Re: *How MSFT *Deliberately, Arrogantly, Egregiously, and Totally* Fails to Support their Products*

From: Bruce Chambers (bchambers_at_nospamcableone.net)
Date: 05/30/04 

Date: Sat, 29 May 2004 19:44:36 -0600

Greetings --

    Do you have any specific problem(s) that you need help with, or
are you just venting?

Bruce Chambers 

-- 
You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on
having both at once. -- RAH
"Chad Harris" <ddram32_nospam@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:u6efZ%23dREHA.628@TK2MSFTNGP11.phx.gbl...
> Anyone associated with a NG in any way should be aware that
Microsoft is
> totally abdicating support for their prodcuts to Convergys of Ohio
who flys
> this support into the ground.  It is hoped that those who work for
> Microsoft, particularly developers, as well as those who don't will
become
> aware of Microsoft's total lack of support for their products.
>
> If anyone from *Microsoft*, particularly the individuals named
below,  has
> the guts to try to justify this egregiously poor excuse for support,
please
> let me know.  It has to change.  This is posted here because the SQL
MSDE
> and failure to support it is directly on point, and should be known
and
> understood by any developer within or without Microsoft.  These are
some
> "fast facts"  about Microsoft's Commitment to Support SQL MSDE 2000
in BCM
> the Add-In to Outlook 2003 sold in the most expensive boxes of
Office 2003.
>
> Wake up!!!!!!!!   Doug Burgum Sr. VP  Microsoft Business Solutions,
Steve
> Sinofsky Sr. VP Office, Jeff Raikes, Group VP Productivity and
> BusinessSolutions,   Paul Flessner Senior VP Exchange, SQL, EBiz
Division,
> EricRudder Sr. VP Servers and Tools, Lindsay
Sparks,Jodi-Ueker-Rust, Henry
> Vigil, and  SQL Server Product Manager Kirsten Ward and particularly
those
> who adapted MSDE 2000 to  Buggy BCM Version 1--aprimitive Beta in a
package.
> All of you are in a *deep sleep at the switch* when it comes to
Microsoft
> Support you have ceded to incompetent Convergys.
>
> Couldn't BCM have been integrated into Outlook?  A number of hints
to get
> BCM up and running are not anywhere on the Office Outlook BCM site
nor in
> KBs.  The few that are reside in far flung KBs--a type of
*Redmond/Dallas
> campus Raiders of the Lost Ark Safari* (no Apple puns intended
here).
>
> Either change the boxes to Convergys and their logo and let
Convergys take
> over your company or support the products your developers  and
product
> managers labor to turn out!  You have totally abdicated that
support.
>
> A retail box of MOS 2003 Pro or SBE costs about $500--so that the
BCM CD is
> not a coaster, Microsoft needs to commit to support it--not just PR
> spin--and get Convergys out of the way.  They are a wall between you
and
> your customers as are your Phone Route Managers--so-called "MCSDMSCC
DSTR
> Team LeadProduct Support: 1-800-Microsoft.
>
> Hexadecimal error messags with a couple hundred thousand characters
are of
> no direct help to end users.   There needs to be a way to interpret
these
> messages in real time so there can the information gleaned can spell
repair
> efficacy.
>
______________________________________________________________________
__________
>
> Mini-White Paper:
>
> *How Microsoft *Totally* Fails to Stand Behind Microsoft Office and
Support
> TheirProducts Because of the Poor Quality of Their Contract Support;
> Microsoft Support is an Oxymoron*
>
>
> Hidden or camouflaged among the Longhorn, TechNet, and MSDN
Evangelist
> buzz/blogs and great initiatives in a company full of dedicated and
> multi-talented people at MSFT is a phenomenon that truly
contstitutes the
> dirty underbelly of Microsoft--"support" that is not Microsoft at
all--but
> an abusive sham that is a lucrative contract held by Convergys of
Ohio who
> boasts on their web site that they have a staff full of attorneys
who are
> ex-staffers on the hill (in the American Congress), and that they
provide
> world class support.  This is a prime rip off of Microsoft and it's
> customers.   Whether that means "don't mess with us" or "we get
results and
> our calls returned inside the Beltway" I don't know or really care.
The
> major call centers for Convergys of Ohio are in Nova Scotia and on
> Newfoundland known by many in Canada as "the rock."
>
> On their site, Convergys boasts they "take care of their customers."
I'm
> going to outline *how* they take care of their customers with a $500
box of
> Office Pro or SBE.  It's my understanding that Tony Soprano takes
care of
> his customers as well.  "Bada-Bing Bada-Boom" is the corporate ethos
when it
> comes to Microsoft's customers for Convergys.
>
> This slogan on the page below should more accurately read "Dispose
of Your
> Customers With Convergys--How To Quintessentially Jerk Them Around
and Dump
> Them Fast and Show Complete Disdain For Them"  Convergys reports
revenues of
> 2.3 Billion, and can decimate the support for a $500 box of MOS
2003.  Even
> if Convergys employees know nothing about the product, that doesn't
stop
