MSDN - [Andy Boyd] - Managed Newsgroups

Author

[Andy Boyd] - Managed Newsgroups

Russell Stevens

2005-11-22, 6:56 pm

Andy (or anyone from MS),

When a 'normal' MSDN member logs on with their passport they go to

https://msdn.microsoft.com/subscrip...bscription.aspx

That page has links for "Online Concierge Chat", "Support Incidents",
"Managed Newsgroups" and also has a "Configure" link that can be used for
setting up your No Spam Alias. After I sign in with my passport, I get
forwarded to the same page but my page only has links for "Add New
Subscriptions", "Update Your MSDN Profile", and "Subscription Management
Help" - ie - there is nothing for Concierge, Managed Newsgroups, or
Configure. And my license is listed as a "Volume License" even though I have
only purchased a single license directly from Microsoft.

I have been trying to get this resolved for months. Evidently there are
other members with the same problem and it has supposedly been escalated. I
am a Universal subscriber transistioned to VS Team Edition for Software
Developers. Developers purchase MSDN so they can get support. What needs to
be done to get this problem fixed? Do I need to burn a tech support incident
to ask why I can't get tech support?

Thanks
Russell Stevens

Andy Boyd $MS$

2005-11-22, 6:56 pm

This is a bit weird. The http://msdn.microsoft.com/subscriptions page has a
subscriber recognition control that basically remembers the last person to
sign on to Subscriber Downloads and displays the benefits that they are
entitled to. If they select a benefit and are not already signed on to
Passport then we pop the Passport dialog, authenticate the user, then
present the benefit. It sounds like in your case almost as if the
Subscriptions home page is expecting one Passport (one with a VL
subscription) but you are providing it with another.

You shouldn't need to burn a tech support incident for this - I would
recommend sending a message to the Contact Us alias, which will create a
trouble ticket that gets routed to the Tier1 support team. They should be
able to validate that you are doing everything correctly and then escalate
if we have an actual site bug. Contact Us can probably help you best, but
if you can't get a good response from them please ping me directly and I'll
see what I can do.

--

Andy Boyd
Program Manager
MSDN Subscriber Downloads

"Russell Stevens" <rustyprogrammer@online.nospam> wrote in message
news:%23uufAf37FHA.3388@TK2MSFTNGP11.phx.gbl...
> Andy (or anyone from MS),
>
> When a 'normal' MSDN member logs on with their passport they go to
>
> https://msdn.microsoft.com/subscrip...bscription.aspx
>
> That page has links for "Online Concierge Chat", "Support Incidents",
> "Managed Newsgroups" and also has a "Configure" link that can be used for
> setting up your No Spam Alias. After I sign in with my passport, I get
> forwarded to the same page but my page only has links for "Add New
> Subscriptions", "Update Your MSDN Profile", and "Subscription Management
> Help" - ie - there is nothing for Concierge, Managed Newsgroups, or
> Configure. And my license is listed as a "Volume License" even though I
> have only purchased a single license directly from Microsoft.
>
> I have been trying to get this resolved for months. Evidently there are
> other members with the same problem and it has supposedly been escalated.
> I am a Universal subscriber transistioned to VS Team Edition for Software
> Developers. Developers purchase MSDN so they can get support. What needs
> to be done to get this problem fixed? Do I need to burn a tech support
> incident to ask why I can't get tech support?
>
> Thanks
> Russell Stevens
>
>

Russell Stevens

2005-11-22, 6:56 pm

Andy,

<<I would recommend sending a message to the Contact Us alias, which will
create a trouble ticket that gets routed to the Tier1 support team. They
should be able to validate that you are doing everything correctly and then
escalate if we have an actual site bug. Contact Us can probably help you
best, but if you can't get a good response from them please ping me directly
and I'll see what I can do.>>

I have already done that. They tell me it is not a newsgroup problem and
tell me to contact customer service by phone. I did that (several times
actually) and they tell me other people have the same problem but that it is
a newsgroup problem. So, from where I am, the two groups are pointing
fingers at each other and nobody is solving the problem. I do log in via
passport and I have reassociated my passport account with my subscription
(numerous times but it doesn't make any difference). The customer service
group has my membership information correct (single user). The only place I
am listed as a Volume license is after I log on to the msdn site. I have
included some of the relevant emails below - as you can see, I am just going
in circles.

Note that I originally posted this issue in this newsgroup on 9/29 and it
had been going on for some time before then. This is a long way from "2
business day support".

Thanks
Russ Stevens
****************************************
***
Subj: RE:'RTCProd=009-907-745' No Spam Alias
Date: 11/15/2005 4:23:44 PM Eastern Standard Time
From: MSUBSERV@microsoft.com
To: rastevens@aol.com
Sent from the Internet (Details)

Hello,

Thank you for contacting MSDN. We would be glad to assist you. We do
apologize for any inconvenience that you are experiencing when trying to
access the MSDN Manage Newsgroup. We suggest contacting our MSDN customer
service center for immediate assistance to resolve your issue at
800-759-5474.

If you need additional assistance please contact MSDN customer service
center between 5:30 AM to 5:30 PM Pacific Time, Monday through Friday at
800-759-5474.

Thank you,

Marvin

MSDN Customer Service Representative

https://msdn.microsoft.com

-----Original Message-----
From: Luke Zhang (lukezhan@microsoft.com)
Date: Monday, November 14, 2005 07:18 AM
To: Microsoft Contact US (msconus@microsoft.com)
Cc: MSDN Managed Newsgroups Feedback (ngmsdnfb@microsoft.com)
Subject: ??: No Spam Alias

Hello,

Thank you for the reply. From the information, this is not a managed
newsgroup issue. This is a problem with the benefits.You may have the
customer contact customer service via phone to find out why the MSDN Managed
newsgroup benefit is not showing up as part of his benefits..

https://microsoft.na.subservices.com/msdn/Contact.asp

Regards,

Luke

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Microsoft Contact US [mailto:msconus@microsoft.com]
Sent: 2005-11-12 (???) 1:00
To: MSDN Managed Newsgroups Feedback
Cc: escmla_mscom@man.ph.sykes.com
Subject: 'RTCProd=009-907-745' No Spam Alias

Hello Luke,

Below is the customer's response. Please advise.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
I have attached my screen shot of the exact same page. As you can
see there is NO configure button. The pages are totally different.

I did notice a difference - In the subscription box, my subscription
is listed as a Volume License. I have ONE license - why am I listed as
Volume? Perhaps Volume licensees do not get tech support???

Anyway, for whatever reason this DOES NOT WORK FOR ME. You need to
fix something on your end. I don't know what but you can clearly see I do
NOT have a configure button or link. And, I have not been getting two day
replies from Microsoft.

This is a viscious circle - on 9/29 I posted a message in the
msdn.general group about my Anti Spam not working. I have NEVER gotten a
reply from Microsoft to that post. I guess I need to use one of my Tech
Support Incidents to ask why I can't get Tech Support. This is absurd.
Please fix whatever is broken (and fix all the other links that don't work
that I reported concerning the No-Spam Alias).

Thanks
Russell Stevens
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thank you,

John Paul
Microsoft Online Customer Service Representative

If you have any feedback about your Online Customer Service
experience, please e-mail my manager, Oruen Salazar, at
managers@microsoft.com.

