Awful treatment by tech support

[liz-17]

I have a deadline to meet on a project and needed tech support's help in correcting an issue with licensing. Apparantly they have an influx of issues with regards to Vista OS and the time change. Didn't know about this until it came to completing the project. So, I call and for the following one hour and a half I get nowhere. I even enlisted the help of "Jan" (a supervisor). She said that she would talk with a tech support supervisor and that they would contact me. Noone has! Now mind you, I spoke with "flippant Sarah" another rep who just didn't care and did not know what she was doing! Before her, I spoke with well I don't know who because when asked she wouldn't give her name and hung up. So how did this fiasco end? I called back and spoke with Dane (yet another tech support person) who  walked me through and straightened out my problem in just 10 minutes! Amazing that such a large company has people who don't care if the consumer has problems and time constraints. They h!
 ave our monies, that's all they care about.

L.S.

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[Kylie Lange]

Hi Liz and group,

I am the SPSS contact for our institution and deal with the Australian
tech support office regularly. We obviously have a much smaller pool of
SPSS tech support staff that we might end up talking to on any
particular query than users in North America, but I have also noticed
wide variability in the quality of service depending on who you end up
working with.

There is one particular staff member that I am a big fan of - he always
provides very courteous and detailed responses, displayed understanding
and urgency when we had a high-impact licensing issue, and has chased
down extra information for me when he thinks it might be useful, though
outside the scope of "technical support" or the current case. On the
other hand, there is another staff member that I am starting to dread
being assigned to - he provides only the most basic of responses, often
ignoring sub-queries on a topic to instead just provide a "yes" or "no"
response, includes vague statements like "might have changed in version
16" without any indication of checking whether that's true and letting
me know the details. On a less substantive note, his responses are also
poorly written - poor grammar and run-on sentences, no/few capital
letters, etc - minor things, but they all work to give an impression of
someone who just really can't be bothered helping me.

I only deal with technical support for SPSS so I can't comment on
whether this is better/same/worse than other software companies. But I
know that dealing with poor customer service leaves me frustrated and
results in time delays. My experiences tell me that there are some real
gems within SPSS support - I just wish more were like them!

Cheers,
Kylie.

PS - My biggest frustrations though are with the Account Managers, and
the processes of negotiating new contracts and license renewals. You
don't want to get me started on some of the dramas we have had in that
respect!


On 30/11/2007 4:39 AM, liz wrote:
> I have a deadline to meet on a project and needed tech support's help in correcting an issue with licensing. Apparantly they have an influx of issues with regards to Vista OS and the time change. Didn't know about this until it came to completing the project. So, I call and for the following one hour and a half I get nowhere. I even enlisted the help of "Jan" (a supervisor). She said that she would talk with a tech support supervisor and that they would contact me. Noone has! Now mind you, I spoke with "flippant Sarah" another rep who just didn't care and did not know what she was doing! Before her, I spoke with well I don't know who because when asked she wouldn't give her name and hung up. So how did this fiasco end? I called back and spoke with Dane (yet another tech support person) who  walked me through and straightened out my problem in just 10 minutes! Amazing that such a large company has people who don't care if the consumer has problems and time constraints. They!
  h!

>  ave our monies, that's all they care about.
>
> L.S.
>
> =====================
> To manage your subscription to SPSSX-L, send a message to
> [hidden email] (not to SPSSX-L), with no body text except the
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> INFO REFCARD
>

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[Terry Reardon]

Hi Liz and newsgroup people.
Our organization also had the same issues, albeit, slightly different
than yours.  Because of this we will no longer be purchasing any more
products from SPSS.

Regards all.


