cmascott@world.std.com (Carl Mascott) (06/05/91)
I'm having some problems with Borland Tech Support for
Turbo C++:
1. Borland claims to provide tech support via mail, but
for all intents and purposes they don't. A letter I
mailed on May 3 hadn't even been entered into their
system on May 20 when I called to check. When they
found the letter sitting on a secretary's desk I
asked when I could expect a reply. They said they
didn't know, but not for at least a week.
If Borland takes a month or more to answer a letter
then one may as well forget about trying to obtain
tech support via mail.
When I complained in writing to Borland about this
situation I got a prompt and polite reply which
effectively said "We sympathize with you. We're sorry we
can't be more helpful, but we can't be more helpful."
If one were to use an on-line service for tech support,
as Borland suggested to me, one could quickly spend an
amount exceeding the cost of Turbo C++.
2. People with Internet access can report bugs to
bugs@borland.com. I reported several this way. I asked
for confirmation and for some idea of when (or if) the
bug would be fixed. I got no response. Borland's
official policy is not to respond to ANY reports/requests
made to bugs@borland.com. This is extremely discourteous,
not to mention unhelpful. If I cooperate with them then
they should cooperate with me.
3. In telephone conversations with tech support I did find
out that some of the bugs I reported were already known
to Borland. I then asked when or if these bugs were going
to be fixed. I was told that Borland's official policy is
not to give out such information.
I wonder if there will EVER be any bug fixes for Turbo C++
now that Borland C++ is out.
At this point I'm ready to give up on Borland tech support.
Turbo C++ might as well be an unsupported product. Because of
the lack of support I would not consider using Turbo C++ for
any important work.
--
Carl Mascott
cmascott@world.std.com
uunet!world!cmascottcoates@uc780.umd.edu (06/06/91)
I made a call to Borlnad Tech support about BC++ bombing when in the IDE and using a mouse. They took 15 minutes to answer and I was on long distance from the East coast. The tech said he would call 2 days later to check back after I did some experimenting, no such luck. *********************************************************************** * Elliott Coates, Washington DC * * * * coates@uc780.umd.edu * ***********************************************************************
sorrow@oak.circa.ufl.edu (06/07/91)
In article <6JUN91.13282690@uc780.umd.edu>, coates@uc780.umd.edu writes: >I made a call to Borlnad Tech support about BC++ bombing when in the IDE and using a mouse. They took 15 minutes to answer and I was on long distance from the >East coast. The tech said he would call 2 days later to check back after >I did some experimenting, no such luck. I will have to speak up here and defend Borland tech support (sort of). With the experiences that I have had, I can say that they are adequate. My first call (to get bc20p1.zip) I was rudely dismissed by a jerk who wouldn't let me get it without a serial number (I was at home and my stuff is at work), and he couldn't even let me have it with my name (it's not like I haven't bought 500 bucks of software from them or anything). I called back immediately, got a new person, and she let sent it out the very next day. The next time I called, I was having the mouse bomb my IDE with BCX. The guy I spoke to was highly knowledgable and helped out a lot. The next time I called, I asked a question about heapcheck(), and this guy put me on hold 20 minutes then told me he didn't know. So, 50% of the time they've been good. The way I see it, if you have a problem, just remember the person's name and call right back. Brian /* Brian Hook -- MS-DOS Programmer for Contract ----------------------------------------------------------------- "I was in the kitchen, Seamus, that's my dog, was outside....and buried ALIVE....fritter and waste...but this one goes to 11!....anymore of that plutonium nyborg?....SNOW TIME!....This is home...this is Mean Street.. */
gary@neptune.ctc.contel.com (Gary Bisaga x4219) (06/08/91)
In article <00949BB5.C436F920@MAPLE.CIRCA.UFL.EDU>, sorrow@oak.circa.ufl.edu writes: > In article <6JUN91.13282690@uc780.umd.edu>, coates@uc780.umd.edu writes: > >I made a call to Borlnad Tech support about BC++ bombing when in the IDE and using a mouse. They took 15 minutes to answer and I was on long distance from the > >East coast. The tech said he would call 2 days later to check back after > >I did some experimenting, no such luck. > > I will have to speak up here and defend Borland tech support (sort of). With > the experiences that I have had, I can say that they are adequate. My first > call (to get bc20p1.zip) I was rudely dismissed by a jerk who wouldn't let me > get it without a serial number (I was at home and my stuff is at work), and he > couldn't even let me have it with my name (it's not like I haven't bought 500 > bucks of software from them or anything). Unfortunately, I don't think that is an unusual response. I have talked to several companies "support" people who flatly refused to let me do anything until I gave them that precious serial number.
ahodgson@athena.mit.edu (Antony Hodgson) (06/12/91)
In article <1991Jun5.125406.5713@world.std.com> cmascott@world.std.com (Carl Mascott) writes: >I'm having some problems with Borland Tech Support > >1. Borland claims to provide tech support via mail, but > for all intents and purposes they don't. A letter I > mailed on May 3 hadn't even been entered into their > system on May 20 when I called to check. When they > found the letter sitting on a secretary's desk I > asked when I could expect a reply. They said they > didn't know, but not for at least a week. > > If Borland takes a month or more to answer a letter > then one may as well forget about trying to obtain > tech support via mail. > On the three or four occasions when I've used mail to report bugs and ask questions, it's taken 3 to 8 months to get a reply. This is obviously hopelessly inadequate for "real-time" work. On the flip side, they do respond almost instantaneously to questions submitted on Compuserve. >2. People with Internet access can report bugs to > bugs@borland.com. I reported several this way. I asked > for confirmation and for some idea of when (or if) the > bug would be fixed. I got no response. I got an automated acknowledgement, but haven't heard anything further from Borland about the status of the bug I reported. It seems the only practical way of getting tech support is via Compu$erve :-(. Tony Hodgson ahodgson@hstbme.mit.edu
juan@cgh.cgh.com (06/22/91)
In article <1991Jun12.130713.9438@athena.mit.edu> ahodgson@athena.mit.edu writes: > On the three or four occasions when I've used mail to report bugs and > ask questions, it's taken 3 to 8 months to get a reply. This is > obviously hopelessly inadequate for "real-time" work. On the flip > side, they do respond almost instantaneously to questions submitted > on Compuserve. Reporting bugs by mail is not a good idea. One of the reasons is that I gather that the tech support group considers bug reports sent by mail to be the lowest priority possible (if you're willing to trust your report to the USPS, you must not be in much of a hurry for an answer). I will forward your comment to Borland's tech support mgr and see what he says about this. > It seems the only practical way of getting tech support is via > Compu$erve :-(. Not quite. :) GEnie has a very extensive Borland forum, with a staff that, though not so big as the CIS forum, does an excellent job. We're all volunteers over here, donating our time to help Borland users. Our library contains upwards of 2k file entries now, and our specialty is source code, tons of it, for all the language products. We also support all the application products. It's also cheaper. To get an account dial, 1-800-638-9636. Juan Jimenez (Internet: juan@cgh.cgh.com) SysOp ------------------------------------------- GEnie Borland RoundTable (GE Mail: J.JIMENEZ)