A recent inquiry to Creative’s e-mail technical support regarding a hardware/software issue yielded the letter below. Maybe they think people have to buy their products and that cutting off support isn’t a big deal. In actuality, it’s very much a standard to offer support for products, especially for those that are not old. What really gets me is that they offered to answer my question for $12.99. Yeah, thanks. This is a bad policy, and it cost them my lifetime of business. So much for owning an original Sound Blaster, a Sound Blaster 16, a Sound Blaster AWE32, a Sound Blaster Live, Sound Blaster Live Platinum, Sound Blaster Live Value, a Sound Blaster Audigy, and a Sound Blaster Audigy 2 Platinum–I guess product loyalty doesn’t mean anything to them.
Dear Richard,
Thank you for contacting Creative Labs regarding your Audigy 2 Platinum
that would not allow you to choose the Advanced option in the speaker
calibration settings.
Based upon your product’s date of purchase, it appears you’re beyond the
complementary telephone (60 days) and e-mail (1 year) support period.
If you are covered under a Creative Care Protection Plan (CCPP) and are
within the warranty and service coverage of your plan, please reply back
with the e-mail address the plan was purchased under, as well as your
CCPP order and reference number.
If you are beyond your complimentary support period and not covered by a
Creative Care Protection Plan, there are helpful support options that
are still available to you.
1. You may take advantage of our free web support services by visiting
www.creativehelp.com to access the following resources:
Knowledge Base of expert solutions, frequently asked questions, and
reference material
Download drivers and application updates
Auto update will automatically detect and download the latest updates
for you (not available for all products)
Product documentation
Tutorials
User-to-user customer discussion forums
2. You can purchase a Creative Tutor session to receive expert help and
advice from a Technical Advisor by phone. Each Creative Tutor session is
only $12.99 and covers one support issue for up to 30 minutes. To start,
simply call 1-405-707-8777 Monday through Friday from 9AM until 6PM
Central Time. Please have your credit card ready when calling.
3. If you believe your product is having issues and needs to be
repaired/serviced, but is no longer covered by the warranty, you may opt
to visit our Savings Center for interesting great deals to replace your
product. Get big savings at a limited time offer on our various range of
Refurbished, On Sale and On Clearance products at http://us.creative.com/shop/shopcategory.asp?category=84&.
Alternatively, you can check out our newest products at http://us.creative.com/products/.
Grab one today and continue to enjoy your Creative experience!
4. You may utilize 3rd party on-line forums and discussion groups that
can be found using on-line search engines.
Thank you for choosing Creative Labs.
Best Regards,
Sashi
Technical Support
Creative Labs Americas
