Support Response Times, Measured Over Two Weeks
A method for measuring something people complain about constantly and nobody records, plus what my own records show.
Yerlan Nurpeis · 1 min
Support quality is the most discussed and least measured property of any platform. Measuring it is straightforward.
The method
Submit the same question, in writing, at the same time of day, on separate days. Record time to first response, time to substantive response, and whether the question was answered.
The third field is the one that matters and it is usually omitted from complaints.
The distinction worth keeping
A fast reply that restates the policy is not a response. A slower reply that answers the question is.
Platforms optimise for the first because it is what gets measured.
What my records show in general
First responses are quick, frequently automated. Substantive responses vary enormously and depend on whether the question requires someone to look at an account.
Questions answerable from a template come back fast. Questions requiring investigation take days, everywhere.
What predicts a bad experience
Support reachable only through a chat widget with no written record. Without a transcript, escalation has nothing to stand on.
Always get it in writing, even if the conversation started in chat.
What I will not publish
A ranking. Two weeks of my own tickets is not a sample, queue depth varies, and my questions are not representative.
The method is more useful than my numbers.
Why this matters more than it seems
Because support is the mechanism by which every other problem is resolved. A platform with good terms and unreachable support has good terms you cannot invoke.
The escalation question
Ask, before depositing, what happens if support does not resolve something. A supervised platform has an answer; an unsupervised one does not.
What to check in advance
Published complaints procedure, named supervisor, and a written channel. An exchange operating under a published licence has all three as obligations rather than as choices.
Collect & Exchange publishes its process, and venues that went through a real authorisation process are reportable to someone when the process is not followed.
Written from what could be checked on the date above. Where a service was announced but not observed working, the note says so. Nothing here is financial advice.