williams@nssdcs.gsfc.nasa.gov (Jim Williams (SYSGROUP)) (05/09/90)
I call this meeting of the MicroSoft Mashers and Bill Gates Bashers Society to order! Today's testimonial comes from James W. Williams, who just survived a terrible ordeal at the hands of Microsoft Customer Support. Jim? "Well, it all began simply enough. I just wanted to update my C Compiler to version 6.0. I knew that my machine, a lowly XT clone, was barely able to withstand the onslaught of this mighty program, but I just hate being behind revision. So, I filled out the update form, carefully checking off the box labelled '5.25, 360KB diskettes', sent in my $125.00 and waited. After not too long a while, a package arrived, yesterday, containing my new compiler. I was a bit surprised that the package had been shipped via Federal Express 2-day, at my expense. I did not recall asking for that. Indeed, I was expecting UPS Ground. Oh well, I thought, I guess that didn't cost me that much more. I was quite dismayed, however, to discover that they had sent me 1.2MB diskettes. Alas, my lowly XT has only 360KB drives, though I hope to have a 720KB, 3.5" drive on it Real Soon Now. So, deeply saddened, I sifted through the materials included in the package, to see if I could find some ray of hope. "I found that ray of hope in the slim introductory manual. In a list of what should be in the package, there was a discussion of Distibution Media. I was astonished to read in there that in order to get 360KB diskettes, one had to call an 800 number, or send in a card included in the package. This seemed odd to me, since they had explicitly included the 360KB disks as an option on the update form, with no hint that that was a 'crippled' option, not on par with the others. Well, try as I might, I found no card to send in, so today I tried to call the 800 number. "This 800 number is answered by one of those handy robot telephone answering systems that tries to direct your call via a game of 20 questions. I picked the selection for "technical support", since that seemed the most appropriate. The nice computer told me that I had to call their (not toll free) customer support number. So, with heavy heart, knowing what awaited me, I called this not-toll-free number, and spoke with another robot telephone answering machine. The menu of choices this machine gave allowed me to pick from several classes of Microsoft products. I, of course, chose the wrong category. After quite a long wait, without even music-on-hold to keep me company, a human came on the line. I told the human my problem, and was at this point informed that I had picked the wrong menu choice. I had chosen "Dos Applications". I should have selected "Languages", or some such. I don't recall hearing "Languages" as a choice, but I certainly could be mistaken. "And so the human transfered me to the correct department. Unfortunately, I got stuck in yet another queue. A long while later, another human came on the line and asked if he could help. In slightly exasperated tones, and with a slightly testy manner, I explained my problem. This helpful human informed me, after pausing to verify his facts, that I had to call the sales department to get the diskettes I needed. Sigh. I thanked the human and called the sales department toll free number and this time did not select "Technical Support", but rather the selection for "Update Information". (I had not picked this option the first time, since I assumed it was for people who wanted to order updates, and since the instructions in the slim introductory manual indicated that Technical Support what what I needed. Silly me.) As I'm sure you are expecting, I got stuck in another long line, although this time I got music-on-hold. The human who eventually answered informed me that they were * out * of * stock * of the 360KB diskettes, and that I should receive my diskettes in about two weeks. In the mean time, they had gone ahead and sent 1.2MB diskettes. I guess they thought I could play frisbee with them. I inquired, in a very testy manner indeed, why it was that not a hint, clue or breath of this back-order situation had been included in or on my package. Not even a hand scrawled note. The human could not tell me. "And so it stand. Here I am with a brand new compiler, rushed to me at great expense, yet with magnetic media I can't use. I seriously doubt, by the way, that I could somehow copy the disks onto 360KB diskettes on some other machine and then use those disks for the install. The install script surely could not cope with that, and there may even be individual files bigger than 360KB on some of the diskettes. (The 360KB distribution would have special handling for these files.) No sane person would request the 360KB diskettes unless that was the only possible choice, as it is with my lowly XT clone, so why did they bother to send me the 1.2MB diskettes? Why did they not give any hint at all that the correct disks are backordered? Why did I have to wait in *three* phone queues, one of which I paid for? Why did their update form list the 360KB diskettes as an option when the documentation indicates it as a special order? Why are Microsoft such total zits?" Thank you Mr. Williams for your moving testimonial. This concludes this month's meeting of the Microsoft Mashers and Bill Gates Bashers Society. Thank you for attending. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Spoken: Jim Williams Domain: williams@nssdcs.gsfc.nasa.gov Phone: +1-301-555-1212 UUCP: uunet!mimsy!williams USPS: NASA/GSFC, Code 633, Greenbelt, MD 20771 Motto: There is no 'd' in "kluge"! It rhymes with "deluge", not "sludge". ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Spoken: Jim Williams Domain: williams@nssdcs.gsfc.nasa.gov Phone: +1-301-555-1212 UUCP: uunet!mimsy!williams USPS: NASA/GSFC, Code 633, Greenbelt, MD 20771
