Very Computer

Just a warning to all you folks out there who are
thinking about using any of the TASKING toolsets...

Our company purchased the TASKING 251 Power Package
from Tasking a few months ago and have repeatedly
tried to contact them about problems and questions
concerning the toolset.  In particular, we have had
numerous problems with the 'DELFEE' language that
they are using for their locator program.

We used the email addresses that they supplied on
their website and have not ONCE received a response out
of the 10+ times we requested help.  A phone call to
technical support leads you to someone who doesn't
know anything about the toolset.

We just recently received a letter from them stating
that our support agreement was about to expire and
that we needed to send them $500 to keep it up-to-date.
What a JOKE!  What support have they given us?  None!

Also, the demonstration package is totally misleading.
We downloaded it and everything seemed to be very
user-friendly and robust.  BUT, after receiving the
'true' toolset, we received the older version 1.8
instead of the 'new' spiffed-up version 2.0.  

We repeatedly tried to contact our sales rep at TASKING
about getting the upgrade.  He said it would be out
at the end of March.  So, the first week of April, we
called and he said it would be out within the next
week and he would call us back.  So, we waited for
2 more weeks and finally called him back.  He then
said it would be available at the end of April and
that he would send it to us with no upgrade charge.

It is now JUNE 16th and we have not heard back
from him.

There were even times when we called him, left a
message with his voice mail, but he never returned
our calls.

I have never seen such poor customer service in my
entire career as an embedded SW developer!

Well, $2295 not well spent!  We should have chosen
Keil or COMPASS, someone local to the USA.  The TASKING
toolset we have was developed in the Netherlands...
No wonder.

Quote:>Well, $2295 not well spent!  We should have chosen
>Keil or COMPASS, someone local to the USA.  The TASKING
>toolset we have was developed in the Netherlands...
>No wonder.

But, you are right, these guys deserve to be put against the wall and
shot, when the revolution comes ;-)

BTW, a while ago I bought CD-Creator from Adaptec, which is also a
terrible piece of sh*t and their customersupport stinks as well. $180
down the drain. Bad software/support is not exclusive to the Dutch.

Best regards, Frank.

Quote:> If I was TASKING, I would ATLEAST setup an automatic email
> response system for customers.  If someone sends email to the support
> address, the Tasking server should immediately assign a unique
> support number to the request and then email this support
> request # to the customer (unless it was a reply to a previous email).

Olaf 'Olu' Pfeiffer
www.hitex.com [/olu]

The toolset seems to work 'ok' for us.  The problem is that
we are having a lot of trouble tailoring the locator description
files to our target to take full advantage of our external
memory.  With adequate tech support/help, I think we could get it
to work.

Actually, at the beginning, we did send one email to the
support.tasking.nl email address and did receive a helpful
response from them.  They told us, however, to send future
emails to the USA tech support address.  We probably should
revert over to using the NL guys since they atleast know
what's going on...

Quote:>But, you are right, these guys deserve to be put against the wall and
>shot, when the revolution comes ;-)

Quote:>BTW, a while ago I bought CD-Creator from Adaptec, which is also a
>terrible piece of sh*t and their customersupport stinks as well. $180
>down the drain. Bad software/support is not exclusive to the Dutch.

If I owned my own company (which I hope to within the next few years),
customer focus would be the top priority!  Without customers,
you don't have a business!  It's plain and simple.

I don't think that most companies these days realize how
important customer focus is to the life of the company.

If I was TASKING, I would ATLEAST setup an automatic email
response system for customers.  If someone sends email to the support
address, the Tasking server should immediately assign a unique
support number to the request and then email this support
request # to the customer (unless it was a reply to a previous email).

When the customer gets this quick response and work order #,
they'll feel like they were atleast taken seriously and that
Tasking was working on the problem.

The work order # should then be sent to a customer support
rep which would 'take the case' (so to speak) and would
review the email and respond back accordingly!

Quote:>Best regards, Frank.

Now, the likelihood of a spammer adding that prefix to the
beginning of the subject line is pretty slim.  In this case,
you would send an email informing the sender to include the
prefix, say 'Q: ...' at the beginning of the subject line
in order for their support request to be processed.  You would
also in this case NOT assign a new number.  If a legit user
sent email to support, but didn't follow the prefix guidelines,
then the return email would explain what to do...

