posted 07-09- 05:52 PM               

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"Don't move, if we scatter, he'll pick us off! Stand Together!"~~Aladar

posted 07-11- 04:13 PM            

what do you expect tho, this game didnt sell very well. But the main reason why I think they cant get individual support to each game is becuase they publish so many of them! They only have so many ppl.

posted 07-11- 08:06 PM               

They pay nearly nothing ($9/hr to start), offer minimal training, push their people to fly through the hords of callers/emails, all the while holding the workers in the QA/CS dungon.

Understand, as was mentioned, Activision publishes a huge number of games. Members of the CS crew only receive a free copy of a game if the game was released after the crew memeber's start date. The CS personnel are also only allowed to learn the games on their own time.

Not to sound bitter, or anything, heh heh.

But helping a huge number of "members of the public" 5 days a week is a lot of work.

Considering that 50% of the public has almost no clue how to use a computer, and has difficulty following through on instructions given over the phone or by email (which is understandable, telephone/email support is difficult to work through in general); providing customer support is a lot of work.

Consider this, the customer only paid for the call or email & HOPEFULLY the product. Activision's support infrastructure & personnel costs come right out of the company's already puny profit margin. [see http://www.activision.com/investor/annualreports/1999_annualreport.pdf].

This, compared to Microsoft's $15 (or is it $25) per incident fee for service, makes Activision seem quite generous.

Advice: don't call during Christmas season if you want quick service because the lines are clogged with people that just bought a new Gateway, and who know a little more than how to turn it on.

I haven't even gotten to describing the crazies, or the people who had threatened to kill me. FYI: I belive threating to kill someone over an interstate phone call is a serious federal crime, but I let 'em slide. ;^)

I'd like to end by saying I sympathize with the Flight Attendents' plight!!!