How do you see the ideal technical support?

Dear CS-Cart owners,



In the neareast time our company plans to make changes in the technical support system. Taking into account that the fact of presense of professionalism and accessible technical support is one of the most important constituent when working with such complex software as CS-Cart, we decided to ask all CS-Cart users about how do you see the ideal technical support.



Please make your selection among the offered variants and feel free to put the detailed comments about your choice.



All this will help us to organize a convenient, maximum effective and accessible technical support service.





Thank you,

CS-Cart team

I have to say I’m excited you are giving us users a chance to voice our opinion.



First , let me preface by saying I have been using X since 2002.



Their current “support points” system is a SCAM! period! end of discussion. IF cs-cart uses this method, you will LOSE customers. 99% of X users HATE their support system, being charged money on some arbitrary “system” determined by them… Using points will make me rethink my future use of CS as a viable alternative to X.



Support service by period…again, this was the original model of X, and your current model. 1 month support , i think is WAY too short. I mean, most people who buy this cart have to learn it, learn how it works, skin it, etc. Doing that within a month is tough, especially if you have a LIFE! For example, i purchased the license and didnt install it for over a week later. b/c i was busy with other things. While I dont mind the Period based service, 1 month realistically isnt long enough. Many software companies offer 1 year.



Free support for lifetime. i realize this “sounds” great to the end user, however I also know this taxes the support staff, and quality and efficiency may drop due to this. Although I think its a huge selling point if you can handle this, maybe even increasing the cost of your cart or offering a “lifetime support add on” say for an extra $125.00 ro whatever you decide. That would be a plus.



Basically, my entire point is, if you follow in the exact footsteps of X, you’re going to end up just like X, and IMO, while the short term that maybe financial great for you guys, long term, its not going to last. As the fact that I am here , buyign a license from CS and looking to move clients to you’re platform after 4 yrs with another product. and trust me, I’m not the only one looking to move off of X.



As i babble on, I see offering a time based support of 6 months or 1 yr, included. With the possibly of Lifetime support Add on, for $xx.xx as an additional fee.

What exactly do you mean by “Lifetime support”? couse there is no such thing.



Developers will leave, technologies will go on, things WILL change.



I dont see a point in this lifetime support other then for the purpose of a marketing scam.



My opinion about this is, “Payed by Period” support system, i think its the best way for customers. a free 3-6 month support + a paid renew system for a period depended on however the customer wishes.

Hi



I will second Damir’s opinion, we already get lifetime upgrades and at present it seems that CS-Cart include new features that X made you pay for, we all need to make a living.

All of you bring up good points, but I’ll have to go with Support Service by Period. The fact that CS-Cart is asking for our feedback is already separating them from the “other” carts. I grade the current CS-Cart support at an A+++ and I realize that as their customer base continues to grow, it will be difficult to maintain that level of service. My question to CS-Cart is, “What will work best for you?”. Do you have any price points setup for a 3-month, 6-month and yearly support offerings? I cannot emphasize how much your business would increase if you could design a mod that will import the data (Customers, Products, Order History) from other carts. I think we are on the verge of a major spike in new customers.

Ok, we see that the best support for you is by period. But what about if you bought support service for month (for instance) and placed one support ticket in this period only? Is not it chucking money away?

I think so, this is why I said, you need longer periods, like 6 months to 1 year.

Hi

The X point system is absolutely fine - guys actually have a secure way for users posting their ftp ssh and other sensitive info to get access to the backend and your server. The only problem with X - is that they don’t give you estimates on how many points a problem will cost you.



I would say ----------------------





you create a ticket ----- they get back to you with a quote ---- say 20 points





you have a choice ----- proceed or… not



both systems should be in place - by period and by points. For more experienced users - points, as they will not have to “learn” the software as much as the newbies. The by period - is essential to newbies.





This is my opinion. So far I still love X as much as I hate it. And I do love CS for its looks not functionality, not yet anyway. I wish I could get the CS to work as easy :-)))



Check out our other store run on x - works marvelous. zilyaboutique.com



Check out our CS-CART store - ilookfab.com/index.php - still trying to sort out the shipping…



I’m about to write my own cart :slight_smile:



PS first month or two of free “starter” support is a certainly a plus and could be a deciding point when choosing between some carts and cs-cart for some considering cs-cart is as functional (which we really hope will be soon)

I’d also go with a point based system w/ the option to get any remaining balance refunded. For example if you close your shop, change carts etc.

Unless there is a huge list of how points will be broken down into a price basis or itemization, I will leave!



