Everybody get their PTC Tech Support Survey?

DeanLong · ‎Jul 29, 2014

Only 250 Characters allowed on the surveyfor the question "What is the most Challenging aspect of using PTC TechSupport"? SoI am heard,I am posting my first non-culled response before being told a character limit existed.

The India call center solution you guys implemented 20 years
ago is about the same now as it was then, marginal at best. Academic training
on the software is only one aspect of support. The intelligence of all the
Masters of Engineering Techs has never been in question. In fact, you guys shot
yourselves in the foot and head when you believed without an Advanced
Engineering degree, the support would be insufficient. You were wrong then and
from my recent tech support call, it sounds the same holds true? I do not know
if you still require the Academically Brilliant need only apply but if that is
true...big mistake. The fact they posses very little actual real world
engineering experience results in Tech's reading scripted answers. The other
issue is the language and accents are challenging at best and excruciating at
worst. I understand your call center handles the world. A solution might be to
create dialect coaches in India for regional/national dialects that will help
them communicate. Remember, you guys chose to send Tech support to India to
save money. It showed then and still shows today. It's your job to make sure it
worth a damn because we pay for it.

And my aswer to the survey question "What is the best aspect of using PTC Tech Support"?

The fact I have been able to get by without it for so many
years. Sorry guys, Tech Support has always been substandard. That is why PTC/User
was so vital. Let's hope PTC/Communities is not jacked up or censored going
forward.

mlocascio · ‎Jul 29, 2014

Dean,

Could you send that in with my email address attached to it? We need to put
in some kind of petition with regard to this. PTC charges WAY too much to
have tech support that is not "relevant." Furthermore most of us are very
tired of getting someone on the other end of the phone who doesn't speak
American. To some people that may not be an issue. However when time and
money are on the line it DOES make a difference. When the tech support dude
is trying to "generic" (our word) and it comes out sounding something like
"gen-a-rick" I get a little pissed off..just a little.

I think that tech support done by Bagha Vad Gitas is fine for Bagha Vad
Gitas. But for Americans - we should have someone that speaks American.
After all we ARE paying for it.

Michael P. Locascio

davehaigh · ‎Jul 29, 2014

I've been silent on this too long.

Just because someone has an accent doesn't mean they are based in India. Or even that they are not US citizens.
This is the melting pot of the world after all.

Also, even if that support does come from India, doesn't mean it's all substandard.
I've receive both great help out of India and poor help. It all depends on the person and whether their experience matches my problem.
But, I can say the same for US based help also.

We have platinum support, and those are PTC's top TSE, mostly based in the US. Even then, a lot of them have noticeable accents, but generally I haven't had a problem with it.

I tend to ask difficult questions of support. And they tend to take some time to answer. A few months ago, I had specific questions on the new license manager.
The only person to help me in that area was based in India, and he did an excellent job. He was having to deal with the Flexnet folks to get the answers to my questions.

I've only had a few times where it was so difficult to understand the TSE it wasn't worth dealing with them on the phone.
But even then, I find most of the time I can get my answers via email. It just takes longer.

There have been times that the person that I have gotten, just didn't have the expertise in the area I needed. It was obvious to me, even if it wasn't to them.
In those cases I contact our TSAM and ask them to find the correct resource and reassign the call.

If you've ever been on the other end and tried to "solve" someone's problem over the phone, you will understand how difficult it can be.
Perhaps that one reason I don't have so many problem with tech support is because I've dealt with people that have no idea how to describe their problem.

I had a friend once tell me, "Dave, the secret to writing isn't to be understood. It's to write in such a way you can't be mis-understood." I think that applies to submitting problems to PTC.

Having said all that. I fully understand not everyone has Platinum level support or has a TSAM.
For many years I worked at places that just had the basic support. I was still able to get answers to my issues.

I'm just saying the India bashing isn't helpful, and in many cases is misguided.

David Haigh
Phone: 925-424-3931
Fax: 925-423-7496
Lawrence Livermore National Lab
7000 East Ave, L-362
Livermore, CA 94550

________________________________

bghiorso · ‎Jul 29, 2014

I also have to say that I find the folks from India to be pretty good most
of the time and excellent upon occasion. Perhaps my questions are not as
complex as David's, but nevertheless they can be fairly obscure and
non-trivial. Phone support is quite difficult and I appreciate the
conscientiousness, skill and knowledge of the people on the other side of
the world. I also don't have that much trouble understanding their dialect
- maybe I'm used to it and don't expect the rest of the world to speak
"American".
Bill

On Tue, Jul 29, 2014 at 4:51 PM, Haigh, David A. <->
wrote:

