[BlueOnyx:02979] Re: Installing BQ packages on BX...

[Michael Stauber]

Hi Darrell,

> Another question:  Why is it that anyone offers constructive criticism or
> points out an issue with existing services and structures, people get a
> negative or defensive attitude?  I was merely pointing out my experiences,
> not seeking a defensive retort.  Take our comments as an opportunity to
> improve your positive support experiences.

People have to understand that we're walking on a tightrope here: We're 
expected not to advertise our own commercial services here. Which would be a 
really cheap spin as it would give any vendor involved directly with the 
development of BlueOnyx an unfair business advantage. But at the same time we 
cannot (and will not) use this list to deal with support request that are 
directly connected to business affairs between clients and us. Each vendor has 
his own support mechanisms to deal with requests. And we're all only human and 
the day only has 24 hours and sometimes there are even time zone differences, 
holidays and weekends to consider.

And: This is the BlueOnyx mailing list. It's not the support list for Compass 
Networks or Solarspeed products or services. 

Let me give you a specific example of an experience that happens every now and 
then: Say there is a vendor that's really burried up to his nose in fixing a 
problem for a client. That problem is so dire, that the client is about to go 
titsup.com if it ain't fixed right away and the fix is complicated and time 
consuming. Say it's a supposedly "simple" rebuild of a box from the backups. 
The old server died, but fortunately a spare is standing by and there are 
backups. Now it shouldn't take longer than 3-4 hours to rebuild, but due to 
unforseen issues it takes 19 hours from start to finish, which nobody could 
expect at the onset of it. This just happend last Thursday/Friday <sigh>. So 
that vendor pours all his limited resources into the problem and works on it 
all day and night, setting everything else aside. In the middle of such an 
emergency one cannot walk away and say: "This is the end of my business day, 
so lets fix the rest of it tomorrow." Now in the meantime a second client 
doesn't get an answer to an inquiry and after a few hours he runs off to the 
list and complains that he didn't get a timely answer. That message will be 
there for all to see and it'll be archived all across the internet for the 
next decades and then some. This forces the vendor to pull away from what he's 
doing and to go into "damage control mode" on the public mailing list. The 
second client could also have picked up the phone and could have asked 
directly. Instead - by using the list - he enacts very public pressure onto 
the vendor to get a higher priority for his own support request. It is in 
every vendors best interest to treat every customers problems and requests 
with the utmost care, consideration and equal importance, but there are days 
when the dirt hits the fan. In cases like that we have to work like field 
medics and do triage: Sort by priorities and importance, work as fast as you 
can and hope the coffee keeps you awake until all is done. And hope that you 
don't overlook an important email or support ticket in between. 

Sure, another option would be to raise product prices in order to be able to 
hire more support people. But then we're back at square one and you would have 
to throw more money at something, which wouldn't be well received either.

-- 
With best regards

Michael Stauber