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http://www.macnn.com/articles/04/05/04/.mac.support.changes/

Apple transitions .Mac support to email-based system

updated 01:55 pm EDT, Tue May 4, 2004

 

.Mac support changes


Apple this week from a forum-based system to an email-based system, discouraging discussion and peer comments/help on user experiences/problems with the paid services from Apple, according to Macworld UK. According to a note from the company, Apple said that all .Mac support would be handled by email and promised that all outstanding support requests will be resolved: "To get help, members must visit an index page that guides them to the appropriate support area for their problem, Mail or Homepage, for example. On those pages, users will find FAQs and links to more information. They will also find new email forms to use if the answer isn't there."


by MacNN Staff

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  1. pascalpp

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Nov 1999

    0
    05/04, 02:08pm | report spam | Reply |

    Umm, duh.

    What if my .Mac email is broken?

  1. kuzelnik

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Mar 2000

    0
    05/04, 02:16pm | report spam | Reply |

    Duh

    Exactly. . .

    This is the best way for other users to not see all the problems going on.

  1. hayesk

    Professional Poster

    Joined: Sep 1999

    0
    05/04, 02:25pm | report spam | Reply |

    Re: Ummm, duh

    I believe there is a phone number you can call.

    Frankly I'm not surprised. Too many people on those boards thought it was a free-for-all and used it as a bitching platform. People would cry "censorship" whenever one of their immature, non-helpful posts got deleted. The forum was there to ask questions, and give constructive answers, but it often wasn't used for that purpose.

  1. cmoney

    Mac Enthusiast

    Joined: Sep 2000

    0
    05/04, 02:27pm | report spam | Reply |

    re: duh

    doesn't matter. in my experience .mac support is pretty much useless, most posts get deleted and apple never responds to any of the posts about the widespread email problems.

    i wish someone would find a way to support things like isync, ical integration, iphoto, etc as seamlessly as apple has integrated it. here's how i see it: apple offers poor uptime and crappy CRAPPY support but incredible integration with the OS. other providers offer very good uptime, near instant support but they just don't wanna bother with integrating to the level that .mac is.

  1. bfalchuk

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Jul 2003

    0
    05/04, 02:32pm | report spam | Reply |

    Better this way

    I for one am happy. The forum didn't help enough, and now we will actually get responses to our inquiries. I don't see this as a negative. Everyone has to start bitching at the drop of a hat rather than see this as a positive.

    From experience with web hosts, email support is FAR superior to forums. And, idiots, you can still get support without your .Mac email. It's web-based, so you don't need an email app to use it per se, but you will need some 'off network' account to receive responses. This is very standard practice for hosts and ISPs, yet I'm sure people will yell at Apple for doing it.

  1. beverson

    Mac Enthusiast

    Joined: Oct 1999

    0
    05/04, 02:41pm | report spam | Reply |

    re: Duh

    True, it's unfortunate that other users can't see and comment on the problems. But isn't that what places like MacNN's forums (and others) are for?

    I personally welcome e-mail support, IF they are responsive. I've always hated the discussion-based support as it seemed clunky, inefficient, and was not very convenient for me.

  1. cmoney

    Mac Enthusiast

    Joined: Sep 2000

    0
    05/04, 03:17pm | report spam | Reply |

    re: Duh

    IF they are responsive (like a response within a few hours would be satisfactory) then all of my problems with .mac would be resolved. however, i don't foresee apple being anymore responsive than they are now: ie, if you send an email asking when email will be back up, they'll never respond to that.

  1. bfalchuk

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Jul 2003

    0
    05/04, 04:00pm | report spam | Reply |

    more responsive

    I'd presume they'd be more responsive as they don't have to spend time pruning forums and dealing with whiners. Instead, they get people with legit issues rather than people looking for a public forum to cry in.

  1. kuzelnik

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Mar 2000

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    05/04, 07:40pm | report spam | Reply |

    Ummm, duh..

    It doesn't matter if .mac has a browser interface or not. If it goes down, then there's NO SUPPORT. It's not a question of "if the Mail client doesn't work, use the web interface". That's a moot point. People will need another email account through which they can receive support. I personally have several, but what's the point for people who only have one and use it as their main means of communication?

    It's typical of Apple . . Two steps forward, one step back. Once you think you're really getting something worth your $$$, they pull the plug on something important. Then when it comes around to renewal time, the freebies and free upgrades arrive.

  1. beeble

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Mar 2004

    0
    05/04, 09:50pm | report spam | Reply |

    Almost no problems here

    I've had .Mac since the iTools days. I signed up on the first day the service was announced to try it out and stuck with it once it became .Mac. I use IMAP and so all my email is stored on Apple's servers. During all this time I never had a problem while it was called iTools and I've only had 3 outages since the name change. 2 of those were about an hour long during a feature upgrade. I received an email a few days before about it. In reality I've only had one real outage in many years of service. If only VA Dominion Power were a tenth as good!

    I really don't know what all the complaining is about. It's a good service, they give you what they say and they will (rare these days) and much more (even rarer).

    I'm glad they're offering email support though. The forums were abused no end, usually by people who frankly had no idea and blamed Apple for everything. If I ran those boards I'd be pulling posts left and right to because the real valid posts were constantly getting drowned out by the noise.

    Good call Apple!

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