RE: Beyond funny
Yes, But remember, if you're getting frustrated with a level 1 or level 2 support person (level 3 is the lab engineer), always ask to speak to a duty manager. This way you get a senior person who's got a clear head to help sort things out. They also have the authority to make customer sat decisions. Going from memory... Level 1 is someone from IGS/BCS, Level 2 is a product specialist in SWG. Level 3 is a lab engineer/developer. So be kind to the level 2 and 3 support people. (Especially the level 3s. You might find one of them at an event you attend and they will remember *you*. ;-) And for those customers who hate IBM's call back support model and are pushing the product to the bleeding edge or have a lot of CRs, think about a premium support package. Then you'll have someone assigned to help you get through these issues. -G From: paul@oninit.com To: im_gumby@hotmail.com; informix-list@iiug.org Subject: RE: Beyond funny Date: Fri, 14 Mar 2008 09:57:11 -0500 It is sorted now. It was bug in the release in the version I had, as expected, and a new version has been downloaded. But the support desk could have said lots of things to get me to a ‘proper’ version but they response was you haven’t bought it, you are on your own, <click> However, I’ve had a couple of battles with support recently so I maybe wasn’t in the best of moods when I called them J Cheers Paul Paul Watson Tel: +1 913-400-2620 Mob: +1 913-387-7529 Web: www.oninit.com Failure is not as frightening as regret. If you want to improve, be content to be thought foolish and stupid. From: Ian Michael Gumby [mailto:im_gumby@hotmail.com] Sent: 14 March 2008 09:29 To: paul@oninit.com; informix-list@iiug.org Subject: RE: Beyond funny Paul, Maybe its just you. :-P Is the customer here in the states? Or were you trying to sell IBM products in Libya again? 8-) (Ok so this is why its not a good idea to start drinking bloody marys before going in to work.) Now seriously, you have a couple of options.... If they already have IBM products then they have a sales rep. Even as an SMB, they will be assigned to a dot-com Client Rep and SWG sales rep. If they called in to IBM (1-800-IBM-4-YOU) they could have found the person who handles their account or the territory. (SMBs are covered by territory reps.) This could have gotten them to the local IT specialists. Even if the specialist doesn't know IDS, he/she could contact one of their counterparts to get the answer. Now you as a BP, you should have a rep. You need to talk to your contacts. (That is if they're talking to you.) This way they get some credit for the sale if it represents net new licenses. Another option is that if they are an existing IBM customer (meaning that they are paying for support on another IBM product), if they called in to support and got the answer as you described, then they/you could have called in, requesting a ticket, an if refused, ask to speak to a duty manager. Even if it means a call back, at least they should get a response to you. C'mon, IBM is definitely clueless in a lot of ways, but you should know how to work the system by now. The point is that you can't blame IBM solely for this gaff. But hey! What do I know? Its not like I was a BDM/Services Sales Rep and handled these types of issues and crit sits... -G PS. While certain people claim to ignore my posts, they really shouldn't. They might learn something. ;-) > Date: Thu, 13 Mar 2008 20:22:44 -0500 > From: paul@oninit.com > Subject: Re: Beyond funny > To: informix-list@iiug.org > > Fernando Nunes wrote: > > Paul Watson (Oninit) wrote: > >> Got a customer with a valid PA support contract who are trying to > >> evaluate an additional product from IBM so they can take their old but > >> supported system forward. This evaluation product has an issue but > >> IBM will not allow me to raise a support call cos they haven't bought > >> the product, and the customer obviously doesn't want to buy a 'faulty' > >> product. > >> > >> Stalemate ? No the customer says bye bye to IBM and walks :-) > >> > >> Cheers > >> Paul > >> > >> Paul Watson > >> Tel: +1 913-400-2620 > >> Mob: +1 913-387-7529 > >> Web: www.oninit.com > >> > >> Failure is not as frightening as regret. > >> If you want to improve, be content to be thought foolish and stupid. > >> > > > > Is the problem a known bug? > > > > No way of knowing - IBM won't discuss it with me > > Cheers > Paul > _______________________________________________ > Informix-list mailing list > Informix-list@iiug.org > http://www.iiug.org/mailman/listinfo/informix-list Need to know the score, the latest news, or you need your Hotmail®-get your "fix". Check it out. _________________________________________________________________ Climb to the top of the charts! Play the word scramble challenge with star power. http://club.live.com/star_shuffle.aspx?icid=starshuffle_wlmailtextlink_jan