>>> liz <[hidden email]> 2007.11.29 2:09 pm >>>

I have a deadline to meet on a project and needed tech support's help
in correcting an issue with licensing. Apparantly they have an influx of
issues with regards to Vista OS and the time change. Didn't know about
this until it came to completing the project. So, I call and for the
following one hour and a half I get nowhere. I even enlisted the help of
"Jan" (a supervisor). She said that she would talk with a tech support
supervisor and that they would contact me. Noone has! Now mind you, I
spoke with "flippant Sarah" another rep who just didn't care and did not
know what she was doing! Before her, I spoke with well I don't know who
because when asked she wouldn't give her name and hung up. So how did
this fiasco end? I called back and spoke with Dane (yet another tech
support person) who  walked me through and straightened out my problem
in just 10 minutes! Amazing that such a large company has people who
don't care if the consumer has problems and time constraints. They h!

ave our monies, that's all they care about.

L.S.

=====================
To manage your subscription to SPSSX-L, send a message to
[hidden email] (not to SPSSX-L), with no body text except
the
command. To leave the list, send the command
SIGNOFF SPSSX-L
For a list of commands to manage subscriptions, send the command
INFO REFCARD

=====================
To manage your subscription to SPSSX-L, send a message to
[hidden email] (not to SPSSX-L), with no body text except the
command. To leave the list, send the command
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For a list of commands to manage subscriptions, send the command
INFO REFCARD

[Roberts, Michael]

For my part, I can say that I, and my organization, have on all
occasions, received outstanding support whenever we have called SPSS;
the technical support staff are skilled and very helpful, and their
product is hard to beat.

As a matter of fact, when compared with all other organizations I have
had reason to interact with, the customer and technical support from
SPSS has been something other corporations could envy.


Mike


-----Original Message-----
From: SPSSX(r) Discussion [mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of
Terry Reardon
Sent: Friday, November 30, 2007 7:16 AM
To: [hidden email]
Subject: Re: Awful treatment by tech support

Hi Liz and newsgroup people.
Our organization also had the same issues, albeit, slightly different
than yours.  Because of this we will no longer be purchasing any more
products from SPSS.

Regards all.


>>> liz <[hidden email]> 2007.11.29 2:09 pm >>>

I have a deadline to meet on a project and needed tech support's help
in correcting an issue with licensing. Apparantly they have an influx of
issues with regards to Vista OS and the time change. Didn't know about
this until it came to completing the project. So, I call and for the
following one hour and a half I get nowhere. I even enlisted the help of
"Jan" (a supervisor). She said that she would talk with a tech support
supervisor and that they would contact me. Noone has! Now mind you, I
spoke with "flippant Sarah" another rep who just didn't care and did not
know what she was doing! Before her, I spoke with well I don't know who
because when asked she wouldn't give her name and hung up. So how did
this fiasco end? I called back and spoke with Dane (yet another tech
support person) who  walked me through and straightened out my problem
in just 10 minutes! Amazing that such a large company has people who
don't care if the consumer has problems and time constraints. They h!

ave our monies, that's all they care about.

L.S.

=====================
To manage your subscription to SPSSX-L, send a message to
[hidden email] (not to SPSSX-L), with no body text except
the
command. To leave the list, send the command
SIGNOFF SPSSX-L
For a list of commands to manage subscriptions, send the command
INFO REFCARD

=====================
To manage your subscription to SPSSX-L, send a message to
[hidden email] (not to SPSSX-L), with no body text except the
command. To leave the list, send the command
SIGNOFF SPSSX-L
For a list of commands to manage subscriptions, send the command
INFO REFCARD

=====================
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For a list of commands to manage subscriptions, send the command
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[Art Kendall-2]

I have been using SPSS software since 1972, and have dealt with SPSS
itself since about 1978 wrt use on a variety of platforms.
There have certainly been glitches.  However, subjectively the frequency
of glitches has been a lot less less than it has been with other
software vendors.

In my experience, SPSS still is easier to learn than other software
(despite their not making improvements in tutorials I have suggested).

Also, after mentoring many projects,  it appears with SPSS it takes
about 15% or so less worker time to code, debug, and do quality review
than with the leading competitor.  In many projects that alone can
amount to large impact on a budget.  In courses, that can leave more
time to deal with other aspects of statistics.

