I’ve had issues with my Sonic.net internet since I moved into my new place. I’m not sure what it is yet, but we’ll get a week of great connection and then suddenly have it drop every 15 minutes. This is understandably frustrating. But what’s not frustrating is Sonic.net’s customer service.

Here’s how my latest call went:

• I dialed the number.
• I waited 20 seconds.
• I was immediately connected to a real, live person.
• I explained my situation and my previous support history.
• They had already pulled up my account based on caller ID and didn’t ask me any stupid questions that I had already answered with someone else the last time I called in.
• They compared my current line status to my past line status and explained what could be happening (yes, the front-line support agents can actually DO stuff instead of just read off FAQ answers).
• When I explained that I had a slightly older modem, they agreed that it could be an issue and asked if they could explain their modem rental program.
• They left me the option to buy a modem if I didn’t want to rent, and mentioned that if I do choose to rent I can always cancel the rental and buy a modem.
• (Also, if the rental dies I just get a brand-new rental.)
• They were knowledgable about the tech and were able to tell me that my specific modem was known for having issues and that’s why they rent a different modem.
• When I said “ok, ship it” they asked if I wanted it shipped to my home address, which they already had up on their computer.
• Once we were done they say “All right, have a great night!”, waited for me to reply, and then hung up. No annoying, mandatory call scripts.

Compare this to AT&T, which I had prior to Sonic.net. I had tons of issues with them and they were horrible to interact with. In fact, I wrote a whole blog post about it for UserVoice. They:

• Asked for my contact information EVERY SINGLE TIME.
• Recommended the same dumb fixes EVERY SINGLE TIME (yes, I have turned the modem on and off each time I’ve called you).
• Didn’t actually know anything technical. I had to deal with people reading from the manual before I could get escalated to folks with real technical skills.
• Had horrible service hours (between 9a-5p is not a window, it’s a workday).
• Clearly didn’t care. Everyone I talked to was apathetic and unhappy.
• Didn’t fix the problem (and then charged me for my final month of service, even though I had zero internet connection that whole time).

I almost enjoy getting support from Sonic.net. They have clearly optimized their experience around customer service, and their staff is obviously empowered to actually do shit. They can tell that I am a reasonably tech-savvy person and don’t treat me like an idiot. And their staff sounds engaged and interested instead of sounding like sweatshop workers. I went through maybe 15 AT&T phone calls and nearly cursed them out. I’ll gladly go through another 15 Sonic.net calls if necessary, because their service is superlative.

Companies like AT&T will continue to see customer service as a cost center, providing the minimal required service while pumping money into user acquisition marketing which, ironically, often shows up in my mailbox. Meanwhile, Sonic.net invests just a bit in empowered, smart support agents, great policies, and simple-but-effective support tools and they’ve got my money for life.

THIS is why service is important.