Parallels Customer Support - is it a myth?

B

bluelunatique

Bit poster
I've heard of people getting responses from customer support but haven't been that lucky myself. I've sent 11 messages since September 19th and made two phone calls and haven't received a response other than the automated one that says "we'll get back to you".

Maybe you need to make some sort of offering to the computer tech gods?

Maybe there is a secret handshake I'm not aware of?

Maybe Customer Support is only a facade and the requests are deleted as soon as they hit Parallels servers!?

To say that Parallels offers the worst customer service I've ever experienced would imply that it exists so I guess I can't really say that, but if it does exist then it is far and away the most disrespectful example of customer service I've come across in my 17 years of being an active online consumer.

Great work, guys!!!!!
 
Perhaps you could post your question in the appropriate technical discussion forum. Someone here may be able to help you.

I've seen a number of responses from Parallels in the forums here. My guess is that they respond when they have something to say, either in response to a bug, which they seem to want to fix (bugs seem to get top priority), or in response to a question that hasn't been asked on the forums before (search will get answers). If you haven't gotten a response, it may be because there wasn't enough information in your question to know how to help you. We haven't seen the question(s) here, so I can't tell.

If you've posted eleven requests and gotten no response, there's a reason, but on a practical level, you might do better asking us.
 
customer support, what customer support

i too have experienced Blue's pain. i started a month ago sending emails requesting help, after 7 emails and no response, i figured i'd drop the $28 bucks to talk with someone in person. no luck there either.

it's been a week, 6 phone messages, no return call or return email, and no live voices, only an automated system that allows me to leave yet another message...

has anyone been able to get support from this group?

frustrated,
asg
 
There's often lots of help available from other users who have solved the same problem you're encountering (whatever it is). Try posting your question on the appropriate technical forum, with as much detail about your setup as you can. Someone else may have insight.

If your question involves finding out when some feature will be available or a bug will be fixed, that's a different story, and you won't get an answer until it's done. I consider this reasonable.

The level of technical support available seems to vary with the nature of the question (maybe as in how many people will it help) and the current development workload. Getting development done seems to take priority (which is the same decision I'd make).

Most of the questions are either something experienced users can answer, questions that have been asked and answered on the forums so a search will get you an answer, or something that only the developers can answer. The problem with the last category is that the developers' first priority is development, not customer support, and they have no choice since if they spend their time on support, development won't get done.

One complaint I've seen often that I totally agree with is that promising a response and not delivering is bad customer relations and unnecessary. They should only promise what they can deliver.

OTOH, nobody's perfect, not even me.:D
 
Lets face it, the fact that THIS thread(and it's title!) has not had any sort of reply in over a week from admin proves that there is not anywere near enougth official support on these forums.

I understand what the OP is saying, he's gained no more than someone who's d/l parallels from a torrent site.
 
This is just another proove that no offical is ever visiting those forums .. there is more spam here than in my gmail spam box and none get deleted / closed ... [/rant]
 
I have seen multiple comments on USB problems including inability to Hotsynch with palm devices. I see responses to other USB problems, but none for hotsynching issues. Is this a matter of the same problem for all USB devices, or extremely low priority for Palm devices such as Treo phones?
 
constant said:
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Confering with joem, please post your question(s) here.
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Click to expand...
I have seen multiple comments on USB problems including inability to Hotsynch with palm devices. I see responses to other USB problems, but none for hotsynching issues. Is this a matter of the same problem for all USB devices, or extremely low priority for Palm devices such as Treo phones?
 
Um, "which" release? "Which" product? I posted about the inability to sync my Palm, with Linux as my host and Windows as my guest, back in October. No one from Parallels ever responded. I thought (hoped) perhaps it would be fixed in the 2.2 Windows/Linux version. Nope.

So, is Palm USB syncing being addressed for the Windows/Linux version? If so, WHICH release should we, like the Parallels developers, "hope" for it in? So far, we've not been given much information or actual production that would give us any faith on which to base any "real hope" of ever getting this function to work.