From: MSDN Managed Newsgroups Feedback (ngmsdnfb@microsoft.com)
Date: Wednesday, November 09, 2005 01:35 AM
To: Microsoft Contact US (msconus@microsoft.com)
Cc: MSDN Managed Newsgroups Feedback (ngmsdnfb@microsoft.com)
Subject: RE: No Spam Alias

Hello,

I apologize for the misleading of incorrect instructions on the
web page. Would you please tell us if you have posted a question on the
newsgroup and been waiting for a response? If so, please let us know the
group you posted and the caption. We can have an engineer work with you and
answer your questions on technology first.

For the registration issue, we are still work on it. I tested
the web page
(https://msdn.microsoft.com/subscrip...bscription.aspx

) with a valid account and I indeed find the link "Configure".
Please see the screen shot in the attachment. Is this different from what
you see? If so, please send us a screen shot of what you see on the web
page. And we will see what happened on your side and why you didn't see the
link.

Regards,

Luke

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

From: Microsoft Contact US [mailto:msconus@microsoft.com]
Sent: 2005?11?8? 3:58
To: MSDN Managed Newsgroups Feedback
Cc: escmla_mscom@man.ph.sykes.com
Subject: 'RTCProd=009-907-745' No Spam Alias

Hello Luke,

The customer is still experiencing problems. Below is his
response:

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

I keep telling you guys this DOES NOT WORK. I go to

http://msdn.microsoft.com/subscriptions/

I login in - that takes me to

https://msdn.microsoft.com/subscrip...bscription.aspx

There is absolutely NO mention on that page of Managed
Newsgroups. There is NO Configure button.

Perhaps you guys are hitting an inhouse page or some such, but
from out here, there is no way to get to where I need to go to do anything
with my NoSpam alias.

Why can't you guys fix this - this has been going on for a very
long time?????

If I go to

http://msdn.microsoft.com/newsgroups/managed/

then click the Register button for registering a No Spam alias
it takes me to

http://msdn.microsoft.com/subscriptions/

There is NOTHING on that page to register anything.

If I go to

http://msdn.microsoft.com/subscript...aq/default.aspx

and click on the question for

"How do I access the managed newsgroups" - it gives me a link to

http://msdn.microsoft.com/subscriptions/

and tells me to click on the "Whats Hot" button. There is NO
"Whats Hot" on that page.

This is all total garbage - someone there is NOT DOING THEIR
JOB. Why do I have to keep reporting these problems and no one there can
even find them let alone fix them.

Thanks
Russ Stevens
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thank you,

John Paul

Microsoft Online Customer Service Representative

If you have any feedback about your Online Customer Service
experience, please e-mail my manager, Oruen Salazar, at
managers@microsoft.com.

From: MSDN Managed Newsgroups Feedback
(ngmsdnfb@microsoft.com)

Date: Sunday, November 06, 2005 11:30 PM

To: Microsoft Contact US (msconus@microsoft.com)

Cc: MSDN Managed Newsgroups Feedback
(ngmsdnfb@microsoft.com)

Subject: RE: No Spam Alias

Hello,

Thank you for contacting the MSDN Managed Newsgroup
feedback alias.

To create a no-spam alias, you may first visit
http://msdn.microsoft.com/subscriptions/ and log in with your passport. And
then, click "Manage Subscription" from left menu panel. In the next form,
there are four items:

Subscriber Downloads

Online Concierge Chat

Support Incidents

Managed Newsgroups

Under "Managed Newsgroups", click "Configure". Then you
will see your current alias listed with a link for updating it.

For more information about the managed newsgroups:

To configure the web-based profile:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/subscript...t.aspx#webbased

Step by Step Instructions:

http://blogs.msdn.com/sschac/articles/376447.aspx

To configure your newsgroup client:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/subscript...spx#configuring

The list of MSDN Managed Newsgroups

http://msdn.microsoft.com/subscript...roups/list.aspx

I apologize for any inconvenience that this may have
caused you and if there is anything else we can do to assist you please let
us know.

Thank you for choosing the MSDN Managed Newsgroups,

Luke

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

From: Microsoft Contact US [mailto:msconus@microsoft.com]
Sent: 2005?11?7? 14:43
To: MSDN Managed Newsgroups Feedback
Cc: escmla_mscom@man.ph.sykes.com
Subject: 'RTCProd=009-907-745' No Spam Alias

Hello,

I am a customer service agent processing online e-mail and
feedback for Microsoft.com.

========================================
=========================

The customer is unable to create a no-spam alias as the
"Managed Newsgroups" link on the "MSDN Subscription Management" page directs
to http://msdn.microsoft.com/subscript...roups/list.aspx

We have escalate similar issue to mscomhlp@microsoft.com
but we haven't received any response from the team.

Please advise us on how to process this issue.

========================================
=========================

Please resolve the customer issue and respond back to this
e-mail escalation within 72 hours when resolved, so that the customer can be
advised of your resolution.

The customer has already received an "acknowledged and
forwarded to the right owner for evaluation and resolution" response. This
log is tagged as escalated. If this mail ticket lacks any information that
you need that you consider important to helping you resolve the issue, or
you determine that you must reply back to the customer, do not respond
directly to the customer's e-mail. All contact with the customer must be
channeled through this e-mail alias, and I will act as your escalation point
for this e-mail ticket. (See the RTCProd=# in the Subject line as a
reference.)

If you have any questions or have a response for the
customer, reply to this mail, and I will report it to the customer.

Thank you,

Jounee

Microsoft Online Customer Service Representative

If you have any feedback about your Online Customer
Service experience, please e-mail my manager, Ivy Rabago, at
managers@microsoft.com

-----Original Message-----

From: Russell Stevens (rastevens@aol.com)

Date: Sunday, November 06, 2005 07:13 PM

To: CS (msconus@microsoft.com)

Subject: No Spam Alias

QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS

Problem Area: msdns

Message: I absolutely cannot figure out how to navigate
the site to locate what is currently my no spam alias. I cannot even find
anywhere to enter a new one. The FAQs say to go to a link, then click the
Whats Hot link. There is no such link. I have mentioned this in the
newsgroups - no reply - I don't get two day answers, you don't fix the links
on the pages, just how am I supposed to get support???

Please provide detailed instructions of what I need to do
to get 2 day tech support via the Newsgroups.

AND - please try your directions to verify that they are
valid - it is just amazing that this has to be this difficult. I am either
totally blind or the info is not there.

Does anyone there look at these pages - this page where I
am submitting my ID number, name, phone number and mailing address and email
address has a note at the bottom that says

"Do not include any additional personal information when
submitting this feedback"

Just what the hek is that supposed to mean - if you didn't
want personal information, then why do you ask for it??

Gerry Hickman

2005-11-22, 6:56 pm

Hi Russell,

> When a 'normal' MSDN member logs on with their passport they go to
>
> https://msdn.microsoft.com/subscrip...bscription.aspx
>
> That page has links for "Online Concierge Chat", "Support Incidents",
> "Managed Newsgroups" and also has a "Configure" link that can be used for
> setting up your No Spam Alias.

OK.

> After I sign in with my passport, I get
> forwarded to the same page but my page only has links for "Add New
> Subscriptions", "Update Your MSDN Profile", and "Subscription Management
> Help" - ie - there is nothing for Concierge, Managed Newsgroups, or
> Configure.

