Great Example Of Just How Terrible EN Support Is

[philosopherdog 12]

I report the following bug:

 

When I connect to my library's wifi and if EN is running it will not sync. It falsely claims I'm offline. Shutting down EN and restarting it solves the issue.

 

Here's the reply I received:

 

"Hi there,

If this problem occurs on other networks, then there could be a problem with your Evernote application that I'd be happy to assist in troubleshooting further. However, if this only occurs at your local library, then there must be a firewall setting inhibiting your application from syncing correctly. Often times, public network connects employ user restrictions such as time limits, bandwidth limits, and restrictions against unregistered applications that can cause certain actions to work only intermittently.

If you run into this problem elsewhere, please let me know.

Regards,
Alex W."

Let's think about this:

1) why would EN be the only app that doesn't sync when I FIRST connect to my library's wifi? no other app does this. does it makes sense that my library is firewalling EN ONLY when I FIRST connect but not after that? So, shutting it down and restarting solves the issue. Blaming a possible firewall makes no sense.

2) if support had a list of KNOWN ISSUES they could easily have seen that this is a known issue. How do I know this? Because today a beta was released that fixed the issue. The release notes read:

"Evernote will now stay logged in by default".

This is a great example of how poor EN support is. Actually, almost every interaction I've had with support has been an attempt to deflect. I think if EN is going to do this right it has to revamp support. This is what Apple figured out with the genius bar. Frustrated users are not the way to make great products in the long run. It doesn't build loyalty.

[gazumped 11,639]

I always admire the bravery of customers willing to pull no punches in criticising people whose help and advice they might need again sometime in the future...

 

I think support generally do the best job they can,  and given that in this case you have a very specific and easily fixed problem in one location it doesn't seem like an unreasonable attitude on their part to assume that a firewall that is not under their control is the issue.  The note from support does helpfully say "If you run into this problem elsewhere, please let me know" implying that they'll look at this again if it does appear to be a glitch with wider implications.

 

Evernote potentially sends a lot of information back and forth in regular syncs,  and I can imagine that it's not 'typical' app behaviour as seen by a government firewall.  Maybe also other common apps have already been greenlit by this firewall,  but Evernote hasn't.  I'd suggest that you could have had a conversation with the library's IT person in the interests of your,  and other Evernote users',  future convenience.

 

I've never seen any mention of this problem in the forums,  and the fact that the latest beta fixed it doesn't in any way indicate that this was a 'known issue' - just that something changed which happened to help you.

 

Nothing in the reply is 'an attempt to deflect' - it seems to me a perfectly polite and practical way to deal with this situation. 

[DutchPete 247]

I agree with Gazumped. In my experience Evernote is good, quick & to the point. If you are a premium user you can have a live chat with them to discuss in a bit more detail & get feedback right away.

[SlimShavings 0]

Alwasy been curious. If I were to build you a house you paid for by the month to live in would you come to my house with cookies and pizza when it fell on you?

[philosopherdog 12]

I always admire the bravery of customers willing to pull no punches in criticising people whose help and advice they might need again sometime in the future...

 

I think support generally do the best job they can,  and given that in this case you have a very specific and easily fixed problem in one location it doesn't seem like an unreasonable attitude on their part to assume that a firewall that is not under their control is the issue.  The note from support does helpfully say "If you run into this problem elsewhere, please let me know" implying that they'll look at this again if it does appear to be a glitch with wider implications.

 

Evernote potentially sends a lot of information back and forth in regular syncs,  and I can imagine that it's not 'typical' app behaviour as seen by a government firewall.  Maybe also other common apps have already been greenlit by this firewall,  but Evernote hasn't.  I'd suggest that you could have had a conversation with the library's IT person in the interests of your,  and other Evernote users',  future convenience.

 

I've never seen any mention of this problem in the forums,  and the fact that the latest beta fixed it doesn't in any way indicate that this was a 'known issue' - just that something changed which happened to help you.

 

Nothing in the reply is 'an attempt to deflect' - it seems to me a perfectly polite and practical way to deal with this situation. 

 

Since the issue was in the change log, I have to disagree that this wasn't a known issue.

