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Forum Discussion
Feedback on my interaction with Support for a desktop issue on a Mac
Dropping this here to state my feelings about Dropbox technical support.
I had an issue that began about September 24th (hung up / frozen synch'ing "2 files"), which I researched myself, through every single forum post that exists in the legit/official Dropbox community. I found numerous instances of my same problem (I followed every suggestion provided; similar to most OPs, none worked), and in every case, the last message on the thread involved somebody from Dropbox stating, "Okay, perhaps it's best to open a support ticket." Meaning no solution was ever presented in the giant thread(s); it was all failed troubleshooting attempts.
Since I had no answer, I had to take my issue to Dropbox technical support (did so on SEPT 28).
Let the burning of the clock commence!
In almost every case, if I rec'd a question from the individual appointed to me, I would write back within 10 minutes. But I wouldn't hear back from them for 24 hours. This went on and on from September 28th to YESTERDAY, October 25th, obviously with weekends being "no help."
With this "person," I routinely provided brief, bulleted BITS OF EXTRA INFO (***see below)--things that most likely related to my (I'm guessing uncommon) issue. These would go completely unacknowledged. Screenshots I sent would go unacknowledged. Then *I* would be asked for a screenshot, 24 hours later--requesting the same thing I'd already sent. This cycle continued for almost 30 days. ALSO, almost never did the terminology used by this "person" match what was showing on MY screen (I also asked for--and never rec'd--screenshots); it's as if they were operating on some computer variety that doesn't exist, or not realizing I was using a MAC (even though this was clarified, from the get-go). I would attach a screenshot to show this type of discrepancy (with what this technical support "person" was saying), daily... That'd (usually) be ignored, and another 24-hours would elapse.
***IF CURIOUS, some of the MAJOR DETAILS of my issue, which were never acknowledged:
• I'm trying to back up a COPY of a giant (135GB) project file, that's synch'd through Perforce/p4v, to a cloud server. The COPY (which I'm trying to back up) of this giant project file is on a completely unrelated (NOT SHARED) drive, which happens to be the same drive I've always had my (PRE-Perforce) Dropbox backup sitting on. Perhaps one of these "2 files" that won't synch, relates to my backup being a Perforce shared file? (This concern was not acknowledged, in any way.)
• Also, my repeated mentions of "DS_Store" (a semi-common "hidden" file in MACS) MAYBE being one of the two files HANGING THINGS UP (generated from MAC/Perforce interfacing?), locked in an endless synch loop... Never acknowledged. I know that file is problematic--from what I've read, in Dropbox's list of official "synch incompatibilities."
• Also the fact that, the moment this particular project file began being synch'd through Perforce/p4v, and I tried synch'ing its backup (again, on a separate drive, me trying to update it in typical fashion through the Dropbox "Backup" APP)... At the time this problem arose, something seemed to generate a "clone" version of my iMac (with an alternate name, and "-Lan" at the end of its name), listed where "backups" reside (in "https://www.dropbox.com/account/security"). Brought this up. Not once was this acknowledged.
I could go on.
In the end, yesterday (which was a Friday; I no longer can survive in my "job" without a cloud backup... and it was the weekend, again), after a month of absolute wheel-spinning with this "person," I tore everything down and started over from scratch, for the umpteenth time--this time removing any trace of my computer's existence on the cloud version of the Dropbox backup app. So basically anything that I'd synch'd to prior, was gone. This is, of course, after deleting every single Dropbox related file or folder in my system. Reinstall, etc. Again, for the umpteenth time.
NOW, it seems I have no choice but to maintain a cycle where I create a NEW backup, upload the whole thing (135GB), then whenever I need to UPDATE this backup, I have to DELETE it (Dropbox's targeted backup file), and repeat the process over again (otherwise if I try to synch to it, it still hangs on "2 files"). Pathetic. But works--yet throws the TIME SAVING aspect of SYNCH-ING into the trash. Luckily my connection is fast--the polar opposite of Dropbox technical support!
OH YEAH!
Why do I have "person," in quotes, above? The numerous times I mentioned "We've--yet again--wasted 24 hours" (I was patient for a while; this is after TWO of the FOUR WEEKS)... one would think a suggestion would be made (by them) for me to "take it to some kind of real-time chat," or something--to expedite the process. Any complaint I had about how the progress--or complete lack thereof--was destroying me (work-wise), would go 100% unacknowledged. No apology; no alternate means of resolving anything was ever presented/proposed.
