Tech Support -sigh-

cworld29 wrote on 8/27/2004, 9:42 AM
I have an MPEG that Windows Explorer reports is 3,940,599,808 bytes or 3.66 GB. More like 3.67 but Explorer is close enough. Especially compared to what Vegas 5 and DVDA 2 report. They both tell me that it is 3.85GB in size and when I drag it onto the menu in DVDA the disk space used jumps up to 4.1GB! I kow the disk estimates in DVDA have been screwed up for a long time but I wasn't aware of the error in each programs explorer.

So anyway I send an email to Sony support asking them about the error. Here is the reply I get from Kimberley:

"Thanks for writing. Please see the article at the link below:

Title: Unable to render a file larger than 3.9GB.
URL:
http://www.custcenter.com/cgi-bin/sonypictures.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=507&p_created=1020315600 "

The contents of the link:
"Question
Unable to render a file larger than 3.9GB. When I render a project in my Sony Pictures Digital application, I can only render up to 3.99 GB worth of data, and then I'm told I can't render any further. Why?

Answer
Under Windows 98, 98se, and ME, (as stated in my original email I am using XP) your drives can be formatted as FAT (File Allocation Table) or FAT32. The largest a single file can be on these operating systems is 4 GB. You can reach 4 GB rather quickly with digital video renders. (no s**t) For instance, NTSC DV AVI files take up about 3.5 MB per second of video. Under Windows 2000 and Windows XP the operator has the ability to format their drives as FAT, FAT32, or NTFS (New Technology File System) (hmmmmm). NTFS has no file size limitation other than the maximum amount your hard drive can carry."

Not even close. So I type a reply between the little lines and send it back. As usual I get one of these:
"Your reply did not process correctly. Please REPLY to this message and
enter the text between the specified lines. Your message has been
included below.

[===> Please enter your reply below this line <===]

[===> Please enter your reply above this line <===]"

I have yet to send a request to tech support and get a solid solution in return. Common responses are " We can't duplicate that problem here" or silly knowledge base links like the one above. Add to this wait periods sometimes stretching on for weeks.

Not really looking for an answer anymore although I am curious. I just wanted to share my frustration.

Comments

johnmeyer wrote on 8/27/2004, 9:51 AM
I too have noticed a significant fall off in the speed and quality of support. I have submitted quite a few bug reports in the past four weeks, and finally got a reply to one of them two weeks after submission, and all it said was that the files I submitted had been sent to engineering (this was on the bug that I think may be at the heart of the "flash frames" and small blank dropouts reported by so many people).

Could be the summer doldrums. Vacations, etc. Don't know.
Jude wrote on 8/27/2004, 11:24 AM
never been a fan of sony tech support - one reason i dreaded the move by SF
kentwolf wrote on 8/27/2004, 12:41 PM
I do remember that SF tech support was very, very good!
hugoharris wrote on 8/27/2004, 1:25 PM
I recently sent a report to Sony regarding a reproducible error where an unrelated frame was randomly inserted into a transition, thinking this may be related to the "flash frame" problem. I even offered to send the project (it was short enough to burn onto 2 DVD's with AVIs included). Sony replied that nobody has reported flash frames with Vegas 5, and they thought the issue was solved (I am still using version 4 for the time).

Kevin.
cworld29 wrote on 8/27/2004, 5:20 PM
Her response was just so far off. It was almost as if she pulled it out of a hat. It's like taking a trip to the DMV.
johnmeyer wrote on 8/27/2004, 7:53 PM
In the time since I posted last in this thread, I got a response to one of my bug reports (having to do with not being able to use the external monitor feature in DVDA). The tech support person said it was a known problem, but only affected PAL users. Since I live in California, and since the information that I provide includes the fact that I am using an NTSC camera, my report obviously did not get read in any great detail.