But, of course, to make things easier, the better thing to
do would probably do what you said and NOT assign a number,
but atleast send an email back so as to not leave the customer
'hanging in the wind'...

Quote:>Olaf 'Olu' Pfeiffer
>www.hitex.com [/olu]

Before buying support demanding products, try calling and say:
"Hi, I have some technical questions on .... and I need to talk to a
support engeneer. Could you connect me to one ?"
If its impossimble now, it will be impossible later.

I thing myself this is a good idea, but it would be very interesting to
hear the view of someone who have tried it!

Hello mister A Nonymous,
Is there a reason for not giving a real name? How much should I believe
from all this, if you don't have a real name. Perhaps you're one of
those 'automatic posting machines' much like your proposal of an
automatic e-mail replier.

It gets even more confusing when I read one of your own follow-ups,
where you say:

Quote:> "The toolset seems to work 'ok' for us.  The problem is that
> we are having a lot of trouble tailoring the locator description
> files to our target to take full advantage of our external
> memory.  With adequate tech support/help, I think we could get it
> to work.

> Actually, at the beginning, we did send one email to the
> support.tasking.nl email address and did receive a helpful
> response from them.  They told us, however, to send future
> emails to the USA tech support address.  We probably should
> revert over to using the NL guys since they atleast know
> what's going on..."

If you really are from Tasking, then this just reenforces the
fact that they have bad customer service (or atleast representation
of themselves).

You should NEVER, NEVER, NEVER! EVER! EVER! slam complaints back
into a customer's face.  NEVER.  No matter WHAT a customer says,
it is totally bad customer service to argue with them.  The best
way to remedy the situation is to offer immediate assistance.

I doubt that Mr. Despomare would be very pleased with you to
see your representation of Tasking through your reply to this
thread.  You really should have just kept your mouth shut.

If Tasking really *does* have a good customer service department,
then I would expect a representative of Tasking (like yourself)
to post an apology and offer immediate assistance.

I'm not sure why Mr. A is posting anonymously, but maybe it is
because he doesn't want to embarrass his own company because
of the problems they've been having with Tasking.

One reply to the thread suggested a possible lawsuit against
Tasking.  I'm not surprised that Mr. A hasn't brought that idea
up with his superiors.

I went to the www.tasking.com homepage and noticed that Tasking
and BSO recently joined forces.  So, it appears as though maybe
the USA Tasking support team isn't up to speed yet, which is
unfortunate.

Quote:>It gets even more confusing when I read one of your own follow-ups,
>where you say:
>> "The toolset seems to work 'ok' for us.  The problem is that
>> we are having a lot of trouble tailoring the locator description
>> files to our target to take full advantage of our external
>> memory.  With adequate tech support/help, I think we could get it
>> to work.

>> Actually, at the beginning, we did send one email to the
>> support.tasking.nl email address and did receive a helpful
>> response from them.  They told us, however, to send future
>> emails to the USA tech support address.  We probably should
>> revert over to using the NL guys since they atleast know
>> what's going on..."

If you go to the www.tasking.nl homepage, it says that they
strive for excellence in customer support.  That is believable
since Mr. A has said that the NL group provided them with
helpful support.

Quote:

>I agree with you that customer focus must be a company's top priority. I
>wonder whether Tasking would reply here in this newsgroup, if you reveal
>your real name.

-J

I have used the INTERMETRICS (taken over by TASKING year ago or so) tools
for the 68000 and 68340 for almost two years now.  I did have some teething
problems but these were sorted out in good time.  I dealt primarily with
their UK office, but when some really tricky problems turned up I was rung
up by the programmers themselves, from home (presumably because of the time
difference) in the USA.  Things may have changed since the takeover but
their support was good to me.  You could mail me your problem if you like.

The views expressed here are my own and are not of my company.

We've purchased the TAsking C compiler for the Motorola DSP563xx and
had similarly horrible response from their tech support.  And I also
recently received a letter informing me that we'll have to fork over
another $500 for continued 'support'.  I hope they don't hold their
breath.  Unfortunately, excepting the GNU compiler, tasking's the
only game in town for the 563xx (and I belive 56xxx in general).
If only Motorola (or someone) could just add a few extensions to
the GNU package giving better flexibility on memory accesses and a
few other features, I think lots of people could finally be rid
of Tasking for good.

Jay Kubicky