     *** CMPQwk Product Support ***

Turn on your editor's Word Wrap feature to correctly view this file.

Please call the support systems listed in the help file BEFORE you attempt to call Derek's system.

Derek's system will not be available at all times.  It will be replaced this year with a new commercial BBS that will provide a support site for our users, making it very easy for them to get messages and new files.

The DATAPHILE BBS is NO LONGER a support site.  Please call The Patchbay BBS (818) 441-3965 instead.

Some users have claimed (incorrectly) that they could not get support.  Very few shareware authors provide support sites on both sides of the country and with so many lines like we do.  Getting in touch with us is never a problem---we have users from all over the world dropping us mail.

All of our users have direct access to the development team simply by leaving a message on any of the listed support sites.  You may also reach us by RIME (reliable feed), FIDO (unreliable feed), Internet (mostly reliable), UNI (reliable) and so forth.  We monitor all of these and CIS, too.

Hard to get in touch with us?  I don't think so...

    READ THIS - READ THIS - READ THIS - READ THIS

Please remember two things when calling a support system:

1.) We PAY the sysops of the system to let us support our product.
    They receive MONEY (greenbacks) from us every month so YOU
    can call there and know you will reach us, and so you can
    get the latest versions, etc.  Be a good guest and remember
    that you are just that, a GUEST.  You don't have a RIGHT to
    call their system and demand things.  Please be polite.  Some
    users have been very rude and demanding toward our hosts.

2.) The second, MOST IMPORTANT point is that you should NOT leave
    the sysop(s) messages about our product.  They DO NOT know when
    we might have a new version, how much it costs, and so on.
    They are providing a SERVICE for US not a call-in Q & A for
    our users.  Please leave ALL messages regarding our product
    addressed to DEREK BACKUS in the appropriate conference, which
    will be clearly marked as a CMPQwk conference.  By the way, his
    name is spelled DEREK BACKUS not Derrick Backus or Derk Bakkis, or
    Dirreck Bachus, all of which have been used attempting to reach him.
    Remember that if the mail is not addressed to him, he may not see it,
    and we do not "monitor" all the mail in the various sites, that would
    consume too much time.  So please double-check your spelling.

3.) I've also seen Internet messages addressed to bachus@patchbay.com,
    derrick@patchbay.com, and so on.  Same thing goes here.  All of this
    is plainly spelled-out in the help file, correctly-spelled to boot.
    Please double-check your Internet addresses, or you may not get a
    response.

    As for our BBS hosts...

4.) Leaving questions addressed to the sysop because you're too lazy
    to look for the correct conference is infuriating the snot out of
    them and annoying us.  PLEASE leave queries---which we are happy
    to answer---in our conference, addressed to US and not the SYSOP.

    The sysops on the support systems DO NOT HAVE THE TIME to forward
    mail to us when you send it---incorrectly---to them.  So do yourself
    a big favor and send the message DIRECTLY to DEREK BACKUS.

    We've mentioned this in the docs and help file and everywhere else
    and nobody is paying attention, it seems...so please pay attention!

                    *IMPORTANT NOTE*

The DATAPHILE BBS is NO LONGER a support site for us.  Grant Willey,
the sysop there, was not happy with the load our program put on his
system, therefore he asked we remove him from the list of support
sites.  So DO NOT call this BBS if you want CMPQwk support.  You will
find that not only will your messages not be received (neither Derek
or I call that system) but he will not have our files, etc.

Derek Backus
Todd Henschell
CMPQwk Development Team

   
                  ------ end of SUPPORT.TXT ------
