Monday, February 2, 2004
Have A Problem With Your Pocket PC? Call Your OEM!
Posted by Ed Hansberry in "THOUGHT" @ 08:00 AM
I think the first place most of us turn to for support is the newsgroups or various online forums like those here at Pocket PC Thoughts. Usually, that is a pretty good idea. Chances are, someone has already had the same problem and can help you out. Sometimes though you find out it is a known problem experienced by several people and there is no fix. Examples include alarm reminders not working for some people or others having to manually delete a registry key to allow the Terminal Server client connect to their Terminal Server after each connection.
When this happens, most of us tend to grumble and shout at Microsoft to fix it. Then we go to another board and complain there. That is not good. Microsoft does see some of these posts and the MVPs forward this info to Microsoft as well, but guess who has the most power to sway Microsoft to fix an issue? The OEM! If HP gets enough complaints about an issue via customer support, they will call up Microsoft and get the issue moved high up on the fix list. One call from HP, Toshiba or Dell has more impact than does 100, or even 1,000 posts. The only way to get an OEM upset enough to call Microsoft is for you and a few dozen of your closest friends with the same issue to call their tech support line.
Yeah, I know. It is a hassle. You get stale music, at least 5 levels of an automated telephone maze and a tech support person that will often go "have you tried a hard reset" right off of the bat. I am as guilty as you are in avoiding this, but it only hurts the chances of the issue getting resolved. So, do you have some problems with your Pocket PC that you know it will take Microsoft or your OEM to actually sit down and fix? Call them. Arrange to take your lunch sometime this week next to a phone you can afford to spend 30-60 minutes at while eating to get the problem logged. Then call them back in a week or two and ask for a status update. Get the problem elevated unless they tell you it is already on their elevation list. I think the alarm issue is already there. :D
When this happens, most of us tend to grumble and shout at Microsoft to fix it. Then we go to another board and complain there. That is not good. Microsoft does see some of these posts and the MVPs forward this info to Microsoft as well, but guess who has the most power to sway Microsoft to fix an issue? The OEM! If HP gets enough complaints about an issue via customer support, they will call up Microsoft and get the issue moved high up on the fix list. One call from HP, Toshiba or Dell has more impact than does 100, or even 1,000 posts. The only way to get an OEM upset enough to call Microsoft is for you and a few dozen of your closest friends with the same issue to call their tech support line.
Yeah, I know. It is a hassle. You get stale music, at least 5 levels of an automated telephone maze and a tech support person that will often go "have you tried a hard reset" right off of the bat. I am as guilty as you are in avoiding this, but it only hurts the chances of the issue getting resolved. So, do you have some problems with your Pocket PC that you know it will take Microsoft or your OEM to actually sit down and fix? Call them. Arrange to take your lunch sometime this week next to a phone you can afford to spend 30-60 minutes at while eating to get the problem logged. Then call them back in a week or two and ask for a status update. Get the problem elevated unless they tell you it is already on their elevation list. I think the alarm issue is already there. :D
