"Bill Drake" wrote in message
...
D.Currie wrote:
Personally, I'd like to see some way to enforce the rule that OEMs
have to support the software. Or maybe lose the ability to sell OEM.

There is no way to enforce this rule. It is always possible for the
unethical provider to come up with a plausible excuse for non-support.


As a small system builder, my customers can come in and ask me
questions face-to-face, and that's fine. Or they'll call. But I also
get plenty of calls from people who have bought from the big guys,
and they can't get an answer.

And as a result, the unethical providers are dumping their support
costs on your back -- increasing their profits at your expense. Their
shareholder dividends are the direct result of your altruism -- and this
is a very conscious and deliberate policy on their part IMO.



Then there are the people who sell the oem software with trinkets,
and have no intention or ability to answer questions.

See above. Another example of the same. You've just described
simply a more-obvious example...


I don't mind answering customer's questions, and even the not-yet
customers -- I figure some day I will get their business.

No. Many customers are just as unethical as the abovementioned
providers. They'll rape you and leave you freezing -- pay you 5 cents
on the dollar and scream with outrage at that -- and drive your
business into the ground.

Save your time and energy for clients who come to you straight-out
looking for value and willing to pay a fair price in the first place.
These are the only people worth your time and energy.



But it does irritate me that others shirk the responsibility to give
the technical support they're supposed to. They aren't footing the
cost for proper support, so they sell their stuff cheap, which is
fine for the customer until they need help. And in the meantime, I'm
providing free tech support in the hopes that I'll get work from that
person in the meantime.

You're a fool to give these people the time of day.


The advice I offer on the phone costs me as little as what responding on
these newsgroups does. And the ones on the phone have the potential of
becoming customers. Actually I've gotten quite a few customers who've come
in for service after calling, since some people, even with instruction, are
skittish about doing certain things with their computer. And I have quite a
number of customers who ignore their warranty and bring the computer to me
for repair. Or I diagnose they problem, they get parts under warranty, and I
replace them. So it's not all bad.

As far as the enforceability of it, there's no way they could get all of the
ones who don't provide support, but they could crack down on the most
blatant offenders. And you'd think it would be easy for them to muscle
companies like Dell and Gateway and the like. When people call for support
and day, "Dell won't help me" they've got the evidence right there.

Of course, they won't do it, but it would be nice.