Blackaud support

Asim Chowdhry

Has anybody noticed that the quality of support has really gone down the drain… Now if you call (chat is worse) you are (most likely) directed to a call center in India. The support staff are not at all knowledgeable, let alone experts. All they do is respond you based on knowledgebase articles (textbook research/response) rather than having any in depth product knowledge.

In the past (about a year ago) when I used to contact support (specially phone support), I believe you spoke to someone in North America and the individual had expert knowledge and was always able to "guide" you with the best solution.

Now, when I call I literally tell them what to do (based on my own knowledgebase research) and they follow the steps without any knowledge of the system/product. So, for example, I recently called to ask "what's the best way to activate & reapply past candidates". I told him about the 3 options I figured out based on my own research, and he's going around trying those out in the mirror env, without telling me what is the best / proper method. Wasted about 2~3 hours on chat/phone calls and in the end he says, let me do some research and I'll respond you via email.

This is not the first time this has happened; very frustrating… what are we paying all the money for support???

Thoughts/ideas?

Candi Roberts

Yes, it's very frustrating.

Catherine Druhan

Oh for sure. I asked the chat a basic question that the person had "to elevate me to the next level." Our Dean ended up helping me figure it out. When I updated the chat that the issue was resolved and telling them they could close the ticket, they apologized for not really knowing how to help me.

Erin Caprielian

Agreed; support was stellar a few years ago even if it did mean longer wait times… I could accept the delay because I knew that when I was finally connected with someone, they would be very knowledgeable and capable of assisting me. I would gladly return to those days instead of the current support experience.

Blackbaud has also removed the "Submit a Case" tool from our support website, so now even if we have a question that is not time-sensitive, there's no way to submit it apart from waiting to go through the chat or phone queues.

It doesn't matter to me where support is located as long as the representatives have been well trained on the product and can communicate clearly.

I'd recommend that everyone pass on their feedback on support to their Customer Success Manager. Hopefully if enough voices are heard, improvements will be made.

Shannon Frantz

I agree. The customer service has been very frustrating regardless if it is via phone or chat. At one point I was so frustrated during one of my calls I asked for another rep. Which he promptly said he was unable to do. I hope they figure out something soon.

Jeanette Emery

I agree with Erin. The support used to actually connect with us and solve the issue. Now we end up with cases that are open for weeks or months. Someone on my team actually asked me if I could skip starting a case because it was just a waste of time.

Austin Ewachiw

Like many of you, we have been using these products for a long time. From the scrappy days of Whipple Hill and RaisersEdge for DOS. My point, we have seen the ebb and flow. I am very fortunate in that I am able to communicate with BB and the K12 Advisory Board, and what I can share is that Blackbaud hears these concerns and knows they need to course-correct with Support. There are staffing changes underway that are preparing better, dedicated K12 analysts. Much like most other AI tools, their chat is in its infancy, but has tremendous potential. This has forced them to revisit the substantial KB database, to refine it and make it more concise to search. They've also extended support hours.

Keep providing feedback, as I know that they listen. At the same time, continue to monitor how the seeds of these changes start to take effect. I sure will.

Laura Curry

"let me do some research and I'll respond you via email." Is the answer I've gotten for almost all my calls this year.

Leah Niblett

For those of you who don't know me, I am the Customer Support Manager who oversees all of our Education Support teams. We recognize that a negative support experience can leave a lasting impression, and we sincerely regret that some of you have encountered interactions that did not meet your expectations. Your feedback is invaluable to us, and we want to assure you that it drives our commitment to continuous improvement.

  Across our global network—including the US, Costa Rica, Canada, Australia, the UK, and India—every support agent undergoes a comprehensive training program before assisting customers. We invest continuously in supporting our customers with ongoing training, coaching and quality assurance.  We will continue to evaluate and take action when interactions fall short of your expectations.

  As Austin mentioned, we have ongoing, open discussions with the members of our K-12 customer advisory board. In response to your feedback, we are increasing dedicated staffing, recently extended Education support hours, and are continually refining our Virtual Assistant experience to better serve your needs. We are actively connecting with some of you regarding specific cases, and we are confident that you will notice ongoing, positive changes in your support experience.

 If you have further feedback or need assistance with a specific issue, please do not hesitate to reach out.

Kathleen Bentley

I am having the same experiences as described by others. The assumption is that I haven't looked around on my own and tried various remedies for problems. That is super frustrating.