Out of interest, have you tried it from a different computer that you've
never logged into before? Do you get the same result?

> And my license is listed as a "Volume License" even though I have
> only purchased a single license directly from Microsoft.

Do you see a drop down box with this information and a button to
"remove"? Is that the page you mean? Do you see your subscription number
in that box too or not? Is it the correct number?

> I have been trying to get this resolved for months.

It's another classic Microsoft case of "let's try to be clever". The
site has too many auto-forwarders and redirectors and potential for
endless loop syndrome depending on what cookies are in the cache at the
time. It also bounces around between secure and non-secure depending on
what you click next. It's a perfect example of how NOT to design web sites.

Have you tried it from Mozilla? I tend to find it works better in that
browser.

--
Gerry Hickman (London UK)

Sylvain Lafontaine

2005-11-22, 6:56 pm

Hi, just a word to say that I'm exactly in the same situation: transitionned
to VS Team Edition for Software Developers and no more Concierge, Managed
Newsgroups and Configure options available.

I didn't make any change to my passport profile (kept the same for two
years), the association with my passport for the new subscription has been
done automatically shortly after my submission for the choice of transition
to the Developer Edition and the subscriber downloads for VSTE - Developers
are available correctly.

--
Sylvain Lafontaine, ing.
MVP - Technologies Virtual-PC
E-mail: http://cerbermail.com/?QugbLEWINF

