My love-hate with SVN, Part 4: Corrupt Metadata & Going Over Quota

Ever had one of those days where nothing seems to work? Most of June's been that way for me...

This week I decided to trust my OS and let Fedora update me automatically to the latest release, Fedora 11. I've never tried a distribution upgrade; in the past I've only ever done a clean install (be it Windows, Ubuntu, MEPIS, AntiX, or Fedora). But I figured if @dougschaefer could do it, so could I.

It was fairly smooth sailing, though the handy gui tool preupgrade only downloaded packages but didn't do the upgrade, so on reboot (still in F10) I had to run preupgrade-cli "Fedora 11 (Leonidas)". I suspect I must have fatfingered my hard drive password when I rebooted he first time because it worked like a charm the second time. Overall, way more successful than attempts so far to make a Mac Pro get Fedora'd, thatsfersure (grub, video, and network card issues, to name but a few).

Anyway, now I have updated versions of subversion and python, and as a result, my Subversive projects in Eclipse don't work. After much cursing and experimenting (and updating my CollabNet Subversion version to 1.6.3, the solution seems to be simply this:

Check out the projects anew within Eclipse, and if necessary, diff local changes from old project to new project.

But, if the project is too big (jbosstools trunk folder is over 1.1G) you may get a heap error. You can check the whole project out via commandline, but Eclipse (or Subversive? or Mylyn?) uses too much memory and the whole thing dies, despite my running Eclipse w/ a half-gig of heap:

/home/nboldt/eclipse/eclipse/eclipse -clean \
  -showLocation -data /home/nboldt/eclipse/workspace-jboss \
  -vmargs -Djava.library.path=/opt/CollabNet_Subversion/lib \
  -Xmx512M -XX:PermSize=512M

In this case, the solution is to check out the project without recursing into folders.

Commandline on in the Console view, that looks like this:

svn checkout "https://svn.jboss.org/repos/jbosstools/trunk@HEAD" -r \
  HEAD --depth empty  "/home/nboldt/eclipse/workspace-jboss/jbosstools-trunk"

You can then copy stuff you already checked out into the new target project, then refresh the project in Eclipse. Of course in my case Eclipse then thought all the files were new, so I had to Override and Update from the repo.

Another 24374 files or 1.1G to download. No wonder I went over my quota this month!

(Really, it was due to several different .iso torrent downloads for Fedora and CentOS, along with the movie Dead Alive, just in time for BLITEOTW day!)

So, unfortunately, I haven't been able to enjoy any of the 33 projects in this years' Eclipse Galileo release, unlike others on the Planet and the BirdsNest have. Hopefully next month will see calmer seas.

On the plus side now that I'm running Fedora 11, I can use Delta RPMs thanks to the yum-presto plugin... so next month's bill should be much, much smaller.

Blackberry Bold + MidpSSH + Mutt = Mail Over VPN

Got a new Blackberry Bold 9000 for Xmas. Typical of Rogers, I was overcharged for it, and all the freebies I had quoted to me on the phone have yet to arrive. I'm told I'll be credited back the surcharge, but I won't see that until February.

Anyway, customer service infractions aside, setting up Gmail, TwitterBerry, Facebook, Google Talk, Windows Live Messenger, Yahoo! Messenger, and of course Blackberry Messenger was a snap. Tried to use the internal mail client for Gmail but it doesn't respect my filters so I get the flashing light notification for every bit of spam, rather than just the interesting mail I want to see.

Setting up IRC was a little tricky, but thanks to Opera Mini and mibbit.com, I can more or less check Freenode channels on the go. Not ideal, but tolerable.

But the real challenge was getting access to my corporate mail, since we're not running a BES server, and thanks to all the supported options, there are over 5,000 possible ways to configure Cisco VPN access on a Blackberry. I'm not that patient.

Instead, I decided to try using MidpSSH 1.7.3 to connect into my laptop (which is already connected to the VPN), then use Mutt 1.5.18 to connect over IMAP to the mail server. Because I'm connecting to a local IP within my home LAN, I set the SSH session's Connection Type to WiFi, rather than Default, BES, or TCP/IP. In order to avoid having to key in a password every time I connect to the laptop, I set up an SSH key and shared that with my laptop.

