Should you call Microsoft for support?

Antares686 SSC Guru Points: 125444 More actions · Answer 3

Forutnately I have not had any issues finding the information either online or within the stupid mistake I made, so I have never had to call. I also, know several people at the location in Charlotte, NC so I can usually put it under the radar if it really bugs me. But on a few occasions another developer here has had to call and he just in general hates it, mostly OS related stuff tends to get drawn out as they want to do all kinds of tests first, which seems to be where the problem is always coming from. We also have an MS account rep we can hit with technical questions and have passed along to the engineers. So I have bennifits in that area being with sucha large Corp.

As for looking up on the web, the best tool I have found has been WebFerret, which not too long ago was bought out by CNet. It allows you to search multiple search sites at one time. I just use the freeware version and have been very happy. You can find out more here http://www.ferretsoft.com/

cppwiz SSCarpal Tunnel Points: 4036 More actions · Answer 4

I wonder how many people use the web site instead of calling ? What is the disadvantage in using the web site ? Would your manager perceive the issue as a lesser priority if you used the web site instead of calling ?

Steve Jones - SSC Editor SSC Guru Points: 734418 More actions · Answer 5

We almost always use the websites (Google, TechNet, MSDN) first. A fair amount of senior people here, so we solve most problems in house, but we're also cutting edge with lots of MS stuff (being a software vendor), so we find bugs. We were one of the first Exchange 2000 sites, and as we converted from 5.5, found lots of bugs. We also have over 200 SQL Servers plus over 1500 Personal/MSDE installations, so we get lots of opportunities to find problems that no one has noticed on the web.

We call when we can't find an answer or it needs to be solved quickly and we get stumped. It's hard to quantify when to call, since it's mostly a judgement call that comes with experience. Over time I've learned to "feel" what might be a bug and what might be our fault. Try not to call when it's our fault

Of course, when I get exceptions or page errors in SQL, I usually call. Don't want to lose data and can't afford to trust someone's personal web site for digging into the internals of SQL Server.

Steve Jones

cppwiz SSCarpal Tunnel Points: 4036 More actions · Answer 6

I should clarify that I meant using Microsoft's web site to open the case versus calling Microsoft. The price difference ($99 vs. $245) might be worth it if you receive the same priority and case escalation, but what has been your experience with Microsoft's online system ? Would using Microsoft's online system slow down the resolution of the case or be perceived as a less-than-urgent need for support ?

For those of us with less than 200 SQL Servers, the price can be a factor and might get questioned. Sometime in the future I might need the justification for spending the extra $146 dollars of the company's money. Thanks !

Steve Jones - SSC Editor SSC Guru Points: 734418 More actions · Answer 7

Never used the $99 option. In my last job, I used the $250 option, one was a bug, no charge, one was help fixing corruption.

At this job, we're a Premier partner, so the charge is different. We have an MS rep, so things go smoother.

I know that $250 seems like a bug number. I know if I'm paying it is. However, if you make $50,000 a year, you make about $200 a day. If you've got something that will eat up more than a day of your time, it might be worth paying. Also, if it's beyond you and is causing downtime, then you might need to just call. Having 3 or 4 people unable to work can very, very quickly go beyond $250.

Steve Jones

markrupp Valued Member Points: 56 More actions · Answer 8

Overall, I've been very happy with Microsoft support. I considered the web support option for $99 but when I questioned them on it, the turnaround time to respond to my questions would most likely be the next day and I didn't want to drag it out.

It is very important that the database be available during the day. Spending the $245 and getting the problem fixed ASAP, is well worth it considering how much downtime would cost us.

Ferguson SSCertifiable Points: 5837 More actions · Answer 9

I've had the unusual luck to need to call them twice in one week so I'll offer two datapoints plus some past perspective.

We had a raid-5 set fail, two drives went within 2 hours of each other (and at night, and 1 hour before that day's backup). We got them back online, but some data was corrupt. I wanted to try to recover one database where the log was on that drive, and also clean up replication since the distribution database was on that drive and was hosed. I probably could have figured all this out, but there were quirks, and we were under the gun.

I called Microsoft, and reached someone competent for replication on the first try (Ananth Shenoy - Thank you). But he suggested we work on recovery first, got me to some other team. In about 30 minutes we had the data recovered and validated, and back to Anath. Ran into another data recovery issue, back to another team, another person, same result -- quickly got an answer. Back to Anath, in another 15 minutes or so we had replication all cleaned up (lots of quirks, wizards that wouldn't run, etc.).

I know a lot of the stuff we did is documented in usenet and a lot even here, but it would have taken many hours to search out all of it, and I got it in one quick package for $245. Money well spent.

Incident #2 was yesterday and was not quite as good, but still worked. After the slammer patch (whether because of?) we had a database start giving an access violation and crashing. Reinstalled SP2, still died, patch, still died, went to SP3, still died. Called Microsoft. Sent them the database (about 250Meg so practical), they were a bit slow to reproduce (took overnight) but they did. Kudos for that. But their answer was, by trial and error, find one index that could be rebuilt that worked around the problem. incidentally, the index was not corrupt (per CHECKDB).

Now that got the heat off, I appreciated it, it solved my immediate problem, but it was kind of disappointing with a reproducable SQL Server crash they didn't have a more methodical approach to resolving the problem. But... results count, and we are now running again, and we had no workaround ourselves. This was a 3rd party application and we needed to run that query as part of that job to get production gone.

Money well spent (and I may yet get that fee waived once they agree it was a bug).

I've had sufficiently good experience that I now never hesitate to call Microsoft BECAUSE i think they will not solve the problem. I only hesitate to think "is it worth $245".

I can't say that about most other companies. Before Digital went under to Compaq, they were my favorite software vendor, and I still would hesitate to call them because (despite paying for premium support) it was getting to the point where you knew your time was wasted and no solution was forthcoming -- too high a percentage of idiots answering the phone.

I've probably had 10% of my Microsoft calls answered by that class of people, where the call drifted off, never resolved, never followed up until I yelled. But 90% that were is an astounding ratio in today's support-less market.

Steve Jones - SSC Editor SSC Guru Points: 734418 More actions · Answer 10

Thanks for the docs. I've got the similar philosphy. After working in this business for 13 years, MS has great support. I usually only call when it's a weird situation and I need it working. I tend to blow by Level I, usually Level II support as well and move the Level III, which is great.

Hopefully you've had your situations for the year .

Steve Jones

susanzeller Newbie Points: 2 More actions · Answer 11

A few months ago I used the web option because it was much cheaper. It was handled very fast. I was most impressed. They ended up calling me because they thought they needed to, but the price was still the web price. Very competent responses.

quote:
I should clarify that I meant using Microsoft's web site to open the case versus calling Microsoft. The price difference ($99 vs. $245) might be worth it if you receive the same priority and case escalation, but what has been your experience with Microsoft's online system ? Would using Microsoft's online system slow down the resolution of the case or be perceived as a less-than-urgent need for support ?
For those of us with less than 200 SQL Servers, the price can be a factor and might get questioned. Sometime in the future I might need the justification for spending the extra $146 dollars of the company's money. Thanks !

Steve Jones - SSC Editor SSC Guru Points: 734418 More actions · Answer 12

Thanks for the update. Will have to keep that in mind.

Steve Jones