Saying "RTFM" out loud (was Everyday [was: Style question: "war d ial" ...

[mlist -at- ca -dot- rainbow -dot- com]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Anameier, Christine A - Eagan, MN offered:

> More than once I've seen a user's question answered with "As 
> stated in [name and date of document], . . . " -- in other words, 
> "hey, look it up next
> time instead of bothering us with a question we've already answered!"
> Ouch. Benign-looking words, but in context they're a rebuke.

I had my company's Customer Support people trained to answer 
support questions in just that [first] way.

Those who are thin of skin will take it to heart, and 
be too embarrassed to make a fuss about having 
failed to use the resources provided. Otherwise, they'll 
helpfully and righteously point out where/how the 
navigation breaks down, and we'll humbly thank them, 
and fix it for the next release.

Those who are thick of /h/e/a/d/ ... er... skin, will 
not even be able to hear the implied criticism, since 
criticism could not possibly apply to them. It's like 
the aural equivalent of the fovea.

Anyway, the point became moot when we were bought and the 
first thing the new owners did was to fire the entire 
support group who had been responsible for our excellent 
customer service reputation.

I'm sure that's a sound business decision that will work 
itself out before my unjustifiably skeptical eyes, so 
I won't fret about it........... much. After all, these 
were the same people who made the excellent business 
decision to keep me.  ahem....

But, back to the point of your remarks, in a company 
like Microsoft (and many others) where the Support 
model is "each time you have to call, we make more money", 
an implied rebuke is as bad a thing as a useful and 
complete manual or Help system.

In a company like ours, where we sell a one-price 
support contract, per year, and each call sucks back 
some of the profit we would have made on that contract, 
a reminder to Read The F/ / / ine Manual is not out 
of line.

/kevin