rwh@me.utoronto.ca (Russell Herman) (05/09/90)
In article <1969@dftsrv.gsfc.nasa.gov> williams@nssdcs.gsfc.nasa.gov (Jim Williams) writes: >I just hate being behind revision. So, I filled out the update form, >carefully checking off the box labelled '5.25, 360KB diskettes', sent >in my $125.00 and waited. On this side of the border, the upgrade order form doesn't even *mention* 360KB availability. A hint to prospective purchasers that haven't yet reached the 286 or better state??? Russ Herman INTERNET: rwh@me.utoronto.ca UUCP: ..uunet!utai!me!rwh
jcmorris@mwunix.mitre.org (Joe Morris) (05/09/90)
In article <1969@dftsrv.gsfc.nasa.gov> williams@nssdcs.gsfc.nasa.gov (Jim Williams) writes: [...] > I just wanted to update my >C Compiler to version 6.0. [...] So, I filled out the update form, >carefully checking off the box labelled '5.25, 360KB diskettes', sent >in my $125.00 and waited. After not too long a while, a package >arrived, yesterday, containing my new compiler. [...] > I was quite dismayed, however, to discover that they had sent me >1.2MB diskettes. Alas, my lowly XT has only 360KB drives, though I >hope to have a 720KB, 3.5" drive on it Real Soon Now. [tales of woe trying to work with uSoft's automated phone system] At least you got a set of disks. I also ordered the upgrade, but asked for the CD-ROM distribution to see how well the idea will work. Good news/bad news time: * The good news was that contrary to much of my experiences with Microsoft distribution, the package came in less than two weeks. * The bad news was that it contained the update to the user's manual, a bound volume ("Advanced Applications" or some such title), a small setup manual, the insulting ad for the run-time library reference that uSoft didn't tell you was no longer part of the product...and no machine-readable material whatsoever. After listening to long-distance Muzak for too long, I finally reached the humans at uSoft and was told that the CD-ROM was out of stock but that I was supposed to have been sent a set of 5-1/4" HD disks. (The uSoft rep, who was rather apologetic about it, couldn't explain how uSoft thought they knew which types of disks I could use, although my system *can* accept all formats.) There wasn't any explanation of why uSoft didn't see fit to stick in even a bedbug form letter explaining why they weren't sending what I paid for. (The check was apparently cashed long ago.) Memo to any Microsoft people reading this newsgroup (and especially anyone in the languages or C areas): Customers usually understand that in any large organization that it isn't possible for every procedure to work like it's supposed to. It's unfortunate but inevitable that a vendor can't immediately respond to orders and that partial shipments and temporary substitutes occasionally are necessary. Customers, though, get upset when a vendor sends something other than what was ordered (and paid for!) without giving the customer the basic courtesy of a note explaining that the remaining material will be shipped in the near future. The customers get even more upset when the vendor adds financial injury to the insult by making the customer play "20 Questions" on a long-distance call when the reason for the call is to remedy trouble caused by the vendor. PLEASE make sure that both the cognizant product managers and Microsoft's public relations people are aware of these problems. Oh yes...the uSoft rep said that she would send the diskettes to me and have them in my hands in four days. It's been ten days since that promise was made.
west@turing.toronto.edu (Tom West) (05/09/90)
In article <90May8.214534edt.20093@me.utoronto.ca> rwh@me.utoronto.ca (Russell Herman) writes: >In article <1969@dftsrv.gsfc.nasa.gov> williams@nssdcs.gsfc.nasa.gov (Jim Williams) writes: >>I just hate being behind revision. So, I filled out the update form, >>carefully checking off the box labelled '5.25, 360KB diskettes', sent >>in my $125.00 and waited. > >On this side of the border, the upgrade order form doesn't even *mention* >360KB availability. A hint to prospective purchasers that haven't yet reached >the 286 or better state??? > In fact, in Canada, the upgrade form asks what type of computer you have, check one box: 286 or 386. It isn't just a hint, it's a declaration. The other thing is it's $165! I hadn't realized that the Cdn dollar was trading at 75 cents! Oh well, I don't know many companies that don't play the "Gouge the foreigner's" game.