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@Paul-Mason wrote:I agree 100% that customer service sucks.
The first and last time I called customer service I got some Indian or Pakistani bloke that could beryl speak or understand English.
Ignoring borderline racist comments (on an international forum), it's good when people complain about English and then spectacularly screw up spelling barely...
Back to topic...
Did you try another VAR? I admit that my dealings with VARs are mixed - some are willing to bend over backwards and are great, while others seem content with the bare minimum. Not all are equal, while still offering the full Autodesk software range it's quite evident some are more specialized in certain areas and can struggle when pushed for help/questions for products outside their field of interest.
No, I'm not making excuses, or suggesting that the system is good, but if I'm buying a car (or pretty much anything expensive) I'll shop about and get competitive quotes. Same goes for my Autodesk software - I'll get quotes from multiple VARs and equally get an impression of their customer-support and product-knowledge for the software I'm purchasing.
Sam M.
Inventor and Showcase monkey
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Let me chime in here. Having been a long time SW user, I am still adjusting to the Inventor world.
When I was using SW the VAR we had was awesome. They were local and very much willing to work OT to help solve your issue. The VAR we have for Inventor, is a big nationwide establishment and have swept us under the carpet many times. Unfortunately I as a user have no say when it comes to picking who our VAR is. What I will tell you is having been a stout user of the SW forum, it was very difficult to get answers let alone favorable ones from the powers at be at SW. I can say explictly that this forum is hands down better then the SW one. I see and have interacted with Autodesk employees several times that have worked hard to find solutions to my problems. I also continue to see that this company (Autodesk) is continually working hard to try and improve the product listening to the users. No, I am not an Autodesk employee. I am saying this based on what I have experienced to this point.
So, yes you can get a great deal out of the box price wise, and that is important, but by you wanting to switch to SW just because they give you a better price? When your experience is with Inventor? Becareful!!!! This could be a pay my now or pay me later case. Meaning what you save out of the box may just get eaten up in training.
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At my former job, i had a really good Solid Edge Reseller here in Holland. 
But is your reseller/money the most important thing when it comes to the decision which Cad-software you choose? How is the learning-time for a new cad-program? Is the functionality the same? What about the parts you allready have?
Sounds like your mind might already be made up.
With regards to your upgrades not being installed, that seems to be more on your IT department then your VAR.
Seeing how you have been a member of this forum for 7 years and have hardly posted, maybe you need to be a little more proactive on this forum. There are several sections including an installation and licensing forum. You should be able to post there and get maybe better results.
As far as the time zone point? This is an international forum with users all over the world in all timezones so you should be able to get answers at any time.
My advice would be to stick with Inventor, upgrade to the latest, then if you aren't getting answers from your VAR, get plugged into these forums and get your solutions/answers here.
Or if you like something that was said and it was helpful, Kudos
It's often the case of "We're #2. We try harder". I don't know if that applies to the software or the reseller. I use Civil 3D and our reseller is great. Did you ever try contacting Autodesk directly with questions about your reseller? If they don't know they may think the reseller is doing a good job. If they're loosing business because of them. They might want to know.
If you're happy with SW then you may have made the right choice for you. If it's the reseller support you are happy with. I hope they stay in business. I had one reseller go out of business even though they were very good to us. I took me a couple of times to find another good one.
Allen Jessup
Allen Jessup
CAD Manager - Designer
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@Mustang69 wrote:
The forum cost 0$ for Autodesk ....very convenient for them!
Not exactly true. They pay for the Lithium software and maybe hosting. I know of several people at Autodesk whose only job is to monitor and organize the forums. I know that they also officially monitor the Installation & Licensing forum to give help and most other forums on an unofficial basis.
They're also moving to other outlets as well. You can get help on Twitter from @AutodeskHelp .
I know this isn't going to help you. But it may help the next person who is looking to make a similar decision.
Allen
Allen Jessup
CAD Manager - Designer
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Sorry to hear of your troubles, been there, done that.
But I never really had any issues with AutoDesk themselves the few times I've dealt with them...they were always very helpful. As far as the resellers go (and I have to assume that's what you're talking about here), I've only had an issue with one. They were no where to be found until it came time for renewal, then they were at the door, taking me to lunch, handing me swag, etc.
The final straw was when I got a call from another reseller about 4 hours away, the woman was originally from this area and was going to be in town visiting family. She took me out to lunch and we talked about a few issues I was dealing with, put me right thru to their support guys and by the end of that day, all the issues I was fighting to get resolved for months with me reseller, were addressed and resolved by the other house. They also called or contacted me every now and then to make sure things were going good and if I was having any other issues, they would even give me a heads up for updates, etc....and they weren't even getting paid!
So I asked the question as to why are we paying for service from our reseller when it's these other guys doing all the work and helping us out? I wrote to Adesk, explained the issue, provided documentation to prove my case and they authorized the switch.
I won't mention the bad reseller out here but I'll gladly point out the good one, Imaginit. I've always, ALWAYS had great service from Imaginit no matter where I was, whether I was out on the East coast or the West coast, each Imaginit office has been great in my experience, I'd recommend them highly.
Now as far as SW being better.....SW was a bit better in software a few years back (prior to 2009), but since then, no, not even close. Inventor has blown right passed SW in abilities when it comes to the software. I've worked with both and still do from time to time, but I've stayed with Inventor in my business manily for its abilities of dealing with all the other platforms out there. I don't have to limit my business to just "Inventor" clients. If I had SW, I'd be pigeonholed into only dealing with clients that have SW for the most part. With Inventor, I can work with any of the other platforms out there for the most part.
Also, I have clients that have very tight toleranced parts....3 to 4 decimal place. Back in 2009, my main client did a benchmark test of the two side by side as they were in the position to decide which one to go with (they had both obviously). It was found that when importing neutral files into SW, 60% of the time, the edges or faces were off as of the 3 decimal place, Inventor? Inventor was 100% accurate to the 9th decimal place. That sealed it for them. There was no way they were going to risk their million dollar product with a 60% failure risk. Would you? Granted, most places may not need that kind of tolerancing, but what if you did?
SW has a bit of a market presence because their salesforce dumped every university with free software. A great sales ploy and it's worked to a point so far, but at what cost to the clients?
Besides, I'd rather have the freedom to design in a workflow I choose which is another big issue Inventor allows, not so with SW....no, you are locked into the workflow Dessault Sytems thinks you should follow.
Jim
Celtic Design Services, LLC
Inventor/AutoCAD/Vault WorkGroups
Always for hire - celticdesign01ATyahooDOTcom
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Celtic-Design-Services-LLC/184666001666426
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