Period end of discussion and I just purchased my cart, but have no issues with cutting losses right here and now G’bye, c’ya, this is the door hitting me in the arse.



Example, I had a question about a new upgrade done. I was told there was a prior question that had been asked and I had a negative account and that had to be paid and more points purchased prior to their answering me.



I said last question had to do with the upgrade. I had paid for upgrade and it was yet to be operational.



NOPE, pay for points to get answer…



I paid for points; I was charged 40 points for the following answer…



“Your cart is supposed to work like this”







I will never be held up like that again… Period.





I bought into that cart when points were not in force, it was free service.



Then they brought in the points crap. We were told as older users we would be grandfathered in and would never need to pay points. That lasted until the end of the sentence when they made their first 10,000 points, lol.



Now they do nothing for free except demand more points be purchased and then you get answers like I posted above or engineers made it like this, it DOES work as described.



Nope, I will take period purchase. You can have purchase in packages like a one or two question bundle if it is so bad you feel you cannot answer a single question for someone, and I will buy a question answer session.



Then a week, month, quarter, semi annual and annual blocks of support available for purchase.





I am like ET, I purchased this cart, and am not ready to use it. It is not even unzipped yet. I was speaking to CSCart sales department, received a purchase link. To show good faith, I bought the cart. I really do not need to install it yet. So, I will end up loosing ALL of my support that comes with it. Then, when I am ready to install and use it, I will have no support…





So, what do I do? For the most part, I can figure most of this out by reading and asking a question in here I am sure. But what if I get snubbed and no one answers me, cares to share, or simply does not feel comfortable offering advice?



I am then screwed, but may only have one question. AM I supposed to buy a huge block of points and not use them?



I still have points over at xcrap from when I was told my cart operated that way, ROFL.



They could have told this. It was even still during the development stages and testing of their work. I have yet to use that cart and it is now over a year old and another branch is about to be released.





No, this is a tread lightly situation as I do not care how people talk, if I see points, I am running away.





I would rather have a period of time to purchase. If you really need support, if you are buying a big block of points, hell, buy a damn week. It is usually a single stupid question that gets asked, so I cannot see where I need to pay a lot of money for that either way. I would hope I could get an answer for free in the forum.



If I need more than that, I need to pay for a period of time for support or even if it were for a few points at a time, it would be more cost effective to buy a bulk of time, not a small points pack here and there the way points end up getting charged, lol.



40 points for crap. Must be a good job if you can get it.



Don’t think I haven’t dreamt of things to do to those … Ok, got to go to my quiet place…

What about an option of like, pay per period, 3-6 months.



but then also offer, Per Incident…



Just like if you call Microsoft or whoevever, if its a one time call, its a certain price…



or maybe have a price list of types of calls…



and have a base price per type of call…



Just a thought…I agree with Mark, if you have ONLY points, I will most likely (99%) never use that service and may look elsewhere for cart systems.

I think that the more options the cart users are given, the better for the users and CS-Cart.



I personally would like the following support options in order of preference:



1.) free support (up to x number of incidents per repeating time period)

example: x free incidents per year



2.) paid support per period (after free incidents are used)

example: x dollars per year/quarter/month



3.) paid support per incident with a varied price structure for various support needs (as an alternative to per period support)

example: x dollars per incident of class A / y dollars per incident of class B / etc.



I generally do not use support unless there is a major problem. I would much prefer to help and be helped via a method like support forums. I would like to see CS-Cart be more interactive on the forums when there are issues. That way, when more than one individual has a similar issue, they can find an answer on the forums.

I agree with Com, excellent post.

[quote name=‘compernicus’]I think that the more options the cart users are given, the better for the users and CS-Cart.



I personally would like the following support options in order of preference:



1.) free support (up to x number of incidents per repeating time period)

example: x free incidents per year



2.) paid support per period (after free incidents are used)

example: x dollars per year/quarter/month



3.) paid support per incident with a varied price structure for various support needs (as an alternative to per period support)

example: x dollars per incident of class A / y dollars per incident of class B / etc.



I generally do not use support unless there is a major problem. I would much prefer to help and be helped via a method like support forums. I would like to see CS-Cart be more interactive on the forums when there are issues. That way, when more than one individual has a similar issue, they can find an answer on the forums.[/quote]



I like this, It is more of a choice now, cscart can live and make a living, pluse we do not feel pressured one way or the other, have support if we need it, if there is a rash of questions, it turns into a paid service and I have no issue with that either.



