Fair enough.
For this particular case: If AVG requires a fix license date, then add an alert mechanism so that customers (specially those who might not upgrade until 12/2010) will receive an explicit notice that their Declude Virus is inactive! The log file would be the minimum - but ideally a postmaster email to an "admin" email address in one of the Declude config files. From: supp...@declude.com [mailto:supp...@declude.com] On Behalf Of David Barker Sent: Wednesday, June 03, 2009 12:50 PM To: declude.virus@declude.com Subject: RE: [Declude.Virus] Declude Virus inoperable for 13% of th year? Maybe I am misunderstanding you but the AVG issue that occurred has been resolved, and should have never happened, now let's move on to the real issue at hand ... I am challenged with, how do I prevent such issues occurring in the future? As my resources are currently maxed what are my options ..? Suggestions ? David From: supp...@declude.com [mailto:supp...@declude.com] On Behalf Of Andy Schmidt Sent: Wednesday, June 03, 2009 12:42 PM To: declude.virus@declude.com Subject: RE: [Declude.Virus] Declude Virus inoperable for 13% of th year? Let's turn this around: >> however if customers expect more than what is currently being delivered then I have to ask the question, in clear, open and honest communication.. "Mr/s Customer" how much more are you willing to pay so that we can invest in more resources in order to develop a better product? << How much more than 100% of the annual fee are customers expected to pay before Declude considers them entitled to expect to use the product (close to) 100% of the time - instead of 87%? The point is, this was a major mess up and the problem was absolutely poor programming practice (hard-coding a time limit without adding code to deal with the reaching of that limit). And your response is: Pay us more if you want us to use remotely reasonably normal programming practice? From: supp...@declude.com [mailto:supp...@declude.com] On Behalf Of David Barker Sent: Wednesday, June 03, 2009 12:14 PM To: declude.virus@declude.com Subject: RE: [Declude.Virus] Declude Virus inoperable for 13% of th year? Darin, I accept your constructive criticism. With regard to the situation; 1. We recognize that this was a serious failure 2. The issue was highlighted and resolved in the quickest possible time 3. Procedural steps have been put in place to ensure that this does not happen again. 4. This was an unfortunate circumstance and I understand the frustration on the part of Declude customers 5. We make every effort to meet the needs of our customers My statement regarding increased prices has less to do with this current problem as it has to do with moving forward and preventing issues like this in the future. More $ means more resources which means more can be done which equates to less risk in all areas. Declude has given good service, value for money and a product that works for minimum $. I understand that the expectation is always more for less, however if customers expect more than what is currently being delivered then I have to ask the question, in clear, open and honest communication.. "Mr/s Customer" how much more are you willing to pay so that we can invest in more resources in order to develop a better product? David Barker VP Operations Declude Your Email security is our business 978.499.2933 office 978.988.1311 fax <mailto:dbar...@declude.com> dbar...@declude.com From: supp...@declude.com [mailto:supp...@declude.com] On Behalf Of Darin Cox Sent: Wednesday, June 03, 2009 11:50 AM To: declude.virus@declude.com Subject: Re: [Declude.Virus] Declude Virus inoperable for 13% of th year? Wow, what a way to respond to a long-time, loyal paying customer! Instead of apologizing for the serious problem and relaying what steps are being taken to avoid it happening again (a simple reminder in the calendar system of your choice would suffice), it's being thrown back in the customer's face. Regarding the question of increasing prices for service agreements, that has no bearing on a current customer who has already paid the fees. Such customers should expect the service they paid for to be rendered. Failure to do so is a breach of agreement on Declude's part. While we are all human and problems can occur, this is a serious failure, and the tone of the response being putative instead of apologetic makes customers less forgiving, not more. To be frank, many customers are asking what they are paying for, when fix and feature requests take months to be released, or not at all. I understand the situation may be frustrating, but it's often best to step back for a moment, vent elsewhere if needed, then respond professionally to customers. Clear, open, and honest communication also helps. Please don't take this email as incendiary. It is meant to be constructive. Darin. ----- Original Message ----- From: David Barker <mailto:dbar...