Subject: RE: Does EasySync 4.2.3 work with Notes7 + more proof that IBM is the worst thing to happen to Lotus.
I would agree that IBM and their management and direction of the evolution of Notes and Domino is a good thing.
I believe, however, that IBM’s management of the company in general has been detrimental the general customer. I’m not referring to large corporate entities with contacts in IBM for whatever they need. I mean for everyone else (and that’s most of us). The merging of Lotus’ websites into the general IBM site was simply stupid. Usability testing anyone? It’s not just that, though. That’s just the surface.
Have you ever tried to report a bug without having paid for a support contract? You can’t. After speaking with literally dozens of IBMers last summer about a regression involving SSO, not one person would help me. A few wanted to, but they admitted that unless I purchased an annual support contract, they could not.
Hell, I didn’t want help - they needed it, not me. I just wanted to know that they were aware of a problem. I finally had Bob Balaban and some folks at the IBM Virtual Innovation Center get my information to the right people through back doors.
Regardless, in the past, people could submit bugs this way, or by purchasing a single incident of support, which you would be reimbursed for if the issue was indeed found to be a bug, or you could do so by… oh heck… they still say you can do it by fax or mail - BUT YOU CAN’T.
http://www-1.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?rs=465&context=SSKTPA&dc=DA400&uid=swg27002638&loc=en_US&cs=UTF-8〈=all&rss=ct465lotus
While this page has been updated to say that the information is current, it’s very obviously not.
From this page, you can download two WordPro documents, which you can then fill out and fax or mail to Lotus. Here’s that data from the the newer document (2002 versus 2000) and the web page itself.
US Customers can send or fax this form to:
Lotus Development Corp.
Attn: Defect Support Team
400 Riverpark Drive
3rd Floor East
N. Reading, MA 01864
(617) 693-7445
[From the webpage - not the documents] Alternate phone: Lotus Technical Support Renewal, 800-553-4270
The (617) phone number hasn’t worked in a few years & (I could be very wrong about this, but I believe) the North Reading, Mass offices have been gone for years as well. That’s where one of the two Lotus call centers were before IBM sent all such Lotus calls to their IBM Toronto call center.
Go get these docs & take a look.
Here are a few exerpts (in red):
<< LOTUS NOTES, cc:MAIL or DESKTOP PRODUCTS >>
cc:Mail???
Well, it was a current product in 1996.
HARDWARE CONFIGURATION (provide as much as possible):
Brand/model of PC:
Microprocessor:
Type: 486sx __ 486dx __ Pentium __ Pentium Pro __
Speed: ____ MHz
Total RAM: ____ MB
Video Type: VGA __ SVGA __ XGA __ 8514 __
If you’re running R7 on a 486sx, I can tell you what the damn problem is.
So why do I contend that IBM is the worst thing to happen to Lotus? Because of an ongoing list of crap like this. Many, many people (just do a search here and in the R5 forum) have been complaining about this for years. IBM does not hear us. I’ve complained by phone, in person and via email, yet has this simple, glaring problem been fixed?
I wish they ran this side of the house as well as I think they run the hardware side. I have never, not on a single occasion, been dissatisfied with service from the hardware people.