Basic account Mentors and Support Tickets

A Linden staff member in the mentor chat made this statement:

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"Volunteers new and old! Will take some adjusting for the new communication guidelines glad to see some are in full force! Please review the guidelines at your earliest convenience prior to adding to the chat in the channel thank you! https://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Volunteer_Group_IM_Guidelines"
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The page at the link provided above includes the following line:

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"Do contact Linden Support via the Support portal at http://secondlife.com/community/support.php if a Linden is required for support related concerns."
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Upon going to the support portal linked above one finds:

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"Submit a Ticket
Submit a ticket to our support staff here. Please note that Basic account holders and Guests should only use the "Special Questions - Basic Account or Guest Login" option in the Ticket Type drop-down menu. All other ticket types from Basic account holders or Guests will be closed without review."
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The Special questions for Basic account holders and guests page says:

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"Basic account holders and Guests can submit tickets for the following issues:
I'm trying to create an account and it won't let me.
Second Life tells me I can't access it from this computer.
My account has been shut off and I have no idea why; my account page doesn't give me any clues.
I need to report a region being offline.
I'm an estate manager and I need to request a rollback.
I would like to request a LindeX tier review.

When you're logged in as a Basic account holder or Guest, you should only use the Special Questions - Basic account or Guest Login ticket type. Any other support ticket submitted by the Guest login will be ignored."
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The passage:

"Do contact Linden Support via the Support portal at http://secondlife.com/community/support.php if a Linden is required for support related concerns."

seems to me to contradict the passage:

"Basic account holders and Guests can submit tickets for the following issues:
I'm trying to create an account and it won't let me.
Second Life tells me I can't access it from this computer.
My account has been shut off and I have no idea why; my account page doesn't give me any clues.
I need to report a region being offline.
I'm an estate manager and I need to request a rollback.
I would like to request a LindeX tier review."

Its a mute point as Mentor groups are 'Captainless'... having been ported over from the now defunct Greeters group.. I am still waiting to gat a Euro friendly time I can get a OI Induction. I can't make group chat entries or even read group posts. I've made a post in this forum asking the very same questions without reply.

After 1 1/2 years of being a Greeter, I received an email today telling me I am not unsubscribed to the emailing list LOL... in all that time I got 1 email.

SuezanneC ...

Not to sound like a jerk, but being a Mentor does not entitle us to "enhanced support" not available to any other resident.

If you feel that your "support related concern" requires special attention from a Linden, and you are not a Premium account holder, your best bet is probably to find a Premium account holder to help you out (someone who *can* submit a premium-support ticket).

--

How long does it generally take to get a reply from a support ticket? I've just submitted my first one : (

HelenH ---

It depends on many factors, particularly the type of support ticket submitted. I've had *very* fast response to region-problem tickets (which are the only type I've submitted).

Naturally, if there are current grid-wide issues, there will be lots and lots of tickets being submitted, and the response will be slower.

-- Don

You have misunderstood the point of my post and the quotes I provided. You might want to read the post more carefully.

I did not express a desire for "enhanced support" for myself.

We are told to contact support to help other people with their problems, but we aren't allowed to.

The complete section in which the passage I quoted is:

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Use the Channel for Helpful Reference
Do answer questions that appear in channel with a helpful point to the most relevant help resource.
Do encourage the use of wiki, KB and Pjira often.
Do contact Linden Support via the Support portal at http://secondlife.com/community/support.php if a Linden is required for support related concerns.
Do file an Abuse Report via Help->Report Abuse... for abuse, harassment or griefing concerns.

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I would interpret the above as pertaining to what to do in the course of Mentor activity - i.e., assisting other SL residents.

I read this as telling the mentor to use the support portal to contact a Linden when one is needed to provide support for the resident you are trying to help. Presumably it means to do this instead of spamming the Mentor group chat since it occurs on the wiki page dealing with policies about the mentor group chat.

Yes... I suppose I was misled by the original post's title: "Basic account Mentors and Support Tickets"

I interpret the passage you reference a bit differently, particularly as it is part of the Volunteer Group IM Guidelines page.

Perhaps a better wording would be:

"Don't use the SL Mentor group chat to ask for a Linden's assistance. If a Linden is required for support related concerns, direct the resident to file a support ticket via the Support Portal (following the normal Basic / Premium / Concierge support provisions)."

