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Poll: Have You Ever Called Microsoft for Windows Support

R

Ryan Smith

The New Boss
Staff member
Your friendly neighborhood AT editor here;

I'm taking a poll for an upcoming article and need some respondents. If you have purchased a retail desktop version of Windows*, have you ever contacted (phone/chat/email) Microsoft for support, excluding activation? And if you have, could you please tell us what you called for and if they were able to solve the problem.

I'm trying to get an idea of how often techies like the people on this forum actually use their support options, as opposed to troubleshooting it themselves or using forums. I'm particularly interested in Vista responses, since MS cut the free support period from 2 incidents forever, to unlimited incidents within 90 days of installation. I'll let you guys know what it's about once the article goes up.🙂

* Since OEMs should be providing their own support
 
No, but then I have a Dell and a Toshiba .. so both are OEM XP
Not that the pc makers would be of any help anyway.
 
You may want to clarify your poll to distinguish between the no's that actually own a retail license and those that don't (if that's what you're actually trying to find out). The OP spells it out pretty clearly, but, just sayin'...

Anyway, no, though I own a retail Vista Business license. I also have two Premium Support Incidents or whatever from TechNet that will probably go unused 😉
 
I have called to activate, but I do not consider that as "support." And, this goes back through Win 3.11, 95, 98, 98SE, ME, NT, XP, and Vista.
 
I have also called for activation support which is always a hoot. I hate the process, the agents speak with a THICK accent, and the call quality is horrible (tons of static).
 
Originally posted by: Skeeedunt
You may want to clarify your poll to distinguish between the no's that actually own a retail license and those that don't (if that's what you're actually trying to find out). The OP spells it out pretty clearly, but, just sayin'...

Anyway, no, though I own a retail Vista Business license. I also have two Premium Support Incidents or whatever from TechNet that will probably go unused 😉
Click to expand...
Just so we're clear, I'm only after responses from people who purchased retail versions of Windows. If it was an OEM version or came preinstalled on a computer then it doesn't quality for free support in the first place, and I can't imagine a statistically significant number of people here have shelled out the $59 for a paid support call.

And for the 3 people who have answered "yes" I'd really appreciate a description of what your support request was about.
 
Retail, Vista - 32bit Ultimate, then a short while later switching to 64. No, I did not call MSFT for any support. Rather, I figured it out myself. Buy the book. Read the book. Apply Common sense. When you get pissed off, go mow the lawn or something and try again later.


Quite frankly, having called MSFT for support back in the early XP days (when I had a retail licence for *that* OS), I learned then that's it's better to not bother. Haven't been back to The Well since. If I can't figure it out on my own by looking up hex codes at support.microsoft.com, then I'll hit up a forum somewhere. At one time, Plan B was to dump it onto a local tech and let him figure it out. But sadly, the art of surgical software repair is apparently no longer taught. And since I can reformat, reinstall, and destroy all my data just as well any anyone else... :laugh: And not have to give someone else the hundred bucks to do it - there's no plan B any more. 😉

 
Originally posted by: Ryan Smith
And for the 3 people who have answered "yes" I'd really appreciate a description of what your support request was about.
Click to expand...
My call was about activation support. I have retail licenses for Windows XP Home, Pro, and x64. I've never needed technical support from them.
 
When you compare it to others MS has the best support, I know some guys have difficulty in understanding some of their accents but on the other hand they are dead helpful and extremely well trained. My Vista discs were broken when it had arrived I called them and they definitely took their time to verify my retail license, finally they sent a free replacement copies with product key via express mail. So anyway I've got 2 working Ultimate retail keys now 😀 don't wanna risk it again.
 

No, I haven't...

The ONLY time I've called anybody for tech support was when I was running 3 NEC quad CD changers and their DOS drivers would only recognize 10 drive letters not 12.

They asked, "Why would anybody run 3 changers?" then hung up on me...

LoL!

True story... 😉
 
I find it faster to just google the problem then to call Microsoft for support. So far I have not needed to ask Microsoft for help since I always seem to find the answer I need myself.
 
I've never called MS for support, and rarely have I called tech support for any product. When I do, its usually because I've already confirmed said product as faulty and need an RMA.
 
Originally posted by: Ryan Smith
And for the 3 people who have answered "yes" I'd really appreciate a description of what your support request was about.
Click to expand...


Er...

I *think* they were probably kidding!

Who would admit to such a thing - asking MS for help?!?!?
 
never have, before i did everything myself i went to a local shop for help
now i either search online to cure my ills or hit up the helpful forums here.
 
