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Calling the Helpless Line

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  • Calling the Helpless Line

    ** This thread discusses the article: Calling the Helpless Line **
    ** This thread discusses the Content article: Calling the Helpless Line0

  • #2
    Calling the Helpless Line

    ** This thread discusses the article: Calling the Helpless Line **
    In 2003 I tried unsuccessfully for 3 months to get MSN DSL working on my computer. I basically had the same experience only dragged out over a longer time ( shipping new cable modems takes extra time). Their Help desk reps and technical people have no clue. Every single person I talked to ran through the same scenario - reboot the modem, reinstall the software - it became a mantra for them. After a while I would just lie to the first 2 or 3 people who asked me to do this until I got transfered to someone who asked a different question. Their Help Desk training must only consist of reading "The Trial" by Franz Kafka.

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    • #3
      Calling the Helpless Line

      ** This thread discusses the article: Calling the Helpless Line **
      Do you have any idea what geographical part of the planet provided this (lack of) support? Dave

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      • #4
        Calling the Helpless Line

        ** This thread discusses the article: Calling the Helpless Line **
        MC Web Master wrote: > This is a discussion about Calling the Helpless Line. At least you received an attempt at help. I've come face to face with the new Software Revenue model at Veritas. Veritas is likely the industry leader in Server backup software with it's Backup Exec products. I upgraded to a much newer version of their software last week in order to try and solve a problem that I thought might be due to the age of the version we had been on. After installing and configuring the software, I noticed that the scheduled backup jobs were disappearing from the display. After a search on their Support area I came across a service document that described our problem. It was written back in August and said that the problem would be fixed in the next major release of the software and that anyone experiencing the problem should call Tech Support. I posted a note in their support forum asking if this advice to call Tech Support would still apply since it's been 6 months since the posted advice. I was advised that it would still be applicable. I call Tech Support and am told by, what I can only assume was a representative in India, that they would not give me any assistance at all unless I had some sort of support contract they would not help me. I tried to reason with her that the help document said to call, but she wasn't budging. I was not going to pay Veritas so they could fix their error. I figured I would just monkey around with the software, try uninstalling/reinstalling, etc. It was at this point that I entered the absurd zone, the software would not uninstall; it encountered errors. After a search through the support forums I became aware that this was a common problem. The advice? Call Tech Svc because it was too complicated to get into in the Forums. So, the result of this is that Veritas will make you pay to uninstall their software. What a moneymaker. Bill

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        • #5
          Calling the Helpless Line

          ** This thread discusses the article: Calling the Helpless Line **
          David Abramowitz asked:
          Do you have any idea what geographical part of the planet provided this (lack of) support?
          I'm not certain. The second two of the three people I spoke to did have an accent, although only mild one. I think it was Indian, but I'm not certain. Accent accent language did not play any part in my problems with getting support. I don't think that geographic location played much if any role in the problem I had in getting (or, rather, not getting) the problem resolved. By the way, a few days later I got a call from Microsoft or some research company that it hired. The caller me to answer a survey about my experience with Microsoft support. I agreed. Ironically, I had much more difficulty understanding what I think was the Southern U.S. accent of the interviewer than the what I think were Indian accents of the support staff.

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          • #6
            Calling the Helpless Line

            ** This thread discusses the article: Calling the Helpless Line **
            We have a problem with Veritas right now that we are trying to resolve! We use their software on two different servers and recently had to upgrade software on one of those machines. Our back-ups run fine but we can't get the catalog function to work so we have no means to restore the data files. We were planning to reinstall the program tomorrow in a scheduled maintenance procedure while we upgrade iSeries hardware & software. What do we do if we can't uninstall it?

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            • #7
              Calling the Helpless Line

              ** This thread discusses the article: Calling the Helpless Line **
              RNock wrote: > We have a problem with Veritas right now that we are trying to > resolve! We use their software on two different servers and recently > had to upgrade software on one of those machines. Our back-ups run > fine but we can't get the catalog function to work so we have no > means to restore the data files. > > We were planning to reinstall the program tomorrow in a scheduled > maintenance procedure while we upgrade iSeries hardware & software. > > What do we do if we can't uninstall it? You have one of a few options: 1) Leave it in an uninstalled state. 2) Pay for the support. 3) Follow the directions one person listed as a possible solution. Pay attention to his off-hand mention that he can't get it working after a re-install after his unintall efforts. 4) Purchase a newer version and hope it's uninstaller will work. 5) Go to another product. You have my sympathies. Have you tried doing some searching at their Support site? Regarding Veritas' financial state, I can only assume that they are doing fine -- they're just a bit misguided as to their placement of importance of profit versus customer satisfaction. Bill

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              • #8
                Calling the Helpless Line

                ** This thread discusses the article: Calling the Helpless Line **
                Joel, you are to be commended for trying to get their help. 99 out of 100 would have given up. My last experience with my home computer software customer support yielded similar frustration. About 2 1/2 years ago now, I was installing McAfee VirusScan on my perfectly good 166MMX W95 machine. Granted, not exactly on the cutting edge of technology - not to sound defensive - but a perfectly fine machine for our kids games and email. As it turned out, the install program rendered the computer unbootable except in safe mode. Not that it was any consolation at the time, but technically, I guess that meant I was completely unable to contract any viruses. After my first call got to the point where the person (from Bangalore or some other exotic Indian locale) on the other side of the chat (chat help was free, phone calls were charged exorbitantly by the minute) couldn't help me anymore - she inexplicably told me that I needed to contact my computer vendor. I replied that my computer worked fine before I started installing VirusScan. It was a McAfee software problem, not a computer hardware problem. (Besides which the manufacturer was no longer in business.) When I persisted, she 'hung up' on our chat. Not to be foiled, I tried again with a new person on the other end of the chat. I begin to get a sense of deja vu as this person asked me the exact same questions using the exact same wording for each question. I may not be the brightest star in the constellation, but even I could detect a pattern here. Not surprisingly, after answering the same questions and trying the same things again, I was once again told to contact the manufacturer of my computer for help. How I would be able to motivate the ex-employees of a defunct computer manufacturer to help me get McAfee's anti-virus software installed was still beyond me - maybe it was a western/eastern mindset thing - but at least the second person didn't hang up on me. Thankfully, I work with a lot of techies who delight in this kind of problem. I eventually - after about week's worth of evenings - discovered that my registry had been corrupted by the install. Their install program thoughtfully made a backup copy at the beginning of the process so I was able to restore it and eventually reinstall, sans the auto update feature that had been the source of the initial problem. Why their customer support couldn't tell me that is beyond me. Needless to say, today I am happily running Norton anti-virus.

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