I have a long whiny rant that I wrote several weeks ago, but decided not to post (because I complain too much). As part of that, I researched how many times Sony people post on these forums. I went back almost two years. I can post this if anyone wants, but the net is that there are FAR fewer posts from Sony personnel in the past six months than in the same months of preceding years, and the trend has been consistently downward since the acquisition.
B.Verlik wrote on 8/27/2004, 8:38 PM
Well, I'll put it bluntly. Sony support SUCKS!!!!!! Try downloading an update you already have, as an experiment. They'll ask you for your S/N. and when you put it in, they shoot back. Your S/N is invalid. It won't say, you already have this update. Then they ask you to report, as in the original post here, 'between the lines'. I wasted two weeks and got the run around and then finally ended up here. They just let their customers answer their problems for them. Thank God, I found this place. If you don't see my posts anywhere here, in the next few days, you'll know what happened to me. But I don't care. A major company like SONY, who never gives you more than 5% off retail, (maybe slightly exaggerated) should be a little more concerned for their customers. They're riding on their reputation. Sonic Foundry had a fantastic support team. Unfortunately, I bought my Vegas about 1 month before Sony took over. I may be stuck with Vegas 4.0 forever.
kentwolf wrote on 8/27/2004, 9:20 PM
>>...there are FAR fewer posts from Sony personnel in the past six months than in the same months of preceding years...

That has been a glaring fact for some time. Not news to me.

In fact, see this thread from 10 months ago... It's still true.

Of course they will tell you that they are not required to do so, and that is true, however, it is *different* from the company that obviously had a good receipe for success: Sonic Foundry. SF created that good reputation...Sony just bought it.
winrockpost wrote on 8/28/2004, 7:18 AM
I have sent reports to sony, they were dismissed as isolated problems that they had not heard of in vegas 5,, funny all are well known on these forums. I am very happy with vegas 4 , vegas 5 in my opinion is a buggy mess, seemsto be little concern on sonys part . Maybe they have a team of troubleshooters on top of it, maybe they are well aware of the problems, and potential fixes suggested by some users. Maybe they are so busy working on fixes that they cant be wasting time on the forums any longer.
Maybe my next gig is worth 200k, one never knows.
TheHappyFriar wrote on 8/28/2004, 2:22 PM
I just tried downlaod the V5 update (i don't own V5) and it never asked me for a S/N. Are you talking about when you install it (i've never gotten asked for those eigther. I always install over my old instilation)
B.Verlik wrote on 8/28/2004, 3:33 PM
Actually, what happened to me originally was that I was having trouble printing back to tape. So I went to Sony and looked for answers in the FAQ section. When I didn't find the answer to my problem, I went to the 'download' section, looking for updates. I found something that said Video tools-Print to tape 2.0. Well, I didn't know this was part of the Vegas Video 2.0 program, I just thought it was a 2.0 version of the 'Print to tape' tool. So I tried to download it and they asked for my S/N. I gave it and then they came back with the 'Your serial number is not valid' statement. I later discovered that this Print to tape 2.0 was part of Vegas 2.0. Instead of informing me that I already had the latest version of the software, they said my S/N was not a valid S/N and no other explanation, which of course made me flip out. They still haven't explained this, 6 weeks later. And yes I informed them that that was a ridiculous way to deal with a customer. Apparently, they don't care. They did write back to inform me that this happened because I was trying to download something I already had. I still don't know if my S/N is valid in Sony's eyes. At least they haven't cut me off here, yet.
Spot|DSE wrote on 8/28/2004, 7:21 PM
FWIW gang, much of the Sony crew HAS been on vacation, as this is the slowest time of the year. I'm only now starting to see responses to internal stuff sent nearly a month ago.
The tech support folks read these forums as well, I'm confident that they're doing what they can.
Keep in mind the tech support crew is the same crew Sonic Foundry had, plus a couple more, but now they've got thousands more users due to the Sony acquisition. I don't know how many more people have been hired, but having been on the tech support floor, I assure you that these folks aren't just sitting around drinking Cokes and laughing at dumb questions. It's a VERY intense big room of cubicles. Overseen by a manager who is pretty capable and knows the applications really well. I can't say anything more than that, because I don't know what Josh is doing differently (if anything) from when it was SOFO tech support. Except that they care a lot for their reputation..
But if this many people are unhappy, there must be something more going on...
rextilleon wrote on 8/28/2004, 9:27 PM
I suspect that Spot has hit it on the head--there had to be a marked increase in sales since Sony took over (based upon the ubiquitious advertising I see) and thus they are overtaxed--particularly in the summer. The question now becomes this: Is Sony dedicated to increasing overhead in support in order to service their bigger customer base. There is no sure answer to that one--Only time wil tell.
LJR wrote on 8/29/2004, 1:19 AM
Hi peeps. Pinnacle LE user here *dodges the tomotoes and cabbages being thrown*

