Submitting a Support Ticket = Sending to a Black Hole...

[Lindsay Hambright 1]

So, just curious if anyone else is having issues with Evernote responding to Support tickets.  I submitted this ticket 7 days ago!!

Does anyone know if you are on the Teams Level and you pay for an extra team member...but then cancel another team member - do you get a credit for the unused time?  

[agsteele 3,059]

Generally, you submit a ticket and you receive an automated reply. That really usually requires a response otherwise it is assumed that the automated reply was sufficient. So whatever you, be you should reply even if to say this question needs s human response.

Sadly, human response can take quite some time.

[gazumped 12,050]

I reported an issue last week.  Had an immediate acknowledgement with the usual things to try and a stern warning that if I didn't respond,  my ticket would be closed.  I replied a couple of hours later and again got an immediate confirmation that they would look at the issue and get back to me.  All automated of course,  but I have a reference and they have all the information they need.  I can wait a while for more details...

[Lindsay Hambright 1]

There is definitely a bug or  issue with submitting a support ticket from my account.  The system acknowledges that I have submitted support tickets...but no ID number, no created date....  No notification...nothing.  The first billing issue was submitted 10 days ago with zero response.  

[Lindsay Hambright 1]

[mackid1993 1,231]

That's normal. They hid all of that with css. You can unhide those things if you know how to play with the dev tools. 

I opened a billing related ticket and replied to the automated response that I wanted a human response. My question was answered within a few hours and my follow up the next morning. This was yesterday and this morning. 

It's definitely gotten better, it's important to read the email that they send you. It's more common now with support systems to get a canned response that you must acknowledge to proceed with a human response. 

[Jon/t 1,641]

The ticket number if you need it in at the end of the ticket URL. Looks like its 3952189.

[notetakeingguy 95]

I have the same issue as Lindsey. I opened my request a month ago, and have not seen anything. What to do?

 

[gazumped 12,050]

See replies above.  Will the problem PDF open if you download it to your desktop?  Try re-saving it to a new note.

[Lindsay Hambright 1]

@notetakeingguy So - check in your email for a response.  They apparently do not post responses in that list...but they apparently emailed me and it bypassed my Inbox.

[mackid1993 1,231]

They actually hide all of that ticket metadata by commenting out the HTML itself. I thought they were adding display: none to the CSS but they've gone and commented out entire sections of Zendesk. Fortunately it's easy to uncomment that stuff and view it again if really needed. It seems that they want the interactions to be completely funneled over email rather than on their website. I recently opened a ticket and got this response:

This proves that they are using AI for their tier 1 support and then passing the tickets off to a human if one replies. This isn't the first company I've seen this from, it's becoming more and more common for SAAS products to do this although response times are inconsistent, sometimes fast sometimes slow. I think it depends on their workload at any given time. I also think support may be just two people as I see the same two people reply to me every time.

[AKARJLUK 35]

Sent 6 tickets starting 12 July with requested information including logs into EN "Support" about the English to Welsh transcription issue last one 39821263= No response.

The lack of support to PAYING customers is astonishing. If anyone has the kings ear have a word please

 

[laurence.glazier 142]

I have never had a useful response from support, and I have jumped through all the hoops.

The transcription going to Welsh is a ridiculous bug, but not Evernote's. It is a problem in the Whisper API, which Evernote and most software which does transcription appears to use. This has been happening for about a year and a half. A strange combination of wizardry and negligence.

[PinkElephant 8,754]

For my tickets I usually get the canned response by mail fast. Since they only cite their own help database, and shell out the usual (update, log out etc.) it tells a lot about their support approach - but it tells a lot about the users as well.

Then it's providing information - it's worthless to provide it in the ticket, they will ask for it again, even if it was attached.

And then the usual answer is 2-3 business days. Poor support staff, they must have looooong business days ....

Useful answers are like a jackpot. But often a problem fixes itself, by intervention or because it is wrapped up in a next release ? Who knows.

[AKARJLUK 35]

This my point after second email I’ve never had a response/solution/comment from Evernote.

[PinkElephant 8,754]

You can discuss if they should notify everybody individually after an issue was fixed by a general rollout.

Some companies do, and we as users usually see this as positive. But many companies won't, leaving us doubting what has happened. You can check here if your issue is mentioned, including even some work in progress items:

https://help.evernote.com/hc/en-us/articles/32816633979667-Evernote-bugfix-tracker

In the case of EN they decided last year to replace the whole support team. It seems they took a while to rebuild the team. This is what you find below the public bug tracker. We will never know whether these are generic characters, leading into a call center with hundreds of clerks. Or whether there are real people behind every avatar. From the reactions I got (few as there were much more non reactions than reaction) I think it's the real team.

 

[AKARJLUK 35]

The reality is nothing else does what en does well. Hence I stay.

i use other transcription tools as part of my system.

The major irritation is rolling out additional functions in drips to some users which actually initially do not work for example two way integration with google calendar 

The constant worry is they seem incapable of beta testing new functions and their support system is woefully inadequate.

 

Any new functions for at least a few months should not be relied upon imho 

 

[AKARJLUK 35]

6 hours ago, laurence.glazier said:

IIt is a problem in the Whisper API, which Evernote and most software which does transcription appears to use. This has been happening for about a year and a half. A strange combination of wizardry and negligence.

Correct and it was resolved by Reflect Notes app by allowing language to be specified. Why EN do not learn from the issues faced by others is beyond me.

[laurence.glazier 142]

18 hours ago, AKARJLUK said:

it was resolved by Reflect Notes app by allowing language to be specified.

