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Thursday, December 30, 2004
NetCentrics: A Great Tech Support Experience
Over the last 18 months or so, I have become completely dependent on NetCentrics’ Getting Things Done Outlook Add-In. It automates the implementation of David Allen’s system and turns Microsoft Outlook into a GTD processing machine. (NetCentrics makes available a 30–day trial version, so you can test it yourself before buying.)
Several weeks ago, I had a problem with my Toshiba M205, so my IT department swapped it out with an identical machine. Naturally, I still had to migrate all my software, settings, and tweaks to the new machine. Of course, this is never as easy as it should be. It took me about a day to get it all done.
However, no matter what I did, I could not get the GTD Outlook Add-In to work. It wouldn’t even show up in Outlook. I uninstalled, re-installed, and tried every trick I knew. Nothing seemed to work. So, I broke down and sent an e-mail to NetCentrics Tech Support. I almost immediately received an e-mail from Lisa Allen, who promised to help me resolve the problem. As it turned out, I had two copies of another add-in referenced in my registry.
Lisa and I couldn’t figure it out, so she called in Glen Bell, one of the NetCentrics developers. Glen worked with me tirelessly over a three-day period. He called me several times and stayed with me until the problem was resolved. I’m happy to report that it is once again working as advertised. I am a happy camper and a very satisfied customer.
This was undoubtedly one of the most positive tech support experiences I have ever had. Lisa and Glen gave me personal attention, worked with me until the problem was resolved, and didn’t make me feel like an idiot in the process. Kudos to NetCentrics. This is how tech support should be done!
December 30, 2004 at 02:27 PM in Getting Things Done | Permalink
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Comments
Interesting. I have been having the same issue on my machine at work. I just thought that it was a network rule set up to prevent the add-in from working. Maybe I should give Lisa and Glen a call. Thanks for sharing.
Posted by: Jason Echols | Dec 30, 2004 12:27:32 PM
I have a Toshiba 205 as well. Curious about what went wrong with it. I don't use the Netcentric add-in on it though because I thought read it didn't play well with Outlook 2003 - is that not true or are you using an earlier version of Outlook? I enjoy reading your blog.
Posted by: Guy Bjerke | Dec 30, 2004 1:02:12 PM
Michael, in the course of my work supporting David Allen and his team, I too have had positive experiences from Lisa and the team at Netcentrics. Other software companies could learn a thing or two from Lisa and Glen.
I miss the days when you could contact Microsoft, IBM, Lotus, and actually speak with a person who was familiar with the product and actually cared that it was being enjoyed by customers.
Thanks to Netcentrics and thanks to you for posting this positive post.
Happy New Year!
Eric
Posted by: Eric Mack | Dec 30, 2004 2:31:35 PM
The add-in was updated to work with Outlook 2003. It is working fine on my machine. I am not experiencing any problems.
Posted by: Michael Hyatt | Dec 30, 2004 2:51:57 PM
I have to agree with Michael. The add-in works flawlessly on my M205 Tablet with Outlook 2003 and, like Michael, it has become an indispensable part of how I get things done.
Posted by: Marc Orchant | Dec 31, 2004 7:43:01 AM
Hi Michael,
Wish you & your family a prosperous New Year 2005
Regards,
Sameer Gupta
From India :)
Posted by: Sameer Gupta | Jan 1, 2005 1:21:46 AM
Thank you, Sameer. And also to you and your family.
Posted by: Michael Hyatt | Jan 1, 2005 9:51:55 AM
I think it's great that you received great support. However, many have not if you look at their support web site. I had a similar problem such as yours, contacted them and did get a couple of emails but then nothing. I sent them an email providing my phone number or asking who I could call there at my own expense and received no reply. I ended up uninstalling the add in, maybe I'll try again as I really liked the functionality when it was working.
Posted by: Mike Cox | Jan 14, 2005 4:28:32 AM
Thought I'd pass along a link to my free GTD template for Lotus Notes. Some of your users might find it handy!
http://www.brettphilp.com/worksmart/
Cheers!
Brett
Posted by: Brett Philp | Mar 2, 2005 1:52:15 PM
I have been impressed with GTD support as well. Lisa and team are very responsive and do all that they can to to resolve the issues promptly. Kudos to them!
Posted by: Baljinder | May 25, 2006 1:52:25 PM