Rock on, cscart, this is the best solution here, as it holds a little of everything for everyone and we all go home happy with it.

Kudos to Com! CS-Cart… what do you think? When will you make your big announcement? Hopefully soon as I noticed there is a day timer in my HelpDesk area now… down to 29 days! Anyone else seen this in their HelpDesk?

The current system works, I agree it should be extended past 30 days, mabye 90. More importantly, I think cs-cart’s many features could be documented better. I think the documentation available is very good, but there a lot of gaps and holes that could be filled and would reduce the number if tickets.



I also think the forum should be emphasized. There should be more user to user based support. I don’t think you should have to be a license holder to post or even read the forum. I had a few questions when I was using the demo that probably could have been answered here if I could have just read the forum. I don’t know how many cs-cart owners are out there, but there are not many users on the forum and I think the need for a license just to read is detracting new customers. I don’t see anything posted in here you wouldn’t want the general public not to read.



When searching the forum now for answers, there are often few or no responses many peoples questions. Having an established and busy forum creates a searchable database of tech which will also reduce ones dependancy on cs-cart for their support. Most of my tickets to support have been functionality questions where the documentation and forum was insufficient.

I think in my opinion you need to enlarge the technical support I bought my CS cart only a view months ago but I only could start to work on it this week and now i have problems with my skin configuration and my technical support is expired ( 1 month! ) i’m not a programmer and now i don’t know what to do, you need to think too that some people we try to make a living trying new business online, i can’t start to open the store untill the configuration is done so… i’m stucked.



Life time support ok, i understand that is not possible but at least one year plus an upgrade fee per year like other scripts does.



Thank’s

why do so many people have problems skinning their store? What is it you are tying to do that you need help with?

I go for Support service payed by period. However, I think that some issues that may relate to bugs and so on should still be looked at (I’m not too sure on your policy for these type of queries).



Simon

A software publisher’s attitude toward support is something I consider when I’m choosing which title I’m going to buy. I like companies that are confident enough in their product to take on the support burden as opposed to companies that aren’t so quality oriented and can’t seem to keep up with the volume of calls they’re getting.



The way I see it, support is a double edged sword. On one side there’s genuine issues that should be covered by free support until the end of time, (or at least to the end of the versions lifecycle). These issues are commonly known as bugs. Management should fix bugs at their expense. IMO, if you take my money for a product, it should work. All my life I’ve lived by this philosophy, “Don’t judge a person by whether they make a mistake, judge them by what they do to correct it.” Since there hasn’t been a perfect individual walking on this planet for over 2,000 years, I don’t expect perfection from anyone. But when I blow it for one of my customers, I’ll move heaven and Earth to fix it.



The other side of the sword can’t be ignored though. “Do I single click or double click”? If people don’t know what they’re doing a support staff can be overwhelmed with issues that are not related to the product they’re selling. Every company that supports its own software spends a huge amount of time answering questions, or helping people on the phone, with problems they didn’t create. Again, IMO, the software publisher has an obligation to provide enough documentation, (or otherwise), for a user to learn their program. Better doc’s equal less total support time per cutomer.



So what do I suggest? For starters, there has to be a reasonable time limit for “free” support. 1 month ain’t gonna cut it IMO, but 6 months for something as straight forward as this cart seems to be a bit much to saddle the publisher with. My vote is for 90 days, commencing from the date of the install. But there needs to be a legitimate way for CS-C to charge for installing the program. Nor should they be responsible for someone screwing up their install and submitting a ticket with the expectation they can get the problem fixed for free.



CS-C can save themselves a TON of time and support expense by going and visiting my buddy over at DemoDemo.com, and paying him to work up a set of movies on how to do just about anything with the cart. Companies that make these movies available to their customers see a huge drop off on support requests. Put em up on the website for all the world to see and they will help you with sales as well. Most of the support issues can be handled by sending the link to the corresponding “How-to” movie.



Beyond that, treat every support request on it’s merits. Bugs and confusing procedures are more the publishers responsibility, well documented usability issues are justifiably chargeable. We use a web hosting program called H-Sphere for our customers. I’ve had it for years and love it. I’m also long past my ‘free’ support deadline, but I’ve had times where it was necessary for them to go into my server and fix something. They’ve never charged me, but I’ve never sent them a user issue either.



In summary, make quality products, own up to your mistakes and fix them, give users the best methods for learning on their own, and recognize that it’s bad business to invest resources to support issues that aren’t your fault.



Cheers,

Mike