If I want to have this solution work when I'm not at home, I'll have to expose my laptop to the outside world, and connect using Connection Type = Default to that public IP address instead of my more secure internal one. Still, it's a step in the right direction.

Incidentally, this tip might help, if you're having network access problems:

Options > Advanced Options > TCP > APN: "internet.com" (no username or password) [1], [2]

Now I just have to teach myself all the keyboard commands for Mutt. I tried using MidpSSH on my previous phone, a SonyEricsson W810i, but it's nearly impossible to do anything without a full keyboard.

If you're thinking of doing something like this, here are some handy links for setting up Mutt to connect to IMAP and to send mail via SMTP.

Is there a better way to VPN over BIS for IMAP mail? If so, feel free to share your solution here or via email with nickboldt(at)rogers(dot)blackberry(dot)net.

Savimize? Er, no.

Nearly every I get spam from Rogers or Bell, trying in vain to make me switch to their service. It's in vain because a) I'm already with Rogers, so they're wasting their time trying to get me to sign up for services I already have, and b) I won't go back to Bell because the phone lines (and thus DSL rates) in this neighbourhood are teh suck.

But wast of paper and postage aside, let's contrast the two current promotions they're running, both trying to be clever with language... and failing.

Bell recently unveiled what I like to call its "sucki-er" campaign, with numerous print and billboard ads all including the suffix "-er" in the copy. Better, faster, beaver... you name it, they've gone superlative on it. Why does it suck? Because let's be real. Better is entirely subjective. Faster can be measured, and at least in my part of Toronto, it's not. This campaign makes me long for their now famous beaver campaign, because at least it was creative.

Meanwhile, in response, Rogers has unveiled its "invent a new word" campaign, which I find frankly insulting. If there was another cable provider I could turn to, I'd consider switching just because of this bit of lameness.

Recently Rogers has started telling everyone they're faster (but refuses to release details). Lame. This new campaign? Lamer.

Bellch, Part 2: Traffic Shaping

Another reason to boycott Bell: p2p traffic throttling, w/o first contacting customers & resellers.

So much for the claim that because everyone has a dedicated phone line (unlike the supposedly slower, pooled cable lines) the service will be faster and more fair for the consumer.

IT Business reports that Bell is now trying to throttle its p2p traffic.

Luckily, not everyone buys that claim:

In April, CAIP - a group representing 55 third-party ISPs that buy connectivity on a wholesale basis from Bell and then resell it to consumers – petitioned the Canadian Radio and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) for an immediate cease-and-desist order on Bell's traffic-shaping practices.

Subsequently, other groups – such as The Campaign for Democratic Media (CDM) – lent their voices to the protest, urging the CRTC to initiate a "public proceeding" examining the practice. read more

In related news, I'm thinking it might be time to get myself a Blackberry -- the aptly named Bold(t). The Bold isn't available... yet, but I'm hoping when it does finally get released it'll be available through Rogers for less than its current pre-order / unlocked price. $800 for a phone is insane -- even one with gigs of storage and built in GPS & A2DP.

Bellch

I've been screening a lot of calls from Bell lately, but last week I finally decided to pick up and see why they've been harassing me. Turns out -- big surprise -- it's the usual "we miss your money."

I'm with Rogers for two reasons: the now-defunct IBM employee / partner discount, which used to be 20% off the top until one day it just magically vanished w/o explanation, and because the phone lines in this 'hood are old and slow.

According to the Bell rep on the phone, they've fixed that. He couldn't give me technical details, but he said the lines here were "better." Yep, I'm sold. So I can now drop my 7Mb/s Rogers line and switch to a 7Mb/s Bell line, because it MIGHT now be comparable in speed. Before Rogers upped my posted bandwidth rate for free from 5 to 7Mb/s and later I increased my bandwidth limit (because 65Gb/mo is nothing when you 'torrent), I was getting 3-5Mb/s. At the same time, I tried Bell, then later Primus, and never got about 1.5-2Mb/s -- for about the same monthly fee.