I would just like to say that I think pretty much all NLE companies are the same. Take Pinnacle for example, their support is even worse that what's reported here. You only get a response from Pinnacle support if the question you have asked is not too awkward (and doesn't potray the product in a poor light in some way). However, I guess where we Pinnacle owners are slightly better off is that the Pinnacle forums are both very helpful (with users like here) and are frequented by Pinnacle staff who post on a regular basis. In fact I never use the support tool anymore as I will get an answer within a few hours on the Pinnacle forums.

I bet if you popped on over to the official Premiere forums you will find posts of the same ilk. I have experienced Premiere support and also support for other Adobe applications and I can assure it's pretty dyre.

As for Apple, well their poor level of customer support is simply legendary.

I'm afraid it's just an apparently increasing common trait the world over.

[EDIT: corrected stupid spelling and missing words errors- doh]
B.Verlik wrote on 8/29/2004, 2:13 AM
I agree with LJR. I tried writing to ASUS and never got a response and finally after a number of E-mails, I got this response, 2 months after the inquiry. (actual paste from response.)

Dear customer:
sorry for reply later, please contact with our call center in USA directly for help.
Tel: +1-502-995-0883
Fax: +1-510-608-4555
Thank you used our products very much, welcome you to make valuable suggestions more, we will make great efforts to accomplish
better.

Best Regards,
ASUS Customer Service Center Shanghai



They gave me the ol', 'we don't understand english', routine.
TheHappyFriar wrote on 8/29/2004, 7:19 AM
I got a simular responce from Asus one. HP support is pretty good though (they've always answered the questions i've asked, not dodged around them). SoFo support was really really good too. If Sony IS being overloaded, then thye should hire more people (after all, isn't more money an advantage of being owned by sony?)
cworld29 wrote on 8/30/2004, 11:19 PM
"Dear customer:
sorry for reply later, please contact with our call center in USA directly for help.
Tel: +1-502-995-0883
Fax: +1-510-608-4555
Thank you used our products very much, welcome you to make valuable suggestions more, we will make great efforts to accomplish
better."

Hate to dig this back up but that is classic! LOL!!! Complete with a long distance number for your convenience.
Anybody got a napkin for all this milk?
RexA wrote on 8/31/2004, 12:06 AM
I spent a lot of my life in tech support at various levels. Mostly I was involved in tracking and solving the big problems.

This sort of "devolution" is normal in a rapid growth company. Unfortunately, once the downslide starts it rarely gets anywhere close to what it was in the good old days. The business needs a lot of support people who tend to turn over. The good ones move up to engineering or management. The majority of problem report handlers never really know the details, have a big call load, and just clear calls by giving canned answers.

In my opinion, the only real defense is to put together a really good database and devote one or two good people to keeping it up to date and accurate. It needs good clean data (gotta fix some of the typos and bad info in the base data) for keyword search capability. Then you need to train the support people how to use it and how not to make bad entries.

This is, of course, pretty theoretical because I've never worked at a company that really achieved what I think is possible. Most decide it is not economical to try that hard, and let their support slip to where they are not much better or worse than everbody else.

I hope Sony (ex SF part) can do better. Any level of business success always builds demand faster than it is easy to deal with.

I hope a few of the key people check in here and take the pulse from time to time, even if they don't have time to reply. This forum should be a great tool for seeing what customers are happy or unhappy about.
RexA wrote on 8/31/2004, 12:13 AM
>> Best Regards,
ASUS Customer Service Center Shanghai
<<

As usual, YMMV. I actually have gotten a few reasonable responses from ASUS. No doubt depends a lot on department, where you send your question, and who answers it.