Help Scout

This app had been long abandoned. They have talked about adding chat since 2019. FIVE years and no progress in this regard. The biggest update they’ve had in years was to allow you to view your clients’ email address in the app. Seriously? They are content with mediocrity. I could forgive this if the app was polished and worked well, but it isn’t. It frequently crashes and the gesture to dismiss messages is super laggy. Sometimes it will cause you to dismiss the wrong message as a result!

I see that HelpScout has responded to some previous reviews saying that the app has been fixed in version 2, but I am writing this days after their response and have been using the latest version and still constantly have the notification issue. I have just had to uninstall again because the app is useless on Android. This is such an annoying bug -- it brings on a small wave of rage when I get an important HelpScout notice and then cannot get the app to load the conversation, then get a mailbox error, then have to jump through hoops to try and get into the mailbox. HelpScout is so elegant about most of its features that this sticks out embarrassingly - especially for the price of entry. If this is not fixed, we will likely switch away from HelpScout when our next yearly payment comes due. I really, sincerely hope that this is being seen as the horrible experience it is and that HS resources are being poured onto the problem. I have brought this problem to HS's attention by reaching out personally multiple times over the last few months and always get "friendly / polite" responses that do not register as adequate mea culpas to me. I don't think they get it.

The main reason I signed up for HelpScout was to consolidate ticketing and web chat into one. Seemed promising. But the very basic functionality of an app not having ANY notifications whatsoever when someone starts a chat or send a ticket, is a showstopper for me. Mobility is key, and if I have to sit in front of a computer to get notified of incoming requests because the app doesn't work, well, there are plenty of options out there I'll say that much. Unfortunate, very promising, but missed.