Xilinx WebCase support

there are approx 1.000 webcases opened per week. they get assigned to lowest support level at start.

you may need to pay for "platinum support" to get quicker response i think, somewhere on xilinx web used to be such info. The normal webcases are not handled as priority, need to pay $$$

sure sometimes can escalate the webcase in normal case also. but i never have understand the policy fully. think even if pay for support there is only promise that they respond within 24 hours

try changing your contact options to PHONE so you can get immediate feadback

Antti

Hi,

I my case it was always depend on the topic of my problem how long it took, to get contacted by an Xilinx engineer. But after all I never waited that long.

Bye Helmut

My experience has been pretty much like the OP's. I think the engineers that handle the web cases by e-mail are in the far east or south Asia. I'm in the U.S. So unless you want to try corresponding in the middle of the night, it's hard to get more than one mail each way per day. Take a look at the time the mail was sent from Xilinx support (if you're using Outlook you may need to look at the full headers to get this information).

HTH, Gabor

motty,

Email me your case number.

Often complaints like this are found to be invalid.

I will accept for the moment that yours is not.

However, looking into these reports has taught me a lesson: most often the webcase does not have the information that is requested by the CAE (customer applications engineer), or no response to multiple emails occur (you would be amazed how many people go on vacation and expect the problem to be fixed when they return), or the customer is unwilling to cooperate and perform the required trouble-shooting that some difficult issues require.

Perhaps if you are 'VeryBig&Obnoxious, Inc' you can get away with "I want you to come over here, and fix my problem" but that is something that we are not able to offer to everyone (and we don't appreciate being bashed by a customer, even if you are 'right' by definition). Being respectful and listening and cooperating is guaranteed to solve the problem the fastest. That goes both ways.

We have three locations for support, located around the world. Depending on your location, there is a support location that is always awake. We do not route cases to India or China (unless you are in India or China!). This is not about providing the lowest cost service, it is all about solving problems the fastest.

After all, here in San Jose, we are "offshore" and "foreign" to more than half of our business.

The faster we solve your problem, the sooner you order more parts.

Austin

All,

OK, I am wrong (it happens).

The first level of support is from China and India fro webcase, where we do not ask our CAEs to work during off their off-hours (no night nor 'graveyard' shifts). Because of that, there is a time zone issue for webcases not in their region. They also handle their local cases, too.

Locations providing support are: San Jose Ca., Longmont Co., Dublin Ireland, Hyderabad India, Shanghai China, Tokyo Japan.

As with any case, escalation is always possible to the next level (and the next, and so on) if the issue is not getting resolved in a timely fashion.

Austin

Austin,

First off, I did not intend for my email to come off as a 'bash' against Xilinx and I hope it wasn't interpreted that way. I purposefully used the language I did such that I didn't seem angry or annoyed. Too bad emotions can't be embedded in email. I appreciate the support and was basically just asking questions of the group to see if my experience was typical or out of the ordinary.

Having said that, I have read the email traffic for my case and feel that I have responded in a timely fashion with pretty thorough information and answers to things requested. I will email you the case number so you can review it. I know that the author of the app note was away for a few days, so that delayed things since the CAE needed to ask him questions. I am fine with that. I don't expect things to happen at the snap of my fingers. I don't even mind that the problem is not solved yet. I guess I just find it a little frustrating that I cannot communicate with my CAE in a timely fashion. One email per day is not enough sometimes.

motty,

No offense taken.

I have the case number, and I will follow up with you off-newsgroup.

I understand your frustration, and it is something we are aware of. Even if these folks were here on the west coast of the USA, they would then be "out of zone" for India, China, Japan, Europe, and England. The solution to this must be something that works for everyone.

Austin