Thanks :)
 
We can poll all of our customers with a survey and I know we've done this in the past. I'm not sure polling just people reading this thread is going to be a very accurate measurement, though I do welcome people to contribute what their experience has been.
 
Any time someone has a good or a bad experience with support, I love hearing about it. I love hearing the good ones because it's nice to share the news with people. It means a lot and can make your day/week/month when you go through the day mostly without thanks. Hearing about the bad experiences are helpful as well, because they help justify that support is important and that customers are expecting exceptional service. I bookmark and archive both types of interactions. They help us grow. It's not personal and I don't think anyone at Cakewalk will take it that way. 
 
Update: FWIW, most recent poll data for SONAR X2 customers revealed a 3.95/5 satisfaction rating for support.

I think most of you have an extremely outdated and financially ignorant idea as to the cost of that service. If you really wanted longer support hours and extremely low wait times the increase in expense would mean SONAR would start costing more. A company Cake's size? Sheesh even with the Gibson $$ I don't think it would be feasible. 
 
Anybody using software like this today has to come to grips with the fact that they're gonna have to climb under the hood once in a while and do some practical troubleshooting. Cake's forums are quite excellent (having been on them since they were a newsgroup a BILLION years ago) and peer-to-peer support will get most of your problems solved. If you're needing to call support regularly for sequencer setup issues you should consider taking a basic computer class.
 

Conley, I found your CWBRN that you uploaded (probably while waiting on hold). Replicated it easily and logged it with development. Thanks for reporting!

...wicked
I think most of you have an extremely outdated and financially ignorant idea as to the cost of that service. If you really wanted longer support hours and extremely low wait times the increase in expense would mean SONAR would start costing more. A company Cake's size? Sheesh even with the Gibson $$ I don't think it would be feasible. 
 
Anybody using software like this today has to come to grips with the fact that they're gonna have to climb under the hood once in a while and do some practical troubleshooting. Cake's forums are quite excellent (having been on them since they were a newsgroup a BILLION years ago) and peer-to-peer support will get most of your problems solved. If you're needing to call support regularly for sequencer setup issues you should consider taking a basic computer class.
 

I hate to suggest it,  Cake could make a buck or two here (I bet they've already considered this as it is a good source of revenue), but you generally have to pay a lot more for premium support. If people want to pay more I wouldn't stand in their way as long as the current support was consistent.
 
Of course most people will disagree now because they don't want to pay.

CakeAlexS

...wicked
I think most of you have an extremely outdated and financially ignorant idea as to the cost of that service. If you really wanted longer support hours and extremely low wait times the increase in expense would mean SONAR would start costing more. A company Cake's size? Sheesh even with the Gibson $$ I don't think it would be feasible. 
 
Anybody using software like this today has to come to grips with the fact that they're gonna have to climb under the hood once in a while and do some practical troubleshooting. Cake's forums are quite excellent (having been on them since they were a newsgroup a BILLION years ago) and peer-to-peer support will get most of your problems solved. If you're needing to call support regularly for sequencer setup issues you should consider taking a basic computer class.
 

I hate to suggest it,  Cake could make a buck or two here (I bet they've already considered this as it is a good source of revenue), but you generally have to pay a lot more for premium support. If people want to pay more I wouldn't stand in their way as long as the current support was consistent.
 
Of course most people will disagree now because they don't want to pay.

We actually had premium support for a while, but we canceled it not soon after. Only like 2 people ever used it.

Some good suggestions here and some obvious grievances. Companies have struggled with support issues since for ever. I have had my experience with both having to give and get tech support, the biggest issue with Sonar, IMHO, is that every issue is going to be different. I don't think any type of automated system will work, there's just too many variables.
 
I purchased my copy of Sonar through a local distributer in Sydney Aust. I have given them several calls, of which there was no wait time to speak of, and emails were exchanged to add detail to the calls and give extra information. I wanted to let Cakewalk know that there is at least one of their retailers that is willing to go the extra mile to support their customers, and with a good deal of expertise.

Seth Kellogg [Cakewalk]
We actually had premium support for a while, but we canceled it not soon after. Only like 2 people ever used it.

That solves the queue problems right there

I'm sure there are people in this forum who are willing to work for you for free (not me). Utilize them.

Ryan Munnis [Cakewalk]
Conley, I found your CWBRN that you uploaded (probably while waiting on hold). Replicated it easily and logged it with development. Thanks for reporting!

Thanks Ryan, and YES, I did upload it while on hold.  I appreciate your effort on the ticket too!

I do have to say that when calling in for support, I have been told 17 minutes and 4 mins later I was talking to a tech support guy.

I would like to make sure that everyone knows I was NOT complaining about the actual advice a support guy has given, but the ability to get in touch with support via the shortened phone hours. Also, I would not pull the 45 mins estimate out of my rear. I do not play that way.
Bottom line is that I am happy with support 90% of the time when I can get in touch with them. This has really been the first time I was ever told 45 mins and I did not want to hold out on a toll call for that long. From a customer point of view, and that should be the focus here, I was not real happy with that phone call and chose to go the online method. Again, that is probably why most of your support tickets come in from e-mails or SBM tickets from the inet.
 
I am happy with the final results. thanks Ryan.

Ryan had mentioned a while ago that the majority of folks contact for registration issues, etc. Pretty simple and quick stuff.
 
I just took a gander at the support page and although this is there (albeit buried), I think the "technical issues" portion should have a more obvious link to the forums on it. 1) It would get new users into the forums 2) The forums typically have quick turn around and 3) Forum members are often pointing out other resources for others that are not obvious to someone with a question in the first place.
 
That said (and Alex close your eyes here! - no more post for you ), someone entering a technical question in the forums should be given guidance on how to get the quickest turn around (i.e. descriptive title, platform and hardware used, as much detail as required, etc.) Also... make all forums have the ability to post pictures! I initially thought that was concern for server space, but then find out there are attachment links for new threads in the social forums (not sure if they work though). I find it rather odd to put hurdles like that to someone with a legitimate technical question... just in the past few months I have seen cases of new users, legitimate questions, they cannot post a picture and then "vanish." That is a "not good" thing at all.
 
Can also add icons/flags when posting a "technical question" thread so that forum members can easily identify those.