See this thread: http://community.gencon.com/forums/t/16927.aspx

I have the opposite problem...my Gencon packet came today, had my event tickets in it but no badge.  The receipt that came with the packet only listed the event tickets but no badge.

I checked the online system, which does list the badge and event tickets.  I called and left a message with someone in customer service.  Let's hope this is dealt with quickly and efficiently.

I've been thinking about this, and I'm wondering if ship/will call is not whatever you had it last set to, but what you had it set to when you purchased the items.

For instance, In February, not planning to move, customer purchases badge. April 10, customer realizes maybe will call might be better, and swaps the status in account to will call. Registers for tickets. Move falls through. Switches account back to ship to me.

July: Customer's badge is mailed, tickets held at will call.

The reason: Aren't they now charging a fee for the ship to me option? And isn't that charged upon purchase?

There is a fee for shipping, but it should be the same for your badge and tickets, whatever you had it set to last.  You aren't getting your badge as an exhibitor or anything are you?  If you don't hear anything in a few days, go ahead and email Aleta directly at aleta@gencon.com.  Thanks!

Hmm, with my badges and your tickets, one of us could have a pretty good time!

 I was going to wait and see that the Monday mail brought, and then send Aleta an email. Nothing else came on Sat, so I still have badges with no tickets.

 I never changed my will call status either; I'd always had Ship Them.

There is a fee for shipping, but it should be the same for your badge and tickets, whatever you had it set to last.

If you order your tickets with it set for will call, then toggle it to ship later, there is no pop-up to add the charge. I was playing with it, and being indecisive, since I usually go willcall, but then decided I wanted to fondle, and then thought, no, I'll lose them, and I honestly can't remember what it was set to at the exact day prereg closed. I /do/ know, however, no additional charges were made in the flipflopping. So I guess I will see if my stuff is mailed, and if it isn't, call a week before, to make sure they'll be at willcall.

How long does it take for customer service to return a phone call usually?

I left a message on Saturday with the Gencon phone number, thought I'd hear from someone yesterday but didn't.  Is the usual turnaround time for a phone call 48 hours or more?

Well, they don't normally work Saturday or Sunday; so messeages left over the weekend are received on Monday, and worked in the order they are received whenenver possible.  If you don't hear from Aleta today (keeping in mind they are West Coast, so when it's noon here, it's only 9am there), I think it's ok for you to call again.

marimacc:

Well, they don't normally work Saturday or Sunday; so messeages left over the weekend are received on Monday, and worked in the order they are received whenenver possible.  If you don't hear from Aleta today (keeping in mind they are West Coast, so when it's noon here, it's only 9am there), I think it's ok for you to call again.

Thank you very much.  I will wait until close of business today and call tomorrow morning (Pacific morning) if I don't hear.

I purchased my tickets before the discount rate disappeared and I got a email to show that the price charged was correct, got my badges and was charged the higher rate for all four.  I left two emails (one sat, one mon) and no response yet. 

 Do I get a quicker response on the phone, its a question of 40 bucks at this point.

We received our badges and tickets in the mail on Saturday, but we were missing one badge.  I called customer service Monday afternoon and had the problem fixed in about 5 minutes.  All in all the experience was very painless.

Don't worry! Everyone got the same thing, and you were not charged extra. Here's what Customer Service rep Aleta said: 

From Aleta: We create the receipts through a separate program that pulls live information from our registration database. One of those items is the cost of the badge and since our system has been updated to the onsite cost, the cost showing on the receipts is $75.00. No one was charged an additional $10 as we do not retain credit card information for our attendees and thus would have no way to bill them again.

From the looks of it, this is happening to a lot of people, stuff getting shipped seperately and all.  Guess we will have to see what happens.

Still no call from Customer Service.  Left another message this morning.

Seriously, is this Aleta actually checking her voicemail or what?  Two voicemails in a week with no response.

Nice customer service.

Why don't you email her directly at aleta@gencon.com with your specific problem?

Yes, she is checking her voice mail.  Knowing how voicemail works at my office, and knowing how many she's getting, I can see a few being eaten by the system or too garbled.  But she's answering them as fast as she can.  And by she, I mean, the one person who is customer service. 

marimacc:

Why don't you email her directly at aleta@gencon.com with your specific problem?