He also tried the "but with Rogers it's a shared line, with us it's dedicated." Woo. My neighbourhood is mostly retiree and seniors, many of whom have probably been with Bell for the past few decades and who surely aren't using much bandwidth. I don't mind sharing when I almost always get great speed.

But the real kicker for me was when he started with the high-pressure sales stuff. I rarely buy stuff on the phone or in the driveway, so it was going to be an uphill battle for him no matter how good the offer was. But telling me that the deal he was offering would not be available should I decide in a day or two to call Bell myself, and refusing to send me the details so I could peruse them at my leisure in order to be educated about the deal he was selling? Please. How can any business these days, with the world having a decade and a half of Internet culture under its belt, seriously think to sell stuff without letting consumers educate themselves first? Do they think we're still stuck in the pre-Nader era of illiterates buying what we're told because we're told to do so? Oh, wait, there are the iPhonatics & the Macolytes. But anyway...

In a related news item, Bell and Telus have decided to start charging their consumers for incoming text messages - spam or otherwise. Of course if you buy a monthly plan, they waive that. Cash grab, anyone? If you're a Bell or Telus customer, you might want to sign this petition.

Here's hoping Rogers decides to differentiate themselves by NOT stooping to this level. With consumer confidence levels plummeting all the time, I hope they'll see this might net a few bucks, but lose them customers.

The New Rogers.com: 500% Better

Congrats, Rogers! Your new site fails to work even better than the previous one! That's quite an achievement!

I can't sign in, I can't go to 'Online Self Service', I can't recover my username or password, and I can't even register. It's as if your.rogers.com is completely broken, and that's a pretty impressive accomplishment! And it's not just in one browser, either - it's in Konqueror, Flock and Firefox, on two different machines (one ubuntu, the other debian). I'd check in Windows w/ IE, but let's be real. This isn't a browser issue.

Kudos, Rogers. Keep up the great work!

No can has?

Small problem...
-- ... font too big? ... message too long? ... testing not done?

Customer Service Apathy, Part 2

(con't from Part 1)

Another example of how sometimes it pays to shame people into good customer service.

I sent a slightly less bitchy version of last night's post about Enbridge and Double G Gas Services to Enbridge's ombudsman emai address, and cc:'d the contact address on Double G's website.

This morning, I received this from Enbridge:

Dear Customer,

Thank you for your e-mail.

You will be contacted regarding your concern within the next two business days.

Thank you.

The Office of the Ombudsman
Enbridge Gas Distribution Inc.

I also received this from Double G:

Mr Boldt,
As soon as you're up and checking your email give me a call at (416) ***-****

If you don't call me by about 9:00, I will try and call you.
Rob

I'm not sure if it was the same person, but around 8:15am I also received a call from Double G saying that they could come immediately to turn the gas back on. I was asleep; SWMNBN took the call. Apparently they had someone in the area who could come by "shortly," or in the next 90 mins, as it turned out.

The tech that arrived discovered that rather than just needing to turn on the gas, he had to connect the meter that Enbridge had played with yesterday. He was not amused, and rightly so -- I'm hoping he'll pass his annoyance with the workflow breakdown back to Double G and from there to Enbridge.

Anyway, by 10:45am, I was cooking with gas again.

Continued...

Blogged with Flock

Customer Service Apathy

Back in May, 2007, I received a note from Enbridge, my household gas distributor, telling me I'd been randomly selected for a new gas meter. The note then went on to say that if I didn't book an appointment,

we will go ahead and replace the meter sometime after May 25, 2007. If you are not home, we will leave the gas supply off and provide a number for your (sic) to call to have us come back to turn on your meter and relight your natural gas appliances. We will return as quickly as possible.