My latest problem has to do with credit card updater not working properly, but the answer to my inquiry was all about how I have to reach out to the donor because the updated did not do what it purports to do.

What I really need to know is, if I cannot rely on BB to update information in my database, then what do I need to do to 1) bring this to Blackbaud's attention to get the issue corrected? and 2) stay current so that people that are showing up as paying by credit card in my batch are not actually then sliding off our radar?

This is a lot to track when a tool is supposed to be doing it.

Shirley Wagar

I agree. I feel like I have more knowledge about the product than the first-level support team does. More often than not, when I open a case, their first response is to direct me to a KB article (one that I've already ruled out and indicated so in my case notes), or they don't understand the nature of the problem to begin with. I'll provide screenshots, detailed notes, and list all of the things I've attempted to resolve the issue myself, but it feels like they're simply providing canned/scripted responses. Lately, I've been escalating cases more than ever, and I'm still not getting results. And not to pile on, but suggesting I add something to the Ideas Bank is NOT a solution to a problem.

Asim Chowdhry

Christine Zaremba

https://community.blackbaud.com/discussion/comment/306746#Comment_306746

With all due respect, if the agents we are getting now have undergone a "comprehensive training program", then the new training stinks. There's still a small handful of the old school support reps around who are actually able to problem solve but we are essentially on our own. The old support model was staffed with people who actually understood the system and all of its quirks (of which they are many) and were incredibly generous with their product knowledge. I learned about the system on virtually every single support ticket, and when we encountered something particularly sticky or even needed to work out a new protocol, you could dial in to support and get actual, expert advice. Now we get regurgitated KBs which often don't even match the topic you're calling about. There is nothing more frustrating than dialing in and explaining your problem in great detail, including all of the steps you've taken to that point, and having the agent ask you the equivalent of "Have you confirmed you're connected to the internet?" in multiple ways. It's painfully obvious these people are following a script, they have no working knowledge of the programs and are unable to take anything to the next level or troubleshoot on the fly. The phone connections are absolute garbage most of the time, opening a case via "Open a Case" in the portal guarantees you are going to have to fill in all of the details and then repeat them multiple times when someone responds to a ticket, tickets are closed before they are satisfied, and they linger for days and weeks on end. We have had to escalate to our CSR multiple times in the past year just to get any traction on mission-critical cases, which are treated by support in exactly the same way as low-priority tickets.

Suzie Capps

I could not agree with this more. Previously the support providers understood the system and could usually help resolve things. In recent months I don't think I've had a single case answered. It is assumed we haven't even looked at the KB (of course I have, otherwise I wouldn't be contacting support!!).

I don't actually see the point of the Virtual Assistant, as it only links to KB articles - I can just search in the KB for those…. If I'm raising a case, it's because its not explained / covered in a KB article!!

Raising a case now takes far more time (having to re-send multiple screenshots as 'evidence' and re-trying everything you've already tried multiple times because a support agent doesn't seem to trust that you've already tried it) for very little chance of it being resolved. Maybe this is what Blackbaud wants, to put people off contacting Support so that they can cut their budgets in this area. They will definitely lose clients this way compared to the fab support experience with other CRMs!

Also, echo-ing a previous comment… The most common "solution" to a problem is to "add it to the Ideas Bank". This is NOT a solution and should not be marked as a solved case. It is not solved at all!

Suzie Capps

Just to note - this is an issue across ALL Blackbaud products at the moment.

LoisAnne Cefarello

I completely agree with the points being raised. I often share with others how exceptional the support team is, and I truly value their assistance. However, I’ve noticed that when I call with an issue, I am frequently asked to walk through the steps I’ve already taken—sometimes multiple times—only to be told the matter needs to be escalated. While I appreciate the idea of “teaching as you go,” this approach can unfortunately be at the expense of the customer experience. It seems there may be a gap in how these processes are being carried out, and it may be worth reviewing to ensure smoother and more effective support.

Brent Johnston

https://community.blackbaud.com/discussion/comment/306770#Comment_306770

If you look at the Idea Bank's most popular items, some of them are over 10 years old. This is a fundamentally flawed system. I agree, hearing that (or having it typed out) suggestion to add the idea to the Bank is a slap in the face. I was incredibly active in the ideas board originally, feeling like I understood the program and was supporting it's development. Not so much anymore.

