dan@speedy.WISC.EDU (Dan Frank) (02/03/88)
There is an interesting bug in the latest version of Desqview. Apparently DV doesn't do a very good job of keeping track of console "RAW" mode status. Sometimes a program is started in raw mode that shouldn't be, and other times you can't get DV's console driver to go *into* raw mode when you need to. The upshot is, there are some very simple, well-behaved programs that don't work right under Desqview (one of the them is the BM mail program used by amateur radio tcp/ip'ers). Fool that I am, I thought Quarterdeck might be interested in fixing this bug. For all I know, their technical people might be, if there were any way to reach them. Quarterdeck is one of those companies who apparently hired psychologists to tell them how to discourage people from ever, ever bothering them for service. I've been trying to call them on their non-toll-free number for about a week, and getting constant busy signals. Finally today I reached their telephone answering person. She put me on hold for tech support, and for the next 20 minutes I was treated to a rather expensive conversation with their computerized telephone system. Finally I accidentally failed to push the proper combination of keys to stay on hold, and was zapped back to the telephone answering person, losing my place in the queue. Exasperated, I explained that I didn't need help installing the program or running Dbase; that I was a software developer and wanted to report a real, live bug. I was put through to a sales manager. She listened politely while I explained my problem, then immediately zapped me back to the telephone answering person, who said, "Please hold for tech support." "Wait a sec," said I. "Does this mean you put me back on the end of the queue, and I spend *another* twenty minutes talking to your phone system?" "I guess so," she answered. At this, I became a bit upset. "Look, I have spent a lot of money on this call, to be put back at the end of the queue. I don't need help installing the stupid program. It has a bug, and I'm trying to report it." "It seems," she answered in a *very* snide voice, "that *everyone* who calls us has a bug." Well, this was the last straw. I demanded to talk to the president's secretary. "You wouldn't be permitted to do that," she said. When I began sputtering something in return, she said, "I'm going to put you on hold until you calm down." *click*. I tried to call back, but of course, I got a busy signal. I've heard people say that, for example, Microsoft has bad customer service. Microsoft may not be great, but I have never, ever been treated like this by them, or for that matter any other software company before. For all I know, Quarterdeck has *no* support people at all, and simply abuses their customers until they give up. Can anyone top this? -- Dan