Re: Quality of Informix Support

Malcolm Weallans writes: -> ->As an INFORMIX techy of some standing - I was employed from 86-91 I find ->craig's comments very interesting. I didn't have access to such a ->database from the UK, other than a known-problems database - which is not ->the same as a database of all known bugs. Anyway, I think that craig has ->missed the boat on this one. It doesn't matter how good the information ->is unless the support staff are prepared to use it, and they don't seem ->to care as much about customer's problems as they used to. Often they ->don't check the bugs database but rely on memory. Perhaps support in th UK is different, but I ALWAYS have them check out my problems in the bug database. I don't know if they just do it or if it is my expectation that they will do it, but it gets done.... And it usually saves us both a lot of trouble. Me from having to further define the problem, and them from having to go through the definition of a new problem/ bug. I personally feel that Informix tech support has very much improved since I first started using them. Simply the fact that a tech support person answers the telephone within about 15 seconds or less whenever I call now is wonderful. I used to wait on hold 45 minutes or more... I would be on the second play of the hold tape music before they answered (and although the music selection was good, it has ruined those pieces for me forever!). Generally, every Tech Support person at Informix I have ever talked to, whether they were able to answer my question or not, or even if it was a dumb question, were very nice and polite. I have had experiences with other companies whose Tech Support was REALLY awful... the people were downright nasty and rude. This means that even the first time I called, after a very long wait, I was pleased with the service I got, once I got it. The two things that I find get the most progress made with Tech Support, is: (1) Define your problem as much as possible. They always want you to use the stores database which I hate and refuse to do. But even without it I am usually able to give them a well defined problem. Plus, I'm sure we have all had the experience that in the process of defining the problem, we find the solution. (2) And this is a general rule which will just help you get through life: Be nice to the person on the other end of the line. If you are obnoxious or rude, you will just end up pissing them off and making them defensive. For some of them, nice people are a breath of fresh air and they will actually want to help you with your problem which can make a big difference. You can still be persistent (which is often helpful too on the squeaky wheel theory), but be nice to them. They will not always be able to answer your question. We have found them weak on "Is there a way to do X?". But if you are reading this, you should be able to post those questions here and get excellent answers. The other thing I learned is not to expect bugs to be fixed in any kind of time frame I care about. I do take the time to report them because it is in my interest for Informix to have better products in the long run. But the bug lag time is horrendous. But as someone here pointed out, that is some other branch of the company than Tech Support.... Maybe we should find out exactly who they are and turn in complaints there. Sorry about the length... but I feel something positive needs to be said about this extremely maligned group of people. Regards, - Cathy -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cathy Kipp e-mail: ckipp@vth1.vth.colostate.edu Phone: (303) 491-1294 Colorado State University Veterinary Teaching Hospital Fax: (303) 491-1205 Coming in September, from Prentice Hall, my new book: Programming INFORMIX SQL/4GL: A Step-by-Step Approach (ISBN: 0-13-149394-9)