Thanks for the reference. I will take a look at Reflect Notes.

[JohnY. 15]

A more positive view of the Support available.

I began an interchange on this forum. I tried all of the suggested actions other members provided and ended up following the final one - contact the support team.

As mentioned above, the initial automated response asked for more info which I provided. Then had a regular back and forth with a helpful human - led by Zoe. The issue was complex and it ran for the whole of August.

The final solution was not a 100% fix for all aspects of the issues I faced but it provided me with a workable system across multiple devices. But that isn't the point of this comment.

The support team do exist and are real people. They are trying their best (I assume) and will work with you if you give them the chance. I doubt it is possible to keep everyone happy all of the time - but I think that some credit is merited for trying.

[AKARJLUK 35]

15 minutes ago, JohnY. said:

As mentioned above, the initial automated response asked for more info which I provided.

Great however many of hear NOTHING once more information is provided.......I guess you got lucky.

[gazumped 12,050]

1 hour ago, AKARJLUK said:

many of hear NOTHING once more information is provided

Some queries affect everyone and its impractical to give personal feedback.  1st line's purpose is to suggest what they can,  when they can,  so that hopefully  users can fix themselves.

[AKARJLUK 35]

On 9/3/2024 at 2:47 PM, AKARJLUK said:

Correct and it was resolved by Reflect Notes app by allowing language to be specified. Why EN do not learn from the issues faced by others is beyond me.

Oh what a surprise

https://help.evernote.com/hc/en-us/articles/32816633979667-Evernote-bugfix-tracker

Issue not documented or even acknowledged.

[PinkElephant 8,754]

And - who cares ?

This is not the Encyclopedia Disastrosa. It is an ongoing list of items acknowledged and in progress.

Miss an item ? Send another ticket. Maybe explain it better this time.

BTW it is the first time EN publishes anything like this, since the founding days. Users interested in the progress and well being of the service say WOW, and try to help fill it up with new observations.

And what is the reflex reaction of others: Post negative comments (yes, you are meant @AKARJLUK ), try to make it small. Oh what a surprise !

[AKARJLUK 35]

3 hours ago, PinkElephant said:

And - who cares ?

This is not the Encyclopedia Disastrosa. It is an ongoing list of items acknowledged and in progress.

Miss an item ? Send another ticket. Maybe explain it better this time.

BTW it is the first time EN publishes anything like this, since the founding days. Users interested in the progress and well being of the service say WOW, and try to help fill it up with new observations.

And what is the reflex reaction of others: Post negative comments (yes, you are meant @AKARJLUK ), try to make it small. Oh what a surprise !

Who cares?

Oddly - I care ( as a paying customer) when there is no response or action regarding tickets submitted two months ago and further reports sent over a two month period- which negates your suggestion that i "send another ticket"

It would appear an acolytes does not appreciate anyone reporting complete lack of action. = Oh dear.....

What I do not care for is self opinionated attempts at name shaming.

Sorry to disappoint ,but I will continue to report issues and I would encourage others experiencing issues to do the same, despite what the Elephant Man thinks.

[gazumped 12,050]

53 minutes ago, AKARJLUK said:

I would encourage others experiencing issues to do the same

I totally agree (without the added sniping). 

If you have an issue - send it to Support.  Make sure to read their auto-responses and check whether any of their suggested fixes actually work.  Advise Support again if they don't.  But in some cases be prepared for the fact that a new update will be required,  and if Support can't help you individually,  they'll just close the ticket and leave it to the devs to get around to the necessary changes sometime in the next several months.

There are (probably still) millions of users - more than some small countries.  So get used to the fact that like voters in those countries,  users don't always get individual letters from those in charge of policy and fixes - even when they are actually working on users' original complaints.

Please don't send reminders or report after report on the same issue - either your query gets multiple places in the queue,  or the folks who could be fixing the issue are wasting their time on administering your emails.

If you have a suggestion for a new feature, or want an existing one extended, just use feedback@evernote.com.  You'll get a 'thanks' email to confirm it's received,  and the team will look at those suggestions as they're working on other things.  The more suggestions for one topic,  the more likely a fix..

It's a tad unrealistic to expect - even if Evernote did things in the past that don't work now - that the company will fix or re-introduce features because they affect your personal preferred workflow. 

Find a work-around or an alternative provider,  because the current situation is unlikely to change soon.  It's down to users to adapt to the available services,  or change provider;  not for the current service to adapt to individuals!

 

[AKARJLUK 35]

39 minutes ago, gazumped said:

I totally agree (without the added sniping). 

If you have an issue - send it to Support. ........

Find a work-around or an alternative provider,  because the current situation is unlikely to change soon.  It's down to users to adapt to the available services,  or change provider;  not for the current service to adapt to individuals!

 

Ditto......While I've spent a considerable amount of time trying to get support from Evernote, I've decided having reported an issue once it's more effective to wait until enough people encounter the same issues- feel the pain and report it. Hopefully this will lead to the problem being fixed.

For now, I usually avoid relying on any new features until they've been proven stable for at least a year.

Evernote is incredibly reliable for storing and organising documents, especially with the web clipper and email OCR functionality—nothing else compares in that regard.

However, due to the complete unreliability of new features, I utilize other tools for specific tasks: Audiopen or voice notes for transcription, Remember the Milk, Things, Reminders, or Todoist for task management, and Google Calendar or Apple Calendar for calendar management.

Of course, everyone has their own way of managing tasks and information- their choice