How to get support (was: Tyan alternatives cuz their support totally sucks)

[Brooks Davis]

On Fri, Dec 02, 2005 at 01:30:10PM -0700, Ken Gunderson wrote:
> On Fri, 02 Dec 2005 12:21:15 +0000
> Dieter <freebsd at sopwith.solgatos.com> wrote:
> 
> > > I've been really quite happy w/the Tyan barebones systems I've deployed
> > > the past few months.  Until I needed support on a DOA TA26 barebones
> > > unit.  I'll spare you the gory details but the nightmare is ongoing.
> > 
> > But... we enjoy reading the gory details...
> 
> Ugh!! It's quite the saga and don't think I should clutter up the list
> w/it.  Suffice to say it wasn't pretty and gives me serious concern
> over any future dealings with them.
>  
> > > I need something that will "just work" and not require any hardware compatibility
> > > histrionics.
> > 
> > ...and someone might know the answer.
> > 
> > > Yes, the Tyan units are great themselves.
> > > The issue is getting support when you need it.
> > 
> > Have your VP visit one of Tyan's VPs and wave a million dollar PO in
> > their face.
> 
> Unfortunately that's about the reality of it...  
> 
> I will say in Tyan's defense that things improved significantly once I
> gave up on support and started working my way up the sales management
> ladder.  Keeping future sales seems to motivate them enough to get
> things done.

I think this is one of those cases when it's much better do deal with
them through a good reseller.  The reseller has much better leverage
then most customers since they buy a lot more boards.  You still have to
make the reseller care, but I'm had pretty good luck with that myself
(of course, I often buy half a rack or more machines at a time which
tends to hold their attention. :)

-- Brooks

-- 
Any statement of the form "X is the one, true Y" is FALSE.
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