-- Don

Don, I'm sorry, but I completely disagree with the idea that Mentors should have only the support options available to their account's service level. The support given to Basic account holders is far less than what's needed in order to be an effective Mentor. And it is cheeky indeed for LL to require Mentors to upgrade to a paid account in order to effectively do the job they have volunteered for.

It's also insane to have to tell a Basic account holder who's come to you, as a Mentor, for help, "Go and file a support ticket with LL. Oh, by the way...because you have only a Basic account, your request will get tossed in the trash."

This is a very bad policy on LL's part, and I quite understand Suzanne's frustration with it. LL uses volunteers to supplement their (very poor) corporate support services. Well and good...we volunteers are happy to help. That's why we volunteered! But LL should bloody well give their volunteers the tools they need to do the job...including access to a Linden, if that seems indicated by the situation.

OK - not only do we interpret the passages quoted by SuezanneC differently, but we also have quite different interpretations of what it means to be a ( Volunteer ) Mentor - what our tasks and responsibilities are...

In my view, the main tasks of a Mentor are to welcome new residents and help them get a handle on what SL is all about, and on how to use the software. If we know about any other aspects of SL (such as building, scripting, buying land, making money, etc, etc) and we want to provide helpful information to new and old residents alike - well, Great!

If a resident has an issue that is beyond my knowledge, and I cannot find someone who does have an answer, then the appropriate course of action is to direct that resident to the proper channels for support.

As far as Basic Accounts getting needed support... well, I'm curious about what types of issues (that *require* a Linden's attention) are coming up for which the Basic Account support is not sufficient.

I'm sure you're being facetious, and I hope nobody would actually say that to anyone.

Additionally, there *are* other avenues for "support" from the Lindens...

Phone support is an option.

A number of Lindens (including several of the VTeam Lindens) have published "in-world office hours" - which is a good resource to recommend to Basic Account Holders.

Groups are also a good resource for various support-related issues.

Hmmm... Lindal - as I was writing this, I assumed that you were also a Mentor... Since you are not, perhaps that is why you are not familiar with Volunteer / Mentor guidelines.

A Mentor is NOT expected to resolve disputes... we are not the SL Police... we are not "hotlines to the Lindens"... we are not expected to clarify or enforce LL policies... We are simply normal residents who have volunteered to try and be helpful to other residents - "newbies" in particular.

Beyond that, we have no powers, nor do we receive any other benefits, above and beyond what any other non-volunteer resident receives.

-- Don

I have been basic for 6 months now and am also a mentor hehe. There are a lot of issues that still need linden help including the pay system. Many basic members still use every aspect of SL including own entire sims they simply dont use mainland land and that's it. There used to be only a couple of choices but last week we had so much trouble with griefers etc that being able to contact a linden would have been great in order to get the mess cleaned up so people would not lag. The other issues I have had were with a graphics card which to this day remained unanswered (i just closed the ticket yesterday as I had given up the ticket ws submitted about 2 months ago..). The other day I could not login but I had to pay rent at places and I had received im's from people that they needed help. I have no idea if the ticket was read. In all honesty I have ever had need of a linden only once and it was to get a downed region back up at the time the basic accounts abilities ticket system only allowed you to ask two things and I had no way of telling them the region was down. there seem to be more choices now so I wont need to contact a linden for much of anything anymore except it would have been good for them to solve the technical issues for me instead of me going out and buying new card and preying it worked. The new card worked but the solution was to rip out a perfectly good card and buy a new one because there was no support for that for a basic account

Wilhelm... I'm still a bit confused...

During the transition to the new Support Ticket system, things were glitchy for ALL account holders, not just Basics.

If a Basic owns an entire sim (a private island/estate), he/she is entitled to Concierge support - which is a higher level than Premium accounts get. If he/she doesn't own the island, but rather just "owns" parcels on an island, then the island/estate owner is the support avenue --- that's the person to whom the payments are being made.

As to a tech issue with a graphics card... well, I can't speak for LL, but I have to wonder if being able to file a support ticket on that would end up providing any information which is not already available in the KB (you didn't say what the issue was/is). Plus, for tech issues, Basic accounts can always submit bug reports...