Now, as a skeptic and cynic, I new there was trouble brewin' here, but I called them and scheduled an appointment for June 1, between 1 and 5pm. A four hour window was the best they could do. So far, not great, but June 1 was a Friday and I work from home anyway, so this wasn't really a big deal. That is, until about 6pm when they still hadn't shown up.

I called to kvetch, but *surprise* they had no record of me, my address, or the appointment. So, I booked a new appointment, this time for June 22, between 1 and 3pm. Apparently when they screw you over they're willing do offer a shorter window.

Not that it mattered -- they didn't show up the second time either. So, that evening "between the hours of 4:00PM and 10:00PM", as directed, I called to book a third appointment. This time I got a three-hour window between 2 and 5pm on July 12 with the promise that they'd call 30 mins before to verify they were in fact coming. Whatever.

So Double G's technician finally arrived, did his thing, and was done in very little time, remarking that Enbridge would be back "soon" to complete the job.

Soon, apparently, was 2 months later -- this morning. No notice, no warning, no phone call or note dropped in my mailbox. Nada. Luckily, I work stupidly late hours so I was up to 3am last night and thus still home at 11am when two Enbridge techs stomped up my driveway to tell me my gas was turned off and that Double G would have to come out and turn it back on. (They're the gas company but they have to get some subcontractor to light a pilot? OK, whatever, I'm sure there's a union or some nepotism involved.)

The Enbridge guys were friendly enough and offered me a 6-9pm window for turning on my gas. Since today was Build Server Rebuild Day (another story for another time), I figured I'd be at the lab and in the server room pretty late, so I took that window, then later reconsidered and asked for something later. Believe it or not, they said I could have 8-11pm. I was once again skeptical that anyone would actually come out here that late, but since it was that or leave the server half-done to rush home or delay it another week, I accepted.

At 9:30pm tonight, I called Dougle G to verify that they had in fact gotten the booking and were on their way. They said yes, it's booked, between 8pm and midnight. So, great, not *quite* what I was told before, but at least I was in the system. Progress!

It's now 1:30am and there's been no sign of them, but frankly, I'm not surprised. They clearly have the same attitude that Rogers Email Support team does about fixing their website problems:

Because we're not satisfied until you're not satisfied.

Continued...

Blogged with Flock

Real World Bug Reporting, Part 3: Now we know!

I've complained about the way Rogers treats its customers via email, but I haven't discussed how they are on the phone. Much as I hate their IVR's need to ask me for my phone number (immediately before I get a live human who asks me for my phone number again), or the fact that I can't just ask for "cell phone billing" but instead have to step through "wireless" > "billing" > "cell phone", once you get a live human, life's pretty damn good.

If you argue enough (repeatedly but politely!) to the people in the billing department about not understanding why you're being charged for things you didn't agree to or that their policies are unfriendly (eg., $1 per 1K download with no data plan or $5 per 5M download with plan) or insane, you can get up to $20 back per complaint in "goodwill credit."

You can also be reimbursed for loss of service when there's an outage (especially the planned ones). They're supposed to contact you in advance in writing when there's a planned outage, so if they ever let slip that the reason you've been without internet/cable/phone access for the last 3 hours is due to a *planned* outage (and of course no one emailed or dropped a flyer in your mailbox to warn you), you're entitled to compensation.

My most recent Rogers experience was around the fact that changing my cell phone billing plan can only take effect at the start of next month's billing cycle, but EVERY OTHER CHARGE happens immediately and is prorated from the request date. In my case, this means I got charged $45 in usage fees which would have been free if they'd actived the new plan the day I called instead of 2 weeks later. Given the plan cost jumped from $35/mo to $60/mo (for two phones), I would have paid 14/31 of $25, or $11.30 for the balance of the month. So, being charged $45 - $20 = $25 is forgivable, though still not ideal.

I guess the point here is that every support group has its preferred method of operation, and it's up to the user to find the best way to navigate his options and choose the best route. For example, all Eclipse projects have access to a wiki, newgroup, mailing list, website, blog(s), IRC channel(s)... but each project's committers/contributors/evangelists work a little differently and so they all provide support via their favourite channel or channels.

