I have had a support request go unanswered for three weeks now (aside form the initial robo response, but that doesn't count).  I have been with Cakewalk since 2007, and one thing that has kept me a loyal customer and early adopter has been the exceptional level of support I have received the few times I needed it.  I have now waited three weeks and not heard from a real human being regarding my problem.  I have no idea if I am next in line, or if my request is just lost in space.  There is no feedback/update mechanism to know if any action is, or ever will be taken, on my support request.
 
And what other product on earth makes you wait three plus weeks before ever even speaking to a human being for support?  This is absurd and pretty insulting.  The lack of access to any email or phone contact almost makes it seem like Cakewalk is hiding from their customers.  Kinda fishy.
 
I posted a thread here in the problem reports section hoping I could receive some help.  Let me add, that's gotta be the lamest way to approach support.  Make your customers try to hash it out while someone from the company (maybe) occasionally chimes in.  Well, in my case, I posted, and got a reply from one of the Cakewalk folks, and from his line of questioning made it readily apparent that he didn't fully read my post,  Asking me if it could be factors I had already eliminated and asking questions my post had already answered.  So, absolutely no help.  When I pointed out that he didn't read the full post and therefor several of his questions weren't relevant, he never replied back,  So much for input from the company. 
 
I really don't have time to post on a forum and wait around for days to see if a proper response might just show up.  Hoping that another customer might magically be able to solve my problem is not a proper support mechanism, it is lazy and lame.  That is a total waste of my time.  I have a specific problem and want to talk to one person with an answer. Preferably a support tech, not another customer, and not a customer relations/ marketing type person.
 
Which brings me to the big question, what the heck is going on with support and the total lack thereof?  Is anyone actually getting through/ getting support, or at least a response from a human in that department?  Is everyone experiencing the same wait times or lack of response?  Is anyone else as pissed off as I am?
 
Should I start shopping for my next (actually supported) DAW?
 

I concur.   the most response I have gotten is them acknowledging that they recieved my inquiry

Hi Michael,
 
I took a look into your case and it looks like your case hasn't been processed yet. We'll get back to you through your original case and close the duplicate cases you created. I think I found the thread you were referencing about the 64 DP issue. http://forum.cakewalk.com/m/tm.aspx?m=2922352
 
Is this also with tracks set to mono interleave? or is it happening with tracks set to stereo interleave as well?

Hi Lance,
 
that tone in the video is not quite identical.  The one I am experiencing is more of a sine wave tone around 330Hz, not so much a buzzy distortion.  I reported an almost identical problem to support at the time (maybe three years ago?) and they replied to turn off the 64 bit engine as a workaround.  I did and it has been off ever since.  I remember there also being something at the time involving mono vs. stereo interleave, but that doesn't effect this tone.  Tracks and buses can be either mono or stereo, the tone is till there.
 
But back to my original bigger question, what is going on with the lag in support?  I am at the end of three weeks since I reported this problem, and I only get a response because I publicly shame the company?  And the response is I am still not being processed yet? (actually, I just found out I have been expedited due to my public shaming of the company, had I stayed quiet, I would still be waiting).
 
Not that I am holding you personally responsible for this mess, but let's be honest here, three weeks wait for a human reply is a mess of things.  I don't know that I ever had to wait more than three days in the past.  Is this the new operating reality? 
 
Looking at the forums this seems to be a common complaint for a year or more now, so I really can't accept the initial explanation given of "growing pains".  I saw explanations along the lines that the expansion was greater than expected, so support had a back log of new customers, etc.  But some of those excuses are more than a year old, and it seems support is less available than ever.
 
Why is this?

While I share the bewilderment about the lack of support (and what that may or may not portend about the company's long-term viability), I disagree about the forum. Sure, now and then you get that kind of response. But I have found this forum to be one of the most helpful around. I know of only one other DAW that has the kind of forum support this place has. Some of them are legendary for having truly lousy forums. I have no idea why that is, but I suspect it may reflect how good the product is. A good product makes people enthusiastic. But I'm not sure how long the enthusisam will last at this point. Forum support should be an adjunct to company support. In its absence, it may be only a matter of time until the enthusiasm wanes. And that really would be a bad sign. In the meantime, I think you should work with the forum. Alienating these fine folks will only leave you with no support at all.

I fairness and I should say I am one of the most critical of Cakewalk and companies in general but Support across the board are almost non-existent for most companies and forums have taken over.

I use RME and you get the best help from their forum, most places either have no support or bad support.
Like ASUS, I simply go to Tom's Hardware, very helpful community.

 I also used Adobe extensively, and never contacted their support unless it's related to accounts.

This does not excuse the lack of support but I hate to be the one to tell you.

You have to live with it. 

Hi Michael,
 
I did try working with the forum.  I posted my original problem a week ago and didn't receive a single response from a forum member.  The only reply I got was from a person at Cakewalk who didn't really read my post, so had nothing constructive to offer.  I replied to his questions anyway, but he never replied back.
 
Bear in mind, this isn't a "I can't get effects to assign" or "how do I integrate my interface" type post that I am sure some folks might have success with here.  It is a pretty esoteric concern.  Actually almost identical to a previous problem that Cakewalk acknowledged was an internal error.  Not a settings concern, not a routing conflict, not a gain problem, but a bug in the software.  So not something most anyone other than a developer would know how to address.
 
But deciding to give it a try here anyway, I did exhaustive research in the faq's, I searched the forums for past posts, and finding none existed specifically addressing this issue, I posted my original inquiry.  After a week, I still have not received a single suggestion on that thread.  So I don't see how that isn't working with the forum or alienating anyone along the line.
 
If I have done something wrong, or skipped a step that I am not aware of, please enlighten me.
 
Otherwise, this thread is about the lack of response from a company, and their perceived model of trying to let the forum take care of support for them.  That's not a slam on the forum, it is a criticism of the business model of the company.
 
I don't want to have to do an afternoon of searches before I post a question that sits for a week with no answers.  That's my beef against the company forcing us to use the forum in lieu of immediate support.  Not a criticism of the forum itself.

Audioicon-  I refuse to just live with it. 
 
I have used Cakewalk for ten years now and only needed support maybe three or four times.  Every time in the past, my problem was handled by a real person in no more than two or three days.  That was part of what kept me a loyal customer.  I don't care how good or bad other companies are.  Cakewalk used to be exceptional, I am noting and lamenting the change specific to this company compared to past performance.
 
If there is a page that says "click here for support", I expect a response within a reasonable window.  Until the day they take that link down, I will expect support if I need it.  Until they explicitly state all support will be handled by the forum, I will expect support to reply.
 
I know some other companies are moving to paid support, and I would be willing to go with that if it meant getting help in a more reasonable amount of time. But being ignored for weeks is not a business model I support. 
 
 
 
 

A month gone by without reply for a case here. A software support department should aim to get back to people within 48 or 72 hours, IMO.

Hi Michael,
 
I understand and agree with your reaction. Cakewalk is currently understaffed in the support area. We have been forced to keep our support staff small due to hiring constraints. The volume in which we are getting emails is more than we can close out on any given day but we are continuing to do our best to get folks questions answered as fast as we can. Cakewalk is a small company and we are competing with the expectations of what a much larger company can do. Our support staff consists of a very small but very talented group but regardless of how talented they are the volume coming in is more than the resolutions coming out as you can see. We are dedicated still to answering customers as fast as we can and are investigating additional ways to reduce the time for email responses but with the holidays coming up wait times for the short term are going to remain longer than we'd like. I'm sorry I don't have a better answer for you. This may feel like I'm saying tough luck but we are dedicated to working with our customers but it may be a slow turn around for now.