised how many people smile back!) I have come to understand that it earn and gains you respect, trust, loyalty and friendship.

Here's my point. Moderators, where is your respect for the members of this website. Paying members of this website!!

Money that in this day and age some of us still give full well knowing that the cut backs and increase of living make things ever more difficult to live on.

We all still give to a cause that we as members feel strongly about! So why are we, the customer (because we are customers, no diiferent if we were going into a RSPB shop than logging onto the community forums here) treated like something scrapped off the bottom of your shoe. Like I mentioned before, placed in positions of responsibility to interact with the public. Where is your customer service and your respect?!

Infact, where is your feeling when you reply to something or someone's post or thread. All I read is copied and pasted replies or 'we're sorting it' or 'please refer to previous post' or my favorite 'merging this post with previous one's.' Oh locking a post just becuase your saying 'were looking into it, or its solved or whatever' is NOT the way to deal with the situation, if you want to give great customer service you keep your customer informed at all times. By leaving the post open you are able to show great customer service not only by informing whats going on, on a regular basis but also allowing you more time to research and solve the problem, thus being able to go back to the post and reply that is been solved, job done.

Huge known fact, people are more tolorent of situations when they are kept informed, then if they are not. By not, thats when the frustration kicks in and tempers fray a little. And for what, it only takes 15 seconds to type 'Just to let you know, still working on issue. Thank you.'

Trust me when I say it goes along way towards building bridges between customers and companies, or in this case a charity.

Take the fabulous example of how you can walk into a RSPB shop, lets take my beloved Minsmere for example. The volunteers in the shop smile, say good morning, are polite and wish you a good day EVEN if you haven't bought anything. The most I see from you lot is 'Thanks.' To me, that say droves.

There are certain moderators on here that er the exception. But very few. For a charity that relies on its members (customers) thats pretty poor! I've even read new members to the RSPB replying in some disbelief to the way some people have been treated on here.

Which brings me nicely onto my second subject. Myself not being a member for very long (only april 2011) I was practically seething to hear that the all members that had recieved a Good Egg Award pre the update and now lost it! Way to go!!!

Here have a reward, thanks for all the loyal service, help, guidance and joy you have brought to all the other members, new and old and helped by upholding the good name of the RSPB.....

BANG!

oh sorry, due to the new way we have updated the website your reward is invalid now. Thanks all the same. I BEG YOUR PARDON!

Some of these people that were given Good Egg Rewards have clocked up thousands of hours on the forums, been an inspiration to some and super helpful to others. Have given the RSPB their voice of nature they have been looking for! Seriously, I know of certain members that have totals of 5000 (maybe more) post in the time they have been here. I wouldn't be surprised if they were the one's keep the forums afloat when it wasn't as popular as it is now and this is how your treat them!!!!!

Thats like saying. Here, have a badge like a certain kids TV programme used to give out. Its to show that you have contributed in some very special way. Oh hang on a second, you can't wear them anymore, the pin on the back is to dangerous for you to wear it. Heath and safety.

I have struggled to think of a more insulting way of treating your loyalist members (of which I know some have supported the RSPB longer than I have been alive) then what you have done concerning the Good Egg Award. Sure, I support the new system...well sort of, it a bit of a cope out to be honest. Infact it sounds like a cover up for someone who spotted well into the programming of the new site that Good Eggs wouldn't work no longer. But i'm clutching at straws here.

So, why has no one actually come up with a solution to the situation and gaven all the previous Good Egg rewards owners something different instead. Something on the lines of showing their loyalty. BINGO a contributive icon, that only appears on their profile page, or on any posts they do. Again, customer service. Sorry it don't work now, but here is something to replace it. NOT here's nothing to replace it and good luck in getting a temp reward! Truely, if your members mean anything to you, this need to be sorted out and pretty quickly. Some members that have been here for a long time are questioning whether to reduce activity on here or even leave! Sure you getting new members all the time. But its the principle that counts here.

Finally my third issue and funny enough the one that makes the most sence (well to me it does) and confuses me all at the same time. Why oh why did you update something that worked prefectly well. The infastructure was sound, it was easy to use, people knew where to find things. Sure it was fast but i'm guessing that was part of the hopeful 'improvements' but people knew what they wanted, where to find it and most of all, and this is the important bit here, people felt like a community, close, secure. Like you were popping next door to have a cuppa.

Now! now to navigate yourself round the forums you need a bloody sat nav! Why add the blogs, people knew where the blogs were.

A forum by definition is: