Avid Customer Support

[Calum0405]

I have done a search through previous threads but can't seem to get a straight answer. Does anyone know if it is possible to email avid anymore to get customet support?

I have recently noticed that you can purchase a months telephone support for something like £20 or something ridiculous like that and it now says can't even open a new call anymore and that you need to purchase an ID to be eligible for any support. So I will end up being charged god knows how much just to ask a straight forward question about my registration...

While I am posting this, does anyone know what is the best place to contact to try and retrieve the activation code for PT7? I registered my m-box when I bought it so the activation code should be available somewhere.

The reason I am doing this is because I am switching from a macbook pro to a G5 and PT8 will not run on the G5 so I will need to downgrade my version of PT8 and revert back to 7.3. I have my activation code for 8 on the avid site but I have lost my getting started book which has the code for 7.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Calum0405]

Anyone have any advice? Or just an email address to contact Avid/Digidesign?

[The Dougfather]

The email facility was removed a few months back, crazy IMHO as a lot of the posts probably helped identify bugs. As you've discovered it's $$$$$ now if you want support other than a single support code with a new product or buying one from the avid store.

Pro Tools 8-8.0.1 works on G5 machines, you just cannot go above this version. Assuming you registered your hardware you should be able to to login to 'My Account' on the avid site and retrieve serial numbers and product downloads, as you can run 8 without issue i wouldn't bother going back to 7.3. You should also find an 8.0.1 PPC downloader as well.

Cheers

[Calum0405]

Cheers for that buddy. I was always under the impression that version 8 was intel only. I have access to my v8 serial code so that is no problem. And there definitely won't be a problem running PT 8.0.1 on a G5 then?

[Talisker]

I did it...no issues, you should be fine.

[chrisdee]

Originally Posted by The Dougfather

The email facility was removed a few months back, crazy IMHO as a lot of the posts probably helped identify bugs.

+1

It's a very cumbersome, lacking and bad support system imo.
It's like they don't want to be bothered after you bought their product.

If there was an election for this I would vote to get back the free email option!

[albee1952]

Originally Posted by Calum0405

Cheers for that buddy. I was always under the impression that version 8 was intel only. I have access to my v8 serial code so that is no problem. And there definitely won't be a problem running PT 8.0.1 on a G5 then?

This can be checked by following the Pro Tools Compatibility Grids link

[yoerik]

Originally Posted by Calum0405

Anyone have any advice? Or just an email address to contact Avid/Digidesign?

woohahahahaaaa! you're funny!!!

[yoerik]

Originally Posted by chrisdee

+1

It's a very cumbersome, lacking and bad support system imo.
It's like they don't want to be bothered after you bought their product.

If there was an election for this I would vote to get back the free email option!

never mind, read thru the duc and draw your conclusions.... sad; very sad... digging their own grave and tons of users will be dancing on it!

[jbasil]

There seems to be a fair amount more support in the higher end forums.

Here's what I see as the worst part about AVID using the DUC as it's user to user (and only) tech support with moderation and occasional posts by AVID: This area is unlike any other official vendor support area I go to. The DUC Mac LE area is basically now like rec.audio.pro or gearslutz, both of which I like and frequent, but you take answers from there with grains of salt. It's like anything else on the net. It's users, happy and sad, smart and well, less smart. Here people can ask questions about an AVID issue and get a wrong answer, or get four different answers based on two different user experiences, one smart digital DAW user and one person who really doesn't have the right answer and writes something wrong but is trying to be helpful. I see plenty of threads here where I think "Why is this ten posts in, two weeks later, and the OP is still waiting for some user somewhere to either have a solution/have a work around/say "there's no solution"/say "your box is broken, send it in"/say "have you tried W,X,or Y? Then try Z and let us know"? I'm a seasoned PT user since Pro Edit and Pro Deck and I've been on Macs since my Mac Plus and I try to help, and I chimed in with an answer about firewire bus chains and I was wrong. Flat out, no two ways about it, incorrect. The user plastikman posted the correct fact (very graciously I must say, no put downs for posting wrong info, which is always appreciated) so no harm done. But the OP's question, error 6085, was never addressed except by some users throwing suggestions out, all well intentioned, none of whom probably know what an error 6085 actually refers to (I know I don't. Assuming it's a generic hiccup alert), but it seems logical to offer up whatever comes to our mind to help. No one else is. But what's the actual answer that at least assures the OP that he/she CAN get up and running if he does XYZ? If they assume the drive is too slow and spend $200 on a faster one and get the same error, what should we tell them, especially when it's the computer in the advertising? Get another computer? Get yet another drive? Beats me. Should work. Doesn't? Sorry, I don't work here.

I'm not talking about the specific problems that we have talked about that AVID has said they are working on it, no answer yet. I'm talking about everything else. If there's a legit question about anything AVID, an install confusion, a chaining order for best results or is my box broken or not?, AVID should be here in a day or two with a post. I'm not talking about reporting in every day about a bug that hasn't been fixed yet, I'm talking about answering a legit question about OSX Lion before the jokes start rolling in, if someone has a legit problem properly configuring an mBox 3 Pro for low latency monitoring (which I couldn't get right on my own with the CP routing) be there in a day or two and lay it out before the thread gets long enough with users going back and forth that PROSPECTIVE buyers back off, much less we back off.

If the answer to this is that AVID is only paying for 30 minutes a day of cursory checking of five forums of this person's time, then that's a problem that will resound exponentially.

This is not a personal dig at whoever is responsible for moderating here. But given that AVID has curtailed its user phone/email tech support HUGELY, it has fallen upon this place to be where people turn for answers, and frankly at this rate AVID should just cede the sub $1,000 market if they're not going to service the end user.