Although I understand the frustration from one-time or few-time
instances, I think you do your users a great disservice by not keeping
SPSS up-to-date and in the set of software tools available.

Perhaps SPSS should have an ombudsman available to field problems that
are not taken care of a the first few layers of support.

Art Kendall
Social Research Consultants

Roberts, Michael wrote:

> For my part, I can say that I, and my organization, have on all
> occasions, received outstanding support whenever we have called SPSS;
> the technical support staff are skilled and very helpful, and their
> product is hard to beat.
>
> As a matter of fact, when compared with all other organizations I have
> had reason to interact with, the customer and technical support from
> SPSS has been something other corporations could envy.
>
>
> Mike
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: SPSSX(r) Discussion [mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of
> Terry Reardon
> Sent: Friday, November 30, 2007 7:16 AM
> To: [hidden email]
> Subject: Re: Awful treatment by tech support
>
> Hi Liz and newsgroup people.
> Our organization also had the same issues, albeit, slightly different
> than yours.  Because of this we will no longer be purchasing any more
> products from SPSS.
>
> Regards all.
>
>
>
>>>> liz <[hidden email]> 2007.11.29 2:09 pm >>>
>>>>
>
> I have a deadline to meet on a project and needed tech support's help
> in correcting an issue with licensing. Apparantly they have an influx of
> issues with regards to Vista OS and the time change. Didn't know about
> this until it came to completing the project. So, I call and for the
> following one hour and a half I get nowhere. I even enlisted the help of
> "Jan" (a supervisor). She said that she would talk with a tech support
> supervisor and that they would contact me. Noone has! Now mind you, I
> spoke with "flippant Sarah" another rep who just didn't care and did not
> know what she was doing! Before her, I spoke with well I don't know who
> because when asked she wouldn't give her name and hung up. So how did
> this fiasco end? I called back and spoke with Dane (yet another tech
> support person) who  walked me through and straightened out my problem
> in just 10 minutes! Amazing that such a large company has people who
> don't care if the consumer has problems and time constraints. They h!
>
> ave our monies, that's all they care about.
>
> L.S.
>
> =====================
> To manage your subscription to SPSSX-L, send a message to
> [hidden email] (not to SPSSX-L), with no body text except
> the
> command. To leave the list, send the command
> SIGNOFF SPSSX-L
> For a list of commands to manage subscriptions, send the command
> INFO REFCARD
>
> =====================
> To manage your subscription to SPSSX-L, send a message to
> [hidden email] (not to SPSSX-L), with no body text except the
> command. To leave the list, send the command
> SIGNOFF SPSSX-L
> For a list of commands to manage subscriptions, send the command
> INFO REFCARD
>
> =====================
> To manage your subscription to SPSSX-L, send a message to
> [hidden email] (not to SPSSX-L), with no body text except the
> command. To leave the list, send the command
> SIGNOFF SPSSX-L
> For a list of commands to manage subscriptions, send the command
> INFO REFCARD
>
>
>

=====================
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[hidden email] (not to SPSSX-L), with no body text except the
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For a list of commands to manage subscriptions, send the command
INFO REFCARD

[Kornbrot, Diana]

The UK people have always dealt with my licensing & other problems promptly
courteously and efficiently
All these were as an individual at a licensed university, rather than the
whole university license
Been using it since spss3 on a mainframe, so I should know!

They take a long time to implement my HCI suggestions too ­ it took to about
15 to get multiple data windows, and they STILL don¹t have dynamic data
formulae in the data ­ all avialable in JMP for more than a decade
They are also VERY tardy for MACs ­ even with the intel machines.

Still one can¹t have everything and generally they have responded very well.
Its interesting that the packages with really good interfaces, in my view
statview & now jmp do not seem to survive ­ wonder why?

