Re: OpenVMS Support Issues


David J Dachtera wrote:
AEF wrote:

[duplicated section omitted]
David J Dachtera wrote:
Sue wrote:

I have requested information that I can take to management to prove
that there is an issue and as of yet I have not received one mail
message detaling the issues at hand. Granted it is much easier to talk
about how bad the problem is but fixing it takes work.


We tend to focus on addressing the issue which caused the support call first.
We've tended not to document the progress of support calls. It is generally
assumed that the call tracking system does this on its own, without the customer
needing to take specific action (who received the call, at what time, the time
at which the called was transferred to the next person, if/when the customer
called back, who received the call, how long did that conversation last, etc.).
This impression comes from the message one hears when placing the call: "This
call may be monitored or recorded for quality purposes."

There is nothing that Sue or anyone else can do without some
documentation; if you want something done, you need to provide that
documentation! In the absence of documentation one is inclined to think
that some people would rather have something to complain about than get
something fixed.


Perhaps more recording/monitoring needs to take place.

..., or, stated more succinctly, it is not the customer's job to fix a vendor's
broken systems. That onus falls squarely on the vendor. In fact, the vendor
should be making its money by contractimng to fix the customer's broken systems,
not the other way around. If a customer has to go to such lengths because of
changes within a vendor's organization, it may be time for the customer to cut
its losses and find a more responsive, "customer focused"* vendor. (*: Remember
that phrase from not so long ago?)

Yes, we shouldn't have to help the vendor fix his problems. But it's
more our problem than theirs. Life is full of "we shouldn't have tos",
but sometimes, you do it anyway, if you want it fixed. Sue is trying to
help. Let us help her help us.

Think you can sell my management on the idea of them paying me to work for HP?

Do you tell your management about support calls needed to fix things?
If there was a problem with support, do you inform management? If you
can tell them, you can tell Sue.

If there are past problems that you have no detailed records of, or
cannot recall in sufficient detail for this purpose, fine.


This reminds me of Jason Alexander's old
show (Bob Patterson Show[?]) which posted an ad saying, "Help me help
you help me help you." &-) (Well, it reminds me of the ad, not the
show, which I never saw.)


Unless "This call may be monitored or recorded for quality purposes" is total
B.S., the needed mechanisms should already be in place - they just need to be
exercised more vigorously and extensively with the results being reviewed more
thoroughly and critically, with an ear geared toward the customer's paradigm.

Perhaps they're just trying to make sure the support people don't
verbally abuse the customers, or lie to the customer, or forget to
mention the ink cartridge special of the week (just kidding), etc. It
all comes down to "What do you mean by 'quality control'?".

At this point, I would say it would, by definiton, have to include the ability
to detect issues before they end up in the trade rags.

That's your definition. Quite reasonable, but apparently not what HP
has in mind.


--
David J Dachtera
dba DJE Systems
http://www.djesys.com/
[...]
AEF

.

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