Comments on: When the Google Cloud Shits on You http://cogdogblog.com/2008/08/06/google-cloud-shits/ Alan Levine's space for barking about and playing with technology Sun, 21 Mar 2010 20:33:53 -0700 http://wordpress.org/?v=abc hourly 1 By: Andre Malan http://cogdogblog.com/2008/08/06/google-cloud-shits/comment-page-1/#comment-55901 Andre Malan Mon, 11 Aug 2008 22:54:36 +0000 http://cogdogblog.com/?p=2580#comment-55901 Next time maybe your email will just have one of these: http://www.flickr.com/photos/15747413@N00/2755066176/ Next time maybe your email will just have one of these: http://www.flickr.com/photos/15747413@N00/2755066176/

]]> By: ez http://cogdogblog.com/2008/08/06/google-cloud-shits/comment-page-1/#comment-55888 ez Sun, 10 Aug 2008 02:11:27 +0000 http://cogdogblog.com/?p=2580#comment-55888 I've seen tier 3 support use something like, "they are working diligently to resolve this problem," in reference to things we were doing. It means to me the Google engineers had no idea why this was happening, could not replicate the issue, and had no time table to resolve it. Those are the worst. Well... Until it is solved. Then it becomes a story to talk about all week. I’ve seen tier 3 support use something like, “they are working diligently to resolve this problem,” in reference to things we were doing. It means to me the Google engineers had no idea why this was happening, could not replicate the issue, and had no time table to resolve it. Those are the worst. Well… Until it is solved. Then it becomes a story to talk about all week.

]]> By: Sean FitzGerald http://cogdogblog.com/2008/08/06/google-cloud-shits/comment-page-1/#comment-55872 Sean FitzGerald Thu, 07 Aug 2008 16:17:05 +0000 http://cogdogblog.com/?p=2580#comment-55872 Ah... that puts a slightly different spin on it then. Then again, calling it an "enterprise version" can lead to some understandable expectations, otherwise why call it that? On reflecting on your experience and Steve's experience with “Peter” from Bangalore I know I've had similar frustrations when dealing with large organisations, and to me the problem is that no matter how genuinely caring and desirious of being helpful "customer service agents" like “Peter” from Bangalore and Sylvia are, at the end of the day we are just an anonymous file on their computer. They don't really know my story and there is no chance of developing an ongoing relationship with these people, as I get someone different each time. I often find myself repeating my story over and over again. I also often have to go through the same basic steps with each phone call ("Have you tried turning it off and on again?") which can get frustating. The result is that I feel de-humanised. Ah… that puts a slightly different spin on it then. Then again, calling it an “enterprise version” can lead to some understandable expectations, otherwise why call it that?

On reflecting on your experience and Steve’s experience with “Peter” from Bangalore I know I’ve had similar frustrations when dealing with large organisations, and to me the problem is that no matter how genuinely caring and desirious of being helpful “customer service agents” like “Peter” from Bangalore and Sylvia are, at the end of the day we are just an anonymous file on their computer. They don’t really know my story and there is no chance of developing an ongoing relationship with these people, as I get someone different each time. I often find myself repeating my story over and over again. I also often have to go through the same basic steps with each phone call (“Have you tried turning it off and on again?”) which can get frustating. The result is that I feel de-humanised.

]]> By: alan http://cogdogblog.com/2008/08/06/google-cloud-shits/comment-page-1/#comment-55871 alan Thu, 07 Aug 2008 16:04:02 +0000 http://cogdogblog.com/?p=2580#comment-55871 Actually Sean we are not a paying customer- we have the free education enterprise version of Google apps. Still poor service is poor service. Like I can IM Sergey and say "Yo WTF?" Actually Sean we are not a paying customer- we have the free education enterprise version of Google apps. Still poor service is poor service. Like I can IM Sergey and say “Yo WTF?”

]]> By: Sean FitzGerald http://cogdogblog.com/2008/08/06/google-cloud-shits/comment-page-1/#comment-55870 Sean FitzGerald Thu, 07 Aug 2008 15:57:14 +0000 http://cogdogblog.com/?p=2580#comment-55870 @CogDog: Who are you to make the Great Google respond? A paying customer who relies on the service as promised to get his work done. If my ISP couldn't delever email for a day I wouldn't be very happy about it. Are we to expect less from Google because your email is "in the cloud" and we are more forgiving because we understand the unreliability of web-based services? Then again, not having email for a day isn't the end of the word (although probably made more frustrating by your looming deadline). I suspect much of the frustration here isn't the inconvenience, but the sense you were getting the run-around by "support". @CogDog: Who are you to make the Great Google respond? A paying customer who relies on the service as promised to get his work done. If my ISP couldn’t delever email for a day I wouldn’t be very happy about it. Are we to expect less from Google because your email is “in the cloud” and we are more forgiving because we understand the unreliability of web-based services?

