Subject:General support complaint

Posted by: Jeff Lichtman

Date:1/21/2010 7:46:57 PM

I have submitted three support cases relating to Sound Forge 10.0. In each case I have given a complete description of the problem, and each time Sony support has responded by asking for irrelevant and duplicate information.

For example, today I reported that the summary information editor in 10.0a will not display more than 512 characters (even though it allows the user to enter more than 512 characters). As part of the process for submitting the support case, I was required to give the version and build number. The support analyst responded by asking for a bunch of info, including the version, build number, type of processor, video card, type of disk drive, amount of memory on my system, a description of the problem, etc. I had already given some of this info, and the rest is irrelevant.

It would have been very easy for the support analyst to try to reproduce the problem. Why, then, did this person throw the ball back into my court by asking for a bunch of stuff, most of which is irrelevant to this problem and the rest of which I had already given? I have worked in support organizations, and I recognize this type of behavior. One possibility is that there is a bureaucratic hurdle between support and the developers that requires support to overdocument any case they turn over. Another possibility is that support analysts are overloaded and get in trouble if they have too many unanswered questions in their queues, so they have developed ways of getting breathing space by tossing things back to the customers.

In any case, it's annoying. When I submit a complete problem description, I expect support to try to reproduce the problem. Only if they can't reproduce the problem should they ask for more information. Getting support for a product I have paid for should not be like dealing with the DMV.

Subject:RE: General support complaint

Reply by: drmathprog

Date:1/22/2010 6:22:19 AM

My sense of their support is that, like many software firms, they are organized into support tiers. Based on my experience, they seem to be more aggressive than most firms about protecting their second tier from the customer. I also sense that the first tier is staffed, not by technical support people, but by ordinary customer support people. They don't seem very knowledgeable about most technical issues, and seem to be working from a script. Thus, they often don't recognize that information a customer has submitted is in fact the answer to a question they have already asked.
Perhaps I'm all wrong about this, but this is my sense of things.

Subject:RE: General support complaint

Reply by: drbam

Date:1/22/2010 8:41:42 AM

It could (and might) get worse - Imagine a strong Indian accent trying to assist you on the phone and responds to written support requests with terrible spelling and grammar and a clear indication that he/she doesn't have a clue about the product and is simply reading from a support manual.