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

From: Jupiter Jones [MVP] (jones_jupiter_at_hotnomail.com)
Date: 05/30/04 

Date: Sat, 29 May 2004 21:32:54 -0600

Chad;
If you have a complaint against Microsoft, I would hope you also sent
it through a channel that will actually get to Microsoft.
Since these are peer to peer newsgroups, there is no assurance at all
that Microsoft will see your complaint.
Also the crossposting is unnecessary and rude on your part.
If you must, multipost instead. 

-- 
Jupiter Jones  [MVP]
http://www3.telus.net/dandemar/
"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
>
>

Relevant Pages
Loading