"Russell Stevens" <rustyprogrammer@online.nospam> wrote in message
news:OXfPOm57FHA.3044@TK2MSFTNGP10.phx.gbl...
> Andy,
>
> <<I would recommend sending a message to the Contact Us alias, which will
> create a trouble ticket that gets routed to the Tier1 support team. They
> should be able to validate that you are doing everything correctly and
> then escalate if we have an actual site bug. Contact Us can probably help
> you best, but if you can't get a good response from them please ping me
> directly and I'll see what I can do.>>
>
> I have already done that. They tell me it is not a newsgroup problem and
> tell me to contact customer service by phone. I did that (several times
> actually) and they tell me other people have the same problem but that it
> is a newsgroup problem. So, from where I am, the two groups are pointing
> fingers at each other and nobody is solving the problem. I do log in via
> passport and I have reassociated my passport account with my subscription
> (numerous times but it doesn't make any difference). The customer service
> group has my membership information correct (single user). The only place
> I am listed as a Volume license is after I log on to the msdn site. I have
> included some of the relevant emails below - as you can see, I am just
> going in circles.
>
> Note that I originally posted this issue in this newsgroup on 9/29 and it
> had been going on for some time before then. This is a long way from "2
> business day support".
>
> Thanks
> Russ Stevens
> ****************************************
***
> Subj: RE:'RTCProd=009-907-745' No Spam Alias
> Date: 11/15/2005 4:23:44 PM Eastern Standard Time
> From: MSUBSERV@microsoft.com
> To: rastevens@aol.com
> Sent from the Internet (Details)
>
>
>
> Hello,
>
>
>
> Thank you for contacting MSDN. We would be glad to assist you. We do
> apologize for any inconvenience that you are experiencing when trying to
> access the MSDN Manage Newsgroup. We suggest contacting our MSDN customer
> service center for immediate assistance to resolve your issue at
> 800-759-5474.
>
>
>
> If you need additional assistance please contact MSDN customer service
> center between 5:30 AM to 5:30 PM Pacific Time, Monday through Friday at
> 800-759-5474.
>
>
>
> Thank you,
>
> Marvin
>
> MSDN Customer Service Representative
>
> https://msdn.microsoft.com
>
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Luke Zhang (lukezhan@microsoft.com)
> Date: Monday, November 14, 2005 07:18 AM
> To: Microsoft Contact US (msconus@microsoft.com)
> Cc: MSDN Managed Newsgroups Feedback (ngmsdnfb@microsoft.com)
> Subject: ??: No Spam Alias
>
> Hello,
>
>
> Thank you for the reply. From the information, this is not a managed
> newsgroup issue. This is a problem with the benefits.You may have the
> customer contact customer service via phone to find out why the MSDN
> Managed newsgroup benefit is not showing up as part of his benefits..
>
> https://microsoft.na.subservices.com/msdn/Contact.asp
>
>
> Regards,
>
>
> Luke
>
>
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------
> From: Microsoft Contact US [mailto:msconus@microsoft.com]
> Sent: 2005-11-12 (???) 1:00
> To: MSDN Managed Newsgroups Feedback
> Cc: escmla_mscom@man.ph.sykes.com
> Subject: 'RTCProd=009-907-745' No Spam Alias
>
>
>
> Hello Luke,
>
> Below is the customer's response. Please advise.
>
> -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
> I have attached my screen shot of the exact same page. As you can
> see there is NO configure button. The pages are totally different.
>
> I did notice a difference - In the subscription box, my
> subscription is listed as a Volume License. I have ONE license - why am I
> listed as Volume? Perhaps Volume licensees do not get tech support???
>
> Anyway, for whatever reason this DOES NOT WORK FOR ME. You need to
> fix something on your end. I don't know what but you can clearly see I do
> NOT have a configure button or link. And, I have not been getting two day
> replies from Microsoft.
>
> This is a viscious circle - on 9/29 I posted a message in the
> msdn.general group about my Anti Spam not working. I have NEVER gotten a
> reply from Microsoft to that post. I guess I need to use one of my Tech
> Support Incidents to ask why I can't get Tech Support. This is absurd.
> Please fix whatever is broken (and fix all the other links that don't work
> that I reported concerning the No-Spam Alias).
>
> Thanks
> Russell Stevens
> -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Thank you,
>
> John Paul
> Microsoft Online Customer Service Representative
>
> If you have any feedback about your Online Customer Service
> experience, please e-mail my manager, Oruen Salazar, at
> managers@microsoft.com.
>
>
> From: MSDN Managed Newsgroups Feedback (ngmsdnfb@microsoft.com)
> Date: Wednesday, November 09, 2005 01:35 AM
> To: Microsoft Contact US (msconus@microsoft.com)
> Cc: MSDN Managed Newsgroups Feedback (ngmsdnfb@microsoft.com)
> Subject: RE: No Spam Alias
>
> Hello,
>
>
>
> I apologize for the misleading of incorrect instructions on the
> web page. Would you please tell us if you have posted a question on the
> newsgroup and been waiting for a response? If so, please let us know the
> group you posted and the caption. We can have an engineer work with you
> and answer your questions on technology first.
>
>
>
> For the registration issue, we are still work on it. I tested
> the web page
> (https://msdn.microsoft.com/subscrip...bscription.aspx
>
> ) with a valid account and I indeed find the link "Configure".
> Please see the screen shot in the attachment. Is this different from what
> you see? If so, please send us a screen shot of what you see on the web
> page. And we will see what happened on your side and why you didn't see
> the link.
>
>
>
> Regards,
>
>
>
> Luke
>
>
>
>
> --------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> From: Microsoft Contact US [mailto:msconus@microsoft.com]
> Sent: 2005?11?8? 3:58
> To: MSDN Managed Newsgroups Feedback
> Cc: escmla_mscom@man.ph.sykes.com
> Subject: 'RTCProd=009-907-745' No Spam Alias
>
>
>
>
>
> Hello Luke,
>
>
>
> The customer is still experiencing problems. Below is his
> response:
>
>
>
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> I keep telling you guys this DOES NOT WORK. I go to
>
> http://msdn.microsoft.com/subscriptions/
>
> I login in - that takes me to
>
>
> https://msdn.microsoft.com/subscrip...bscription.aspx
>
> There is absolutely NO mention on that page of Managed
> Newsgroups. There is NO Configure button.
>
> Perhaps you guys are hitting an inhouse page or some such, but
> from out here, there is no way to get to where I need to go to do anything
> with my NoSpam alias.
>
> Why can't you guys fix this - this has been going on for a very
> long time?????
>
> If I go to
>
> http://msdn.microsoft.com/newsgroups/managed/
>
> then click the Register button for registering a No Spam alias
> it takes me to
>
> http://msdn.microsoft.com/subscriptions/
>
> There is NOTHING on that page to register anything.
>
> If I go to
>
> http://msdn.microsoft.com/subscript...aq/default.aspx
>
> and click on the question for
>
> "How do I access the managed newsgroups" - it gives me a link
> to
>
> http://msdn.microsoft.com/subscriptions/
>
> and tells me to click on the "Whats Hot" button. There is NO
> "Whats Hot" on that page.
>
> This is all total garbage - someone there is NOT DOING THEIR
> JOB. Why do I have to keep reporting these problems and no one there can
> even find them let alone fix them.
>
> Thanks
> Russ Stevens
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>
>
> Thank you,
>
>
>
> John Paul
>
> Microsoft Online Customer Service Representative
>
>
>
> If you have any feedback about your Online Customer Service
> experience, please e-mail my manager, Oruen Salazar, at
> managers@microsoft.com.
>
>
>
>
>
>
> From: MSDN Managed Newsgroups Feedback
> (ngmsdnfb@microsoft.com)
>
> Date: Sunday, November 06, 2005 11:30 PM
>
> To: Microsoft Contact US (msconus@microsoft.com)
>
> Cc: MSDN Managed Newsgroups Feedback
> (ngmsdnfb@microsoft.com)
>
> Subject: RE: No Spam Alias
>
>
>
>
> Hello,
>
>
>
> Thank you for contacting the MSDN Managed Newsgroup
> feedback alias.
>
>
>
> To create a no-spam alias, you may first visit
> http://msdn.microsoft.com/subscriptions/ and log in with your passport.
> And then, click "Manage Subscription" from left menu panel. In the next
> form, there are four items:
>
>
>
> Subscriber Downloads
>
> Online Concierge Chat
>
> Support Incidents
>
> Managed Newsgroups
>
>
>
> Under "Managed Newsgroups", click "Configure". Then you
> will see your current alias listed with a link for updating it.
>
>
>
> For more information about the managed newsgroups:
>
>
>
> To configure the web-based profile:
>
>
> http://msdn.microsoft.com/subscript...t.aspx#webbased
>
>
>
>
>
> Step by Step Instructions:
>
> http://blogs.msdn.com/sschac/articles/376447.aspx
>
>
>
>
>
> To configure your newsgroup client:
>
>
> http://msdn.microsoft.com/subscript...spx#configuring
>
>
>
> The list of MSDN Managed Newsgroups
>
>
> http://msdn.microsoft.com/subscript...roups/list.aspx
>
>
>
> I apologize for any inconvenience that this may have
> caused you and if there is anything else we can do to assist you please
> let us know.
>
>
>
> Thank you for choosing the MSDN Managed Newsgroups,
>
>
>
> Luke
>
>
>
>
> --------------------------------------------------------------
>
> From: Microsoft Contact US [mailto:msconus@microsoft.com]
> Sent: 2005?11?7? 14:43
> To: MSDN Managed Newsgroups Feedback
> Cc: escmla_mscom@man.ph.sykes.com
> Subject: 'RTCProd=009-907-745' No Spam Alias
>
>
>
> Hello,
>
>
>
> I am a customer service agent processing online e-mail
> and feedback for Microsoft.com.
>
>
>
>
> ========================================
=========================
>
> The customer is unable to create a no-spam alias as the
> "Managed Newsgroups" link on the "MSDN Subscription Management" page
> directs to
> http://msdn.microsoft.com/subscript...roups/list.aspx
>
>
>
> We have escalate similar issue to mscomhlp@microsoft.com
> but we haven't received any response from the team.
>
>
>
> Please advise us on how to process this issue.
>
>
> ========================================
=========================
>
>
>
> Please resolve the customer issue and respond back to
> this e-mail escalation within 72 hours when resolved, so that the customer
> can be advised of your resolution.
>
>
>
> The customer has already received an "acknowledged and
> forwarded to the right owner for evaluation and resolution" response. This
> log is tagged as escalated. If this mail ticket lacks any information that
> you need that you consider important to helping you resolve the issue, or
> you determine that you must reply back to the customer, do not respond
> directly to the customer's e-mail. All contact with the customer must be
> channeled through this e-mail alias, and I will act as your escalation
> point for this e-mail ticket. (See the RTCProd=# in the Subject line as a
> reference.)
>
>
>
> If you have any questions or have a response for the
> customer, reply to this mail, and I will report it to the customer.
>
>
>
> Thank you,
>
>
>
> Jounee
>
> Microsoft Online Customer Service Representative
>
>
>
> If you have any feedback about your Online Customer
> Service experience, please e-mail my manager, Ivy Rabago, at
> managers@microsoft.com
>
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
>
> From: Russell Stevens (rastevens@aol.com)
>
> Date: Sunday, November 06, 2005 07:13 PM
>
> To: CS (msconus@microsoft.com)
>
> Subject: No Spam Alias
>
>
>
> QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS
>
> Problem Area: msdns
>
> Message: I absolutely cannot figure out how to navigate
> the site to locate what is currently my no spam alias. I cannot even find
> anywhere to enter a new one. The FAQs say to go to a link, then click the
> Whats Hot link. There is no such link. I have mentioned this in the
> newsgroups - no reply - I don't get two day answers, you don't fix the
> links on the pages, just how am I supposed to get support???
>
>
>
> Please provide detailed instructions of what I need to do
> to get 2 day tech support via the Newsgroups.
>
>
>
> AND - please try your directions to verify that they are
> valid - it is just amazing that this has to be this difficult. I am either
> totally blind or the info is not there.
>
>
>
> Does anyone there look at these pages - this page where I
> am submitting my ID number, name, phone number and mailing address and
> email address has a note at the bottom that says
>
>
>
> "Do not include any additional personal information when
> submitting this feedback"
>
>
>
> Just what the hek is that supposed to mean - if you
> didn't want personal information, then why do you ask for it??
>
>
>
>
>

Russell Stevens

2005-11-22, 6:56 pm

Gerry,

<<Out of interest, have you tried it from a different computer that you've
never logged into before? Do you get the same result?>>

Three different computers, cleared the cache, etc.

<<Do you see a drop down box with this information and a button to
"remove">>

Yes - I was directed to remove my account and reassociate it to see if that
would solve the issue - it didn't.

<<Do you see your subscription number
in that box too or not? Is it the correct number?>>

The number is correct but it incorrectly states that it is a Volume License
(but I am in the Microsoft Database correctly - but obviously there is more
than one database and they don't agree with each other).

