RE: Making them read the documentation

[edunn -at- transport -dot- bombardier -dot- com]

What David said is true to an extent and I fully support the issues he has
expressed. Under no circumstances should a user be subject to additional cost
for a failure of the product to deliver what is promised. I have been victim of
software non-support on a couple of occasions.

In one case the manuals indicated that to perform a function you had to use
buttons that were clearly not on the screen. Support required first giving your
credit card number. In this case it was abhorrent that I be required to pay to
point out an error on the part of the software company. But I don't see why over
zealous use of support resources shouldn't be charged. A company should support
intelligent users and provide aid for work-arounds required because of bugs that
they are responsible for. I think the case can be made that even supporting
software for unforeseen uses is in the company's advantage as it shows them
possible paths to upgrade and improve the software. The idiots who just plain
refuse to read the manuals or learn the software however, are another story. Why
should the intelligent and diligent users be forced to subsidize the laziness
and/or incompetence of others? After all, ALL support costs in this scenario
must be included in the initial cost of the software.

Also note that I said that the company should be lenient in applying the costs
to the customer. If I called support and was then told that the answer was in
the manual and should pay I would most likely just kick myself for not doing the
foot work myself. But if I found the manual was poorly constructed and
un-indexed I would be incensed. Also web help, bug databases, or patches
available through the web are also abhorrent if you can't get the same
information for no more money than the cost of copying and shipping. Even paying
shipping and handling to fix an error that the company caused (and often admits
to) is ridiculous. Unless the application is web based it is awful to force the
customer to maintain an Internet connection to support the software. Perhaps
those that do have a connection and get the info themselves should be rewarded
and others should be mailed the fix free of charge. After all they are saving
the company costs that any other manufacturer would have to pay. Imagine a car
company that said they knew your car was defective, but all they'll do is tell
you how to fix it (and by the way, the parts are available if you drive forty
miles out of town to get them). In the case of relying on user support groups or
web accessible databases, a software company is even shirking the most basic of
responsibilities to support their product and forcing all the costs on the
consumer.

In my scenario tech support personnel could say something like:

Scenario 1>> "Sir, the procedure can be found on page ## of the users guide. Did
you look in the manuals before calling?", customer: "Yes I did.", "You did and
couldn't find it? One moment I'll check. <pause> You're right it's not in the
index. I'll log the error to our database. There is no charge for this call.
Thank you for calling."

Scenario 2>> "Sir, the procedure can be found on page ## of the users guide. Did
you look in the manuals before calling?", customer: "No I didn't.", "Please
refer to page ## for the index. I will have to charge you for this support call.
We will however happily support you free of charge if you discover any omissions
or errors in the program or in the documentation. Thank you for your call."

In any other scenario where a customer may have looked forever and not found
something obvious, the tech support person could just waive the fee. This could
also be done whenever the customer is unpleased with the result, sort of a "100%
satisfaction guaranteed" sort of thing. This will please the customer and still
make them think to use the documentation first. (Next time customer thinks:
"They were helpful and generous that time. But what if they apply the rules this
time? I better check first.")

Now, instead of asking for payment information, how about giving each license an
initial budget. Each "payment required" call is deducted from that budget and
only after it has run out will additional payment be required. This makes even
the first few "payment required" calls painless.

Eric L. Dunn

david -dot- locke -at- amd -dot- com
>>
>>
Eric said:
>>
>>>Perhaps the answer lies in charging for tech support.
>>
>>Customers pay enough for the software already. There is very little economic
>>benefit from software once all the costs are accounted for. These days
>>customers pay six times the purchase cost to us the software. Charging for
>>support, and manuals is unreasonable and unprofitable. There are software
>>companies that can get away with charging for everything, and there are
>>those that cannot. You really need to know which type of company you happen
>>to be before you can start adding costs to your customer's lives.
>>
>>David



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