Then again, not having email for a day isn’t the end of the word (although probably made more frustrating by your looming deadline). I suspect much of the frustration here isn’t the inconvenience, but the sense you were getting the run-around by “support”.

]]> By: Steve http://cogdogblog.com/2008/08/06/google-cloud-shits/comment-page-1/#comment-55869 Steve Thu, 07 Aug 2008 13:21:57 +0000 http://cogdogblog.com/?p=2580#comment-55869 While this is not in the same caliber as your experience, I recently spent 7 hours on the phone with "Peter" from Dell in Bangalore trying unsuccessfully to solve a wireless connection problem. After telling me, having exhausted his scripts, that he couldn't help with this problem, he cheerfully asked if I had any other problems he could help with. While this is not in the same caliber as your experience, I recently spent 7 hours on the phone with “Peter” from Dell in Bangalore trying unsuccessfully to solve a wireless connection problem.

After telling me, having exhausted his scripts, that he couldn’t help with this problem, he cheerfully asked if I had any other problems he could help with.

]]> By: Alan Levine aka CogDog http://cogdogblog.com/2008/08/06/google-cloud-shits/comment-page-1/#comment-55867 Alan Levine aka CogDog Thu, 07 Aug 2008 12:47:53 +0000 http://cogdogblog.com/?p=2580#comment-55867 Sometime in the middle of the night my mail came back, so the cloud is now shiny. Despite my grumpiness, I love the way Google works when it works, and this was the first time I have experienced anything like this, but yes, Andre it seems like its a different service. I dont mine having my CogDgBlog email separate from my hosted nmc account, and actually I am logged on to both at same time with no conflict in same browser. Yes, Sean, I wonder ;-) I am not complaining about Google as a cloud application, I am suggesting that the customer service and support needs to step up a notch for those that shall sail among the clouds. But who I am to make the Great Google respond? Sometime in the middle of the night my mail came back, so the cloud is now shiny.

Despite my grumpiness, I love the way Google works when it works, and this was the first time I have experienced anything like this, but yes, Andre it seems like its a different service. I dont mine having my CogDgBlog email separate from my hosted nmc account, and actually I am logged on to both at same time with no conflict in same browser.

Yes, Sean, I wonder ;-)

I am not complaining about Google as a cloud application, I am suggesting that the customer service and support needs to step up a notch for those that shall sail among the clouds.

But who I am to make the Great Google respond?

]]> By: Sean FitzGerald http://cogdogblog.com/2008/08/06/google-cloud-shits/comment-page-1/#comment-55865 Sean FitzGerald Thu, 07 Aug 2008 09:00:40 +0000 http://cogdogblog.com/?p=2580#comment-55865 Did you see this? 'Guy gets locked out of all Google apps' - http://tinyurl.com/6yuqsv How about this? http://tinyurl.com/5ua328 "GOOGLE has snatched what is believed to be its biggest single client in the world - the NSW Department of Education - away from its rival Microsoft to claim up to 1.3 million new users of its free email product." I wonder if they get any better support when things go wrong! And people wonder why I don't use Gmail. :-/ Did you see this? ‘Guy gets locked out of all Google apps’ – http://tinyurl.com/6yuqsv

How about this? http://tinyurl.com/5ua328

“GOOGLE has snatched what is believed to be its biggest single client in the world – the NSW Department of Education – away from its rival Microsoft to claim up to 1.3 million new users of its free email product.”

I wonder if they get any better support when things go wrong!

And people wonder why I don’t use Gmail. :-/

]]> By: Andre Malan http://cogdogblog.com/2008/08/06/google-cloud-shits/comment-page-1/#comment-55864 Andre Malan Thu, 07 Aug 2008 08:57:29 +0000 http://cogdogblog.com/?p=2580#comment-55864 I find it strange that "apps" is not a higher priority for Google. It is hard money and it is the best way for them to break out into a new market. For me, down time is just the tip of the iceberg, not having access to other google products (like reader) in an apps account is really annoying. If they want to limit the services that you can use, at least make it easy to link accounts! If your cogdogblog GMail spoke to your NMC GMail in a nice way then NMC GMail going down wouldn't be a problem as you would be able to just do everything from cogdogblog. But no, for some reason Google wants us to keep all of our Google accounts completely separate, making us perform weird sign-in/ email-forwarding acrobatics! I find it strange that “apps” is not a higher priority for Google. It is hard money and it is the best way for them to break out into a new market. For me, down time is just the tip of the iceberg, not having access to other google products (like reader) in an apps account is really annoying. If they want to limit the services that you can use, at least make it easy to link accounts! If your cogdogblog GMail spoke to your NMC GMail in a nice way then NMC GMail going down wouldn’t be a problem as you would be able to just do everything from cogdogblog. But no, for some reason Google wants us to keep all of our Google accounts completely separate, making us perform weird sign-in/ email-forwarding acrobatics!

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