Note - when I was messing around with this a couple of months ago, I
actually got to the page of another member with a different member number
and subscription type - I reported this on this forum and it was completely
ignored - so much for all this security stuff - sign on with my Passport and
get logged into another users account - I can't even imagine how you can
program something like that.

<<The
site has too many auto-forwarders and redirectors and potential for
endless loop syndrome depending on what cookies are in the cache at the
time. It also bounces around between secure and non-secure depending on
what you click next. It's a perfect example of how NOT to design web
sites.>>

I suspect someone there could easily fix it - how hard can it be? The
problem is that it is impossible to get to the "THAT" guy. I just get sent
in circles. At first they wouldn't believe me when I said the page I was at
didn't have any of the links that were supposed to be there - I sent them a
screen shot and they then tell me it is a membership issue not a web page
issue - geesh.... Is there a certain kind of membership that gives you all
the Downloads but you don't qualify for any tech support - that is not what
I am paying for but seems to be what I am getting.

<<Have you tried it from Mozilla?>>

No - if Microsoft can't make it work in IE, there isn't much hope.

Thanks
Russ Stevens

Jon Robertson

2005-11-22, 6:56 pm

Sylvain Lafontaine wrote:

> Hi, just a word to say that I'm exactly in the same situation:
> transitionned to VS Team Edition for Software Developers and no more
> Concierge, Managed Newsgroups and Configure options available.
>
> I didn't make any change to my passport profile (kept the same for
> two years), the association with my passport for the new subscription
> has been done automatically shortly after my submission for the
> choice of transition to the Developer Edition and the subscriber
> downloads for VSTE - Developers are available correctly.

Ditto. My options became disabled after I selected my transition
option several months ago. I was hoping that once my subscription
completed the transition, that this would be cured. But alas, it isn't.

A few w

s ago, I called PSS. The "front line" representative wasn't
able to renew my support incidents, even though she could see where the
subscription was renewed in August. After keeping me on hold for 15
minutes, she finally gave up and marked the incident as free.

It was going to be free anyway, as I was reporting a bug in the "new
and improved" 2.0 version of MDAC Component Checker. So it was a huge
waste of time.

And then it took two call backs from a guy in some non-English speaking
country for him to finally repeat back to me the exact problem that I
initially reported. Two w

s and several calls later, including
speaking with his technical contact, the decision was that although
they duplicated the bug in their lab, the bug would not be fixed.

If it weren't for Microsoft Downloads, there would be no reason to
renew our subscription. Microsoft Support continues to get worse and
worse...

--
Jon Robertson
Borland Certified Advanced Delphi 7 Developer
MedEvolve, Inc
http://www.medevolve.com

Jon Robertson

2005-11-22, 6:56 pm

Gerry Hickman wrote:

> Have you tried it from Mozilla? I tend to find it works better in
> that browser.

I've tried it in Firefox. I find that it doesn't work at all in
Firefox. I figured Microsoft intentionally designed the site so it
wouldn't work in Mozilla/Firefox.

But then I decided to install IE7 beta, and it works worse in IE7 beta
than it did in IE6... I wonder what browser the site designers use?

--
Jon Robertson
Borland Certified Advanced Delphi 7 Developer
MedEvolve, Inc
http://www.medevolve.com

Kizzy

2005-11-22, 6:56 pm

Same problem (FWIW). I've scratched my head about the missing concierge
link, etc., but I figured they were "hidden" somewhere. I was really
puzzled about the volume license text. I started with a new passport months
ago, transitioned a month or 2 ago to Team Dev from Universal. The number
matches what I was given as my Customer ID, but I'm not volume.

"Russell Stevens" <rustyprogrammer@online.nospam> wrote in message
news:ufcves67FHA.3660@TK2MSFTNGP09.phx.gbl...
> Gerry,
>
> <<Out of interest, have you tried it from a different computer that
> you've
> never logged into before? Do you get the same result?>>
>
> Three different computers, cleared the cache, etc.
>
> <<Do you see a drop down box with this information and a button to
> "remove">>
>
> Yes - I was directed to remove my account and reassociate it to see if
> that would solve the issue - it didn't.
>
> <<Do you see your subscription number
> in that box too or not? Is it the correct number?>>
>
> The number is correct but it incorrectly states that it is a Volume
> License (but I am in the Microsoft Database correctly - but obviously
> there is more than one database and they don't agree with each other).
>
> Note - when I was messing around with this a couple of months ago, I
> actually got to the page of another member with a different member number
> and subscription type - I reported this on this forum and it was
> completely ignored - so much for all this security stuff - sign on with my
> Passport and get logged into another users account - I can't even imagine
> how you can program something like that.
>
> <<The
> site has too many auto-forwarders and redirectors and potential for
> endless loop syndrome depending on what cookies are in the cache at the
> time. It also bounces around between secure and non-secure depending on
> what you click next. It's a perfect example of how NOT to design web
> sites.>>
>
> I suspect someone there could easily fix it - how hard can it be? The
> problem is that it is impossible to get to the "THAT" guy. I just get sent
> in circles. At first they wouldn't believe me when I said the page I was
> at didn't have any of the links that were supposed to be there - I sent
> them a screen shot and they then tell me it is a membership issue not a
> web page issue - geesh.... Is there a certain kind of membership that
> gives you all the Downloads but you don't qualify for any tech support -
> that is not what I am paying for but seems to be what I am getting.
>
> <<Have you tried it from Mozilla?>>
>
> No - if Microsoft can't make it work in IE, there isn't much hope.
>
> Thanks
> Russ Stevens
>
>
>

Leo Havmøller

2005-11-23, 3:56 am

> That page has links for "Online Concierge Chat", "Support Incidents",
> "Managed Newsgroups" and also has a "Configure" link that can be used for
> setting up your No Spam Alias. After I sign in with my passport, I get
> forwarded to the same page but my page only has links for "Add New
> Subscriptions", "Update Your MSDN Profile", and "Subscription Management
> Help" - ie - there is nothing for Concierge, Managed Newsgroups, or
> Configure. And my license is listed as a "Volume License" even though I
> have only purchased a single license directly from Microsoft.

I also have the same problem. I mailed EU subscriptions services, which only
answered one of my questions:
"All MSDN subscriptions accessing the Download site are defaulted to Volume
License. Whether they are single user, retail or Volume Licensing."
Leo Havmøller.

Andy Boyd $MS$

2005-11-23, 6:56 pm

With the release of the VSTS levels, the Volume License benefit model was
changed somewhat for MSDN Subscriptions. In the past, if a customer record
existed in our system, we "exploded" that subscription into 4 benefits -
download, chat, managed newsgroup, and support incidents. Basically, we
made the assumption that if you had a subscription you got all benefits.
With the release of the VSTS levels, the model changed somewhat for volume
license subscriptions. Now, your VL program administrator can specify
exactly which benefits go to which user. So, for instance, a user could get
only a download and chat benefit, or managed newsgroup and chat, or several
download benefits, depending on how the adminstrator configures the
accounts. For Retail benefits (say you bought your subscription at
CompUSA), we still explode each subscription into all 4 benefits.

Since these changes happen on the back end customer management system, you
might want to check with your VL license administrator to see if they have
made any changes to your accounts. It may be that this was done by someone
on purpose. As far as I know, the transition process should only update the
SKU associated with your subscriber ID - no other benefits should get
touched. If you have a retail subscription and this is happening to you
then that's definitely a problem; all retail subscriptions should see all 4
benefits.