> them from charging full steam ahead with their unique and potent
combo of
> arrogance and ignorance.
>
>
> Take "Better Care of Your Customers" With Convergys
> http://www.convergys.com/company_overview.html#better_care
>
> This is one aspect of Microsoft where Steve Sinofsky, Jeff Raikes,
Doug
> Burgum, Paul Flessner,  Eric Rudder, Lindsay Sparks,
Jodi-Ueker-Rust, Henry
> Vigil, SQL Server Product Manager Kirsten Ward, and a number of
others are
> asleep at the switch.
>
> If one goes to the Microsoft Office site and reads every possible
web page
> associated with Outlook and BCM, they will find none of the many
hoops that
> may be necessary to get BCM installed and up and running due to its
use of
> the MSDE 2000.  The tack taken is rather to scatter a few (and leave
many
> out) of the tips throughout 15 KBs and construct a 'Redmond Raiders
of the
> Lost Ark' search.
>
> Tech Support Microsoft style  has been an enormously egregious time
wasting
> experience.    I want to distinguish Microsoft from Convergys here
for good
> reason. I was having trouble associating BCM with Outlook. I had
read all
> KBs, and appreciated and took all the suggestions posted in the
Outlook and
> BCM  public newsgroups, here  and on the web.  I did everything
possible to
> keep the MSDE 2000 data base engine "happy"  with respect to user
profile,
> services started, and file and print sharing.
>
> After talking with a number of contract support people who were not
> Microsoft of course, but actually Convergys although they lied and
claimed
> they were Microsoft employees,  and whose offerings consistently
were to go
> to the OL toolbar and add BCM and getting the same crashes over 100
times.
> No less than 10 appointments were made during the month over a
period of 4
> hours for each two day tandem.   My support case was "escalated" to
"BCM
> research"   No one from Convergys ever kept the appointments, or had
the
> courtesy or common sense to call and say something got in the way of
the
> obligation.
>
> This was of course extremely time wasteful because you have to be at
the
> machine ready to "work with them," and by a clear phone line.   It
also
> meant while Microsoft employees are very conscious of their own
schedules,
> PDAs, Tablets, Laptops, "SharePoint  workspace meetings", meeting
requests
> and meeting workspaces,  and Outlook calendars and schedules, they
could
> care less about the time and obligations of anyone else.  There was
never an
> apology for these missed appointments by the glorified Microsoft
phone
> router manager that the phone answering temps from still another
company
> referred me to.  The problem of 10 four hour periods that were
scheduled and
> blown off was brushed aside.  Imagine what might happen to you  if
you stand
> Ballmer, Raikes, Sinofsky, Burghum, Flessner or Rudder up for a
scheduled
> meeting, let alone ten of them,  and you're on their payroll.
>
> When I called to try to find out what happened, after trying to
email
> several managers@microsoft.com I got emails from two Canadian
Convergys
> employees in Novascotia assuring me of escalation and prompt
> calls but none came, nor were any actually planned.
>
> Finally, after calling back I was told a call would be coming.  The
> gentleman said he had "1/2 hour," and essentially played what I now
know is
> the "Convergys BCM toolbar game" to hit the toolbar for a BCM add-in
and
> watch the crash.  He asked me to email the error messages about  3
weeks
> ago, said someone would be in touch and no one was.  The error
messages are
> all in
> hexadecimal; you can't paste them; and you have nothing with which
to decode
> them.  I screen shot them, and I pasted the ones I could in text.  I
emailed
> these to every SP listed who had owned the case as well as the
managers at
> Convergys who did not seem to know much about software in general,
and
> certainly Windows as I later found out when they called error
messages
> directed at  NT Build 2600 the default XP Launch build a beta SP2
build.
>
> I never heard from them.  When I called and got a manger of call
routers who
> claimed he was a Microsoft employee,   He was  over the top hostile,
and
> said your only support option is our contractors--take it or leave
it or
> I'll end the case and prevent you rcalling.   It was also clear he
knew as
> little about Office as he did about  Windows which is also the index
of
> Convergys'  level of skill.
>
> I received an email the next day saying my case had been closed
because Iwas
> using a Beta OS.  In fact, reproduced the same errors on Windows XP
default
> launch build, Windows XP SP1, and every current  SP2 build.  They
had
> nothing to do with the build ofWindows period.
>
> The non-technical Canadian manager who killed the case didn't seem
to give
> me credit for having the trouble-shooting sense to  uninstalling a
Beta and
> BCM and to  reinstall them which I had done weeks before the case
was
> "escalated" or asking for help.   This is an old Convergys ploy.
They'll
> do anything they can to squirm out of support, particularly in a
