VMware and all the fuzz around it

[MAXhYpe]

Some time ago I made a purchase at VMware website. During the purchase process I was offered a quick buy button that I off course just had to click. So instead of purchasing ESX Starter edition I ended up with 2 years rock solid support on a product I did not even have.

I immediately contacted VMware and told them that this was wrong and that I wanted to redo the transaction so that I could get what I wanted and not some support agreement that I clearly did not need knowing that I did not even have a license for ESX server. They told me to make a new purchase and as soon as that was done they would cancel the previous and return the money. "OK that's cool I think" and made a new purchase, this time everything was OK and now I have a licensed version of ESX Starter edition. Next step was to contact VMware about our agreement just to learn that they will not return any money due to some policy. "Ohh that's NOT cool" I think. So now I'm ripped off and have paid 3200 USD for a starter edition that we have problems with.

Then I want to log on to the VMware website so that I can generate a license file. I'm told that the site is down for upgrades so I contact support and ask them to generate a license file. Soon I have a license file in my email but this turns out to be the wrong version since it was not for standalone server but centralized. So I enter the website that now is opened again and delete the file and then prepare a new. It works fine. I also notice that I have consolidated backup and I generate a license file for that as well. Off course I cannot install this and I do some research that reveals that I must combine the 2 license files I now have into one. I do that and upload using Virtual Infrastructure Client. Guess what... no success. This leads me to talk to a VMware guy using online chat just to learn that I must phone Canada so that they can sort it out. Not that the license guy was not helpful or anything, he even emailed me a license file that he assembled himself. Still the Consolidated backup option is simply not there.

OK, so I phone VMware where I get to talk to a real polite and helpful guy that gives me a case number and put me on hold where I get to listen to music. Music that I really don't like much since it is in the opposite end of my scale. Normally I listen to heavy metal so you might imagine what it's like to have to listen to something I must guess is Mozart's ?? Every now and then, just before I am about to go nuts due to the "music" I get a nice recorded voice telling me that everybody is busy.

Since I now have a lot of time on my hand I start to think that maybe it is a good idea to start review Microsoft virtual server. I find a lot of info telling me that it can be a real good idea. Especially if I can wait until Windows 2008 server is released. Since that is real soon and most likely before I have finished listening to the entire Beethoven collection (or Mozart) I might as well do just that.

Maybe VMware now start to feel the pressure from competing product and this has lead them to cut down on support and ethics? I have no idea; all I know is that I feel ripped off and forced to spend a ridicules amount of time on this. We plan to set up quite a large data center and have purchased 4 high end servers that will be set up so that we can run an ISO certified operation. This data center will be duplicated over and over again supporting a business idea we are alone to have as pr today. In this process we filter out what to use and where to buy it. As I see it VMware are sort of ruling themselves out of this knowing that they do not stick to agreements and where support is defined as "The best of Mozart"

[jhanekom]

I think everyone has a tendency to react emotionally at support representatives at some point, usually due to the type of frustration you're experiencing. Personally, it rarely gets me anywhere... The "system" isn't perfect, and with VMware I can understand (but not defend) that it might be due to rapid growth. But that's speculation on my part.

The other aspect is the holidays. Heck, I logged a support call with a hardware vendor a week ago on a 24x7x365 contract and, upon querying why I haven't had any feedback by yesterday, I got a soppy story about there being a shutdown at this time of year

The VMware products are good. As with any new technology in an organisation, it may take you some time to become familiar and comfortable with it. I have a suspicion much of your frustration stems from the fact that this is the first time you're doing this (VMware), and that the only resource you can call on for help is sometimes less responsive than you would like. There are many VMware user groups and service organisations. Don't be scared to invest quite a bit of time (and even a little money) upfront to ensure you make the right decisions now in order to save you a lot of trouble in future.

[wila]

Interesting to hear this about VMware as i can tell you the exact same stories about Microsoft, burned days with their sales team just in order to buy things like a Windows Server 2003 web edition, been lied to, cheated and what not. No not kidding when i say days. Took over a month for the CD to arrive too and they couldn't give it to me electronically. This type of thing just happens when a company is this big. I don't like it, have vowed never to buy anything from MS again and already broke that rule again too, with -again- lost time on trying to buy something.

You're not alone, don't feed those sales people please! :smileygrin:

[MAXhYpe]

Yes I agree. The reason why I posted this was to exercise the only "power" I have as customer and see if it could help getting this solved. Today this was solved and everything is back on track. I guess it was a small hiccup in their system that caused this "tension" but that is now corrected. The error was off course mine and I am the first to admit that. VMware was helpful when I contacted them about my error and told me that this will be solved as soon as I made the purchase I intended to do.

Its true that best is to keep it calm and give things time. That is in the end the best solution for all parties involved. But sometimes it might boost it a little to post an open letter to a community since that is what I regard as negative advertising. That often has a good effect and motivation factor to solve issues like the one I had

The VMware products are good and easy to both use and trust. I'm not an expert and need help every time there are Linux commands involved but still I love the product. I bet VMware will improve VIC now that Oracle and Microsoft are adding pressure and competition to the scene.

I have used VMware for years as system admin in a large company in Norway where I worked for 7 years so I'm quite familiar with VMware. Still i call myself a newbee since i dont know much about Linux and how to manage it using the command interface though. I had a more administrative role so to say so i did not get to work with it as much as i would like to. The reason why I decided to go for it in this project is that I have some experience with it and trust it. When I mention that I am considering looking into Microsoft alternative is that I have an SPLA agreement with Microsoft that permits me to do that without initial costs. So I guess we will investigate more about this when they launch Windows 2008. But for the time being we will continue purchase and build our IT infrastructure with ESX server