John, I completely agree with you. I had the exact same problem you did just 2 years ago. It was our first time dealing with Cisco and I was so disappointed with their service and attitude. I guess as size and fame goes up for a company, service and friendliness goes down. May be some PHD should do a thesis on that. By the time the Polycom phones were available, we completely jumped on them!!!
David ----- Original Message ----- From: "John Baker" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Sunday, March 28, 2004 11:22 AM Subject: Re: [Asterisk-Users] Cisco 7960 SIP Images > > I got a 7960 for evaluation purposes. I was planning on upgrading our > phone system and wanted to see if Cisco's product was any good. Short > answer: Nice phone, horrible service. > > Support? I called Cisco looking for support on the phones. They told > me to go through a reseller, and I could find one on their website. I > contacted a local reseller, listed as having the Cisco line on Cisco's > website and guess what - they had no idea what I was talking about. > Seems they didn't even know they were listed on Cisco's website to begin > with. > > I tried a second reseller with similar results. > > I finally got ahold of someone at Cisco to sell me the support contract, > but it took three weeks and a couple of follow up phone calls for them > to process the paperwork and assign me a number. You'd think Cisco > would have an easy sign up over the web for this stuff, but no. You've > got to send them a check (Why wouldn't you take a credit card???) and > answer a barrage of questions before you get the thing. > > I wondered why a company like Cisco would make you jump through so many > hoops. I soon got my answer: one of their sales reps called within days > to discuss purchasing more product. "I'd be glad to talk to you about > it," I told him, "but we're a bit premature. I need to evaluate your > phone with a current image and I'm getting nowhere with your technical > support. Any chance you could speed up the process? It might help you > get more business..." > > No chance. After three weeks worth of runaround, I finally got my SIP > image. Again the phone was nice, but the service wasn't. The price > definitely wasn't. Oh, and let's not forget about the software license > requirement and the power cube (purchased separately of course) Add all > that up and you're paying alot for what you're getting. > > I went with the Polycom phones and never looked back. They're every bit > as nice as the Cisco phones for a lot less money. > > John > > Paul Mahler wrote: > > > I have recieved far more that my money's worth in technical calls to Cisco > > about my 7960 telephones. They respond immediately. They keep working until > > the job is done. The pull in whatever resources are neccessary. They have > > never failed to find and fix the problem. > > > > If you want professional, real technical support you should be willing to > > pay for it, or in this case part of it. > > > > > > Paul Mahler > > <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > > > > > > > _____ > > > > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Sent: Saturday, March 27, 2004 7:37 PM > > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Subject: RE: [Asterisk-Users] Cisco 7960 SIP Images > > > > > > What you and so may others on this lise seem to forget is that Cisco is a > > company offering bsuiness products for businesses. Businesses typically pay > > by check and wire transfer, especially for items such as this. > > > > If you want home-user pay-by-credit-card service, buy products from Belkin's > > home line and similar. > > > > Oh...what's that? None of these cheesy Stocked-at-Costco hardware companies > > have any VoIP phones worth a crap? Then deal with the fact that you are > > buying from a company who doesn't target home users, and deal with it. It > > costs Cisco more money than they make on the contract to offer SmartNet on a > > single device like this. You're lucky they don't have a minimum device > > limit/contract cost of something like 5 devices or $300/year. I'm guessing > > this type of policy would hardly effect more than several hundred of their > > customers, most of them with 7960's and similar. > > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] on behalf of John Baker > > Sent: Sat 3/27/2004 4:41 PM > > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Cc: > > Subject: Re: [Asterisk-Users] Cisco 7960 SIP Images > > > > > > > > [massive amounts trimmed] > > > > No, you can't use a credit card. You have to send the #$!@@$#'s a > > check. It's really stupid, but it's the Cisco way. > > > > John > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Asterisk-Users mailing list > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users > > To UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit: > > http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users > > > > _______________________________________________ > Asterisk-Users mailing list > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users > To UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit: > http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users _______________________________________________ Asterisk-Users mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users To UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit: http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users