--

Andy Boyd
Program Manager
MSDN Subscriber Downloads

"Jon Robertson" <JonRobertson@community.nospam> wrote in message
news:uVCAU367FHA.1248@TK2MSFTNGP14.phx.gbl...
> Sylvain Lafontaine wrote:
>
>
> Ditto. My options became disabled after I selected my transition
> option several months ago. I was hoping that once my subscription
> completed the transition, that this would be cured. But alas, it isn't.
>
> A few w

s ago, I called PSS. The "front line" representative wasn't
> able to renew my support incidents, even though she could see where the
> subscription was renewed in August. After keeping me on hold for 15
> minutes, she finally gave up and marked the incident as free.
>
> It was going to be free anyway, as I was reporting a bug in the "new
> and improved" 2.0 version of MDAC Component Checker. So it was a huge
> waste of time.
>
> And then it took two call backs from a guy in some non-English speaking
> country for him to finally repeat back to me the exact problem that I
> initially reported. Two w

s and several calls later, including
> speaking with his technical contact, the decision was that although
> they duplicated the bug in their lab, the bug would not be fixed.
>
> If it weren't for Microsoft Downloads, there would be no reason to
> renew our subscription. Microsoft Support continues to get worse and
> worse...
>
> --
> Jon Robertson
> Borland Certified Advanced Delphi 7 Developer
> MedEvolve, Inc
> http://www.medevolve.com

Russell Stevens

2005-11-23, 6:56 pm

Andy,

<<If you have a retail subscription and this is happening to you
then that's definitely a problem; all retail subscriptions should see all 4
benefits.>>

Myself, and others in this thread, have "retail" subscriptions. That is
confirmed when I call Microsoft. However, the website says "Volume License"
and none of the benefits are listed for me. I do not have a VL license admin
because I do not have a VL license. I have the same identical subscriber ID
that I had before I transistioned/upgraded. I purchased directly from
Microsoft. This has been going on for months. What needs to be done to get
this fixed.

Thanks
Russ Stevens

Sylvain Lafontaine

2005-11-23, 6:56 pm

Thanks Andy for your time. However, my MSDN subscription is an MVP
subscription and I definitely don't see any reason why any of these benefits
would have been retired from my account; especially all of them.

Obviously, the number of replies here is only the tiny tip of the Icerberg;
so will you take a deeper look into this - and more particularly the
transition process - or if each of us must start the very long process of
making a near illimited number of calls trying to get back these benefits?

Finally, here two suggestions: shouldn't an email sent to the user when such
a change is made to its account and shouldn't we have a page on the MSDN web
site telling us which advantages we have (and don't have) access to and who
to email if we have a problem with these?

--
Sylvain Lafontaine, ing.
MVP - Technologies Virtual-PC
E-mail: http://cerbermail.com/?QugbLEWINF

"Andy Boyd (MS)" <Andy.Boyd@nospam.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:upNd$aF8FHA.736@TK2MSFTNGP09.phx.gbl...
> With the release of the VSTS levels, the Volume License benefit model was
> changed somewhat for MSDN Subscriptions. In the past, if a customer
> record existed in our system, we "exploded" that subscription into 4
> benefits - download, chat, managed newsgroup, and support incidents.
> Basically, we made the assumption that if you had a subscription you got
> all benefits. With the release of the VSTS levels, the model changed
> somewhat for volume license subscriptions. Now, your VL program
> administrator can specify exactly which benefits go to which user. So,
> for instance, a user could get only a download and chat benefit, or
> managed newsgroup and chat, or several download benefits, depending on how
> the adminstrator configures the accounts. For Retail benefits (say you
> bought your subscription at CompUSA), we still explode each subscription
> into all 4 benefits.
>
> Since these changes happen on the back end customer management system, you
> might want to check with your VL license administrator to see if they have
> made any changes to your accounts. It may be that this was done by
> someone on purpose. As far as I know, the transition process should only
> update the SKU associated with your subscriber ID - no other benefits
> should get touched. If you have a retail subscription and this is
> happening to you then that's definitely a problem; all retail
> subscriptions should see all 4 benefits.
>
> --
>
> Andy Boyd
> Program Manager
> MSDN Subscriber Downloads
>
>
> "Jon Robertson" <JonRobertson@community.nospam> wrote in message
> news:uVCAU367FHA.1248@TK2MSFTNGP14.phx.gbl...
>
>

Kizzy

2005-11-23, 6:56 pm

With respect to the configure managed newsgroup deal, have u tried using the
little icon next to the Sign Out button (after signing in to subscription)
located at

http://msdn.microsoft.com/newsgroups/managed/
?

"Russell Stevens" wrote:

> Andy (or anyone from MS),
>
> When a 'normal' MSDN member logs on with their passport they go to
>
> https://msdn.microsoft.com/subscrip...bscription.aspx
>
> That page has links for "Online Concierge Chat", "Support Incidents",
> "Managed Newsgroups" and also has a "Configure" link that can be used for
> setting up your No Spam Alias. After I sign in with my passport, I get
> forwarded to the same page but my page only has links for "Add New
> Subscriptions", "Update Your MSDN Profile", and "Subscription Management
> Help" - ie - there is nothing for Concierge, Managed Newsgroups, or
> Configure. And my license is listed as a "Volume License" even though I have
> only purchased a single license directly from Microsoft.
>
> I have been trying to get this resolved for months. Evidently there are
> other members with the same problem and it has supposedly been escalated. I
> am a Universal subscriber transistioned to VS Team Edition for Software
> Developers. Developers purchase MSDN so they can get support. What needs to
> be done to get this problem fixed? Do I need to burn a tech support incident
> to ask why I can't get tech support?
>
> Thanks
> Russell Stevens
>
>
>

Russell Stevens

2005-11-23, 6:56 pm

Kizzy,

There is no little icon next to the Sign Out button (for those of us who
are getting the wrong page).

Thanks
Russ Stevens

Russell Stevens

2005-11-23, 6:56 pm

Andy,

Below is an email I got today - I have been "escalated". Of course, I have
previously been "escalated" which didn't solve anything. The work around
described below just takes you to the newsgroups which you can do without
being an MSDN member (no 2 day support). As for refunds and or extensions, I
think all the subscribers who haven't been getting the support they thought
they paid for for the last couple of months should demand something -
perhaps the response time could be shortened if 'money' was involved <g>.

Of course, there are a lot of subscribers that don't even know what they
are missing - they go to the downloads page and nothing seems wrong -
another member has suggested you implement something so that a member could
check their benefits - might be a good idea.

Thanks
Russ Stevens
****************************************

Subj: RE:'RTCProd=009-907-745' No Spam Alias
Date: 11/23/2005 2:02:03 PM Eastern Standard Time
From: MSUBSERV@microsoft.com
To: rastevens@aol.com
Sent from the Internet (Details)

Hello Russell,

Thank you for contacting MSDN North America. We would be more than happy to
assist you. Just want to let you know that it has been affecting other
customers. We have escalated the problem to Tier 1. We understand your
frustration and we are trying our best to get the issue resolved. Because it
has been escalated to Tier 1, we are also waiting for a response back.

