Re: TTG. . .You Win! I Admit It! -Reply

[campbelc@xxxxxxxx (Carter Campbell)]

September 13, 1995

Mr. Frank;

KF>When you observed "[n]or will I even mention the audible attitude
KF>shift after I mentioned my name to the tech and sales desk..." I
KF>can only say that if this is typical of the way you communicate
KF>with our people, I am not surprised.

No Mr. Frank, it is not.

KF>It would be much more helpful to me, and I suspect it would get
KF>you a more receptive ear from our staff, if you could deal with
KF>us with the same level of respect you would like for yourself.

I have tried to be courteous, polite, and patient in the past and
I have only been ignored because of it. When I first purchased XyWrite
4 from you, I sent several faxes to your technical support, I
wrote letters, I left messages on your BBS, I called down on the
phone and got lost in that horror you called a voice mail system.
 I honestly tried to keep my correspondance civil, but I NEVER
received a return phone call, a letter, a fax, or a message on
your BBS answering my questions.

As time went on, I found the only way to attract any attention or
receive ANY answers from your company was to get progressively louder.
 And I did. I started to telephone you personally, but I was
never able to get through, you were always in a meeting or some other thing.
 Instead, I spoke mainly to Jeff Ramsy (and sometimes Nichole Lane in
TechSupp). I sent him faxes, BBS messages and called him
personally. Again, nothing was ever really settled and I
continued to be brushed off.

ONE YEAR after I had ordered Orbis, I had still not received it
and during that time, I was never told what the status of my
order was until I was able to beat my way through your voice mail
and corner somebody. Actually, Mr. Frank, I think you will find
that I am a very patient and understanding person when I am know what is going on. All
I have ever really asked from you people it help solving some
technical problems and the status of my orders. This isn't much.

Now, I want to say that I don't feel that this is an appropriate
means by which I should conduct correspondance with your company,
but past experience has proven that it is the ONLY means by which
you will talk to me. Furthermore, I don't really think I SHOULD
have to talk this way to get a answer out of you people.
Ignoring customers with technical problems does not make them go
away, it only frustrates them.

You know, I don't know why I spend so much time and energy trying
to communicate with The Technology Group, I should simply walk
away and forget you even exist. But I don't. I suppose it is
because of product loyalty, I truly do like XyWrite and the great
potential it has. As for my discourteous behaviour in
communications, I can only say that perhaps you might think that
I AM FRUSTRATED! And I am insulted.

If you wish, I can send you copies of my written correspondence
to prove my point, but I will start you off with the dates of
some of the faxes that I sent down to you.

   March 23, 1993  to Jeff Ramsy
   May 15, 1993   to Technical Support
   June 10, 1993   to Technical Support
   November 24, 1993 to Technical Support
   March 15, 1994  to Jeff Ramsy
   April 15, 1994  to Jeff Ramsy

If you wish copies of my messages left on your BBS, letters
written to
TTG, or old email, please let me know. However, it will take
more time to do this, as I have to go through my archives and dig
them up.

KF>First, if you have been trying for over 4 years to get your
KF>software working correctly I have no idea what program you were
KF>working with. XyWrite 4.0 was not released until February, 1993,
KF>and Orbis was not released until the end of 1993.

Consider it overtime for the amount of labour I have spent
working on getting updates and answers to my questions.

KF>As to your subtle inquiry "Why in the HELL does XyWrite demand
KF>that it MUST go into Page-Line view when it encounters a table?"
KF>the short answer is it doesn't.

Well now, that is strange. You see I have tried to solve this
little problem on five different computers, using DRDOS 5.0 &
6.0, NWDOS 7.0,
MSDOS 5.0 & 6.20, and OS/2. Furthermore, I have tried running it
under plain vanila DOS, under Desqview, and under (and I shutter
at the thought) Windows 3.1x. I always get the same results.

KF>I created a 165k file with 2 columm tables in it. I had absolutely
KF>no trouble going from top to bottom of file in Draft View. Of
KF>course the column tables do not display in Draft view.

Do you mean that you created two tables or two tables containing
two columns? The reason I ask this is that the tables I have
imbedded in my file contain 5 and 6 columns. This may be the cause, I don't know.
 What I do know is that when I open a file with a multi-columned
table in it, and then move across that table, XyWrite goes to
Page-Line mode, no exceptions.

KF>If you would like to upload the file to us we would be happy to
KF>look at it. I am not aware of any bugs related to this particular
KF>issue.

Unfortunately, I would be fired if I did, so I won't. However, I
have been over that file with a fine toothed comb many times.

KF>Your observation "How nonsensical of me to assume that you might
KF>want to stabilize and continue to develop the DOS product..." is
KF>way off the mark in my mind. The mere existence of Version 4.017
KF>is clear evidence that we have continued to work on this product,
KF>to respond to reported bugs, and to improve it where possible.

Then perhaps I could suggest (again) that you keep us informed of
the changes to new products and happenings of the company. I
think you will ultimately find that I acutally am on your side.

KF>No, DOS is not our strategic direction, but I daresay no other
KF>manufacturer continues to release maintenance upgrades of its DOS
KF>product at all, much less 17 of them over a 2 1/2 year period.

This is not true. There are many companies that supply DOS
upgrades to their product, some of them are your direct
competitors. You should look around a little more.

I have made a decission to try to stay away from Windows as it is
unstable, among other things and I would think that there are
others like me. Since DOS programmes are generally more stable,
I would hope to see continued development in that direction.

KF>Finally, as to Orbis, while the current version is not perfect,
KF>many of our users make daily use of it and find it quite
KF>serviceable. Again, if you have particular problems that are not
KF>addressed by Tech Support, please let me know.

I have never been able to get it to work and have asked for help
on many occasions. Instead of answers, I get told that many of
your users do find it serviceable. This is not really an answer,
is it? To put it simply, it doesn't work for me! It blows up,
it hangs my computer, it exits from XyWrite, it doesn't work! I
have tried altering my computer configuration, I have tried
different computers, nothing seems to work.

Also, by the term "serviceable", I assume that it doesn't really
work, only kind of works. Is this correct? Why should I try to
limp by with a broken product? So, one more time. Is any work
being done and fixing Orbis and if so, how far along is it and
when can we expect a working copy?

Thank you

Carter Campbell campbelc@xxxxxxxx carterc@xxxxxxxx
Calgary Alberta
Canada