Anyway, having been on the phone with Rogers at leat a half-dozen times this summer getting erroneous charges reversed, now I know that Rogers Email Support = teh suck but Rogers Phone Support r0x0rs. And knowing is half the battle!

Blogged with Flock

Real World Bug Reporting, Part 2

I've given up on Rogers' ability to think outside their carefully cloistered support pillars, but for comic relief here's their final reply in this thread, interspersed with a little froth:

Thank you for taking the time to write to us, we appreciate your use of online customer service.

Gotta love the opening remarks drivel "We appreciate your use of online customer service." Geez, that's fantastic.

In your recent email, you have informed us that you would like assistance so you can view your services online and be able to manage your services successfully.

We apologize that you are experiencing difficulties accessing our www.rogers.com website.

Holding breath, waiting for the other shoe to drop...

We are also sorry to hear that you have not been happy with the customer service you received. The expectation is that you receive world class customer service. If that is not what you experienced, we do apologize.

Silly me, I thought I'd made it clear I was dissatisifed. But by all means, couch your replies with "if", if it gets you through the day. Note also the distinct lack of "... and to make it better, we're going to actually do something other than simply sending this FOAD email to pacify you."

Please ensure that when you are navigating our website you are using Internet Explorer or Netscape as your browser as we do not support other browser types at this time. It is also suggested to clear all your cookies and your cache folder.

Kudos to Rogers for being forward thinking and choosing to mention Firefox here instead of Netscape. Oh, wait, I'm dreaming. Unfortunately, I can't argue the Internet Explorer point since according to some recent stats, they're still about 70% of the planet. I've never seen very flattering stats for Mac or Linux usage, so I guess it's reasonable to only support Windows and its de facto browser. You win this time, tech support. Oh, but wait -- this isn't a browser issue, it's a VBScript compilation error!

You are able to login as many times as you would like on our www.rogers.com website.

Actually, that was the reason I filed this complaint in the first place, and no amount of "just use IE or Netscape" will resolve the fact that this isn't a browser problem.

If you continue using our website and experiencing errors, we do suggest that you contact our eCare department at 1-877-343-5745. They are open to serve you Monday-Sunday 7am-3am.

They are truly our website experts and with further troubleshooting, they will be able to assist you so you can view your services online successfully.

Oh, let's be real. They'll probably tell me that they've never heard of Linux, that Konqueror is a guy on a horse with a big sword, and ask me what version of Windows I'm using repeatedly until I hang up in disgust. I doubt they'll acknowledge the possibility that the browser is not the problem or that it's their code that's causing the compilation error.

We understand that you would like to receive assistance via email, however some matters are more complex and better if we discuss via telephone.

Like the ones where I say, "Read this Microsoft KB article and fix your website accordingly." Yep, that requires discussion.

And true, it's way more efficient to read a screen to someone over the phone than to send him an email so he can read it himself. Besides, manually entering a URL as someone reads it to you is *much* more fun (because errors = comedy, right?) than just clicking a link.

We do appreciate your cooperation concerning this matter. You are a valued customer and we thank you for your business.

So highly valued that they can't communicate between their departments to resolve problems. Ah, well, you can lead a monopoly to water, but you can't make it think.

Anyway, despite this, I'm stuck with these folks for the following reasons: the phone lines in my neighbourhood suck and the best throughput I can get is about 2-3MB/s download. With Rogers over cable lines I can get 5MB, and yesterday I got some junk mail saying they're upgrading everyone to 7MB for free. (It was postal junk mail, not email, because they're not quite *there* enough to send me a free email when wasting postage is an available option.) Ah, Rogers. Always going that extra mile to justify jacking up their rates while giving us a little something extra so we won't complain too much.

So, what can you do? Monopoly, yes, but ultimately, it's all about the bandwidth.

Real World Bug Reporting

I've seen some kvetching lately in #eclipse that people (Eclipse users/customers) open bugs which never get resolved. Also, last night I saw an article from earlier this year discussing whether or not Vista would be fit for purpose, which spawned further kvetching about Microsoft and IBM and how much/little support there is from large organizations with large customer bases.