We have a temporary place to access the Manage Newsgroup, you can go to
http://msdn.microsoft.com/newsgroups/managed/. On the webpage, you can
select the margin on the left with related issues you are having or use the
search feature in the middle of the page and post your question.

As for refund or extension, we will have to forward your request to our
manager. We will keep you posted.

Let us know if you need any additional assistance or you can contact our
customer service center at 800-759-5474.

Thank you,

Marvin

MSDN North America Customer Service Representative

https://msdn.microsoft.com

Andy Boyd $MS$

2005-11-23, 6:56 pm

This definitely looks like some sort of issue on our end - I have a
suspicion on the possible source and have escalated as a high priority with
the MSDN Subscriber Downloads support engineers to see if they can come up
with what's going on. Once I have more information I'll post an update.

--

Andy Boyd
Program Manager
MSDN Subscriber Downloads

"Andy Boyd (MS)" <Andy.Boyd@nospam.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:upNd$aF8FHA.736@TK2MSFTNGP09.phx.gbl...
> With the release of the VSTS levels, the Volume License benefit model was
> changed somewhat for MSDN Subscriptions. In the past, if a customer
> record existed in our system, we "exploded" that subscription into 4
> benefits - download, chat, managed newsgroup, and support incidents.
> Basically, we made the assumption that if you had a subscription you got
> all benefits. With the release of the VSTS levels, the model changed
> somewhat for volume license subscriptions. Now, your VL program
> administrator can specify exactly which benefits go to which user. So,
> for instance, a user could get only a download and chat benefit, or
> managed newsgroup and chat, or several download benefits, depending on how
> the adminstrator configures the accounts. For Retail benefits (say you
> bought your subscription at CompUSA), we still explode each subscription
> into all 4 benefits.
>
> Since these changes happen on the back end customer management system, you
> might want to check with your VL license administrator to see if they have
> made any changes to your accounts. It may be that this was done by
> someone on purpose. As far as I know, the transition process should only
> update the SKU associated with your subscriber ID - no other benefits
> should get touched. If you have a retail subscription and this is
> happening to you then that's definitely a problem; all retail
> subscriptions should see all 4 benefits.
>
> --
>
> Andy Boyd
> Program Manager
> MSDN Subscriber Downloads
>
>
> "Jon Robertson" <JonRobertson@community.nospam> wrote in message
> news:uVCAU367FHA.1248@TK2MSFTNGP14.phx.gbl...
>
>

Kevin Provance

2005-11-23, 9:55 pm

You know...I've never been an MSDN subscriber but I read this newsgroup all
the time. Why on Earth did MS go and change everything around (clearly
making the process more difficult and complicated than it already was). It
seems that this change is only alienting and upsetting people. Was the last
subscription model so broken that it required this kind of upheaval?

I just don't get it.- Kev

"Andy Boyd (MS)" <Andy.Boyd@nospam.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:upNd$aF8FHA.736@TK2MSFTNGP09.phx.gbl...
> With the release of the VSTS levels, the Volume License benefit model was
> changed somewhat for MSDN Subscriptions. In the past, if a customer
> record existed in our system, we "exploded" that subscription into 4
> benefits - download, chat, managed newsgroup, and support incidents.
> Basically, we made the assumption that if you had a subscription you got
> all benefits. With the release of the VSTS levels, the model changed
> somewhat for volume license subscriptions. Now, your VL program
> administrator can specify exactly which benefits go to which user. So,
> for instance, a user could get only a download and chat benefit, or
> managed newsgroup and chat, or several download benefits, depending on how
> the adminstrator configures the accounts. For Retail benefits (say you
> bought your subscription at CompUSA), we still explode each subscription
> into all 4 benefits.
>
> Since these changes happen on the back end customer management system, you
> might want to check with your VL license administrator to see if they have
> made any changes to your accounts. It may be that this was done by
> someone on purpose. As far as I know, the transition process should only
> update the SKU associated with your subscriber ID - no other benefits
> should get touched. If you have a retail subscription and this is
> happening to you then that's definitely a problem; all retail
> subscriptions should see all 4 benefits.
>
> --
>
> Andy Boyd
> Program Manager
> MSDN Subscriber Downloads
>
>
> "Jon Robertson" <JonRobertson@community.nospam> wrote in message
> news:uVCAU367FHA.1248@TK2MSFTNGP14.phx.gbl...
>
>

Martin Hart Turner

2005-11-24, 3:55 am

I have been experiencing the same problem for almost a month now, and
the Spanish customer support has got nowhere in solving the problem.

Lots of 'test this' and 'try that' by nothing that has worked. Is some
sort of compensation (extending my subscription) too much to ask for,
after all it has been a month that I have been without these benefits.

Regards,
MartinH.

Gerry Hickman

2005-11-25, 6:56 pm

Hi Jon,

[color=darkred]
> I've tried it in Firefox. I find that it doesn't work at all in
> Firefox. I figured Microsoft intentionally designed the site so it
> wouldn't work in Mozilla/Firefox.

Just to clarify something here. In the past Microsoft have deliberately
set up parts of their website to only work in IE; there were some
surveys a few months back with this issue. BUT the subscription area is
definitely supposed to work in Mozilla, and it certainly works in that
browser on my computers.

Could you perhaps try FireFox again, and tell us the first error or
problem you encounter so I can try to reproduce here.

--
Gerry Hickman (London UK)

Gerry Hickman

2005-11-25, 6:56 pm

Hi Russell,

It sounds like you'd already done all the testing by the book, and I can
now see from other posts it's obviously a back-end problem. Let's hope
they sort it out soon. Luckily my own subscription doesn't seem to be
affected.

Regarding your comment on the slack security; this is no surprise to me.
It's clear the people who work on the site are struggling with the most
basic concepts how the web actually works. From the comments about the
responses from the customer services teams it's also clear there's
complete breakdown in communication between the back-end guys, the
designers, the subscription team and tech support.

The fact no one was interested in the failures you took the time to
report is unfortunately endemic in the current culture; I've wasted
quite a lot of time in recent months trying to helpful reporting
problems in fine detail with "steps to reproduce" only to receive a
reply such as "Microsoft values your feedback", arghhhh!

Russell Stevens wrote:
> Gerry,
>
> <<Out of interest, have you tried it from a different computer that you've
> never logged into before? Do you get the same result?>>
>
> Three different computers, cleared the cache, etc.
>
> <<Do you see a drop down box with this information and a button to
> "remove">>
>
> Yes - I was directed to remove my account and reassociate it to see if that
> would solve the issue - it didn't.
>
> <<Do you see your subscription number
> in that box too or not? Is it the correct number?>>
>
> The number is correct but it incorrectly states that it is a Volume License
> (but I am in the Microsoft Database correctly - but obviously there is more
> than one database and they don't agree with each other).
>
> Note - when I was messing around with this a couple of months ago, I
> actually got to the page of another member with a different member number
> and subscription type - I reported this on this forum and it was completely
> ignored - so much for all this security stuff - sign on with my Passport and
> get logged into another users account - I can't even imagine how you can
> program something like that.
>
> <<The
> site has too many auto-forwarders and redirectors and potential for
> endless loop syndrome depending on what cookies are in the cache at the
> time. It also bounces around between secure and non-secure depending on
> what you click next. It's a perfect example of how NOT to design web
> sites.>>
>
> I suspect someone there could easily fix it - how hard can it be? The
> problem is that it is impossible to get to the "THAT" guy. I just get sent
> in circles. At first they wouldn't believe me when I said the page I was at
> didn't have any of the links that were supposed to be there - I sent them a
> screen shot and they then tell me it is a membership issue not a web page
> issue - geesh.... Is there a certain kind of membership that gives you all
> the Downloads but you don't qualify for any tech support - that is not what
> I am paying for but seems to be what I am getting.
>
> <<Have you tried it from Mozilla?>>
>
> No - if Microsoft can't make it work in IE, there isn't much hope.
>
> Thanks
> Russ Stevens
>
>
>

--
Gerry Hickman (London UK)

Jon Robertson

2005-11-26, 6:56 pm

Andy Boyd (MS) wrote:

> If you have a
> retail subscription and this is happening to you then that's
> definitely a problem; all retail subscriptions should see all 4
> benefits.

