ATI Customer Service - or lack of

[Skip]

What is with ATI and service? Do they outsource it to somewhere that
doesn't speak English or something???

I have sent numerous tickets if to try to find drivers for their Remote
Wonder Plus. They have sent my responses like "Install Drivers from the
supplied CD", Copies of install instructions, links to their drivers on
their web page.

Their web page DOESN'T HAVE drivers for Remote Wonder Plus - just Remote
Wonder and Remote Wonder II. Neither of these work as I have told them.

Also their response says if I need more help, reply to the email. I replied
and here's what I got back:
"Dear ATI customer,

You are receiving this email because you responded to notification of an
update to your Customer Care online ticket submission. To receive

further assistance you must log in to your ATI account and respond to your
support ticket. You may log in to your account at the link below:

http://support.ati.com/ics/support/default.asp?deptID=894

Emails to (e-mail address removed) are not monitored.

Regards,

Customer Care
ATI Technologies Inc.
ati.com"


Damn - I'll never buy anything from these idiots again!

 

[J. Clarke]

What problem are you expecting new drivers to fix?

 

[pjp]

Same as almost all companies nowadays, pc related or not. They just want to
take your money and then wash their hands of you, acknowledging no
responsibility or anything of the like.

We put up with it for cars for so long, so now everyone else follows the
same model.

 

[Brian Dickens]

I have sent numerous tickets if to try to find drivers for their
Remote Wonder Plus. They have sent my responses like "Install
Drivers from the supplied CD", Copies of install instructions, links
to their drivers on their web page.

Their web page DOESN'T HAVE drivers for Remote Wonder Plus - just
Remote Wonder and Remote Wonder II. Neither of these work as I have
told them.

I've don a bit of searching around the web and I've found that there are no
new drivers for the Remote Wonder Plus yet. You'll need to stick with the
drivers on your CD.

I agree they should have clearly mentioned this on the website, instead of
having to find out by Googling.

=- Brian Dickens, the Netherlands

 

[First of One]

What is with ATI and service? Do they outsource it to somewhere that
doesn't speak English or something???

No, that's Dell. I had to purchase a $700 printer as a small business
customer to avoid being transferred to India...

I have sent numerous tickets if to try to find drivers for their Remote
Wonder Plus. They have sent my responses like "Install Drivers from the
supplied CD", Copies of install instructions, links to their drivers on
their web page.

Have you tried calling ATi customer support at 877-284-1564? Confirm with
them if drivers newer than the CD release are actually available.

I remember calling the company to ask about the trade-up program. I was able
to reach an English-speaking live person without being put on hold for a
long time. The guy was able to differentiate between 256-bit and 128-bit
memory interfaces for the 9800Pro, which is quite knowledgeable for support
reps.

 

[Skip]

Trying to make it work. I can't get it to do anything except flash the LED
on the remote.

 

[Skip]

Wow! Where did you find a phone number? All I could find was a 900 number
where they charge per call. I'll give that number a try.

Thanks!

Skip

 

[Skip]

I think I have figured it out. I don't think they even HAVE a tech support
person. I think it's an automated service that scans the input for key
words then just sends back a canned response.

 

[Husky]

Have you tried calling ATi customer support at 877-284-1564? Confirm with
them if drivers newer than the CD release are actually available.

You definitely don't want to get into a long distance tug of war on your
nickel. Not without knowing your first dogs blood type, all the words to the
national anthem, your last 10 addresses and phone numbers. And it would help
you if you knew the name of the guy from UPS that delivered your item.
Then he'll put you on ignore awhile he checks to make sure all the info
provided matches. If any of it is wrong you'll never hear from him again.
BTDT. Won't ever call them again.
877 is NOT a FREE Call...

I remember calling the company to ask about the trade-up program. I was able
to reach an English-speaking live person without being put on hold for a
long time. The guy was able to differentiate between 256-bit and 128-bit
memory interfaces for the 9800Pro, which is quite knowledgeable for support
reps.

You got lucky.

 

[J. Clarke]

Trying to make it work. I can't get it to do anything except flash the
LED on the remote.

I doubt that new drivers will address that issue. ATI has been known to
issue bad drivers in the past but they aren't _that_ bad. They usually
work in at least a half-assed manner. You've either got a busted receiver
or an installation or configuration problem.

Is the receiver detected in Device Manager as an unknown device? If so,
remove it (not the drivers, just the entry in Device Manager) and run
hardware autodetect and see what happens. Also, is the receiver plugged
into a USB port on the PC or is it plugged into a hub? If it's on a hub,
try plugging it directly into the machine, and if that doesn't work try
every USB port on the machine--they're _supposed_ to all be the same aside
from speed, but sometimes they aren't.

