Why is it so hard to get help on a CRITICAL TICKET?

[ppeeters]

First tech muted me every time I spoke and would not come back or answer for minutes at a time.  Asked the same question for onver 45 minutes that he NEVER answered.  Spoke to his manager, who got an escalation engineer.  Escalation engineer gave me instructions that NEVER panned out and were incorrect.  They didnt update case and there is no way for me to get in touch with them.  Same tech that I complained about still owned the ticket.  Spent 2 hours waiting on someone to answer phone @ 866# -- Finally they re-escalated and promised me a call within the hour.  SIX HOURS LATER, I get emails that I wasnt watching -- No one called.  That engineer is different timezone, so I cant get in touch with them/off shift.  Back to 866# and no one answering the phone!?!?!  

[ppeeters]

Oh, and the reason why I am posting this on LIVE is because all I've heard for two days now is the same recorder every 30 seconds telling me to use LIVE to get help -- No one is answering the phone, so I guess I will use LIVE and see what that gets me.

[BPry]

@ppeeters,

Probably not the answer that you're looking for, but there's a limited amount of actual staff that monitor the forums that can actually provide direct case assistance. Escalation through your SE and AM if you have them will get you more direct assistance.

I'll also just validate your experience, having direct PAN support has been a curse for years at this point not a blessing. The support that you'll receive is largely appalling and your experience is extremely far from abnormal when dealing with support. If you can get vendor led support upon your next renewal you're actually more likely to have a better experience, and the fact that that's true should never be an acceptable statement for the company that makes the product. They've outsourced the majority of their support for those that can't afford or justify a dedicated support engineer.

If you can detail the issue that you're having someone may be able to provide assistance, but I've absolutely hated the continual LIVE message ever since they introduced it years ago. A community forum that is largely supported by ... get this, the community of PAN customers, is not something you should constantly have to hear about when you're opening a ticket and trying to get immediate support. It makes sense for all of the configuration assistance tickets that get opened, but when it comes to actual critical issues there's likely not much the community can offer you. 

[JayGolf]

Hi @ppeeters ,

Thank you for taking the time to share this candid feedback. I’m truly sorry to hear about your experience. We are committed to improving the support journey.

 I will private message you directly regarding your case.