<rant on> My honest opinion is that the way forward is to ditch unlimited free technical support for the life of the product.
 
Keep the customer support for account issues, software activations, etc.
 
Just offer an initial limited period for free tech support to get over setup and configuration issues, then afterwards charge on a pay per incident plan.  Or maybe also offer a subscription support model for those that need the hand holding.
 
Many software vendors have found this method a better business model.  It would throttle the abuse of the support team by individuals that cannot configure or troubleshoot their PC, Windows, or sound module correctly.
 
I'm sure that there are real bugs in Sonar.  All software has them.  Look at all of the rolling fixes that get implemented with each release.
 
But somehow I get the feeling that the majority of folks reporting issues with Sonar are not really reporting Sonar bugs.  They need the hand holding that most application tech support teams probably are not equipped to handle. </rant off>

Anyone in this thread who may individually wish to judge the merits of my complaint may find the details here:
 
http://forum.cakewalk.com/Why-does-Rapture-Pro-always-revert-to-demo-mode-m3380090.aspx

abacab
<rant on> My honest opinion is that the way forward is to ditch unlimited free technical support for the life of the product.
 
Keep the customer support for account issues, software activations, etc.
 
Just offer an initial limited period for free tech support to get over setup and configuration issues, then afterwards charge on a pay per incident plan.  Or maybe also offer a subscription support model for those that need the hand holding.
 
Many software vendors have found this method a better business model.  It would throttle the abuse of the support team by individuals that cannot configure or troubleshoot their PC, Windows, or sound module correctly.
 
I'm sure that there are real bugs in Sonar.  All software has them.  Look at all of the rolling fixes that get implemented with each release.
 
But somehow I get the feeling that the majority of folks reporting issues with Sonar are not really reporting Sonar bugs.  They need the hand holding that most application tech support teams probably are not equipped to handle. </rant off>

How high and mighty we feel.

First - my support needs are very different than most everyone else.  I have 'grown up' starting with with 12 Tone Systems first midi and audio product.   The first audio card I had was a DAL Card D - with SMPTE to lock to a DA88, and a KORG DSS for keys.  I have learned so very much from this forum of good minds over the years, and from many different training sources.  If something is off - my knowledge is slightly dangerous enough to putz around and fix it, or figure a way around it.  I have contacted Cakewalk maybe 3 times in 18 years. So much for my disclaimer. 
 
I have been watching, concerned yet reserved, about this topic.  I have tried every day since it came up, to click on phone support just to see if I got a message that was different than 'sorry' our available time slots are full.  I have not yet.  HOWEVER - I finally did get a email back from support a few days ago concerning a payment and update issue for the new lifetime updates I had about the end of July.  Looking at this, and keeping in mind that not all support triage concerns are equal,  they have gone from no answer, to an answer in a few weeks.  Thats hopeful indeed, in my simple opinion. 
 
Today, I am more comfortable knowing that they are answering emails, albeit it much slower than in the past.  More importantly - I have an incredible support team in this forum as Cakewalk moves forward to improve tech support delivery.
 
Take care,
 
LL 

coolbass
How high and mighty we feel.

Not really. Just annoyed that I got called out personally by mcdonalk for repeating Cakewalk's position on this issue.
 
Before my first cup of coffee too!!!
 
I probably could have worded things more gently, but I will stick to my opinion that the only way to clean up the queue is to start charging for technical support beyond the new customer break-in period.

I'm on the verge of locking this thread. If you all wish me to I will. I will anyway if the conflict continues. We have seen a lot of threads asking about CW support. If there are questions about it please look up those threads instead of starting new ones.   

As the original questioner, I agree. I thought I might get responses like 3 days, 5 days, two weeks, etc. Anything to get an idea of how long to wait ... but I guess that's not to be.
 
Thanks anyway,
Reynold

Only CW can answer your specific question, and the only way to bypass the current queue would be to PM a CW person directly. I believe you need 25 posts prior to sending a PM, so you could post ten quick "+1"s to threads....

Or... one of the folks who so adamantly and blindly defend the status quo could PM them on your behalf :)