That said, let me present a real life example I just went through of how much worse life would be in OSS if we, the developers, treated our customers (the world at large) as if we were a monopoly with nothing to gain from helping you out, with an insipid insistence in NOT working together as a community.

Without further ado, I give you ... reporting a bug to Rogers Communications (unabridged).

 Original Message Follows:
 ------------------------
 name: Nick Boldt
 emailId: nickboldt
 replyEmail: nickboldt@gmail.com
 issue: account
 subcategory: other
 problemdescription: Logging in using Firefox or Konqueror browser
 (which normally works), I periodically get this error:

 Microsoft VBScript compilation  error '800a03e9'

 Out of memory

 /web_auth/verifpwd.asp, line 0

 Given you're running a Microsoft server -- maybe it's in need of a
 reboot? ;-)

Dear Nick Boldt,

Thank you for your email.

We understand your concern with this issue.

Rogers Yahoo! Hi-Speed Internet technical support representatives are qualified to diagnose and troubleshoot issues relating directly to our client software. We will therefore not be able to assist you with this matter, as it is beyond the scope of our support parameters.

For assistance regarding peripheral devices and other software products, we recommend contacting the vendor of the software in question. We apologize for any inconvenience.

If you have any further questions or comments regarding our service, please fill out the online form on our Customer Support page listed below or contact us by phone at 1-888-288-4663.

Regards,
name removed

There's nothing more annoying that people who tell you to solve your problem by repeating what you've already done (namely, to contact the software vendor, who in this case is in fact Rogers).

Guys, this is either one of two problems:

a) your webserver has a memory leak

b) your website relies on activeX controls and therefore doesn't (consistently) work with anything but Internet Explorer

In either case, it has nothing to do with my "client software" -- it's a website/webserver problem.

Please escalate this to your webmaster for review.

Cheers,

Nick

Granted, I was wrong about what the problem here was, but that's why I was suggesting escalation. Besides, I don't do ASP anymore.

Thank you for taking the time to write to us, we appreciate your use of online customer service.

We would be more that happy to assist you with your concerns.

We appreciate hearing from our customers and thank you for your comments and feedback. However, please note that the Rogers Yahoo! Hi-Speed cable internet service, currently supports only Internet Explorer and the Rogers Yahoo! browser. We apologize for the inconvenience.

Please let us know if we may be of further assistance to you.

If you have any further questions or comments regarding our service, please fill out the online form on our Customer Support page listed below or contact us by phone at 1-888-288-4663.

Regards,
name removed

I think the point you're (once again) missing is that it's not the browser (client) that's the problem but the website/webserver (server). Since this problem is intermittent and happens with multiple different browsers, I'm reasonably certain it's not a browser issue.

Further, since VBScript compilation occurs ON THE SERVER, not in the client browser (we're not talking about Javascript or another client-side scripting language, but a server-side one), and since my computer (and thus browsers) have ample memory to load other websites (2G of RAM and a 2G swap) an "Out of memory" error must be caused by a problem ON THE SERVER.

A quick Google search confirms that this is a known problem in VBScript, with an available workaround provided by Microsoft:

Microsoft VBScript compilation error 800a03e9 Out of memory
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/174634

That said, if you don't feel this issue needs to be escalated to your web server support staff for review, or that it's perfectly reasonable to expect that at least once a day your website won't let customers sign in (it worked fine a moment ago but not when I first filed this bug report), then by all means, please send me another FOAD "we only support MSIE" note. After all, it's much more fun (and costly for you!) for me to call your support staff instead of using the website for self-service every time it won't let me log in.

Yours,

Nick

Dear Nick Boldt,

Thank you for your email.

We sympathize with your situation.

Please provide further information on the nature of the problem you are experiencing and we will be happy to assist you in any way we can. Information such as error messages or codes you receive may be helpful in determining the source of the problem.

Please include when you are recieiving the error message as well, including the full URL of the site and any other information you can provide about it, may be useful as well.

