Introduction

After two years of providing support, I finally experienced something unexpected—a tip! In the eight-year history of our company, this was the first time a customer offered a tip, making it an incredibly special moment for me. Here’s the story of how a support ticket for our WooCommerce Product Options plugin led to this milestone.

The Initial Request

It all started with a support ticket from one of our users who was trying to achieve something specific with our WooCommerce Product Options plugin. The request was straightforward, yet challenging:

“Hello, I am using the product option but I would like to add an order condition for the surface. I am carrying out a surface calculation. I created a width field then a length field. Finally, I multiply by the price of the product. Except that I would like the customer not to be able to order below 6m².”

Almost everything the user wanted was possible with our plugin, except setting a limit condition. They needed to ensure that if the width and length multiplication was less than 6m², the “Add to Cart” button would be disabled.

The Challenge

Realizing this feature wasn’t directly available, I decided to step in and offer some custom coding to achieve the desired functionality. The user agreed, and I began investigating the product page markup, looking for a pattern to identify the fields from our plugin.

After some analysis, I came up with a custom JavaScript solution that would check the surface area and disable the “Add to Cart” button if the calculated area was below 6m². Here’s the code I provided:

function checkSurface() {
    const numberFields = document.querySelectorAll('input[type="number"]');
    let valid = true;

    for (let i = 0; i < numberFields.length; i += 2) {
        const widthField = numberFields[i];
        const lengthField = numberFields[i + 1];

        if (!widthField || !lengthField) {
            continue; // Skip this iteration if either field is undefined
        }

        const width = parseFloat(widthField.value);
        const length = parseFloat(lengthField.value);
        const surface = width * length;

        if (isNaN(surface) || surface < 6) {
            valid = false;
        }
    }

    if (!valid) {
        addToCartButton.disabled = true;
        message.style.display = 'block';
    } else {
        addToCartButton.disabled = false;
        message.style.display = 'none';
    }
}

This custom code worked like a charm. It disabled the “Add to Cart” button when the calculated surface area was less than 6m², exactly as the customer wanted.

The Reward

Shortly after delivering the solution, the user was so thrilled with the outcome that they asked:

“Hi Akramul, Have you a PayPal for tips? I am very satisfied with your help and support!!”

I was surprised and overjoyed. It was the first time in my career as well as for my company too that a customer had offered me a tip, simply for providing support that went beyond their expectations.

But the story doesn’t end here.

The CEO’s Reaction

When I shared this experience with my CEO, she was equally delighted and said:

“I think that’s the first time in 8 years of selling plugins that anyone has offered a tip! 😅”

This was indeed a special moment for both me and the company. It’s not every day that a customer is so appreciative of your work that they offer a tip. It made me realize the true impact of going the extra mile in customer support.

Conclusion

This experience was a reminder of why I love doing what I do. Providing exceptional support isn’t just about solving problems; it’s about creating memorable experiences for our users. The satisfaction of helping someone, combined with such positive feedback, is the greatest reward for a support engineer.

As I continue my journey, this moment will always stand out as a milestone in my career—a testament to the value of dedication, expertise, and a little bit of extra effort.

If you’ve had similar experiences or stories, I’d love to hear them! Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below. And if you’re a fellow support engineer, remember: sometimes, it’s the small things that leave the biggest impact.

This blog post is a celebration of the small victories that make our work worthwhile. Thank you for reading!