What's With the Tude at RME?

Geesh, some of the RME forum responses are an eye opener.  Reminds me of the SNL Weekend Update "Jane you ignorant sl**" stuff a while back.  And it's coming from the company reps, not from the users.  Blind defensiveness of your product to a customer for whom it's just not working right, is never a good thing.  And when that customer just shelled out $2000 for the product, it's downright criminal.  There are tactful ways of saying RTFM.  And "I'm sorry, we can't afford to do any more than we're doing".  Instead, they write posts that start with "Seems you did not get the point."  Or others stating "You can easily delete your whole post. .... Check the docs." 
 
Makes me wonder if I've made a mistake.  Perhaps it's a culture or a language thing.  But I've known many, many courteous German businessmen and ladies in the past, who put up with my monolingual illiteracy, and communicated just fine, so I don't think so.

RME, having been touted in the past here, as at the top tier of interfaces would most likely have a multitude of satisfied users. Therefore, the few that are not working right would warrant one-on-one service (wouldn' you think)?

as compared to NO responses from say .. East -West

jbow


They are Dutch, semi-German, not really known for tact. They probably don't mean anything by it. I have one friend who is Dutch and have heard him say more than once, "I don't give a da^^n about you, I am Dutch". Really...
 
Of course, I could be totally wrong.
 
Julien

I had a half German, half Dutch ex-girlfiend (no, that's not a typo) and she used to say stuff like that all the time... and that's when she was in a GOOD mood.  She was really hot though.

At least the people from Behringer will ask you nicely to read the manual.  Of course, they usually mean some other company's manual depending on where they did their, shall we say, R&D?

(where "R&D" could stand for "Reverse-engineer and Deploy"  )

using the excuse of "culture" to be rude is just an excuse.  saying "they don't mean anything by it" is BS.  if they don't mean anything by it then they don't need to say it.

didn't we just have this conversation recently?

I seem to recall something of the sort... 

CL rants and raves.. where the great unwashed masses congregate..

 CL---proudly serving up racism, ignorance, sexism, and stupidity since 1992

Yeah, I was recently in the market for a new soundcard. It came down to either Lynx or RME. (well... the Prism Orpheus was in the mix, but who can afford that?). I was able to visit with both groups at the AES convention and the differences in communication were stark. Lynx was friendly, helpful, and interested in what I needed so they could help with my decision. RME was aloof and seemed mildly annoyed. But of course, that could be because I'm mildly annoying.

Beagle


using the excuse of "culture" to be rude is just an excuse.  saying "they don't mean anything by it" is BS.  if they don't mean anything by it then they don't need to say it.

I don't think it's a matter of "they don't mean anything by it, so they shouldn't say it" I think it's more they don't mean any offense. They certainly do mean what they're saying, and I'm sure they are quite annoyed when people don't Read Their Fine Manuals, or when people think that their hardware should work in a different way than their fine engineering staff has designed.  And, they expect the same directness from their customers, as long as their customers are able to outline the issue with facts.

And really, the same goes for this forum.  The vast majority of negativity has come from two groups: First, the initial-post-ranters that come in complaining.  Oftentimes with a legitimate complaint, sometimes with user error. But they come in blazing.

But the second group is the group that sinks down to that level in response.  And then they're surprised when they get attacked right back. Back and forth, spiraling down. I'm still surprised that people don't seem to understand that ignoring the bad elements is the best way to get them to stop.  I've had my share of forum dust-ups, and nothing productive was gained by them.  I'm no angel, but I'm trying to do better. Now I just try to ignore. I've never blocked anyone, but I'm quite capable of scrolling down past the negativity.

I also see the "but if someone attacks me, I've got to defend myself" or something along those lines. Sure, you can try to defend yourself. But why? Hardly anything good ever comes from that. It is a rare situation on an internet forum when a rational discussion springs up after a flame war--although I've seen it happen a few times here. But playing the odds, I find it better to just let it go.

Hmm. Guess this thread touched a nerve.  Anyway... the Lynx hardware didn't quite have the features I needed, so I went with RME even though I liked the Lynx people better. I'm sure RME doesn't care a bit about that, as long as I bought their hardware. And great googly moogly, RME makes some mighty fine hardware and drivers.

well - I just disagree is all.  regardless of whether they mean offense by it or not it still is rude to say those things.  blaming that on "culture" is still just a "scapegoat" in my opinion.  If I have to take "diversity training" at work so that I don't offend other people's cultures then why is it OK for other people to offend me due to their culture?

