Average technical support response time

[TechnoGecko]

Hello,

As our forum has grown we have moved away from phpBB to Invision Power Board, however after an issue with the forums that caused me to contact their support department I am very displeased.

First off they claim that they have support people working 24/7, which is completly inaccurate. Sure, you can email them at any time, but no one is there working the tickets at night. Further, I attempted to contact their support department during the day to have a fairly simplistic question answered, only to be told to submit a ticket. The gentlemen I spoke to was not only rude, but basically appeared to have no desire to help me at any level. "Submit a ticket and we can look in to it" was the only response I received over and over, and so when I finally asked why they even have telephone support, he said "basically so we can tell people to email us".

As if that was not bad enough, it has now been more than 72 hours without a response to my ticket, no acknowledgement that it has been looked at, or so on. I called again today for a status update, and I unfortunatley spoke to the same individual the first time who told me that he saw the ticket, and that they would get to it when they could. I asked for a timeframe, but he refused to give me one.

Sorry, but I've really lost interest in running/supporting/paying for a product from a company like that. So, my question is what are the average response times from vBulletin for technical support issues? Will the technical support staff assist in issues over the telephone, or is it strictly by email? Any additional information regarding the support options, etc would be great. I'm ready to pull the trigger on the purchase, I'd just like to hear from individuals who have dealt with support themselves.

[ManagerJosh]

If you look on http://www.vbulletin.com/, you can see the average response times. The highest I've ever seen the response time been was about 6 hrs, the lowest, about 2 minutes.

All technical support is handled via the support ticket system, and there usually is staff around the world that handles the tickets. From Hawaii, to Australia, to Europe and all across the U.S. are Jelsoft employees to handle your cares.

You also are eligible for technical support via these forums as well.


Telephone support is available, but it costs extra. Purchasing a phone support contract will provide you access to toll-free (US/Canada only) phone support from 9 - 5 PST (GMT -8), Monday to Friday during the length of your contract.

1 month $60.00
6 months $180.00
12 months $300.00

I haven't found a reason to use phone support because the time you spend dialing the number and by the time you hear someone says Hello on the end, a solution and/or reply is sitting in your inbox :D

[TechnoGecko]

Thats what I like to hear. It appears the vBulletin crew has put a good deal of resources in to their support team, which is what I like to hear.

.. and go figure, 11 minutes for a response! :)

Thanks Josh.

[TechnoGecko]

Another quick question. If purchasing a license via credit card after hours, will vBulletin be available for download immediately, or will I have to wait until morning when someone can verify it before I am able to start the download?

Due to the extensive IPB issues we are having in an ideal world I would like to cut it all over tonight if at all possible.

Thanks in advance! :)

[ManagerJosh]

Well, it all depends. If you use the WorldPay Credit Card Processor for Jelsoft, it takes up to 24hrs usually to go through as Jelsoft manually needs to approve each transactions that goes through.

If you use Metacharge Credit Card Processor for Jelsoft, I generally heard it takes up to an hr, however there's been many people reporting that by the time they click submit, and receive the Thank You Message, they had an email from the Licensing department with license details and all ready to go download.

If you use PayPal, and use credit card, possibly a small delay from time to time, but rarely. Generally is instant. If you use eCheck via PayPal, it takes several business days as the check needs to clear before license details are sent.

I believe WorldPay is the only transaction that needs human intervention. My personal recommendation is use Metacharge.

[Steve Machol]

You can use Metacharge to pay with your credit card 24/7. This only takes a few minutes.

[TechnoGecko]

Thanks AGAIN for the amazingly fast response! :D

[TechnoGecko]

Payment sent, and the license information was in my mailbox right away, just as you said! Thanks again for your quick replies - it was the immediate deciding factor in my purchase. Time to go start an install!

Again, thank you! :)

[ManagerJosh]

Great and have a blast :D

[Steve Machol]

Thanks for the purchase and welcome. :)