@declude.com> To: declude.virus@declude.com Sent: Wednesday, June 03, 2009 11:07 AM Subject: RE: [Declude.Virus] Declude Virus inoperable for 13% of th year? Andy, a. Declude Virus does not have a built in system to report this error as with this specific example. What happened here is not the norm but an exception. It was not our choice to hard code the expiration date but a requirement from AVG. In this instance the specific persons who we had been working with at AVG are no longer with the company and the process of having this renewed took longer than usual. b. I am not sure if you are being facetious, but if it makes you feel better, sure you can schedule a reminder for me, please email me at least 3 month prior of the new expiration date 2010-12-31 c. Yes AVG was not working as it should have been since 2009-04-10 I agree with you - this is totally unacceptable, intolerable, painful and should not be brushed aside lightly. You are correct in your observations, we should increase our prices dramatically so we can hire more developers to ensure unfortunate incidents like this don't happen again. Considering the market and what other vendors charge how much more are you prepared to pay for your service agreement so that we can meet this type of requirement ? David Barker VP Operations Declude Your Email security is our business 978.499.2933 office 978.988.1311 fax <mailto:dbar...@declude.com> dbar...@declude.com From: supp...@declude.com [mailto:supp...@declude.com] On Behalf Of Andy Schmidt Sent: Wednesday, June 03, 2009 9:08 AM To: declude.virus@declude.com Subject: [Declude.Virus] Declude Virus inoperable for 13% of th year? Importance: High Sensitivity: Personal Hi, Dave - so now that we have a working Declude Virus again, what can be done to prevent this from recurring. a) Apparently Declude Virus has no error tracking in place at all - otherwise it would have REPORTED to us (or your own Declude to your own mail server) that the AVG API was no longer performing scans? b) Do the customers need to set a follow-up reminder for December 2010, which is when your new renewed AVG license will expire? The old DecludeProc had THIS AVG License String: LicBeg, Ver=1.0, Name="Declude", Exp=2009-04-10 So this implies, that the product was inoperable since April 10th for every customer because Declude didn't obtain a new annual AVG license and had to wait a few days for this "transaction" to complete? That means the product was unusable for 13% of the year? This can't just be brushed aside quietly. Best Regards, Andy --- This E-mail came from the Declude.Virus mailing list. To unsubscribe, just send an E-mail to imail...@declude.com, and type "unsubscribe Declude.Virus". The archives can be found at http://www.mail-archive.com. --- This E-mail came from the Declude.Virus mailing list. To unsubscribe, just send an E-mail to imail...@declude.com, and type "unsubscribe Declude.Virus". The archives can be found at http://www.mail-archive.com. --- This E-mail came from the Declude.Virus mailing list. To unsubscribe, just send an E-mail to imail...@declude.com, and type "unsubscribe Declude.Virus". The archives can be found at http://www.mail-archive.com. --- This E-mail came from the Declude.Virus mailing list. To unsubscribe, just send an E-mail to imail...@declude.com, and type "unsubscribe Declude.Virus". The archives can be found at http://www.mail-archive.com. --- This E-mail came from the Declude.Virus mailing list. To unsubscribe, just send an E-mail to imail...@declude.com, and type "unsubscribe Declude.Virus". The archives can be found at http://www.mail-archive.com. --- This E-mail came from the Declude.Virus mailing list. To unsubscribe, just send an E-mail to imail...@declude.com, and type "unsubscribe Declude.Virus". The archives can be found at http://www.mail-archive.com. --- This E-mail came from the Declude.Virus mailing list. To unsubscribe, just send an E-mail to imail...@declude.com, and type "unsubscribe Declude.Virus". The archives can be found at http://www.mail-archive.com.