Best

Diana


On 30/11/07 14:22, "Art Kendall" <[hidden email]> wrote:

> I have been using SPSS software since 1972, and have dealt with SPSS
> itself since about 1978 wrt use on a variety of platforms.
> There have certainly been glitches.  However, subjectively the frequency
> of glitches has been a lot less less than it has been with other
> software vendors.
>
> In my experience, SPSS still is easier to learn than other software
> (despite their not making improvements in tutorials I have suggested).
>
> Also, after mentoring many projects,  it appears with SPSS it takes
> about 15% or so less worker time to code, debug, and do quality review
> than with the leading competitor.  In many projects that alone can
> amount to large impact on a budget.  In courses, that can leave more
> time to deal with other aspects of statistics.
>
> Although I understand the frustration from one-time or few-time
> instances, I think you do your users a great disservice by not keeping
> SPSS up-to-date and in the set of software tools available.
>
> Perhaps SPSS should have an ombudsman available to field problems that
> are not taken care of a the first few layers of support.
>
> Art Kendall
> Social Research Consultants
>
> Roberts, Michael wrote:
>> > For my part, I can say that I, and my organization, have on all
>> > occasions, received outstanding support whenever we have called SPSS;
>> > the technical support staff are skilled and very helpful, and their
>> > product is hard to beat.
>> >
>> > As a matter of fact, when compared with all other organizations I have
>> > had reason to interact with, the customer and technical support from
>> > SPSS has been something other corporations could envy.
>> >
>> >
>> > Mike
>> >
>> >
>> > -----Original Message-----
>> > From: SPSSX(r) Discussion [mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of
>> > Terry Reardon
>> > Sent: Friday, November 30, 2007 7:16 AM
>> > To: [hidden email]
>> > Subject: Re: Awful treatment by tech support
>> >
>> > Hi Liz and newsgroup people.
>> > Our organization also had the same issues, albeit, slightly different
>> > than yours.  Because of this we will no longer be purchasing any more
>> > products from SPSS.
>> >
>> > Regards all.
>> >
>> >
>> >
>>>>> >>>> liz <[hidden email]> 2007.11.29 2:09 pm >>>
>>>>> >>>>
>> >
>> > I have a deadline to meet on a project and needed tech support's help
>> > in correcting an issue with licensing. Apparantly they have an influx of
>> > issues with regards to Vista OS and the time change. Didn't know about
>> > this until it came to completing the project. So, I call and for the
>> > following one hour and a half I get nowhere. I even enlisted the help of
>> > "Jan" (a supervisor). She said that she would talk with a tech support
>> > supervisor and that they would contact me. Noone has! Now mind you, I
>> > spoke with "flippant Sarah" another rep who just didn't care and did not
>> > know what she was doing! Before her, I spoke with well I don't know who
>> > because when asked she wouldn't give her name and hung up. So how did
>> > this fiasco end? I called back and spoke with Dane (yet another tech
>> > support person) who  walked me through and straightened out my problem
>> > in just 10 minutes! Amazing that such a large company has people who
>> > don't care if the consumer has problems and time constraints. They h!
>> >
>> > ave our monies, that's all they care about.
>> >
>> > L.S.
>> >
>> > =====================
>> > To manage your subscription to SPSSX-L, send a message to
>> > [hidden email] (not to SPSSX-L), with no body text except
>> > the
>> > command. To leave the list, send the command
>> > SIGNOFF SPSSX-L
>> > For a list of commands to manage subscriptions, send the command
>> > INFO REFCARD
>> >
>> > =====================
>> > To manage your subscription to SPSSX-L, send a message to
>> > [hidden email] (not to SPSSX-L), with no body text except the
>> > command. To leave the list, send the command
>> > SIGNOFF SPSSX-L
>> > For a list of commands to manage subscriptions, send the command
>> > INFO REFCARD
>> >
>> > =====================
>> > To manage your subscription to SPSSX-L, send a message to
>> > [hidden email] (not to SPSSX-L), with no body text except the
>> > command. To leave the list, send the command
>> > SIGNOFF SPSSX-L
>> > For a list of commands to manage subscriptions, send the command
>> > INFO REFCARD
>> >
>> >
>> >
>
> =====================
> To manage your subscription to SPSSX-L, send a message to
> [hidden email] (not to SPSSX-L), with no body text except the
> command. To leave the list, send the command
> SIGNOFF SPSSX-L
> For a list of commands to manage subscriptions, send the command
> INFO REFCARD
>

