>I'm not being critical of TUCOWS, but of the industry as
>a whole.
>
>Support is rarely a profit center, it is almost always a
>cost center.
Oh boy .... That kind of thinking can be the very source
of the problem.
Support is *ALLWAYS* an *INDIRECT* profit center.
Remember 50% of *ALL* sales in most industries is via
*WORD OF MOUTH*. I'll say it again 50%!
This is espicially true in commodities markets, which the
domain name industry currently is, where the only way
businesses can distinguish themselves is via *SUPPORT,
SERVICE, QUALITY and ACCOUNTABILITY*!
The key, IHMO, is that far too many companies do not
understand this and so do not take steps to run support
*EFFICIENTLY*. They seem to take the position that all
they need is a warm body answering the phone within 30
minutes between the hours of 8AM and 5PM in their time
zone.
Ever get a business card with the persons *HOME PHONE
NUMBER* on it? Who were you more inclined to do business
with, that person or the person whos business card *DID
NOT* provide their home phone number?
This is *EXACTLY* why I personally am willing to pay $2
-3$ extra per domain (and not have DNS, Forwarding, etc.
to boot!) to be here at Tucows / OpenSRS. I'm fed up with
the absolute *BULLSHIT* that other registrars have put me
though and then then justify this via their "rock bottom
prices" -- Sorry folks but I just could not hold that one
in!
I just hope Tucows continues to treat it's customers this
way, except for getting off their butts and fixing the
OpenSRS docs ... :-D LOL!
>So, since it doesn't make money, all you can really do is
>try to control costs, and the biggest cost is the cost of
>labor.
>
>So technical support is usually staffed as near minimum
>wage as possible. Few companies pay for actual talent.
>
>OTOH, the folks here mostly are actually in the trenches,
>doing stuff that the folks in support have only heard
>about.
>
>In all fairness, when I need OpenSRS support, it's rarely
>a technical problem, and always more of a social problem.
>
>.. or a problem with the Evil Registrar not following the
>rules.
>
>-- Lynn
>
>On Wed, 15 Jan 2003 15:35:57 -0500, Chris R Chapman
>wrote:
>>I just had to pick up on this exchange as I think it
>>illustrates a really
>>interesting paradigm:
>>
>>------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>>>You say OpenSRS doesn't support Windows? So bug OpenSRS
>>>>support. If they can't meet your needs, and you can't
>>>>code your own
>>>>solution, go elsewhere.
>>
>>>As I stated in my first post I did contact OpenSRS tech
>>>support by phone before I ever started posting here. In
>>>fact I had no idea this "forum" even existed until
>>>OpenSRS
>>>told me about it.
>>
>>>*THEY* told me to ask the question here.
>>------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>>PRECISELY!
>>
>>THIS is the triumph of "open" projects like OpenSRS; why
>>have "OpenSRS
>>Techs" at all? "They" haven't the foggiest beyond a
>>static list of yes/no
>>Q&As, so why not outsource the solution to the listserv
>>for next to no cost?
>>
>>The trouble is, they represent the sponsors of the
>>"Standard", which is by
>>no means a fait accomplis. I think it behooves them to
>>be a little more on
>>the ball when developers need assistance. I've
>>encountered the same
>>indifferent attitude when asking questions of the techs
>>as well. Stock
>>reply is "go to the listserv"-- even when its a matter of
>>pointing out
>>inconsistencies between the API documentation and their
>>own PERL scripts.
>>
>>Sure, it gives us consultants some work, but the flipside
>>is that even we
>>are stymied from time to time and with little help beyond
>>the empty chasms
>>of newsgroups and listservs where you hope to find a
>>kindred soul who can
>>lead you out of the wilderness.
>>
>>Chris R Chapman
>
>
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