With apologies to this "person" (if real), I'm now of the belief I was (MAYBE?) typing to an "AI Chatbot" the entire time? I GENUINELY am unable to tell, at this point. (And again, apologies if I'm wrong...) My frustration could not have been more obvious. An actual person would have at least presented an opportunity for an alternate means of "real time" resolution.
I've used Dropbox for WELL OVER A DECADE. Initially just uploading direct to the cloud, with the FREE storage, but then, as my needs changed, PAYING for a plan that allowed 2TB. Then, as I required even larger space for the massive audio projects I'm involved with (with a giant team of people around the globe), I PAID MORE to add another 1TB.
Routinely on different online forums (including Facebook composer forums, composer groups, etc.), people often ask the question, "Who should I turn to for online storage that synch's files directly with my local?" For YEARS I recommended Dropbox. Ignoring the people that would then jump into the conversation saying "No, Dropbox is horrible, you should use 'blankety blank' instead." Well guess what? I'm now of the opinion that Dropbox is, sadly [*choose your own derogatory term*], and wish I'd heeded the words of my massive list of peers in the audio / entertainment world.
- Hannah
Dropbox Staff
Hey GoodNewsBears, thanks for taking the time to post here.
We can certainly understand your frustration and appreciate your feedback on this.
Can you please give us the ticket number for the communication, so we can take a look?
Thanks in advance.
- Yep:Ticket #24302847But since this is a brand new, fresh backup I've put up, my problem won't manifest itself again until I "back up this backup"--attempt to synch to it, where it will most likely hang on the same "two mystery files."Based on my usual schedule, I'm pretty sure I will "backup" this Dropbox APP Cloud version around Thursday of this week? So maybe then, it'll be worth evaluating. But pointless, to do so, today, since no issues will present, yet.
- Megan
Hey GoodNewsBears, thanks for the ticket number!
After looking into this internally, I can indeed see the many back-and-fourths for your case.
Trust to know that I can definitely see where you're coming from, and that this is less than ideal. On my end I've passed internally your comments, and worries in order for the agent to be able to review them moving forward.
The priority of your ticket has already been changed to "High", and since your case has already been escalated, we need to hang tight and wait.
The Specialized agents working on this have all the necessary available tools in order to "see" what could be happening on the device and more specifically the app there.
Thanks a bunch!
Well, posting here again to reiterate my disgust. I am done. It's very clear Dropbox technicians could care less about diagnosing and repairing my problem, as it's been a month and a half now. I'm in a constant loop of the same garbage and I'm out. I'm never going to post here again, as it's a complete waste of my time, as ALL has been from the get-go.
Obviously I have no choice but to keep deleting my giant file, then re-uploading it from scratch, just to stay on top of having a backup of my giant professional audio file.
Also the title of my original post ("Infuriatingly inefficient technical support") got immediately modified by MODS. I'm not saying that's censorship; it certainly categorized my post to where it's more relatable... But this has been NOTHING but "Infuriatingly inefficient technical support."
I'm moving on. Absolutely disgusted, infuriated, want my time back. Certainly wouldn't mind having some money back. This has been nothing but a joke from beginning to end. I will never recommend Dropbox to any one of my MAJOR pro audio colleagues--as I had for at least a decade--ever again. Unfortunately, *I* have no choice, at the moment, to stick with you. Which absolutely sucks. As soon as I find a way out, I'm taking it.
You fail.
Hello GoodNewsBears
Sorry to hear about your experience here. I would love to give it a try at helping you with this. I am an independent contributor to the Dropbox forum, not affiliated with Dropbox in any way. I just have a lot of experience with Dropbox and wanted to help here on the forums, even though the moderators make it increasingly difficult to do so.
Unfortunately, there is no way for forum users to get in touch with each other. Email addresses are not allowed to be shared on the forum. The community moderators have a strict policy of keeping all interactions on the forum and not allowing users to communicate outside of the forum. In the past in order to be able to help people I tried to ask them to type my username in a search engine as a workaround, but community moderators will censor even that. As I type this message I am aware it could be also edited by one of the moderators.
This creates a ironic situation where people trying to help each other on the community are not allowed to. The most cited reason for this is "security concerns".
In case the community moderators are kind enough to let this message through, please enter my Dropbox forum username in a search engine in order to get in touch. I would love to help.
Thanks,
Andrew (DBoxTips)