Asim Chowdhry

Yes, when asking for changes/enhancements/improvements, we are always asked to put it in the ideas bank; which (honestly) seems like waste of time as these "ideas" rarely get into production. I understand they have a lot to work on and have to prioritize to work on these ideas; but, it's a painfully slow and frustrating process - can take years.

Tiffini Crum

Yes, the lack of knowledgeable support and updated resources has become an ongoing source of frustration!

Marisol Delgado

When we first acquired Blackbaud the service was so much better. In the last 3 years it has become progressively worse. I have mentioned it several times to our rep but with no avail. It takes days to sometimes get issues resolved when it used to take hours. There is no urgency on their part and sometimes I have to figure it out myself. When I have to speak to them I have a great difficulty in understanding them because most support staff have limited proficiency in english.

Erin Macleod

I agree with everything raised above. There is rarely a time when I spend less than an hour in a chat now, and even more rare that I get my issue resolved or learn anything new during that time.

They always start with "please allow me a moment to review", then 10 minutes later they say "so if I understand you correctly, [repeats my question back to me verbatim]". Wait times between replies make no sense for the responses I get, and I almost always have to walk them through the process.

There's absolutely no sense of urgency or, quite frankly, interest. The overall experience is of talking to someone who has never worked with the product before and has no stake in learning. Agents are always polite! But not knowledgeable, efficient, or helpful.

Daniel Wallach

Now, when I call I literally tell them what to do (based on my own knowledgebase research) and they follow the steps without any knowledge of the system/product.

This has been the worst part for me.

And the answers just pointing me to KB articles are bad enough on their own, but it's 2x worse because the AI bot already does that! And why does it do that? To redirect us away from live agents, for issues that we can't figure out via the KB (not that it actually helps - if I'm going to support, I've already looked through the KB!).

I also usually have to repeat myself several times. I can tell they're following a script (I've seen the same wording verbatim in multiple chats) just asking the same questions I've already answered when I described the issue,

At this point, I'm only opening chats as a way to get a follow-up answer later - I know I'm not gonna get resolution from the chat itself.

Mary Fernandez

I agree 100% with the frustrations from previous posts. I have had an issue that was "escalated" about 5x at this point, no resolution in sight, I am not even sure that person understood the problem the first time so I am not waiting around for them to figure anything out. It used to be that I actually KNEW chat support people by name and would be so happy if I happened to get "Jared" or "Bryan"… nowadays, it is obviously canned responses, delayed responses, links to articles that I already scoured, and ultimately no solution, not to mention the slow response even in chat mode. Please consider how this affects all of us trying to do our jobs and improve the chat support function!!

Diana Holden

We are having the same, negative experiences with support. Like Mary mentioned, I used to know the names of the support people assigned to our area/product and knew that if I saw one of them on the case, I would get an answer/resolution. Now when I open a case, it is rarely resolved during the initial chat/call and I often get asked if I've done x, y, or z — all of which I already indicated in my response form that I did before opening chat. The initial AI bot is not helpful and just delays the help that I am looking for. I have been using the system for over 5 years and did the initial implementation on our campus. I know many of the quirks of the program and the unexpected places that you sometimes have to look within the system. If I am opening a support ticket, it is because something is truly not working. I find myself less and less likely to reach out to support because the level of help has declined.

Jess Moxsky

This has been our experience over the last few years as well. Every single support case requires a lengthy, annoying conversation with an AI chatbot, and often times I'm met with "I need to do some more research, I will reach back out." I personally know former members of the BB Support team and they were incredible, knowledgeable professionals who could assist with a huge range of issues. Now, I'm lucky if I get routed to the appropriate KB article, and luckier still if that article is up to date. We pay, respectfully, out the nose for our BB ecosystem and it's getting harder and harder to argue in favor of keeping this suite, in no small part because of how bad support is now.

Christine Zaremba

Just chiming back in on this. I just opened a case on a high-level technical issue. The first email reply: asking met to repeat ALL of the details I explicitly included when opening the case, including screen shots.

The second reply: directing me to a KB that is not applicable and covers an entirely different situation. We are now on hour 3 of a student unable to log into BEM and we are still wading through non-applicable KBs (which I already ruled out on my own before opening the ticket).