 

Like I said, it makes little sense to bother the library IT people about an issue that is clearly an EN issue. If it was a firewall issue EN would not connect once restarted, but not while running. This seems very very unlikely to be a firewall issue.

 

I think it's silly to fear voicing your legitimate concerns about inept service for fear of reprisals. Such cowardice is not for me.

[chirmer 567]

Here's the reply I received:

 

"Hi there,

If this problem occurs on other networks, then there could be a problem with your Evernote application that I'd be happy to assist in troubleshooting further. However, if this only occurs at your local library, then there must be a firewall setting inhibiting your application from syncing correctly. Often times, public network connects employ user restrictions such as time limits, bandwidth limits, and restrictions against unregistered applications that can cause certain actions to work only intermittently.

If you run into this problem elsewhere, please let me know.

Regards,

Alex W."

Let's think about this:

1) why would EN be the only app that doesn't sync when I FIRST connect to my library's wifi? no other app does this. does it makes sense that my library is firewalling EN ONLY when I FIRST connect but not after that? So, shutting it down and restarting solves the issue. Blaming a possible firewall makes no sense.

 

 

Evernote potentially sends a lot of information back and forth in regular syncs,  and I can imagine that it's not 'typical' app behaviour as seen by a government firewall.  Maybe also other common apps have already been greenlit by this firewall,  but Evernote hasn't.  I'd suggest that you could have had a conversation with the library's IT person in the interests of your,  and other Evernote users',  future convenience.

 

As an IT person at a public library, I can tell you that this is not surprising to me. Using my library as an example: we have a decent bandwidth allotment, but it's not fantastic. Spread it across 50 or so users at any one time (we are not a small library, but not metropolitan, either), and each user doesn't get a whole lot. So, we put bandwidth caps on our network so that programs, web services, or anything else that will try to either pull or push large chunks of data get capped so we can effectively share the wealth. I have personally witnessed the spikes in network usage when an app or service like Evernote, Google Drive, etc. either load up the first time and need to sync (like signing in) or have a lot of new data to push or pull. We cap this at a pretty low bandwidth usage (1.5Mbps). Knowing all this, I also wouldn't find it surprising that Evernote freaks out because it's can't sync at the speed it probably is looking for.

 

I don't know much about what Evernote looks for when it tries to sync, but most libraries DO have a firewall in place that DOES throttle bandwidth from apps that push or pull large chunks of data at one time. It's really not far-fetched to think this is the cause of the issue, like the EN support person said. And the manner in which he suggested it makes it pretty clear this is an issue they've run into before -- also further proving the point that it isn't an odd assumption at all. Firewalls can do some really weird things, depending on the setup (for example, we have SMTP outbound mail disabled on our wireless, yet every once in a while, an email will send out just fine).

[tommygun 0]

I have a similar issue with evernote at home. I cannot use the windows desktop client at home. I cannot sync and I believe it is due to poor bandwidth. I emailed support but have not heard a reply. I am only getting 1.0mbps and sometimes only .64mbps. I can never seem to get evernote to sync at home even when I am getting 2.0mbps. at work I have a 25mbps connection and never have a problem. Dropbox and google drive sync no problem anywhere I am at. Does anyone know if evernote changed something? I know they said they speed up sync a few months ago and now I am having this issue. no problems prior too their upgrade. 

[gazumped 11,639]

I have a similar issue with evernote at home. I cannot use the windows desktop client at home. I cannot sync and I believe it is due to poor bandwidth. I emailed support but have not heard a reply. I am only getting 1.0mbps and sometimes only .64mbps. I can never seem to get evernote to sync at home even when I am getting 2.0mbps. at work I have a 25mbps connection and never have a problem. Dropbox and google drive sync no problem anywhere I am at. Does anyone know if evernote changed something? I know they said they speed up sync a few months ago and now I am having this issue. no problems prior too their upgrade. 

 

Slow bandwidth shouldn't be an issue, though if you have a bad connection you may have a lot if noise on the line which could frustrate the error-checking which goes on in any internet exchange of information.  Evernote is also exchanging information quite frequently,  where the other examples you mention are only active when loading or saving a file.

 

You could certainly uninstall/ reinstall the application and consider - subject to the usual health warnings and backups - renaming your database and letting the server rebuild it,  though on a slow connection that could take quite a while...