I sent this e-mail to symantec on Fri Feb 14 11:44:41 PST 2003

Their response is at the bottom.

--------------------------------------------------------------
Hi,
I thought I would take some time to send you a note about your
purchasing process.

I just installed the personal edition of ghost on a computer
because I want to take a snapshot of it before re-imaging it.

Most of our users use linux and I use kickstart to install new
images, but for the XP partition, in future I would like to
use ghost to lay down the initial image.

I read the end-license agreement for the ghost software that I
installed and it seems to suggest that I cannot use the personal
edition to make these installs.

I'm ok with that, so I decided to purchase the enterprise edition.
I go to www.ghost.com and click on Symantec ghost corporate edition 7.5,
the I clicked on the "purchase" link. The first box at the top is
"Choose my language" - ok - of course "English" isn't an option....,
ok, so I see, it should really be, "Choose a DIFFERENT language".

So, where is the price on this page? I clicked purchase - there
should be a price. I have my credit card ready! there should be a price!
It must be here somewhere?
On the right hand side, there is technical support, Webcasts,
solution finder, but no price?

So, I re-read the page, and I find that there is a "Find out more" for
the value program which is where I fit - we are a small business.
So I click on that link.

Now I'm at a page where there is a value program fact sheet for each
continent, there is a link to something called the "Elite Program"
(sounds expensive - I'm not clicking on that), and several
"To Purchase" links...
Ok, I really don't want to talk to a human, so contacting my local
symantec office is out of the question..... That leaves
"Purchase Online" - Ahhhh, now we are getting somewhere.
I click there and up comes a page with dozens of e-tailers on it.
Ok, we have an account with CDW, so I click on that link....

At this link, I can choose to purchase symantec antivirus,
symantec firewall, or symantec antivirus...... hmmm, that doesn't
look like ghost.... So  at the top, I click on the drop down for
"Select Product Group" and choose "Cloning Software"....
Ahh, here we are:
I can choose Symantec Ghost v6.0 global license.... hmmmm, that
seems pretty old. AND, the shipdate is 1-2 weeks AND there is still
NO PRICE - I have to call.... Ok, so thats a loser.

I'm now getting really annoyed. I decide to send you guys an e-mail,
so I click on feedback. I am confronted with a page where I can
give feedback on software, online services, or website issues.
hmmm, its not really a software problem.... its kind of a web-site problem,
but the only issues under web-site are: "page not found" - nope,
"typo or incorrect info" - nope, "download antivirus problem" - no,
"report spam" - nope.... Ok, how about online services....
hmmm, its not really comments on support, or services or ask symantec...

Ok, there appears to be a general "contact symantec" link, so I click
there. hmmm, now I have to choose whether I am a home/small business user
or whether I am an enterprise user.... This is an interesting question,
because although I consider myself a "small business" user,
it seems that I need to purchase the "ghost enterprise edition".

Well, since this is an enterprise product, I clicked on enterprise user,
Now I am on the "Feedback" screen, where I have to choose a product and
a version. I chose "Symantec Ghost", version 6.5 enterprise edition
(since that is the version at CDW). Now, I get a screen where it
claims this is some sort of public forum, and, for my convenience,
its been changed to readonly..... Well, I suppose that "feedback" has several
definitions, but not allowing me to post anything doesn't seem to fit
the definition very well.

So, back I go and choose Ghost version 7.5. Now I can choose technical
questions or liveupdate.... hmmm, doesn't really fit there at all...

Ok, maybe I went to the wrong section.... I go back and choose
Home/Small business. Now I seem to be able to pay $29.00 to be
able to phone you guys, or I can use the "Free online support".

Free sounds good to me, but its not really support I want,
its feedback... how did I get to the support page???
I'm obviously in the wrong place, so I decide to start over...
Click on feedback on the left side, and this time, I chose
"Online Services" and clicked on the "other services comment"
Woo Hoo! Looks like a form that I can fill in!

So, I filled out the form and put a bunch of information in there....
Of course, after submitting it, the screen says "we do not answer
technical support or customer service questions in this area"....
Seeing how this is really a customer service issue, I'm
expecting that the message will simply be deleted or ignored.

Now, I'm sending this e-mail to support@symantec.com. Of course,
because this really isn't a technical question, I'm expecting
it to be deleted or ignored too, but thats ok, because its
really just a cathartic rant on my part.

------------------------------------------

And here is their response:
------------------------------------------
Dear Symantec Customer,

E-Mail technical support is not available for your product.
However, Symantec offers a wide variety of online and telephone
support options including technical tips, frequently-asked-questions
documents, fax-on-demand documents, and an online knowledgebase
with every known issue regarding your Symantec software.
For a list of these options, please refer to your product manual,
or point your web browser to Symantec's main Technical Support web page at:

http://www.symantec.com/techsupp/

Thank you for choosing Symantec Software.

----------------------------------------------