Phew!!!! Thank Goodness For Good Support

What an interesting week!!

I installed an operating system upgrade on my computer at the beginning of the week and it has caused chaos with a number of online websites that I have to use in my business.

Not being able to access most of these websites was not that much of an immediate concern, but this upgrade stopped me from completing my client's BAS (Business Activity Statements) on the ATO's (Australian Taxation Office's) BAS Agent's Portal - and they are all due by midnight on Monday the 28th of October (that's tomorrow as I am writing this post!!!).

To say that this was a problem is an understatement - being a Registered BAS Agent gives you a distinct advantage over unregistered bookkeepers, as it allows you to provide services to clients that "ordinary" bookkeepers cannot provide.

All of my clients get me to lodge their BAS online for them these days, so the consequence of not being able to (due to this operating system upgrade) and my clients getting reminder letters from the ATO because of late lodgement could have had a very detrimental affect on my business.

Earlier in the week I did not worry about this problem too much, but by Friday it was time to go into "panic mode" as the problem was still unfixed.

Well, I must say, that I have nothing but admiration for the Technical Support staff at the Australian Taxation Office for their efforts in getting this issue resolved.

When I first rang the ATO Technical Helpdesk, to say that I was "skeptical" of getting satisfactory assistance is an understatement.

In my experience, too often when you contact large corporate, or public sector, call centres you are met with service levels that, lets say, are less than "inspiring", but on this occasion not only was my call answered promptly, but my problem was "escalated" immediately when the first level support member was unable to assist me with my problem.

Within an hour of being told that my enquiry was being escalated I received a call back from a higher level support staff member and within 5 minutes my problem was resolved and I was able to access the BAS Agent's Portal again.

Thank you to all the staff at the ATO's Technical Support centre - your service with handling my problem was of an exceptional standard and allowed me to continue providing quality customer service to my clients.

Do you have first class support in your business so that when clients call to voice a concern - and they always do - you can resolve their issue quickly and effectively?