> I’ve been silent on this too long.
>
>
>
> Just because someone has an accent doesn’t mean they are based in India.
> Or even that they are not US citizens.
>
> This *is* the melting pot of the world after all.
>
>
>
> Also, even if that support does come from India, doesn’t mean it’s all
> substandard.
>
> I’ve receive both great help out of India and poor help. It all depends on
> the person and whether their experience matches my problem.
>
> But, I can say the same for US based help also.
>
>
>
> We have platinum support, and those are PTC’s top TSE, mostly based in the
> US. Even then, a lot of them have noticeable accents, but generally I
> haven’t had a problem with it.
>
>
>
> I tend to ask difficult questions of support. And they tend to take some
> time to answer. A few months ago, I had specific questions on the new
> license manager.
>
> The only person to help me in that area was based in India, and he did an
> excellent job. He was having to deal with the Flexnet folks to get the
> answers to my questions.
>
>
>
> I’ve only had a few times where it was so difficult to understand the TSE
> it wasn’t worth dealing with them on the phone.
>
> But even then, I find most of the time I can get my answers via email. It
> just takes longer.
>
>
>
> There have been times that the person that I have gotten, just didn’t have
> the expertise in the area I needed. It was obvious to me, even if it wasn’t
> to them.
>
> In those cases I contact our TSAM and ask them to find the correct
> resource and reassign the call.
>
>
>
> If you’ve ever been on the other end and tried to “solve” someone’s
> problem over the phone, you will understand how difficult it can be.
>
> Perhaps that one reason I don’t have so many problem with tech support is
> because I’ve dealt with people that have no idea how to describe their
> problem.
>
>
>
> I had a friend once tell me, “Dave, the secret to writing isn’t to be
> understood. It’s to write in such a way you can’t be mis-understood.” I
> think that applies to submitting problems to PTC.
>
>
>
> Having said all that. I fully understand not everyone has Platinum level
> support or has a TSAM.
>
> For many years I worked at places that just had the basic support. I was
> still able to get answers to my issues.
>
>
>
> I’m just saying the India bashing isn’t helpful, and in many cases is
> misguided.
>
>
>
> David Haigh
> Phone: 925-424-3931
> Fax: 925-423-7496
> Lawrence Livermore National Lab
> 7000 East Ave, L-362
> Livermore, CA 94550
>
>

nrollins · ‎Jul 29, 2014

"The secret to writing isn't to be understood. It's to write in such a way
you can't be mis-understood."

If I had a twitter account, I would tweet that.

Awesome. My sentiments exactly.

I also have to say that I have been infuriated - with a capital EFFING I -
while trying to deal with a bonehead tech support rep. This has happened
with PTC reps with strong accents, as well as those from Epson, Dell, HP,
Samsung, Verizon, Charter, BestBuy . and the language barrier only adds to
the frustration of dealing with a bonehead. I have also had awesome,
knowledgeable hard to understand reps from PTC, Dell, etc. (NOT Epson - they
REALLY suck) Boneheads can be found in every country speaking any language.
PTC's problem (they are not alone - for sure) is that they leave holes -
they do a "half assed job." Why can you type in an error message verbatim
into Creo Help and NOT get a relevant, immediate answer? (half assed job)
Their product is large and complex and they do the best they can, I guess.
Maybe that's true - it still Infuriates me often.

What about Apple? How do they do it so that "it just works?" Thank you
Apple for proving that it is not impossible.

So - Thanks to Dean Long, I went and dug my CEB Customer Feedback survey out
of my deleted items box and I will fill it out in my spare time. It is one
way we have to raise our voice. We'd better use that chance - even if it
only lets us post 250 characters. I probably expires in three days too,
knowing PTC.

-Nate

DeanLong · ‎Jul 30, 2014

David and Bill,

If "India bashing" is all you heard from my post, you may want re-read it? I answered the specific question "What is the most challenging difficulty with PTC's Tech Support?" For me, and many I am sure we will hear today, difficult communication and lack of practical expertise have always been the painful aspects of 1-800-4-PRO-HEL. I stated that. Again if "India bashing" was all I wanted to do....I could call my in-laws who are Indian and ask them my questions. But I don't NEED them, orPAY them,to help me with an issue of a technical natureon PTC software.PTC greedsent my Tech Support needs to India (Mexico, Ireland or Bangladesh). The "Country" is irrelevant.It just happens to be India in this case. As Nathan stated, Apple get's it. They train theirpeople PROPERLY, with customers from all over the worldAS A PRIORITYand as a resultthesupport is good. Is it perfect, probably not. But it's a whole lot better than PTC's support track record.

A couple things. You are correct not everyone has the DEEEEEEP pockets for Platinum Support and High Tea on the verandawith Heppelman, nor will they ever. This is one of the infuriating things PTC did in the early 90's that solidified their arrogance and lack of consideration for users. Essentially saying, "The more you pay, the more we like you". It sounds like from your eperience David, that arrogance still remains at PTC. Do you remember when PTC broke us up into large and small accounts, with regard to "support"? The writing on the PTC bathroom wall was, if you don't spend enough, you don'tmatter to us, let them eat VAR cake! They sent us to inept and unqualified VAR's for support which was a whole other cluster bleep in itself. I am envious that you get to ENJOY stellar support David and Bill. The fact is most of us do not.

So, "India Bashing" wasnever the issue, maybe "PTC Bashing" is more appropriate. They certainly didn't send any maintenence dollarsback to me when I could not get anwers I needed in a timely manner.Did they refund you guys? I stopped using Tech Support and relied on my PTC/User bretheren for real, timely and appropriate help from guys like you, David. You have given some great insight and "Tech Support" over the years. I, and many, appreciate your communication abilityand practical expertiseon PTC software issues. The two factors, I stated PTCTech's lacked,are whatmade it great valuable support.

DonSenchuk · ‎Jul 30, 2014

250 characters? Why, that's 25 more than we're given to communicate our problems with the online case logger! I really don't understand this neediness to communicate the problems we face using their software.