SCO customer service

[Matthew Thurmaier]

I have observed several comments about SCO's support services on the net.
I have been using SCO's product for about 4 years now, and have used 386/
286, and even 8086 versions of XENIX, as well as UNIX V/386 from SCO.

Over these years, I have used their support quite alot.  Some times it
is frustrating, so much so that I once started to use another vendor myself.
At that point someone at SCO pointed some things out to me and I have been
very satisfied ever since.

So, I thought that I could pass a few hints along to you and hope that you
all have a better experience with SCO:

1.) ABSOLUTE TOP PRIORITY .... BE POLITE AND UNDERSTANDING
	These people handle hundreds of problems a day, and the receptionists
	don't have ANY control over how long the lines are on the phones, so
	why yell at them.  Tell one of the people in marketing.  Yelling at
	the receptionist only serves to reduce their simpathy for your problem.

2.) If you find a bug, but it's not going to keep you from doing your work,
	or you found a work-around, call support and just leave a message.  If
	they can't reproduce it, they'll call you back.  This saves them time
	and allows more of us to get through.

3.) Have your problem narrowed down as precisely as possible.  I usually
	spend at least an hour before I call SCO, sometimes a few days.  I did
	beta work on Office Portfolio and it seams to me that they liked my 
	bug reports because I would be very precise.

4.) Always have your key number available and tell them where you want to
	go, even before they ask.  Usually, the operator says "Support...."
	and I reply "hello ####, this is matthew, and I would like to go to
	express", or media, or get a full analyst.  This tells them that you
	know what you're doing, that you've been there before, and you are break-
	ing up their routine... and what a routine.

5.) Last, way back when, SCO only had 3 problem levels.  Your problem entered
	at the lowest level, and was escallated.  If you weren't/aren't happy with
	the answer that an anilyst gives you or it doesn't work, call back, and if
	necessary, tell the receptionist that you want to escallate the problem.
	Again, you are telling them that you have been there before and that you
	are a professional.


I have found the people at SCO to be friendly, knowledgeabe, and above all,
friendly.  Sure, you run into a snag every now and then, but what makes US
professionals is to not let those snags bring us down.  

I hope that all of you find these hints usefull, and that it helps us all
get a little better responce time from SCO the next time we call them.


Sincerely,
Matthew
Snail Mail:                                 E Mail:
Matthew J. Thurmaier                ...!{allegra,harvard,seismo}!shorty!matt
The Computer Classroom              matt at shorty.wisc.edu
6701 Seybold Road, Ste. 122
Madison, WI 53719
(608) 271-2171
                                  "why am I ALWAYS going somewhere?" >>-matt-->