I don't think we have a volume license subscription. However, we did
purchase our MSDN subscription directly from Microsoft. We've had MSDN
Universal for six years now. I took over as the "owner" of the MSDN
Universal two years ago. All I know is that Accounts Payable pays the
renewal fee each year and I have access to MSDN benefits.

I suppose MSDN Customer Service could tell me if I have a VL or a
Retail subscription?

--
Jon Robertson
Borland Certified Advanced Delphi 7 Developer
MedEvolve, Inc
http://www.medevolve.com

Jon Robertson

2005-11-26, 6:56 pm

Gerry Hickman wrote:

> Could you perhaps try FireFox again, and tell us the first error or
> problem you encounter so I can try to reproduce here.

I'm using Firefox 1.0.7.

In the "MSDN Subscriber Downloads", the list on the left is not
resizable. In IE, I can resize this list which makes it useful.

Even when I have Firefox maximised on a 1600x1200 screen, the file list
is only 180 pixels wide. That makes finding entries like "Visual
Studio 2005 Team Edition for Software Developers - CD1 - (English)"
rather difficult. In fact, it makes the site unusable for Firefox
users.

Firefox can resize other frames. Why not on the MSDN site?

--
Jon Robertson
Borland Certified Advanced Delphi 7 Developer
MedEvolve, Inc
http://www.medevolve.com

Gerry Hickman

2005-11-28, 6:56 pm

Hi Jon,

I can confirm the issue; you can't resize the left frame in Mozilla, but
you CAN scroll it horizontally which is not that difficult.

A quick look at the source code shows that Microsoft have come a long
way, and are starting to use cross-browser W3C compliant code. It still
looks like HTML-101 for beginners, but it's a step in the right direction!

As a early proponent of x-browser DHTML, I know there's no issue that
prevents Netscape, Mozilla, Firefox from having resize-able frames, so
Microsoft must have turned it off for some reason.

Personally, I don't find the inability to resize is a problem on this
specific website...

Jon Robertson wrote:
> Gerry Hickman wrote:
>
>
> I'm using Firefox 1.0.7.
>
> In the "MSDN Subscriber Downloads", the list on the left is not
> resizable. In IE, I can resize this list which makes it useful.
>
> Even when I have Firefox maximised on a 1600x1200 screen, the file list
> is only 180 pixels wide. That makes finding entries like "Visual
> Studio 2005 Team Edition for Software Developers - CD1 - (English)"
> rather difficult. In fact, it makes the site unusable for Firefox
> users.
>
> Firefox can resize other frames. Why not on the MSDN site?
>

--
Gerry Hickman (London UK)

Jon Robertson

2005-11-28, 9:55 pm

Gerry Hickman wrote:

> Personally, I don't find the inability to resize is a problem on this
> specific website...

Then we differ in opinion. Personally, I do. With the enormous
product names in that frame, I find it extremely frustrating. SO much
that I'll launch IE instead of letting Firefox (my default browser) go
there.

I used to use a Firefox extension called "View in IE" that would
automatically launch all msdn.microsoft.com sites in IE.
Unfortunately, IE7 B1 has broken the functionality provided by "View in
IE". I don't expect an update to the extension until after IE7 ships.
:(

(FWIW, I've installed IE7 B1 to test compatibility with our own
product's use of the IWebBrowser2 interface from SHDOCVW.DLL).

--
Jon Robertson
Borland Certified Advanced Delphi 7 Developer
MedEvolve, Inc
http://www.medevolve.com

Jon Robertson

2005-11-28, 9:55 pm

Gerry Hickman wrote:

> I know there's no issue that prevents Netscape, Mozilla, Firefox from
> having resize-able frames, so Microsoft must have turned it off for
> some reason.

As I said in my original post:

"I figured Microsoft intentionally designed the site so it wouldn't
work in Mozilla/Firefox."

--
Jon Robertson
Borland Certified Advanced Delphi 7 Developer
MedEvolve, Inc
http://www.medevolve.com

Andy Boyd $MS$

2005-12-01, 7:00 pm

It looks like this is a known issue, and I'm expecting a fix to be released
soon (in a batch with some other bug fixes).

--

Andy Boyd
Program Manager
MSDN Subscriber Downloads

"Andy Boyd (MS)" <Andy.Boyd@nospam.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:evgfJnH8FHA.2608@TK2MSFTNGP10.phx.gbl...
> This definitely looks like some sort of issue on our end - I have a
> suspicion on the possible source and have escalated as a high priority
> with the MSDN Subscriber Downloads support engineers to see if they can
> come up with what's going on. Once I have more information I'll post an
> update.
>
> --
>
> Andy Boyd
> Program Manager
> MSDN Subscriber Downloads
>
>
> "Andy Boyd (MS)" <Andy.Boyd@nospam.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:upNd$aF8FHA.736@TK2MSFTNGP09.phx.gbl...
>
>

Kizzy

2005-12-09, 6:58 pm

HEY, I JUST LOGGED IN TO SUBSCRIPTIONS AND ITs ALL FIXED!
THANKS!

regards,

Kizzy
"Kizzy" <hahafigured@it.out> wrote in message
news:436C44B9-C977-459F-98D0-750523B80198@microsoft.com...[color=darkred]
> With respect to the configure managed newsgroup deal, have u tried using
> the
> little icon next to the Sign Out button (after signing in to subscription)
> located at
>
> http://msdn.microsoft.com/newsgroups/managed/
> ?
>
> "Russell Stevens" wrote:
>

Russell Stevens

2005-12-09, 6:58 pm

Kizzy,

Yes - after many months, Microsoft seems to have fixed the web page. I
just cannot fathom why something so simple takes so long to fix or for that
matter, how it got broke in the first place since it used to work.

Thanks
Russ

Jon Robertson

2005-12-09, 6:58 pm

Thank You Microsoft! Finally!

I've noticed that I still have this:

Subscriber Downloads (MSDN Universal Downloads)
This benefit is currently not available to you. This could be because
the benefit is expired or inactive. Please click on the update link
below.

Note that I do have a "Subscriber Downloads (Visual Studio Team
Developer Downloads)" that does work. I have no idea why I would still
have the "Universal Downloads" option, since my subscription is no
longer a "Universal" subscription.

*shrug*

--
Jon Robertson
Borland Certified Advanced Delphi 7 Developer
MedEvolve, Inc
http://www.medevolve.com

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