We get a lot of complaints about Zynga, the largest online gaming company that features games like Farmville and Mafia Wars on Facebook. A lot of times users run into a problem with various games and can't get in touch with the company's customer service department. Often times it comes off as if the company doesn't care. Well, it turns out they actually don't.
On the verge of going public, Forbes interviewed one of Zynga's long time players who is so advanced in the games that he is on several inside committees that help advise the company on problems in the games. The interview is interesting but not earth shattering by any means for those who have played the games. The insider reveals that often times his group's recommendations fall on deaf ears, and that the company doesn't really care about customer service issues as it's only concerned about daily user ratings. The difference between the two is daily user ratings is all about adding features to get new users to start playing, not keeping it's current user base happy. Basically if you have been playing the games for a while, the company is more focused on adding new customers than retaining current customers. So essentially if you have an issue with the game, the company doesn't care and their focus is on adding more new users. Making the issue more frustrating is the insider's view of the company CEO. While the company has sky rocketed to what will be an astronomical valuation once public, the CEO is only concerned about keeping that value for the IPO so he can cash out. That's not good news for the loyal customer base in terms of getting better customer service in the future. The insider paints the picture that it's a classic case of a company having a great idea, growing too big too fast and forgetting what got it to where it is today, the customers. Now with the prospect of an IPO and a massive cash out in the near future, one can only assume that the situation isn't going to get better any time soon. The only hope is once the company goes public that some other company buys them and replaces the horrible customer service department, and focuses on helping those that actually play the games and want to give their hard earned money to a company for the products that it is offering.
If you want to read the whole interview, you can find it
right here.
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Posted by GetHuman on Thu, 15 Dec 2011 2:59pm