If none of that works, and especially if the receiver isn't detected on any
USB port, consider the possibility that you have a defective receiver.

Another thought--are you using an administrator account when you install?
If not, try that.

 

[Gary Drescher]

Have you tried calling ATi customer support at 877-284-1564?

The times I've tried calling ATI customer support, I got put on extended
hold (during an international toll call from the US) until I gave up. And
when I've emailed their tech support, I've never gotten anything but a
useless automated reply.

I've struggled intermittently for two years to get ATI's TV application to
run without frequently crashing my PC (ATI AIW 9800 Pro, latest
drivers/apps; WinXP Pro SP2, latest updates; P4 2.8GHz; Intel D865GBF; 1GB
PC3200 DDR-SDRAM; 160GB Maxtor Ultra; Turbolink 420W). Since I can't reach
ATI tech support, I don't know if they have a fix or workaround.

This week, I finally gave up, uninstalled the ATI TV app, and got a
Hauppauge WinTV PVR 150 instead. Its user interface is slightly more awkward
than ATI's, but the product works properly and my PC is completely stable
now, so I'm happy with the substitution (although I wish I hadn't wasted my
money on the ATI product first).

 

[T Shadow]

Skips problem is that the package he got with the HDTV Wonder had a RW+
remote and a CD with only the RW/RW2 drivers. Neither he or I could find
drivers for the + on the website. He needs a different remote or the correct
drivers. I don't think he posted that the CD didn't have the + drivers until
his last post in the HDTV newsgroup.

 

[J. Clarke]

Skips problem is that the package he got with the HDTV Wonder had a RW+
remote and a CD with only the RW/RW2 drivers. Neither he or I could find
drivers for the + on the website. He needs a different remote or the
correct drivers. I don't think he posted that the CD didn't have the +
drivers until his last post in the HDTV newsgroup.

Seems to me then that the first thing to try is take it back to where he got
it and exchange it for one with the right remote.

The next thing to try is to call (not email, call and wait as required) ATI
_customer_ support (not _tech_ support--it's not a technical problem--he
doesn't need something fixed, he needs a missing part) and explain that his
HDTV Wonder seems to have come with the wrong remote and can they either
get him out a CD with drivers for the remote he has or get him out the
remote that goes with his drivers.

If that doesn't work, he can either escalate the problem with a polite
letter (snail-mail, not email) to the CEO explaining the problem and
detailing what he's tried to do about it and explaining what would be an
acceptable solution (i.e. send him out a CD with the right drivers), follow
up with a phone call after allowing appropriate time (the CEO's secretary
is likely to be very cross with whoever induced him to disturb her
tranquility by refusing to send him a ten cent item, and when the CEO's
secretary is cross with someone who refuses to behave her boss usually
hears about it), OR he can do something else.

Failing of getting a driver through channels, the next thing to do is see
just what disk he actually needs. ATI does not appear to have a driver
disk specific to the Remote Wonder Plus, so presumably the drivers come on
the disk that is distributed with another product. Checking the ATI site,
they say that the TV Wonder Elite comes with the Remote Wonder Plus and the
photos at Newegg show that that one they photographed did indeed come with
it and showed only one CD. So it's a reasonable bet that the Remote Wonder
Plus drivers are on the TV Wonder Elite driver disk.

So, the problem becomes one of obtaining a TV Wonder Elite driver disk.
There are two obvious ways to do this--you can buy it direct from ATI for
ten bucks plus another ten bucks or so shipping, or you can be sneaking and
conniving and find a store that has one in stock with a good return policy,
buy it, burn a copy of the CD, and return the board.

 

[First of One]

Cut the bullshit.

800-
888-
877-
866-

are all toll-free numbers. In fact, all area codes beginning with 8 are
toll-free.

 

[J. Clarke]

Cut the bullshit.

800-
888-
877-
866-

are all toll-free numbers. In fact, all area codes beginning with 8 are
toll-free.

That is simply not the case. For example half of Connecticut is in the
"860" area and I assure you, calling that area is _not_ free. Most of the
800 area codes are assigned to geographical regions, some are even
international.

The ones that are toll free appear to be "8" followed by a digit repeated
twice--800, 822, etc.

There's a list of area codes starting with 8 at
<http://area-codes.1keydata.com/area-codes-8.html>

 

[First of One]

I stand corrected, then. Nonetheless, the 866 number to ATi customer care is
toll-free. (How helpful the reps will be, though, is another story...)