Yes, she is checking her voice mail.  Knowing how voicemail works at my office, and knowing how many she's getting, I can see a few being eaten by the system or too garbled.  But she's answering them as fast as she can.  And by she, I mean, the one person who is customer service. 

Well that begs a couple questions:  why would Gencon only employ one person who handles customer service?  shouldn't a company that deals with so many customers naturally have a department instead of one person?

More importantly, I suppose, is why should I expect any prompter service via email than voicemail?  Is that a policy where voicemail is not answered but email is?

It's been 4 business days since my first message and 1 business day since my second.  Still no response.  How long should I wait?  should I find it acceptable to wait 3 weeks?  4 weeks?  Should I not expect an answer before the convention even? 

Kheti,

I have answered all your questions to the best of my ability, and given you all options I personally know of to contact customer service.  I have no other options for you.  Actually, if it's a very minor customer service issue, such as looking up your account password or something, I can do that, and you're welcome to PM your problem to me if you want, so I can try and fix it; though I won't have time to check accounts until late tonight.  Otherwise you'll just have to contact Aleta as I suggested and be patient as she wades through the customer service voice mail, inbox, and her personal inbox.

Why doesn't Gen Con have a large customer service department?  That's easy enough to answer; they simply don't make enough money to employ as many people as they, or you or I, might wish they could.

Anyhow, I've given you all the available options I have for you to resolve your customer service issue.  I suggest you make use of the avenues you have not already tried.

If you just want to continue to rant some more on the fourms, well, I guess you can do that if i makes you feel better, but that's not going to help the situation, and it's really just wasting your time, and everyone's else time who reads this thread.

 marimacc

I was just responding to your message indicating that I should just sit back and take bad customer service because Gencon understaffs their customer service department and that the one person that handles customer service is busy.  As a consumer, I have a right to expect prompt responses to customer service inquiries.  And in light of your message indicating that the person is busy, I was simply asking how long should I take that as a "valid" response to why my questions don't get answered.  I'm not asking YOU to solve the problem.  I want the person that is being paid to take care of customer service actually...you know, take care of a customer service issue in a reasonable amount of time.  4 business days to return a phone call?  Not a reasonable amount of time. 

Why would I expect an email to get any more attention than the two voicemails I've left?

Kheti sa-Menik:

I was just responding to your message indicating that I should just sit back and take bad customer service because Gencon understaffs their customer service department and that the one person that handles customer service is busy.  As a consumer, I have a right to expect prompt responses to customer service inquiries.  And in light of your message indicating that the person is busy, I was simply asking how long should I take that as a "valid" response to why my questions don't get answered.  I'm not asking YOU to solve the problem.  I want the person that is being paid to take care of customer service actually...you know, take care of a customer service issue in a reasonable amount of time.  4 business days to return a phone call?  Not a reasonable amount of time. 

Why would I expect an email to get any more attention than the two voicemails I've left?

Actually if you look back through this and other threads, I think you'll find that while there is a delay sometimes in response, Aleta does handle all customer questions in a quick and efficient manner. Maybe not as fast as a corporation, but as quickly as one person can given a single point event like GenCon. You could have generated your estimated time from actually reading the threads or perhaps asking the question in a more pleasant tone. I'm sure Aleta will get back to you concerning your issue....she has always handled our questions in a prompt and professional manner. Patience is the key here, though.

Kheti sa-Menik:

I was just responding to your message indicating that I should just sit back and take bad customer service because Gencon understaffs their customer service department and that the one person that handles customer service is busy.  As a consumer, I have a right to expect prompt responses to customer service inquiries.  And in light of your message indicating that the person is busy, I was simply asking how long should I take that as a "valid" response to why my questions don't get answered.  I'm not asking YOU to solve the problem.  I want the person that is being paid to take care of customer service actually...you know, take care of a customer service issue in a reasonable amount of time.  4 business days to return a phone call?  Not a reasonable amount of time. 

Why would I expect an email to get any more attention than the two voicemails I've left?

And a dead horse rears is ugly head, so to speak. This has been discussed elsewhere.