CompuServe Messages

Well. I'm sorry everyone feels that Autodesk is so inaccessible and that our support policies are so 'iron fisted'. Unfortunately, there is no way to make EVERYONE happy regarding this topic. Our dealers are required to send personnel to Autodesk for training for the products they plan to sell. Those dealers are also required to receive more training as new versions of our products are released. Once a dealer leaves training, it's up to them to work with the programs and become more familiar so they can properly demostrate and support the programs for customers. Being able to support our products adds value to the dealership. If, for some reason, your dealer does not have an answer to your questions, ask them to set up a conference call with one of our technicians. This way, you get to ask your question in person while your dealer gets to listen in and learn something new. If you have a dealer who is only interested in pushing a box out the door, then we both have a problem. If you feel your dealer is not doing a good job in supporting you, then we need to hear about that dealer so we can take action to remedy the problem. If we find that particular dealer consistently provides terrible support, then we will terminate that dealer's authorization status. Please call our dealer referral line at: 415-332-2344 x2444 to report a dealer you are unhappy with and we can provide you with referrals to other dealers in your area. There are currently three ways to obtain support for our products: Authorized MultiMedia Dealers. This is the primary method of support. There are approximately 20,000 copies of 3DS in use by our customers. We currently have four technicians, including myself, performing support for ALL of our MultiMedia Products. Our Developer Kits are also included. Therefore, our dealers supply the first line of support while Autodesk acts as an escalation center for them. CompuServe Support Forums, (GO ACAD and GO ASOFT). These are our secondary support routes. All of our technicians log on to CI$ on a daily basis in order to answer questions. We also rely upon these forums because we obtain information about hardware that our department does not have. Direct Support Contracts. Contracts are available on a yearly basis. They currently sell for $3000.00. Once purchased, you get a toll-free support number so you can talk to any of our technicians about any of our products. I can't change Autodesk's policies but I can shed more light on how we operate. Bob Prokopp – Supervisor Product Support / Autodesk, Inc.