Beagle


well - I just disagree is all.  regardless of whether they mean offense by it or not it still is rude to say those things.  blaming that on "culture" is still just a "scapegoat" in my opinion.  If I have to take "diversity training" at work so that I don't offend other people's cultures then why is it OK for other people to offend me due to their culture?

Yes we do.
 
There are many cultures that have ways that I do not understand and/or sometimes agree with.
I did not say it was Ok for people to be rude. I stated clearly that I can understand people being rude
because it may be normal in their culture. I also stated how that wouldn't go over well at all where I live.
 
Traning may be a solution....not doing business with them would be my choice.
 

Ironically, the MF stupid deal of the day is the Line 6 Pod Farm plug for 34.99

HERE

it's OK.  we can disagree about this.  again - I'm not even saying I'm right and all of you jerkwad non-becan loving buttheads are wrong! 

bit - I would think that bluntness would be a plus as well.  I often much prefer bluntness over "sugar coating" BUT not at the price of offensiveness.  what I mean by that is I don't mind if someone tells me that my singing needs work and that I probably need voice lessons.  but what I do mind is someone saying "GAWD your voice is terrible!!  why on earth are you torturing us with this crap????  you have no business recording your vocals until you get some voice lessons because a cat trapped in a tin can being beaten by a baseball bat sounds better than you do."

overemphasized for effect, of course.

however, bluntness and rudeness do not have to be the same thing and to say that it's "their culture" to be that way is just an excuse.  you can be blunt and to the point without being rude.

IMO, there is a difference between cultural values and intentional disrespect.  In most human interactions, two way communication (verbal or non-verbal) is essential.  Most of us are taught when we're young that we have to pay attention to the other person's response to know whether or not our message is being received properly.  When we talk with someone, we watch them for non-verbal cues or listen to their replies to make sure they heard what we said and understood our intent.  When we talk without visual cues (over the phone), we listen for audible cues such as the other person's tone or phrasing.  When we communicate via an impersonal medium (letters, online forum, IM, etc.), we lack the immediate feedback and must rely on the other person's statements to complete the feedback loop and verify that our message was received intact as it was intended.

There's a difference between a communication breakdown due to Person A's inability to communicate effecitvely with Person B and an intentional insult.  If Person A's primary goal is to communicate a specific message to Person B and ensure that it is received intact, then Person A assumes a measure of responsibility for the successful delivery of the message.  Person B may choose to receive it, disregard it, or react to it.  If Person A's primary goal is to express themselves regardless of how Person B may receive the communication, then Person A assumes no responsibility for the successful delivery of the message and, therefore, no responsibility for any communication errors.

If I'm attempting to communicate a message to someone from another culture (or someone With culture), I assume the responsibility of verifying that the message was received correctly.  I must pay attention to the feedback I receive from that person so that I can correct any communication errors and ensure the success of my original communication.  If instead I say, "I'm from another culture and so you just have to deal with it", then I am not truely interested in communicating.  In that case, I'm really only interested in myself.  If I go to South Dakota, walk into a McDonalds, and say slowly and loudly, "I'm not from around here.  I'm an American.  I'll trade these shiny beads for one of your 'Meat Sandwiches'", I'm not truely interested in communicating (or eating).  (I apologize to anyone on the forum from South Dakota.  It's a fine state.)  If I treat the person behind the counter with respect, our communication experience will be very different.

I would not travel to another country and then demand that they adapt to me while I make no attempt to adapt to their culture.  As the visitor, I would expect that I need to adapt to fit into the culture around me.  While my attempts may result in communication failures, I would at least try.  If I'm full of my own cultural pride, arrogant and stupid, then I won't care when I stomp all over the sensibilities of others.

Rude is rude, no matter what culture someone's from.  No single culture has a monopoly on being self-centered jerks.  Goodness knows, we're still trying, though.

Sorry for the soliloquy...

IOW: bapu is a bapu does?

ouch.... wrong thread.