Professor Diana Kornbrot
 School of Psychology
 University of Hertfordshire
 College Lane, Hatfield, Hertfordshire AL10 9AB, UK

 email:  [hidden email]
 web:    http://web.mac.com/kornbrot/iweb/KornbrotHome.html
 voice:   [phone]
 fax:      [phone]
Home
 19 Elmhurst Avenue
 London N2 0LT, UK
   
 voice: [phone]
 fax:    [phone]

====================To manage your subscription to SPSSX-L, send a message to
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[Steve Runfeldt]

I have to say that my recent experience was the exception.  SPSS is still
the best solution in my book.  My recent issue came about, in part, because
we have not opted to purchase the tech support package.  I have been using
SPSS for so many years that I have little need for someone to assist with
statistical analysis.  This listserve should suffice for the most part.

My problem has been with a new installation of a new version.  I am pretty
certain that I know, in general terms, what the source of the problem is.  I
also believe that a fix is being worked out.  But I was disappointed that my
initial attempts to get support were met with a refusal because we had not
purchased the support plan.

There are a lot of SPSS users who measure and analyze customer satisfaction
stats.  I don't know whether that makes us tougher customers or not.

If SPSS needs someone to manage a customer sat tracking study, please let me
know <g>.

Steve Runfeldt
Senior Account Executive/ Quantitative Research
Schwartz Consulting Partners
5027 W. Laurel Street
Tampa, FL  33607
813-207-0332 X 233 (work)
813-431-1840 (mobile)
[hidden email]
http://schwartzconsulting.com/

=====================
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[hidden email] (not to SPSSX-L), with no body text except the
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For a list of commands to manage subscriptions, send the command
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[jemiller]

The job must already be taken! - they randomly send out a questionnaire
after you contact them for tech support or that is what just happened with
us recently. They have provided incredibly efficient support to us over the
years, but I believe there can always be the less dedicated employees that
all companies have to deal with.
J

-----Original Message-----
From: SPSSX(r) Discussion [mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of
Steve Runfeldt
Sent: Monday, December 03, 2007 9:37 AM
To: [hidden email]
Subject: Re: [SPSSX-L] Awful treatment by tech support

I have to say that my recent experience was the exception.  SPSS is still
the best solution in my book.  My recent issue came about, in part, because
we have not opted to purchase the tech support package.  I have been using
SPSS for so many years that I have little need for someone to assist with
statistical analysis.  This listserve should suffice for the most part.

My problem has been with a new installation of a new version.  I am pretty
certain that I know, in general terms, what the source of the problem is.  I
also believe that a fix is being worked out.  But I was disappointed that my
initial attempts to get support were met with a refusal because we had not
purchased the support plan.

There are a lot of SPSS users who measure and analyze customer satisfaction
stats.  I don't know whether that makes us tougher customers or not.

If SPSS needs someone to manage a customer sat tracking study, please let me
know <g>.

Steve Runfeldt
Senior Account Executive/ Quantitative Research
Schwartz Consulting Partners
5027 W. Laurel Street
Tampa, FL  33607
813-207-0332 X 233 (work)
813-431-1840 (mobile)
[hidden email]
http://schwartzconsulting.com/

=====================
To manage your subscription to SPSSX-L, send a message to
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For a list of commands to manage subscriptions, send the command
INFO REFCARD

=====================
To manage your subscription to SPSSX-L, send a message to
[hidden email] (not to SPSSX-L), with no body text except the
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For a list of commands to manage subscriptions, send the command
INFO REFCARD