[quote name='CS-Cart Support']We will contact you at the first opportunity. However, I am afraid that our technical support department is loaded heavily at the moment. You should expect our answer not earlier than in 2-3 business days. We apologize for any possible inconveniences.
Thank you.[/quote]
When this didn't exist?
I have used CS-Cart and submitted bug fix requests and various other issues for more than 2 years now and this has always been the response, each and every time.
Why not offer a paid premium support service, on hand, 24/7?
StellarBytes, there was a time when they didn't have this auto responder. I wonder if they are still “loaded heavily” or if they just kept the auto responder.
I agree with you about the paid support. I would do it.
Adam
When I first started with CS-Cart 3.5 years ago, you didn't see this auto-response very much. Once I got set up and running, I pretty much ran on autopilot for a couple of years. Then I upgraded to version 3 this February and have needed to contact support more. I have seen this auto response quite a bit, but I think there have been a few times when I've gotten a decent response time.
The auto-responder with “We will contact you at the earliest opportunity” certainly is frustrating if you have a pressing problem and I would definitely be willing to pay extra for an premium level of support.
It is a developer run company. The CEO is also a developer. Hence little things like support take back seat to devellopment and when it's time to test new features/products, it's the helpdesk that gets the job rather than a QA department.
Most of us already pay for support that we don't get. I.e. support credits are taken even after waiting 5 days to get a question answered. However, in most cases there is no alternative so you're pretty much stuck. If you live in the US, you get one response a day and it can take several days just to get someone to understand what you're asking.
It's sad but it is what it is. As time goes on, the internals become more and more complex with zero documentation on how to use internal functionality (I'll use the Settings class as an example). So like me, you probably spend hours and hours trying to answer your own questions by researching the code only to give up sometimes and rely on the helpdesk. If it's a real technical question, they will then pass you along to a developer who will give you some obtuse response and future communication will usually go unanswered.
Cs-cart (and I've been telling them this for years) needs 2 things:
- They need true technical support for developers (but they really don't want development competition).
- They need 7x24x365 support even if it's at a premium (but it shouldn't be). The profess to offer an international product but only offer support during banker hours in Russia.