Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!mcvax!cernvax!pan!jw
From: jw@pan.UUCP (Jamie Watson)
Newsgroups: comp.databases
Subject: Re: Support by email  (long; of European interest)
Message-ID: <410@pan.UUCP>
Date: 22 Jun 88 21:14:54 GMT
References: <406@pan.UUCP> <249@infmx.UUCP>
Reply-To: jw@pan.UUCP (Jamie Watson)
Organization: Adasoft AG, Solothurn, Switzerland
Lines: 66

In article <249@infmx.UUCP> aland@infmx.UUCP (Dr. Scump) writes:
>
>The only limitation we had on foreign telephone support was on *outgoing*
>calls - we do receive foreign calls (in fact, give them priority).

Sorry, but as someone sitting in Europe who has tried this, I can tell you
for certain that this is not true.  The first time I tried to call, I was
told, in no uncertain terms, that while someone would talk to me *this*
time, non-U.S. sites were not authorized for telephone support, and I
should not call again.  Strictly fax and telex.

>External email was set up only this year, and the establishment of an
>email destination for support communication is in the works.

Forgive me, but based on my experience in software support (~5 years), I
have to say that "setting up" an email destination for support does not
take a significant effort.  In addition, it yields huge benefits to both
parties; the customer is happy because bug reports can be made quickly
and easily, and the support people are happy because this takes a lot of
the pressure off - your phone isn't ringing off the hook all day long,
and you don't have irate customers yelling in your ear constantly.  In
addition, the support person has a real opportunity to *research* a
problem before giving a response, which is often not possible when the
customer is holding on the phone line.

>For European customers, however, this is usually unnecessary.

Don't I wish...

>the Munich office handles
>W. Germany, Italy, Spain, and *Switzerland*.  Since these offices took 
>over local support a month ago, customers who have sent us (in the U.S.)
>questions have been referred to the appropriate European office for
>future questions (or should have been :-]).

Sigh.  I'm sure the intentions are good here (at least, I hope they are),
but I'm afraid this just won't cut it.

- We buy our software in the U.S., through a U.S. subsidiary, because we
  got tired of the price-gouging going on in Europe.  Informix is not the
  only company doing this, by far; they are quite typical of what is going
  on.  The European end user price of Informix products ranges from 1.8 to
  2 times the U.S. end user price - and in general the manuals are not
  included, while they are in the U.S.!  Now, as we refuse to pay double
  the price for the "privelidge" of buying in Europe, how anxious do you
  think the European office is going to be to give us support?

- The "technical" people who staff such operations over here are uniformly
  dismal.  I know this is prejuging in the extreme; I'm sorry, but I have
  a business to run.  I can't afford to invest my time, and that of my
  programming staff, in teaching someone's support staff about their own
  product.  I've done it too many times already.

I say again, all I am asking for is an email address, at the main office
of a database supplier, to which I can send bug reports and expect to get
acknowledgement in a few days, and intelligent response within a week or
so.  I don't care what company it is - as far as I am concerned, the top
four of five Unix database companies are essentially indistinguishable
anyway.

jw

Jamie Watson
Adasoft AG
Solothurn, Switzerland
Tel: +41 031/54.35.70