This is such a tremendous waste of time, energy and resources. Given the opportunity I would gladly wait on hold for an hour knowing I would reach someone like John in Scotland who would actually solve the login issue (or rapidly diagnose as something he couldn't solve and properly escalate) instead of this frustrating, pointless back and forth. I know this student is going to be without her LMS for days now while the agent determines they don't know what to do - this is no way to function.

Johan Guzman

https://community.blackbaud.com/discussion/comment/307144#Comment_307144

Just chiming in that i had a nearly identical experience. Blackbaud, which had some of my favorite support is now easily at the bottom of the products i work with.

Brian LeBlanc

May as well pile on: I submitted a ticket that explicitly spelled out what was happening, where to go and what to do to replicate the issue, and included screenshots. The first two responses I received from support were KB articles that had nothing to do with the issue I raised. It took me asking for the ticket to be reassigned to a different support rep to get the message across, and when it was finally received the ticket was just kicked right back to the original support rep. So that was three days' worth of frustration to alert Blackbaud to what was an obvious database bug.

I agree with @Christine Zaremba that whatever training Blackbaud thinks is sufficient for support reps is, in fact, laughably inadequate. Half the time, even escalating a ticket doesn't accomplish anything (and that's when you are even allowed to escalate a ticket - more often than not the Escalate button doesn't appear, and when it does you're looking at another day of delays). This isn't a training issue. It's a deep-rooted philosophical choice that Blackbaud has actively made to devalue their own product. There's no reason whatsoever that end users feel like they need to be the ones educating support reps about the product that support is, uh, supporting, but clearly that's what is happening.

Call me skeptical, but I will believe any improvements when I see them, and not a second before. Until then I get much better help from colleagues at other schools than I do from the product support that we actually pay for.

Brian Gray

I was at bbcon in Philly this week. There were three sessions with Support's upper management to hear our concerns and experiences.

One explanation for the current state of support agents' limited knowledge of the products is that many previous agents were promoted to other roles in the company - product development, etc.

I learned that the primary decision to give a school the Create a case button on Case Central is based on how much money an organization spends with Blackbaud across all products. We were told that some organizations who don't qualify that way might be able to get it after discussion with Customer Service. (The Create a case button is the only way that I interact with support. Chat and phone aren't a good use of my time.)

I got a couple of new contacts: Leah.Niblett@blackbaud .com and Miguel.Alfaro@blackbaud .ca. Leah is responsible for the K-12 education support team. Miguel manages support for several (or maybe all?) products.

They said that they really do read feedback on individual cases, and investigate when needed. I guess I will start leaving feedback for a while.

Like you, I will believe that they are working on improvement when I see it.

Brian LeBlanc

https://community.blackbaud.com/discussion/comment/307667#Comment_307667

"One explanation for the current state of support agents' limited knowledge of the products is that many previous agents were promoted to other roles in the company - product development, etc."

That's not an explanation. It's an excuse, and a flimsy one at that. I mean, good for the people who were promoted, but that doesn't make a bit of difference to end users, and Blackbaud's kind of saying the quiet part out loud here in that they are moving the more useful people to other roles and leaving the hoi polloi to deal with the leftovers. So they know that the experience is downgraded when these high achievers move on to greener pastures, and the organizational response seems to be, in as many words, "welp".

Also, I don't have time to spell out feedback. In many cases I've already dealt with it and I'm not interested in regurgitating what I've already detailed, at length, within the case itself. Their "survey" doesn't actually address the core issue: how to retain quality support reps and, when those people move on, how to pass that knowledge on to their replacements.

Scott Albright

I've been a BB client for 17 years, and for so much of that time, the tech support was so good. I know we all renew at different times, but my last renewal occurred three years ago which perfectly coincided with tech support going down the drain. My last renewal was also a huge bump up in cost, so I was left feeling completely duped. I was paying 50% more per year for less service.

I will say that the support has improved some lately, but it is nowhere near the level it was three years ago. I get the email-later-after-research response a lot too. And some of the time, the agent responds with an email that is not only not a solution, but one we had already eliminated during the chat session.

Value is important, especially when BB keeps raising their rates so much during each renewal.

And, oh yes, the Idea Bank. I follow suggestions on there that would be absolutely amazing if implemented, Ideas with 100s of votes to their credit, and nothing ever happens. They stay Under Consideration indefinitely. It is very frustrating.

I wouldn't have remained a client for 17 years if I didn't believe in the product, but I've been feeling lately like BB is more interested in maximizing profit at the cost to innovation and support.