Customer Service Response Time

[Erick_S]

Has anyone noticed a slow down is response time from PRS Customer Service?

It used to take 3-5 days to get a response. Now it is taking weeks. No joke, 3+ weeks for at least two things - still no reply. For other questions, the response have average 2+ weeks.

It is roughly concurrent with the deployment of the new customer service rating tool they are using, but that may be correlation, not causation.

Anyone else seeing the same? I imagine they are busy, but they were busy before COVID (production backlog was already 18 months for special orders in late 2019).

 

[Lkdog]

Agree - Used to be timely replies. Now nothing for over a week and counting on a simple question.

 

[Erick_S]

Agree - Used to be timely replies. Now nothing for over a week and counting on a simple question.

Meanwhile, they have deployed a very corporate "How was my service?" questionnaire that follows up when you do receive a reply. I wonder if they have tinkered with, or put in place, a new business process for how the Customer Service shop operates. That seems a more likely or logical explanation than a sudden loss of staff (that was last year) or increased demand (also last year and more likely to affect production than CS). I've had some questions not get answered at all. Calling isn't much help, either.

 

[sergiodeblanc]

Oof!

 

[Prs Mods too]

Meanwhile, they have deployed a very corporate "How was my service?" questionnaire that follows up when you do receive a reply.

Wow, I didn't know that. I understand that they're growing as all of us "old timers (lol)" have always wished upon Paul and family/staff, but I don't like this.

There HAS to be a way to get things back to the way they used to be when Shawn was there. Very unfortunate.

Is QC the next to suffer? I hope not.

Best of luck getting a reply.

Cheers!

 

[Simon Says]

They need to fix this and that in customer support for sure. The state its in right now is hands down disappointing.

 

[aphantomvaper]

I made my first PTC inquiry Sat and expected a delay in response.

However I'm planning on being patient, and not indicating I feel anything is wrong with however long the response time is. They'll address it when able!

 

[Dirty_Boogie]

PRS is a luxury brand. Luxury brands should be providing exceptional customer service.

My recent experiences with PRS CS has been slow initial response to requests, but after a little persistence, exceptional follow-up (thanks Ryan!).

 

[Lkdog]

UPDATE-

My inquiry did get responded to by PTC. It was two weeks response time.

 

[archtop]

I contacted service in November, still waiting for a response. I'm sure it'll be any day now

 

[Alan Jurgens]

I’m not sure if this is what PRS is going through now but at our company it has become very hard to hire people at the wages less stressful jobs are paying now in customer service. I too work at a luxury brand company and it is a real problem for us.

 

[Erick_S]

I’m not sure if this is what PRS is going through now but at our company it has become very hard to hire people at the wages less stressful jobs are paying now in customer service. I too work at a luxury brand company and it is a real problem for us.

All the customer service folks are long-time PRS vets, as I understand it. They have to be, in order to be able to answer such a wide range of questions. It's not like a Verizon help desk where a dude flips through a troubleshooting notebook and then tells you they can't find a solution. For regular (non white-collar) positions, everyone starts out as a sander. PRS says it takes six months for someone to learn how to sand properly (or to their standards). I think at that point they can move laterally into another shop. Any lapses in hiring would be on the production end, among the most junior positions. Actually, not that long ago they were hiring folks for 1st and 2nd production shifts - starting out in, you guessed it, the sanding shop. It was around $17/hr, if I recall correctly (the McDonald's near my house is paying $14 and can't hire enough people to stay open all day). PRS is on Kent Island...definitely one of the pricier, 'bougier' areas outside DC. It's a very nice area, but very expensive. I imagine few, if any, PRS line workers live on Kent Island...they likely commute from either side of the Chesapeake Bay. (I commute 60 miles each way to work in downtown DC...it sucks. Traffic is horrible in the DC area. Kent Island's Bay Bridge is no exception.) They have a lots of capital invested in that factory. They've been there since '96. But real estate has skyrocketed in the area since then (I grew up in the area). I'm surprised they didn't move to a much cheaper area on the Eastern Shore. I assume they stayed in Stevensville, in part, to stay close to cargo hubs in the Baltimore and DC area.

 

[geescandy]

I wrote customer service Feb 22 2022, I received an automated message assuring me a real response was a few days away.
Wrote again 3/8/22, nothing, not even an automated response.
Premium brands need better than less than average service, this is exactly what Peavey does when you're trying to spend money with them.

 

[ScottR]

Come back Shawn!! Come back!

 

[sergiodeblanc]

Oof!

 

[Simon Says]

Come back Shawn!! Come back!

Yeah, not sure what stopping new cat of acting as Shawn used to

 

[alantig]

Yeah, not sure what stopping new cat of acting as Shawn used to

Before he left, Shawn raided the supply cabinet and swiped all the Shawniness. Until the border opens completely, they can't restock - the supplier only does in-person pickup and won't ship it from Shawinigan.

 

[Simon Says]

Before he left, Shawn raided the supply cabinet and swiped all the Shawniness. Until the border opens completely, they can't restock - the supplier only does in-person pickup and won't ship it from Shawinigan.

That actually makes sense. Yo'll would you mind to f off and wait for Ryan to get the memoir?

 

[Erick_S]

It took seven weeks for my last request. Sent the questions in mid-January. Received a reply second week of March. That’s unacceptable for a company operating at this level.

 

[Deleted member 5962]

It took seven weeks for my last request. Sent the questions in mid-January. Received a reply second week of March. That’s unacceptable for a company operating at this level.

I guess it depends. What was the "request?" Since the answer is always "contact your dealer first" and we don't know what your problem is, we don't know if it's something PRS will want the dealer to handle, or if they'll want it sent to them, or if it is just a general question that should be asked to the dealer.

I'm not speaking for anyone there, but it sounds like you send them questions that may or may not be related to a warranty issue with a new PRS... I mean, for all I know, you could be asking for crab cake recipes. I'm joking of course, but it sounds like you've done it "regularly" enough to know when they slow down or speed up. Do you have a problem with a new guitar? Or are you just asking questions? I'm guessing there is a big difference in how quickly they respond to one vs. the other, given their current work load.