Saturday, February 16, 2013

Logitech Support

In my last post, I detailed the trouble it was to get my new Logitech F710 gamepad to work as advertised. When I first encountered trouble, I fired off an email (via Logitech's web form) to their support department. In the interim between my email and their first reply, I managed to fix the problem, but I decided to go ahead and continue to play the role of confused customer to see how quickly Logitech would resolve the problem.

Recall, the issue is that in order to get the Logitech F710 to work, you must force the installation of the XBox 360 controller driver. Logitech does not supply the correct driver with their device and they do not provide instructions on how to use the Microsoft one.

My first email:


From: Lord Byron II
Sent: 1/10/2013 7:04PM
Message: Whenever I switch the gamepad from DirectInput to XInput, it loses connection with the PC and I must use the F710 re-connection program to re-establish the connection. Further, the Logitech game profiler software can't find the Gamepad when it is in XInput mode and Windows shows the driver to not be installed when it is in XInput mode.


The condensed nature of my message is due to the restrictions of sending a message through their web form. Had they supplied a real email address, I would have sent a longer, more detailed message, but this does get the point across. I received an almost instantaneously reply from their automated system with a couple of unhelpful links and a promise of a reply within 48 hours. I ended up getting a reply from a human 6.5 days later:


From: Logitech Support
Received: 1/17/2013 11:45AM
Message: Thank you for contacting the Logitech Customer Care Team. My name is Jay-R, and I am glad to assist you. Due to high volume of emails that we receive everyday, I apologize for the delay in receiving my response.

Your support reference number is: 130111-003764. Your reference number is a way for us to track your support request.

Please indicate or mention your support reference number for quick and future reference of this particular case.

From your e-mail, I understand that whenever you switch your Logitech Wireless Gamepad F710 to Xinput, it loses connection to your computer and your Logitech Profiler cannot find it.
I do apologize for the inconvenience that you've had with the product. I will certainly do my best to resolve your concern.

About your inquiry, I would like to inform you that the Xinput refers only to Xbox 360. If you are going to use it on your computer, you should always use the Dinput. You can also use the Xinput on your computer if your computer has an Xbox driver.

If you have any additional questions, please feel free to visit our website at http://www.logitech.com, or reply to this e-mail.

If you need assistance with logging into your account, please click on this link: http://logitech-en- amr.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/17111.

Thank you for choosing Logitech.



He incorrectly states that the XInput switch is for use with the XBox 360. However, the gamepad is not an XBox 360 gamepad. He also states that I can use XInput if I have "an Xbox driver". But he gives no instructions and no download link. I replied back with links to Logitech's website stating that the controller does work with Windows in XInput mode and that I need a link to the driver. After only nine hours, I get a reply:


From: Logitech Support
Received: 1/21/2013 3:30AM
Message: Thank you for contacting Logitech Customer Care again and I do apologize for the confusion.

XInput is the preinstalled, modern gamepad standard on Windows 7 and Vista. It can also be installed on Windows XP (SP1 or greater).
Use XInput to play games in Windows whenever possible. This input mode is intended to make the gamepad work natively with modern games.
If you're playing a new game with the F310 gamepad, we suggest you set the Input Mode switch to "X". If you want to customize the input functionality, try using DirectInput mode instead.

Thank you for choosing Logitech!



Now, he correctly states that I should be using the XInput mode, but still doesn't give me a driver link or instructions. He also talks about Windows Vista and XP, despite my having told him twice before that I am using Windows 7. I reply with my system specs again and ask him for the required driver. This time, I get a reply back in a little over 4 days:


From: Logitech Support
Received: 1/27/2013 10:42AM
Message: Thank you for contacting Logitech Customer Care again and we appreciate your reply.

You may need to contact your computer manufacturer and they should provide you the native driver prior to make the gamepad work.

Thank you for choosing Logitech!
They want me to contact my computer manufacturer for support with their gamepad! Imagine what would happen if you called Dell/HP/Lenovo and asked for a driver for a gamepad they don't sell or support. They would send you right back to Logitech. In my case, I had built my computer myself and I sent that information back to Logitech.

At this point, I should add that Logitech closes the support ticket if they don't receive a reply from you within a week.

The next email I received from Logitech came 8 days after my last reply:


From: Logitech Support
Received: 2/5/2013 4:59PM
Message: How's everything going?

I just wanted to update you regarding this incident, because you will be receiving an automated email stating that this will be closed.
If I may ask, is there anything else I can help you with? If your issue has not been resolved, please do not hesitate to update me.
Please respond first before completing the survey so that I can offer further assistance to resolve this matter.
I'm looking forward to your update. Have a wonderful day!

If you have any additional questions, please feel free to visit our website at http://www.logitech.com or reply to this e-mail.
For reference purposes this is your support reference number: 130111-003764.
Thank you for choosing Logitech.



First, this email does not address anything I had written in my previous email and it still does not address the problem I was having. Second, because it took them over a week to respond, a few hours after receiving this email, I received a second automated one stating that the support ticket was now closed.

In the period of a month, Logitech completely failed to address the problem I was having, offered no usable advice, and eventually closed the ticket because of their own inability to respond in a timely matter. This is no way to run support and I will definitely take this experience into account the next time I'm looking at purchasing a Logitech product.






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