Concerns about this product

[Joseph_Bens]

Hi,

Having just purchased Backup exec 11d with various licenses for eight servers, I find I've spent a significant amount of money on it. So I expected it to work.

Only during install, I'm told my license keys aren't valid.

So I spent 106 minutes on hold to the licensing hotline, only to be informed by a woman I can only describe as blatantly rude that I should go open a support case.

My support case costs me $120 to open. I list it as "priority, urgent" and am guaranteed a callback in 2-3 hours.

I never get a call. I get an email. I get an email 27 hours after I lodged the emergency support call. An email from "noreply@symantec.com", featuring no contact details, basically states:

"Hi, I see you have case open with us. Please let me know if you are still experiencing the issue.
Note: If you do not reply in 24 hours, this case will be marked as 'closed'".

Less than an hour later, I receive an email indicating my case was "closed" due to lack of reply from myself.

I call your support line again. Go through the motions of insisting that I talk to someone in management. My request is denied. I am told I need to PAY ANOTHER $120 TO OPEN ANOTHER SUPPORT CALL. I call my product supplier. I'm informed that they have stopped supplying the product, due to this issue, and can only recommend I continue trying to contact Symantec.

I have used Backup Exec ever since version 7 on many, many servers, and been responsible for many purchases. Now I'm being told that every purchase basically needs $120 added on top of it for the support call that's going to be necessary to deal with the fact your licensing department can't issue working keys.

Back when I brought version 9.1, I found the issues with Service Pack 4 appalling. When I paid for support on that issue, I was informed the "fix" was top secret and should not even be written down for my own records, in that they wanted us to open a paid support case for every time I tried to apply a service pack.

Assuming the better in people, I tried to dney the possibility that Symantec were keeping the details secret purely in an attempt to force everyone with the product to continue paying support for problems Symantec themselves created.

Looking at the situation with 11d however, I'm seeing a situation which can only be described as fraudulent.

Honestly, you sell a product, which in a known clean, freshly formatted environment, will not install, and you charge for support cases to simply make it install.

I'd mention I would have bought a Gold support contract if only previous experience didn't show that your support staff had noone who spoke English.

I want to do business with you.
Tell me how I can get a working backup without taking my business elsewhere.

[Philip_Pearson]

http://www.symantec.com/enterprise/support/assistance_information.jsp

Will give you the link for licencing support, it is a pain in the *rse and you are not alone.

If that fails contact your vendor, they sold it to you.

[Joseph_Bens]

Hi Philip,

Looking around, I see you have made a similar response to many posts.

Reading my original message, I had already contacted licensing, and it proved futile. I have contacted them again, and after most of the day in hold, I'm convinced nobody there knows enough English to convey anything more than the fact they don't see it as their problem, and I should go open another paid support case.

The bigger problem is noone in India answering phones has ever seen anything as modern as a PC, and don't have a hope in hell of supporting this product.

I've gone back to my vendor, and they've agreed to give me my money back- stating that option is easier for them than them trying to deal with Symantec over this issue. They state it's happened to pretty much every copy they've sold, and just won't deal with it.

It makes me look bad to management when a product I recommended ends up being returned for failure to ever become operable, so I'm really trying to avoid this.

If I don't get any joy soon I may be left with no alternative however.

[Philip_Pearson]

There is a thread in this forum about alternatives you can look at. If you need more sophistication such as exchange backup etc try arcserve, a lot of people knock that also but I've had not real issues with it, bit of a prick to install but very robust when going.