Anderton
 
Last time I asked, the biggest support bottleneck is new hires and training of same. I'm pretty sure Cakewalk underestimated how many new users there would be as a result of the lifetime updates offer, so now they have to scramble to deal with it. 

Craig, this issue has been talked about in the forum many times over the past few months. There's always a "reason" but never a solution. This furum is great, but it's NOT a replacement for technical support.
 
I am a champion of Cakewalk, and Sonar Premium, and working as hard as I can to show my circle of friends that Sonar is the way to go today. But how can I possibly do this when they ask me "How's their support" and my only honest answer is "There is none, but hey have a good forum"?
 
If your going to answer, I'd really appreciate a response without defensiveness. Asking a company to provide Technical support for a mission critical product isn't wrong. It's time for Cakewalk to take this issue seriously.
 

If I have a vote in this issue as a lifetime member I agree that Support IS important and being put on a waiting list to resolve problems is to me a considerable step BACKWARDS

This forum cannot support an OSX release as none of us have used it. We can only speak to "the Windows version." A release of a brand new version sans tech support will go over like passing gas in church. This is one area where the forum cannot simply "fill the gap."

I feel the problem is more serious than Cake is trying to make it seem. It doesn't take three months to find or train a support person. They could even have offered a part time job to many forumites. If they still don't have enough people it seems like there may not be money to hire more people. And if that's the case, the increased revenue from the new sales model is perhaps not as great as we keep hearing.

I'm not saying any of these things to bum out Cakewalk. I care deeply about Sonar and really really don't want to "start over" with another DAW, even though I'm pretty much the only one using it in my professional circle. I'm saying this because I'm worried and the answers are starting to smell.

At least "nothing" is better than utter crap (Native Instruments) - Currently having issues with them and this forum is way better than the NI forum.

Definitely not targeting the forum here!

The problem is quite simple. Demand is by far greater than supply at the moment.
 
We have been and still are hiring and training. http://www.cakewalk.com/Careers/Gigs
 
Convoluting what's going on internally at Cakewalk beyond that is purely conjecture. Support is extremely important and there's nobody at Cakewalk trying to argue with that. As far as internal operations, we cannot disclose information beyond what I've stated here: http://forum.cakewalk.com/Cakewalk-Support-Update-m3428520.aspx
 
I realize this post was created back in June, but that doesn't mean it's not honest and forthcoming. Steps have been and still are being taken to turn the situation around.
 
 

Hell, pay US to fix problems.  Samplitude Pro X pays two guys to help them, and it really works out.
Log our forum assistance, check-off the helpful answer and give the person $10 credit.
 
I always note the relatively blind, unconditional support that regulars in the forum give Cakewalk, and it gets pretty thick.  No support means an immature or unrealistic approach to business.  72-hour tickets should be the maximum, with immediate response channels and indicators on progress/path-forward topics.

PilotGav

Anderton
 
Last time I asked, the biggest support bottleneck is new hires and training of same. I'm pretty sure Cakewalk underestimated how many new users there would be as a result of the lifetime updates offer, so now they have to scramble to deal with it. 

If your going to answer, I'd really appreciate a response without defensiveness. Asking a company to provide Technical support for a mission critical product isn't wrong. It's time for Cakewalk to take this issue seriously.

I have no idea how you could possibly infer from my response that I said asking a company to provide technical support is wrong, but since you did...
 
You didn't quote the primary reason for my post, which was to address the theory that Cakewalk was spending their money on a Mac port instead of support. That is not true.
 
So if that isn't the cause, I assumed people might want to know what the bottleneck is about, which is why I mentioned that it's about hiring and training more people. I don't see how that could be interpreted as blowing off the need for support or being defensive.
 
As to "it's time for Cakewalk to take this issue seriously," I think hiring more people for support shows that they are. But you just can't post "looking for support people" and a month later, someone's taking phone calls. Technical support requires a specialized skill set and the finding, hiring, and training processes take time. As to hiring people from the forums part-time, the paperwork alone regarding employment - even part-time - is significant. For example, just bringing over the editors at Harmony Central from Guitar Center to Gibson took two months, and we didn't even have to find or train them. It all involved accounting, employment paperwork, Federal and State requirements, dealing with two people who didn't live in Tennessee, salary negotiations, getting formal approvals after the interview processes were complete, determining insurance and benefits plans, etc. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

whitejs
Hell, pay US to fix problems.  Samplitude Pro X pays two guys to help them, and it really works out.
 
I always note the relatively blind, unconditional support that regulars in the forum give Cakewalk, and it gets pretty thick.  No support means an immature or unrealistic approach to business.  72-hour tickets should be the maximum, with immediate response channels and indicators on progress/path-forward topics.

Let's not act like there aren't people answering cases at all. Right now, unfortunately, things have to be prioritized based on the severity of the case. An activation or credit card processing issue outweighs someone asking for mixing tips for example. Some things cannot be disclosed to outside parties based purely on confidentiality. 
 
Not arguing that the forum and the people who participate aren't incredibly useful, because it's quite obvious we have a rock-star forum of super helpful people. But suggesting that forum people helping is the instant fix is unfortunately a bit naive in regards to the demands and every day process of a customer support rep here at Cakewalk. I would challenge anyone, including Cakewalk employees that work in other areas of the company, that there is in fact quite a lot of responsibility and a hefty learning curve to the job.