What qualifies as ''good support'' and ''helpful''?

[borbole]

I have seen a lot of threads, here and at vb.com, where users complain and moan that the vb supports sucks, people are not helpful anymore like they used to be etc etc. Personally, I am very surprised at the selfishness of such persons. The staff here and at vb.com are very helpful, patient and try their best to help everyone to the best of their abilities under the circumstances. Seeing the great amount of the support threads being asked.

But most users don''t make things easier. I mean, have a look around, a lot of the questions asked are about basic things that don''t need coding knowledge. Things that can be found very easily at the Acp or through the search system.

For ex, questions like, does this mod exist? Or where can I find this in the acp etc etc of this kind. And when they receive no answer they bump their posts against the rules with something like, What no one can help, sounding very shocked. And when someone points them politely towards the search thing they react irritated like oh how unhelful people are now and how the support sucks and nonsense like this. If they did the homework and searched they would have saved themselves and all those that provide support a lot of time, rather that waiting around for others to the work for them and when that doesn''t happen, moan and complain.

Some other people don''t even bother to give out details as to what they need help with. For ex, I have seen some threads with questions like How can I do this, or I have a problem with that, how to fix it? But what this and that are, god knows. We are not mind readers or mediums here to read minds

Other folks after they get what they need, they don''t bother with a follow up post to let us know that they got their problems fixed, god forbid to say a thank you But if the solution doesn''t work they are quick to bump their threads like there is no tomorrow.

So in short, it is not the support here that sucks, but the way the support is asked. Is anyone else bothered by this fact or it is just me? I would really appreciate if all of you guys and gals expressed your thoughts on this subject.


In my humble opinion, the best way to go about asking for support would be like the following:

1) Do a search before you ask for support. i.e. Search the forum to see if your question has been asked and replied already. I have seen a lot of threads here with questions about basic things that can be found in the acp and/or their answers can be found easily with a search. Doing that you will save yourselves and those that provide support a lot of valuable time.

2) If you didn''t find the answer to your problems in the forums, then try to ask your questions the smart way. Starting by giving a describing meaningful subject title. Try to avoid using dramatic words like help me, urgent, how to do this or that, and so on.

Try to describe your problem in as much details as possible. Provide the url to your forum with a test account or a screenshot.

Don''t bump your threads until 24 hours have passed as per the rules. You should also note that the number of support threads here is big and the staff can''t be everywhere at the same time. So wait patiently until you are helped. Be polite, thank the person who helped you.