Win95 Retail:
For a retail copy of Windows 95 upgrade, I once called to tell them I lost the disc and key, but still had the box and manual, and they said I could get a spare for a fee of $10 to $20 (don't remember exactly) so I did that.

Win2k OEM:
And I had to call them once for an a bundled win2k problem I had, according to the ms online help database there was a file I needed to DL and had HAD to call MS to get it. I did call them but he said the file was unnecessary b/c I had already upgraded to sp4 which included a newer version of this file. We discussed other options to solve the problem but nothing he suggested made a difference, and so I didn't have to pay for support (this was MS Japan). I solved the problem by formatting and reinstall
 
Originally posted by: VirtualLarry
Call support? WHY? When you have bsobel, stash, smilin, and a few other very helpful characters here on the AT forums?
Click to expand...

I work for MS support 😛

I do escalations for the enterprise customers with premier contracts tho. I'll get the occassional paid professional ($245/incident?) escalation.

To answer the op (with some likely bias):
I've called consumer support before on a Vista issue. I have unbelievably high expectations that are based on Premier support. That said I found the techs to be reasonably good. They have access to a lot of information that the public doesn't so it helps them a great deal. The knowledgebase you see on support.microsoft.com comprises maybe 5% of the data they can search. Their peer and mentor resources are vast as well.

On the downside It's pretty clear that the consumer support guys don't have the raw troubleshooting kung-fu that the enterprise guys have. If they get to the limit of what they can search for in the knowledge base they lose traction pretty quickly. Best to ask for an escalation when you sense this happening. They are tenacious though. Cases are NOT to be closed until the customer is satisfied with the outcome (that's like a get-yourself-fired thing). Careers live and die on the random satisfaction surveys.

All in all I think our consumer support is above the industry average. The enterprise stuff (heavy bias here) is arguably the best available anywhere.


edit: PS I don't call in with easy problems...my issue did not get solved. Turned out to be a previously unknown bug in Vista. I filed the bug the next week at work and it got fixed in SP1.
 
I have only ever called on a USB mouse problem (defective mouse) and Windows activation (called for my father who could not understand the english as a second or 9th language call center person he had reached when he called first.)

Problem solved by giving me a new product on the mouse; and my younger, non Pat Riley influenced ears helped get his Windows activated.
 
this poll is not taking something into account... optimism...
I have contacted MS for support because i decided to give them the benefit of the doubt and that they MIGHT be able to help... i was disappointed with rudimentary and unhelpful canned advice which took significantly longer for the tech to walk me through than when i had done them on my own, and at the end my problem was unsolved and i was told they cannot help. I read up online and fixed my own problems, and I have never contacted them again.

So i think you should ask... has technical support ever helped you solve an issue.
 
Never from a retail perspective. At a corporate level, yes a couple of times. Very rare I or someone on my team cannot figure out a problem.
 
Originally posted by: taltamir
So i think you should ask... has technical support ever helped you solve an issue.
Click to expand...
Here's a twist for you...

I recently called Tech Support, where I'm employed.

I share a machine with several other ppl, and one of my fellow workers deleted Lotus Notes. Hello?!?!?

I successfully reinstalled it, but had a problem recovering my user I.D. from a network folder.

Since the New Great Depression hit, my company has been migrating everyone from Lotus Notes to Microsoft Outlook, and they didn't have a clue as to what to do.

Dude, It's only been like 6 months, and Tech Support has forgotten everything they knew about Notes.

Anyway, I finally figured out what the deal was, and called them, to canel the ticket.

LoL! They asked ME (the user) to send THEM (Tech Support) an email explaining how I fixed the problem, so THEY would know how to handle the problem in the future - a complete role reversal...

Bwahahahaha! :laugh:
 
Originally posted by: soonerproud
I find it faster to just google the problem then to call Microsoft for support. So far I have not needed to ask Microsoft for help since I always seem to find the answer I need myself.
Click to expand...

Me too, typically. I do however run into trouble every now and again, which requires a call. Last one is still current: I'm waiting for a call back right now, to help with an Office 07 install into Vista Premium.
 
I tried once many years ago. The guy I talked to was an idiot and couldnt help me with the problem in win98.

6 months later a package showed up with a copy of win2k oem and a letter saying this should fix my problem. I sold the win2k for 90 bucks, score!

On the flip side I once bought a retail copy of SuSE. I called tech support and the guy walked me through setting up my printer ( this was in like 95 so cups wasnt around) in like 30 seconds. He then invited me to a help forum. I joined and never had an issue where I didnt get an answer in minutes the whole time i used the OS.

 
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