Of course, this entry will go unanswered for days, weeks, and perhaps even months, by anyone from Parallels because they are busy with development and not supporting the people who have already laid down the real cash to purchase their product. Someone in this thread said they would also focus on development over service/support. That's fine if you're doing open source, but not when you're supposed to be running a "real" business, which this does not appear to be.

Most utterly sincerely,

Terry Roe
 
terryroe - i do agree it would be nice to see parallels up their support game a bit. i get the impression that parallels team is busting at the seams. knowing the simple reality of building software for a living, i know you can easily spend more of your time explaining things to customers vs actually building and fixing the product. i would rather have great support and fast develoment, but given only one i would choose fast develoment.

as far as upcoming features, I think parallels is certainly more open than, ehem, apple themselves about that. you want to sync your palm - i want parallels to not crash twice a day. a thousand other people have stuff they want just as badly. so, i think ya gotta be realistic about it too. we're all foaming at the mouth for our features and they're trying to crank it out for us as fast as they can.
 
misterjangles,

I don't think you need to, or should, defend Parallels. I think they can, and SHOULD, defend themselves. However, they have seen fit to let these forums float along pretty much by themselves with an occasional appearance by a system administrator.

I am not claiming that my feature request is any more important than other features. However, many people have been clamoring for this feature. More importantly, there has been no response from Parallels that, in fact, there is a problem with the Windows/Linux version of the software not syncing with Palm devices. They don't even make an appearance on this issue. There is no statement about whether it is supposed to work or not. If it's known not to be working, there is no statement made about when, or even if, it might be fixed.

Some of you may LOVE Parallels and thank your lucky stars that they even exist. However, taking money for a product/service implies that there is a "real" company at the other end of the transaction. Their very prominent absence from these forums and leaving support up to "advanced" users makes the concept of Parallels as a real company laughable.

TR
 
Leverage from Beta Users

I tend to agree with terryjoe. I think Parallels has a good following. I know I would like to hear what the strategy is and what the priorities are. Also seems like the beta users can provide some other meaningful input if Parallels has no been able to replicate the problems. I have personally searched through the logs looking for errors. Not sure if there are any bits that can be flipped that enable more robust error logging within the App. Perhaps Parallels can start a thread collecting specific information about the machine builds, possible conflicting software/apps, versions of OS and patch levels, etc. I think beta users, if properly empowered, can help bring focus and expedite progress.
 
i'm not really defending parallels - i just don't need to see them hanging out in the forums all day. i do agree they are missing a lot of opportunities for assistance and data collection by not having a more organized support tracking system.
 
Help...for a technically challenged person!

I am not tech savvy but I am trying to work through setting up parallels. I have two issues.

1. I am using Windows XP Service Pack 2 and when I get onto my windows desktop the screen becomes bigger than my actual Mac computer screen. So, my start menu is hidden at the bottom of the screen and I can't figure out how to resize it. Any help?

2. My second problem is when I am in parallels, I can't print via usb when I am in the Windows environment.

Any help or advice is appreciated!
 
First, this is a strange thread to use for this question, but...

1) Right click on a clear area on the Windows desktop and select properties, then the settings tab, and change your display resolution to something smaller than your Mac screen.

2) That's normal. Set your printer up in OSX as a network printer, and attach it as such in Windows and it will work fine.

Next time, assuming you are hosting on a Mac, post in the technical forum with a descriptive title.
 
I have been unable to get any answers from desktop@parallels.com either. My last email bounced.

I have never received a response in these forums either.

I am running Vista RC1 in Parallels 2.2

I downloaded the RC3120 of Parallels and have the following questions:

1, Should I run Vista from BootCamp rather than a VM? What are the advantages/disadvantages of each setup?

2. If so, do I install BC and Vista before or after updating Parallels?

3. Will I be able to access my USB printer from Vista (VM or BC?)

4. Is there any way to migrate my existing VM to BootCamp?

THANK YOU TO ANYONE WHO RESPONDS!!
 
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