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Holy COW, If I want help, I'm SOL

10 REPLIES 10
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Message 1 of 11
robjvargas
701 Views, 10 Replies

Holy COW, If I want help, I'm SOL

I LOVE how Autodesk cannot operate a freakin' Web site.  I can spend $20/license for remoate management of USB drives through Kanguru, and they can send me STRAIGHT to a utility to show me how many licenses I have, what devices they apply to, and when the device was last online.  Here, I can't even find your support phone number.  I've LITERALLY clicked on 20 links, and gone in a circle four times.  You're going to tell me, aren't you, that an US$1100 piece of technical software cannot provide the same service as a US$20 software utility?

 

PLEASE reach the 21 century sometime in... maybe... the 21st century?

 

And what is the source of all this frustration you've caused me?  I got two registration notifications, and I just wanted to be sure that it didn't tie up two licenses.

 

Would AutoDESK SOMEDAY figure out what "customer service" means?

10 REPLIES 10
Message 2 of 11
TravisNave
in reply to: robjvargas

Have you heard of the term "Value-Added Reseller" by chance?  That is generally where your support comes from. 



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Message 3 of 11
robjvargas
in reply to: TravisNave

If I want support for a $40 Microsoft game, I can go to Microsoft, even though I bought it from Best Buy.  If I want support for a $100 Maxtor hard drive, I can go to Maxtor, even if I bought it from CDW.  If I want support for my $5000/license Solidworks software, I can go to the reseller, but I can ALSO go direct to Dassault Systems/Solidworks, and not only do I have the tools ONLINE to see what my licenses are, I can see support contracts, expiration dates, quotes for renewal AND options to submit support ONLINE.  Plus <GASP!> direct phone numbers if I want to talk to someone.

 

Napster software is free.  I can see what PC's I've installed it on, and what playlists from Napster that I've downloaded, and I can even deactivate any or all of those PC's right from Napster's Web site.

 

Autodesk's support model is more than a decade old, and getting older by the day.  It should say something that free software with a $5/month subscription is more robust and more capable (from the support side) than an $1100 "professional" CAD package.

 

It protects Autodesk.  That's ALL it does.

Message 4 of 11
TravisNave
in reply to: robjvargas

See my previous post.



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Message 5 of 11
robjvargas
in reply to: TravisNave

Repetition is not an indicator of truth.

Message 6 of 11
TravisNave
in reply to: robjvargas

What you have proposed is an opinion.  You know how the saying goes...  In any case, whining on the discussion board of fellow users is not going to resolve your complaint. 

 

The bottom line is simply that you should purchase your product thru a VAR.  If truth is what you are looking for -- You get what you pay for. 



Travis Nave Send TravisNave a Private Message                                             Need help in your post? Mention me with @TravisNave



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Message 7 of 11
brian.kling
in reply to: TravisNave

As Travis mentioned, if you purchased your software from one of our Resellers, they are your best avenue for assistance.  If you have purchased a Subscription contract with Autodesk, you can come directly to us.

 

Otherwise there are additionally self-help options:

 

  1. Our website
  2. These forums
  • Search for term "Licensing" or "Registration"
  • Click "Services & Support" on the horizontal navigation - you will find Licensing, Registration & Activation links

 



Brian Kling
Sr International Customer Experience Lead
Autodesk, Inc.
Message 8 of 11
robjvargas
in reply to: robjvargas

Another stock answer.  Rather than address my concerns directly, simply reiterate what's CLAIMED on the Web site itself.

 

OK, let's play that game.  Go to autodesk.com, click on "Services & Support."  What do I see? A bunch of icons for individual product support, and some links over on the right that include "Licensing, Registration, & Activation."  So yeah, you're right...

 

As far as that stock reply went.  What's NOT mentioned is that clicking on that link doesn't yield any ACTUAL support.  There's a table of the different licensing options, and how that relates to borrowing, floating, and some other deployment and management options.  But no way to actually get help.  But WAIT, there's, "Get Installation and Licensing Help" over on the right, isn't there?  Yes.  And that's where the circle began.  Clicking that link yields a bunch of section for the Autodesk products, system install requirements, how activate (remember, I'd already activated.  Twice, apparently.  That was my question.).  But no information and no link to how to get a question answered if it wasn't there.  I see that's changed now.  Now there's a link to the Licensing and Registration forum.  Wasn't there before.  Ah, but isn't there a "License Registration & Activation Assistance" link at the right?  Yeah.  More How-to text.  Oh, if you can get past the text that, in my case, had NOTHING to do with my question, there's form links at the bottom.

 

Not one phone number.  Not one email address.  5 links deep, that's how far I had to go to find any form of active support.  It certainly didn't come up by clicking "Contact Us."

 

And this stock answer STILL doesn't address that Autodesk still won't provide BASIC license management functionality that I can get with products costing orders of magnitude less.

Message 9 of 11
TravisNave
in reply to: robjvargas

These questions can be addressed by your VAR.  Think of it this way, when I have a problem with my car, I don't call Ford in Detroit.  I call my dealership.  They sold me my car and provide my service.  I could also go to AutoZone and do the work myself.  Essentially, the dealership is like the VAR and AutoZone is like these forums.  Walking into AutoZone and pitching a fit to the people there is not going to make one bit of difference in Detroit.  Make sense? 

 

In the future, purchase your product thru your local region Gold Tier Value-Added Reseller. 

 

http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/partner/search?id=1088201&siteID=123112



Travis Nave Send TravisNave a Private Message                                             Need help in your post? Mention me with @TravisNave



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Message 10 of 11
dgorsman
in reply to: TravisNave

Have to back up the resident licensing guru on this.  Our VAR will answer questions over the phone, remote desktop, or even visit in-office.  Since the two of us have a good relationship they even run free demos for new products we want to look at.

 

LIke most high-end software programs, any *specific* user problems are only answered if you have the maintenance program; in the case of AutoDesk this is called "Subscription".  If you have purchased your product with that option (its actually mandatory on a number of products) then you should have a log-in to the subscription site.  If you don't have a log-in, go to the site (link is on the Product Supoprt page) and contact them from there.  I've had a number of questions about our licensing and installation and the subscription site support has resolved them all to my satisfaction.

 

On a more personal note to the OP, if professional answers are required they should be asked in a professional manner.  Questions that are not are usually ignored.

----------------------------------
If you are going to fly by the seat of your pants, expect friction burns.
"I don't know" is the beginning of knowledge, not the end.


Message 11 of 11
brian.kling
in reply to: robjvargas

Rob, in reviewing your efforts to find a specific contact for assistance for Licensing, Registration & Activation, I agree with you that the information could be organized more clearly.  I will review this with our web team to improve the user experience.  I do thank you for your feedback.



Brian Kling
Sr International Customer Experience Lead
Autodesk, Inc.

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