case like
> this where they know nothing about BCM.
>
> Convergys  also does   Comcast support.  A couple years ago just
before the
> XP launch,   they were telling people  that Windows XP did not
workwell with
> Comcast's suste,.  so that they could blow off support calls when
> disconnections from the internet were due to problems on the line
beyond the
> tap, and upstream line decibel readings were well outside normal
limits.   I
> pointed out that Bill Gates bankrolled Comcast's start and this
> was absurd since Windows XP has a number of networking and broadband
> configuration enhancements compared to other OS's and Wintendo (Win
9X), and
> those are well discussed in the archives of TechNet, MSDN, and the
XP web
> pages on Microsoft's site that reference networking--some written by
MS
> MVPs.
>
> A cracked RJ6 cable outside and several hardware problems beyond the
cable
> tap were the problem.  This was Convergys being Convergys and I
might add,
> not being Microsoft.  Convergys will do anything to weasle out of
support,
> because with them, the emperor has no clothes and they know little
about
> much of the software they are purported to have SPs  (service
professionals)
> for.
>
> In other words, Microsoft who touts that they make excellent
software
> products contracts with some of the most incompetent support on the
planet.
>
> After I pointed out the only move  several Convergys tech support
people
> including their  BCM "research" team  had was to click on the
toolbar to try
> to add in BCM, and had little understanding of the use of the SQL
server
> MSDN 2000 that had been adapted as a miniversion for BCM,  or the
KBs the
> phone routing supervisor who alleged he was a MS employee in a
suburb near
> Redmond snarled to take it or leave it and I got an email stating
the same
> thing.
>
> This made me wonder:  If Mr. Sinofsky and Mr. Raikes were getting
the same
> crash, would they sit at their desks and click on the toolbar for
months and
> embrace the Microsoft phone manager's mandate to keep on keeping on?
>
> If I were on that product group,  or part of the endless number of
managers
> for Office products, and I were Steve Sinofsky Office VP,  Jeff
Raikes and
> the rest of the Office VPs, I'd want Microsoft to stand behind a
$500
> Microsoft box.  What I have seen has been disingenous with
> respect to that concept.  In other words, Microsoft ain't supportin'
no BCM
> or Office boxes for any of us no how.  I have the emails and broken
> appointments and insistence that I keep clicking the toolbar to
prove it.  I
> also don't speak hexidecimal, and make extensive use of the Event
Viewer
> when I can.
>
> Microsoft needs to start supporting their products for real.  I
don't
> believe anyone at Convergys knows a great deal about BCM and wish
when
> theypost instead of the alias [MSFT] those who are Convergys would
be up
> front and proud of their $2 plus billion dollar grossing company.
Most of
> us aren't fooled, and most of us know aV-1 or V-2 email is from a
Convergys
> employee or other contract employee and not a Microsoft employee.
It would
> not so much matter if the support personnel were part of J-Lo's back
stage
> roadies, if they knew something about the product they were supposed
to
> support and honored appointments.
>
> I don't believe on the user rather than enterprise or medium
business level
> Microsoft, the Redmond company where Jeff Raikes  works, supports
their own
> products at all, and I have substantive evidence to back this up.
>
> Convergys is the *nasty* and completely incompetent underbelly of
> Microsoftsupport.  I would urge anyone who gets this treatment not
to be
> satisfiedwith it as an end result and to take it up with the real
> *Microsoft,* notConvergys of Ohio.  I'm hardly the lone ranger in
this
> perception; I've seen itfor years on the XP, IE, OE newsgroups on
the web as
> well as the MS groups.I see posts for help that begin "I couldn't
solve this
> with long waits forMicrosoft support."  Youweren't waiting for
Microsoft;
> you were waiting for their "support" from Convergys.
>
> Not every secretary or small business user has a help desk or IT
team  with
> a heads up Sys/Ad or CTO attached to them.  Not all of these people
are
> Active Directory, Windows Server 2003, Group Policy, SQL/Exchange
> Afficianados with a million hacks for these products at their finger
tips
> and unfortunately the vast majority of them have never heard of an
MSKB and
> will never see one.  None of them speaks hexadecimal or has the
means to
> interpret a long scroll down hexadecimal message that is the
business end of
> their errors and crashes when that's all that is available to them.
Most
> secretary and small business users have never heard of putting
> "eventvwr.msc" into their run boxes, and even if they had, they
would still
> often be stuck with hexadecimal coded errors and no means to
interpret them
> and turn them into constructive fixes.
>
> Chad Harris
>
>

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