If you have any further questions or comments regarding our service, please fill out the online form on our Customer Support page listed below or contact us by phone at 1-888-288-4663.

Regards,
name removed

Fine, if you need me to do your job for you, I will.

Steps to reproduce:

1) Go to http://www.shoprogers.com/homeen.asp?CustomerType=Consumer&Language=En

2) Enter username / password; check box for 'Rember my username'; click go or hit enter

3) Marvel at the following error which tends to occur at random intervals but particularly the second or third time I try to log in using the same browser session:

Microsoft VBScript compilation error \'800a03e9\'

Out of memory

/web_auth/verifpwd.asp, line 0

4) Per advice in http://support.microsoft.com/kb/174634, fix this bug.

5) Send me a $50 account credit for helping you fix your website. (Hey, I can dream.)

Cheers,

Nick

Dear Nick Boldt,

Thank you for taking the time to write to us, we appreciate your use of online customer service.

We would be more that happy to assist you with your concerns.

Although we thank you for your input regarding the Corporate Website, for further issues related to the Customer Service feature, we recommend contacting the support number 1-877-343-5745. They may then escalate such matters to the network administrators, who manage the server.

Please note that the email support team, addresses issues related to the various Rogers Cable services (such as Hi-Speed cable internet, Home Phone, Digital Cable TV, etc.).

If you have any further questions or comments regarding our service, please fill out the online form on our Customer Support page listed below or contact us by phone at 1-888-288-4663.

Regards,
name removed

1. It's not the Corporate Website, it's the public customer website. I'm not a corporate user, I'm just one of your many regular customers. I would have thought that would be obious from the URL: http://www.shoprogers.com/homeen.asp?CustomerType=Consumer&Language=En -- note the "CustomerType=Consumer" part.

2. Why should I have to report this issue a second time to yet another unsympathetic ear when you can just forward this email chain to the appropriate people for resolution? Not only do you need me to document (twice) the problem, but you now want me to report it twice as well? Are your webmaster(s) so afraid of email that they need a buffer of phone-answering lackeys around them to protect them from valid, documented, and solvable bug reports?

3. If your staff "addresses issues related to the various Rogers Cable services", then why can't you deal with issues related to me checking my Rogers bill online -- namely, the fact that about half the time I try to log in, I get the aforementioned error? Shouldn't supporting the website on which my bills reside be part of supporting Rogers Cable services?

Thanks,

Nick

Dear Nick,

Thank you for contacting us again, we appreciate the support you are providing us.

I have read the history behind your e-mail requests along with your current e-mail. First I would like to mention that the Rogers corporate web site is www.rogers.com. I'm sorry if that information was confusing to you.

Second, my question to you is why are you logging in 2-3 times in the same session? (from e-mail sent 7/11) You only need to log on once to do all your maintenance, bill viewing and reviewing of your account. This may be the root cause of the problem.

Third, you need to call the staff in our Internet support office. We are not qualified to help you. We do not do any technical troubleshooting via e-mail. Please understand that we are not equipped with this type of knowledge, we answer a limited range of questions about billing, sales, general inquiries. Please call 1-888-288-4663, they are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and would be very happy and able to help you.

Thank you for contacting us, we hope that this issue will be resolved by our technicians.

Sincerely,
name removed

So, the moral here is that even when you provide steps to reproduce, solve the already-documented problem (via Google and the Microsoft KB), and request multiple times that they simply forward the email chain to someone who can address it, the oh-so-diligent lackeys at Rogers' email support desk refuse to help while claiming they're "happy to assist." Yeah, right.

Contrast that with the 1000s of bugs closed this year for Europa, and I'm sure you'll agree Open Source is much better than dealing with the close-source, closed-process, closed-access monopolies. Not only do we have several documented way to ask for support (bugzilla, newsgroups, mailing lists, IRC), but we actually use them, and the projects & member companies share information and collaborate to solve issues. Oh, and all this without having to pay $100+/mo for "service."

Really, what more could you want?