Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!decwrl!apple!rutgers!njin!spcvxb.spc.edu!terry
From: terry@spcvxb.spc.edu (Terry Kennedy, Operations Mgr)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.dec
Subject: Re: DEC Service
Message-ID: <1990Oct6.025205.586@spcvxb.spc.edu>
Date: 6 Oct 90 02:52:04 GMT
References: <34538@cup.portal.com>
Distribution: na
Organization: St. Peter's College, US
Lines: 70

In article <34538@cup.portal.com>, Azog-Thoth@cup.portal.com (William Thomas Daugustine) writes:
> Sometime on Wed, we noticed that one RA81 drive on our VAX 6220 was
> logging huge amounts of errors (168 in a 12 hour span). I called
> DEC Service at 12noon (its a 1-800 number. I am in NJ, and dont know
> if this is a central site, or if there are offices located thruout
> the country). 

  There are at least 3 service offices in NJ - Saddle Brook, Parsippany,
and Princeton. There are probably more. If you're in 201 area and dial
the 800 number, you get NY regional dispatch (that's the way they answer
when I call 'em, at least).

> At 2pm, still no word or sign from anybody. Meanwhile we were starting
> to get nervous. A quick call back to inquire on the status of a service
> call seemed to prompt someone to move. At 3pm, a CE arrived on site.

  What service level do you have? There are 3 possibilities, with options
to each:

  o DECsupport - top-of-the-line
  o BASIC - standard contract
  o Per-call - like it says

  These are prioritized in that order. If you have DECsupport, you are en-
titled to a 4 hour response (unless you have a 9000 or an 897x, in which
case it's 2). If you called at noon and the rep arrived at 3, they had an
hour to spare.

  Note that that figure is for *response*, not *repair*.

  If you have a service contract, you should have (since it's a 6000-series
VAX) a Remote Services Box and the phone number to call. If you had called
the Colorado Support Center, they might have been able to diagnose the prob-
lem as an HDA and have the part sent out with the rep on the first trip.
That would have made both you and DEC (since they don't like driving back
and forth for parts either) happier.

> I dont know why, or care why it took so long. All I know is that
> we pay lots of money for service, so we can have as little down-
> time as possible. 

  Well, you can pay to have a complete set of spares and a service rep or
two on-site all the time. On the other hand, you can plan ahead to minimize
the impact of these problems. Contracted customers get VAXsim-plus, which
(if you have an HSC) can automatically copy a failing disk to a hot spare
(which could be shadowing your system disk for improved performance when
it's not being a spare). If you don't have an HSC, you could still have a
spare drive and do this manually.

  If your application is critical enough that the few hours is vital, these
are reasonable steps to take. I'd suggest you call your Field Service branch
manager and have him come out and discuss these things with you.

> I dont even care for an explation about why the long delay. As I mentioned,
> this is just stateing a fact, and I am not critizing nor condemning the
> service people. BUT, I should state that a similar happening occured
> sseveral months ago, with again a 6 hour time delay between call and fix.

  Too late - explanation in progress 8-).

  Seriously, I'm served by NJ district Field Service and they've been wonder-
ful. I had the same problem you had about 3 months ago and the rep came out
with a HDA and got it fixed in under 3 hours from when I called. And no, my
site is not a big shop (1 8650, 1 785, 7 RA81's, 3 RA60's). And I don't pay
for premium service - so I don't have the guarantee of fast service - but
service has been good anyway.

	Terry Kennedy		Operations Manager, Academic Computing
	terry@spcvxa.bitnet	St. Peter's College, US
	terry@spcvxa.spc.edu	(201) 915-9381