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Agree. To go further, I find these "community-powered" support forums infuriating to read, when they are run by a huge company that should be remunerating suppo

Agree. To go further, I find these "community-powered" support forums infuriating to read, when they are run by a huge company that should be remunerating support staff. Why anyone would volunteer to answer queries for free in this context is beyond me. What do they get out of it? A flashy hat to wear and a few trivial perks? Respect to those trying to help out, but when a question like this is posed in the forum, I would only be interested in hearing the response of a salaried Google employee, not a volunteer. It's even worse when the response offers trite, generic information that doesn't relate to the problem, regrettably a common occurrence on this type of forum. Edit: Note, these remarks are not applicable to the commendable people providing support in FOSS projects, and in other non-commercial contexts.

soperj 5y ago
You mean like Stackoverflow?
- hn_throwaway_69 5y ago
  I mean in the context of users providing support for commercial products without being paid for it. Stack Overflow is a general Q&A site, not a support forum for a commercial product. The context is very different. Also, while I'm at it, it has its own flaws, but people providing trite and useless answers isn't one, they get downvoted to oblivion.
- mdoms 5y ago
  Which companies use stack overflow as their one and only customer support channel?
  - bee_rider 5y ago
    Presumably the company would rather have something like Stack Overflow, but with total control over the moderation.
    - ectopod 5y ago
      I think Stack Overflow used to sell this as a service. Don't know if anyone used it.
- realusername 5y ago
  Stackoverflow isn't company support, it's programmers supporting other programmers.
TMWNN 5y ago
>It's even worse when the response offers trite, generic information that doesn't relate to the problem, regrettably a common occurrence on this type of forum. Even worse worse when the response is actively hostile. Previously discussed: <https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28216896 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28216896>

soperj 5y ago

You mean like Stackoverflow?

hn_throwaway_69 5y ago
I mean in the context of users providing support for commercial products without being paid for it. Stack Overflow is a general Q&A site, not a support forum for a commercial product. The context is very different. Also, while I'm at it, it has its own flaws, but people providing trite and useless answers isn't one, they get downvoted to oblivion.
mdoms 5y ago
Which companies use stack overflow as their one and only customer support channel?
- bee_rider 5y ago
  Presumably the company would rather have something like Stack Overflow, but with total control over the moderation.
  - ectopod 5y ago
    I think Stack Overflow used to sell this as a service. Don't know if anyone used it.
realusername 5y ago
Stackoverflow isn't company support, it's programmers supporting other programmers.

TMWNN 5y ago

>It's even worse when the response offers trite, generic information that doesn't relate to the problem, regrettably a common occurrence on this type of forum. Even worse worse when the response is actively hostile. Previously discussed: <https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28216896 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28216896>