RE: Reduction in the Quality of Informix Support

Colin Bull wrote > > Malc P > > > > I was at the UK site in West London on Wednesday and had a > tour of the > > tech support area. There's lots of names still there I can remember > > speaking to in 1995 and the level of morale and enthusiasm looks > > pretty good to me. > > There's too much FUD, if you ask me. It just takes one person to say > > "I have heard from someone who was told by someone that...." and it > > immediately becomes indistinguishable from fact. > > My experience of tech support has been excellent lately. > > > > We have recently migrated to 9.4 despite of IBM support. We > have had half a dozen problems and I can only think of one > that has been > resolved. > > We have found we are put in a holding routine, ie > send the af and log files, then they have got to sort out an > environment, > and 6 weeks later if we are lucky someone knowledgeable looks > at the problem. > I have since been corrected and the support would have been excellent if I had followed the correct procedures. 1) Ensure the person taking the call understands the business impact of the problem. ( I thought I did this, but obviously as I have not got a degree in communications, this was somewhat lacking ) 2) If you are not satisfied insist on speaking to someone higher up the food chain, and continue to do this until you get satisfaction. I find in practice this is a questionable method, and like this email, does not always help future calls, and in my humble opinion, should not be necessary. So to make sure my future calls are given the best service I am- a) going on an assertiveness course b) Doing a communications degree c) finding Janet's personal phone number But there again, do I care that much :-) I wonder if I can find the email address of one of those VAR thingies for when our support comes up for renewal. OpenPSL rings a bell!! Anon at Stevenage sending to informix-list

Consider getting a copy of the DVD or video-tape of "Rain Man" ( Dustin Hoffman, Tom Cruise ) to help build your communication skills. This will work well for you if you have it continuously playing over a period of two or three weeks at home and at the office. Leaving it on in the background is probably sufficient enough to get you to the next level. You'll look back in a few weeks at the quality of your messages and be amazed. "Colin Bull" <c.bull@videonetworks.com> wrote in message news:c48r1m$te3$1@terabinaries.xmission.com... > > > Colin Bull wrote > > > > Malc P > > > > > > I was at the UK site in West London on Wednesday and had a > > tour of the > > > tech support area. There's lots of names still there I can remember > > > speaking to in 1995 and the level of morale and enthusiasm looks > > > pretty good to me. > > > There's too much FUD, if you ask me. It just takes one person to say > > > "I have heard from someone who was told by someone that...." and it > > > immediately becomes indistinguishable from fact. > > > My experience of tech support has been excellent lately. > > > > > > > We have recently migrated to 9.4 despite of IBM support. We > > have had half a dozen problems and I can only think of one > > that has been > > resolved. > > > > We have found we are put in a holding routine, ie > > send the af and log files, then they have got to sort out an > > environment, > > and 6 weeks later if we are lucky someone knowledgeable looks > > at the problem. > > > > I have since been corrected and the support would have been excellent if I had followed the correct procedures. > > 1) Ensure the person taking the call understands the business impact of the problem. > ( I thought I did this, but obviously as I have not got a degree in communications, this was somewhat lacking ) > > 2) If you are not satisfied insist on speaking to someone higher up the food chain, and continue to do this until you get > satisfaction. > I find in practice this is a questionable method, and like this email, does not always help future calls, and in my humble opinion, > should not be necessary. > > So to make sure my future calls are given the best service I am- > a) going on an assertiveness course > b) Doing a communications degree > c) finding Janet's personal phone number > > But there again, do I care that much :-) > I wonder if I can find the email address of one of those VAR thingies for when our support comes up for renewal. OpenPSL rings a > bell!! > > Anon at Stevenage > > sending to informix-list

"Colin Bull" <c.bull@videonetworks.com> wrote in message news:c48r1m$te3$1@terabinaries.xmission.com... > > > Colin Bull wrote > > > > Malc P > > > > > > I was at the UK site in West London on Wednesday and had a > > tour of the > > > tech support area. There's lots of names still there I can remember > > > speaking to in 1995 and the level of morale and enthusiasm looks > > > pretty good to me. > > > There's too much FUD, if you ask me. It just takes one person to say > > > "I have heard from someone who was told by someone that...." and it > > > immediately becomes indistinguishable from fact. > > > My experience of tech support has been excellent lately. > > > > > > > We have recently migrated to 9.4 despite of IBM support. We > > have had half a dozen problems and I can only think of one > > that has been > > resolved. > > > > We have found we are put in a holding routine, ie > > send the af and log files, then they have got to sort out an > > environment, > > and 6 weeks later if we are lucky someone knowledgeable looks > > at the problem. > > > > I have since been corrected and the support would have been excellent if I had followed the correct procedures. > > 1) Ensure the person taking the call understands the business impact of the problem. > ( I thought I did this, but obviously as I have not got a degree in communications, this was somewhat lacking ) > Read all everything under $INFORMIX/release before you start. Make sure oncheck's have all been run. Make sure problem does not occur on an older version of the product. Send e-mail with something like... "I am running IDS 9.40.UC2W2 on Solaris 2.6 SPARC on a Sun E450 server serial number <cut'n'paste of onstat - output> . When i run oncheck -cID dave.hackme I get .... ...<cut'n'paste of af..message>... and oncheck prints .. <cut'n'paste of oncheck message> (Error -11323 is ... <cut'n'paste of output from finderr -11313> ) Please find attached - environment variables (env > env.output) - online log for the last 24hrs including last good level 0 archive message - af files - onconfig - sqlhosts - onstat -a output What 10 minutes to ftp above files to your pc and do a few cut'n'pastes into an e-mail message. Call Informix and say "I want to log a priority 1 call (if live system down) or priority 2(if dev system down)...they take details that you can read out of your e-mail message above. Say you can e-mail all the details to the engineer and tap in the engineers e-mail address (Subject should be "Case Ref XXXXX - case details"). Send e-mail and - for system down say you want to speak direct to an engineer - for dev system wait for engineer to call back... You have given the engineer all he needs to reproduce the problem..also get someone to get the dailup details for Informix/plug in the modem whilst you are on the phone. > 2) If you are not satisfied insist on speaking to someone higher up the food chain, and continue to do this until you get > satisfaction. > I find in practice this is a questionable method, and like this email, does not always help future calls, and in my humble opinion, > should not be necessary. Of course it is...Informix need to prioritse their workload like anyone else..If this is an issue escalate so they can bring in more resources. > > So to make sure my future calls are given the best service I am- > a) going on an assertiveness course > b) Doing a communications degree > c) finding Janet's personal phone number d) Make sure I log everything in a consistent way that allows the engineer to approach things in a logical order and make it easy for them to help me. Funny when I used to log calls I could just say...priority 1 and they knew I consistently provided all they need and did not abuse the system..I always got straight through to an engineer in the system down team and all my problems were fixed quickly. Still..I never willingly touched a release below UC3... > > But there again, do I care that much :-) > I wonder if I can find the email address of one of those VAR thingies for when our support comes up for renewal. OpenPSL rings a > bell!! > > Anon at Stevenage > > sending to informix-list