GBNSCHBACH wrote:
>< Obviously complained to a compiler vendor about a problem, and they
> demanded $$ to diagnose it.>
I wasn't going to answer this, until I read a response that said, in effect,
"You either have to put up with this, or get even." Neither is a valid
option in my lexicon--the first is accepting a shoddy business practice, the
latter nothing more than hacker attack. (To be fair, the author didn't
propound taking the second tack.)
I have never paid one of those outrageous fees for diagnosis and correction
of buggy code. My general approach is to politely but firmly:
1) State that I've been in the biz as a consultant for 20 years; I know
what I'm doing.
2) State that I know I've found a real problem in their product; I don't
need them to hold my credit card hostage to investigate it, and in
fact, since I paid for the product, expect them to fix it.
3) Agree that first-level triage is necessary, but if they can't solve
my problem themselves, get out of the way and let me talk to someone
who can make a decision.
This approach will, surprisingly often, get you past the 'droids (no insult--
everybody's gotta start somewhere) and to someone in second or third level
triage who can actually answer a question or make a decision--and that
decision is to bypass the braindead policy.
On the rare occasion I can't get past the "policy police", I simply point out
that I'm in the position to both recount the situation to a *lot* of
people and clients, and recommend--or recommend *against*--their product
to same; and I won't at all be shy about making sure the problem, and their
braindead response, is _widely_ known in the technical community.
To date, it's worked 100% of the time. Just remember--you're a professional;
act like one. Don't rant, bluster, or threaten. You're just requesting
a real response to a real bug. And your decision to publicize the event,
in the case of failure on their part to take proper action, is going to be
a calm, reasoned report of unacceptable business practices.
They don't want to alienate real developers or users; they're just trying
to thin out the herds of "dial first, read later" users who want hand-holding,
not real support.
Cheers,
--
Dave Ihnat
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