A note of appreciation

["Steve Crutchfield" scrutch@xxxxxxxx]

I know this may be off topic, but if it is, so be it.

I want ot express my appreciation to Anne Putnam for participating in
this list and responding to our somewhat grumpy complaints.  I find
it astonishing that the head of a software firm would take the time to
respond to user's concerns, and actually CHANGE things based on our
input (such as, the RTF filter issue).

I work in a large agency for the U.S. Governement. We have site
licenses for literally hundreds of copies of Microsoft products. We
pay thousands and thousands of dollars a year in fees for technical
support. Microsoft, with all its wealth and all its clout, has been
nowhere NEAR as responsive to my agency's problems as Anne and her
staff have been. We've reported serious flaws in Microsoft products
which have caused wholesale destruction of our LANS and systems, only
to get a "we're so big, we don't HAVE to care about you unless you
fork up more money" response from them.

I, for one, have grown fond of Nota Bene, and am willing to give Anne
and her company the benefit of the doubt and to work with them to
improve the product.

Just my two cents worth.

We now return control of the list to the usual set of curmudegeons
(tongue planted FIRMLY in cheek).

Steve Crutchfield

>>>  12/15 4:47 PM >>>
In a message dated 12/15/99 11:26:54 AM Eastern Standard Time,
Michael Norman
writes:

> I too get no replies to e-mail, not from Tech support or from Anne
Putnam,
> to whom I sent a private e-mail.

Dear Michael:

I am sorry that I haven't respond to you until now. The only e-mails
from
you addressed to me personally are both dated Monday, December 13,
and I was
out of the office Monday and Tuesday this week. However, I did
forward your
e-mails to Steve Semple, who directs (very capably, I might add) our
tech
support department and general operations. Yesterday, Steve sent me
an
e-mail with the first two pages of his response to your technical
questions,
and a note that he was still investigating some of the other
questions. We
still plan to respond today -- two days after I received your
e-mail.

With regard to the responsiveness of our tech support department to
your
other earlier inquiries, I quote from Steve's forthcoming e-mail to
you:

"According to our records, you sent technical support
(technicalsupport@xxxxxxxx) an e-mail on December 6th and spoke
with
Matthew Klaassen on December 10th about the questions in that e-mail.
 We,
therefore, did not respond to the December 6th e-mail in writing.
Your next
e-mail contact with us was on December 10th, when you sent me an
e-mail
(ssemple@xxxxxxxx). I was about to respond to that e-mail
yesterday when
Anne Putnam brought your additional questions (posted to the XyWrite
List) to
my attention. I then decided to send you this single general
response now.
Based on these records, our response time more or less fits into what
we
consider the normal time it takes to respond to e-mailed questions --
given
the complexity of the issues raised."

I am sorry that you are not entirely pleased with our tech support.
We
certainly want to do everything we can to meet the needs of our
customers.

Our tech support department tells me that we are seeing quite a few
questions
from XyWrite users that deal with customization and XPL programs
and/or that
require a knowledge of one of the XyWrite programs. Our tech support
people
are familiar with NB DOS which is similar to XyDOS in many respects,
but they
are not directly trained in any of the XyWrite programs. While Nota
Bene is
in a position to support the program we have produced, I cannot
assure you
that we will be able to answer all questions regarding XPL programs
written
by others, complex issues that arise from individual customizations
(these
problems may be very difficult for us to duplicate) or questions that
require
an in depth knowledge of XyWrite (as distinct from Nota Bene)
programs. As
you noted in your e-mail: "it once again underscores the value of
this list."
 I couldn't agree more. I am sure that there are many on this list
who know
much more about XPL and customizing the program than our technicians
do.
This list is certainly an invaluable resource.

However, I do think that Steve Semple is doing a thorough job of
responding
to the technical questions that you have asked so far. Since you
posted
these questions on the list, we will also post Steve's responses as
soon as
they are ready. I hope that they are helpful to you and to others.


Notwithstanding a somewhat bumpy road in getting started with Nota
Bene, I
hope we will be able to answer your questions to your satisfaction
and that
you will be able to use the program in a way that fulfills your needs
and
expectations.

Please feel free to contact either me or Steve if you have further
questions.

Anne Putnam
President, Nota Bene Associates, Inc.
aputnam@xxxxxxxx
or anneputnam@xxxxxxxx
www.notabene.com
1-800-452-6733
212-334-0445