Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!lll-winken!ames!xanth!nic.MR.NET!indri!bin
From: bin@primate.wisc.edu (Brain in Neutral)
Newsgroups: comp.databases
Subject: Re: Ingres 6.1 out - but for what OS?
Message-ID: <118@indri.primate.wisc.edu>
Date: 13 Jan 89 22:18:04 GMT
References: <2596@rtech.rtech.com>
Sender: news@primate.wisc.edu
Reply-To: bin@primate.wisc.edu
Lines: 41

From article <2596@rtech.rtech.com>, by davek@rtech.rtech.com (Dave Kellogg):
> In article <114@indri.primate.wisc.edu> 
> bin@primate.wisc.edu (Brain in Neutral) writes:
>>(How come I never get any literature or announcements from RTI except
>>a continual stream of letters telling me that Ingres is wonderful
>>and that I should become a customer - when I'm already licensed?
>>What a company.)
> 
> I have a few comments here. 
> 
> 	1. If the mailings are what I think they are they are probably
> 	   seminar invitations.  You might wonder why you would go to 
> 	   a seminar when you are already a client, but it's not really 
> 	   a bad idea.  I, in fact, would go to sales seminars after major
> 	   announcements to find out about the new products and to talk to
> 	   local sales/support staff about dates and technical questions.
> 	   In addition, there's the free coffee and dougnuts ;-).

I can appreciate the rationale for why I might want to go to seminars
discussing the subject of major announcements.  However, it seems to me
that as a *customer* it would be nice to receive announcements of the
products from RTI.  In fact, I never get anything.

But this doesn't especially surprise me anymore.  It took RTI over two
years to get my licensing straight, including such things as sending bills
somewhere other than to me, and then sending a letter indicating that support
would be cut off if I didn't pay up.  It took a long time to get through
to get the manuals for 5.x:  the tape was sent, but no documentation.  To
install it, I had to borrow the manual from another installation.  Etc.

Don't get me wrong.  I like Ingres *as a product* just fine, and *as a
product* I would recommend it to others.  I don't like dealing with the
company (other than tech support, which I have no complaints about).  I
don't like having my licensing screwed up.  I don't like all the
answering machines, and not having calls returned.  I don't like not
receiving product announcements, which, as a customer, I should be
getting.

Paul DuBois
dubois@primate.wisc.edu		rhesus!dubois
bin@primate.wisc.edu		rhesus!bin