And Griefers? Contrary to popular notions (apparently), Mentors do NOT get special control or consideration related to griefers or "griefer objects." In fact, as any Mentor who monitors the Mentor group chat (or reads the mail list or the wiki) knows, we are explicitly told to file Abuse Reports, just as any other resident (Basic or Premium) should do. LL needs the incidents to be reported and logged, allowing them to take action as appropriate. Having various LL employees running around without a clear record of what they are doing and why they are doing it will never improve the system.

-- Don

Don, I'm familiar with the guidelines, unless you're referring to material that's furnished only to Mentors. I'm currently working as an unofficial volunteer on my own and in association with two non-Linden volunteer helper groups. I've applied to be a Mentor, and I understand what it does and does not entail. However, what I am saying is that the system, as currently configured, is not making optimum use of the volunteers. Official LL volunteers SHOULD have access to tools and support avenues "beyond what any other non-volunteer resident receives". Most especially, they should not be limited to the very restricted categories of support ticket topics available to Basic Accounts.

Further, the volunteer application process is terribly flawed, in that it takes many months from the time an application is submitted until it's acted upon. In that time, an eager volunteer may well have moved on to other interests, or have left SL entirely.

Police? No. Better than average access to LL? Heck, yes!

I did not express a desire for "enhanced support" for myself.

And they don't express a desire to help without 'enhanced support'.
It's that simple. I know that it appears callus but they want to pay for the system. And they (the Lindens) feel that if you don't then they are under no obligation to help.
Oh and depending on the Linden using a premimum ticket to help a basic is considered an abuse.

Lindal ---

Certainly, there is much that is open for debate:

1. Is the Volunteer program operating at peak efficiency?

2. Should there be additional "levels" of volunteers, assigned to other responsibilies?

3. Is the Support offered to Basic Account holders sufficient?

4. Is LL wrong to say that a user paying monthly fees (to LL, not to an island owner) is deserving of a different level of support than non-paying users?

5. Lots of other topics...

All of these can be discussed directly with LL - by both Premiums and Basics. If you have ideas, comments, plans, etc on these or any other issues, then by all means get involved and help make things better for everyone.

But --- as it currently stands --- Mentors do NOT receive support beyond that which non-Mentors receive. Nor, in my opinion, should they.

Mentors are supposed to be helping other residents "get the hang of things," and, very importantly, instruct newbies on how to find answers / information on their own - i.e. directing them to the Blog, the Support Portal / KB, helpful in-world locations, in-world classes, helpful in-world groups, etc.

If a Mentor has additional knowledge on specific tasks or activities, and wants to share that knowledge, great!

Beyond that... for things like assisting with technical issues, giving advice on money issues, resolving interpersonal disputes, dealing with griefers, etc... well, that becomes a "resident helping another resident" case, outside of the "mission" of the Volunteer Mentor.

-- Don

------ Very Important Disclaimer ------

The comments and opinions expressed in this post are mine and mine alone. I am NOT an employee of LL, nor do I speak on behalf of LL. You are free to disagree with anything I have said. In fact, if you feel you have better ideas or more accurate information, I *encourage* you to speak your piece.

------ Very Important Disclaimer ------

Um...I kind of thought I was doing that. Didn't you notice? The posts in this thread, and elsewhere in the Volunteer forums? And in Resident Answers? And Feature Suggestions? Town Hall Feedback?

Not to mention my votes on various JIRA issues, and support ticket submissions, and ARs of TOS violators, and about a third of my in-world hours spent on OI Public or in extended one-on-one orientation tours, or teaching classes.

You can stop patronizing me any old time now, Don. Thankyew.

Lindal...

I apologize for coming across as patronizing - it was not my intent.

Since this part of the discussion is really off the topic of the original post in this thread, and since this type of delayed back-and-forth is so easily misconstrued, maybe we can catch each other in-world and continue it in IM (if desired).

-- Don

you're right, Don.

And I'm sorry that I snapped at you. It's LL I'm frustrated with, not you.

Mentors really shouldn't get any special support options because it won't be a day before it's heavily abused to prioritize personal problems or problems of friends (negatively impacting support for everyone).

Mentors also aren't "helpers", LL did away with that category when they closed down Live Help. The point of mentors is to help new residents, which doesn't require priority access to support.

the time i put the ticket in for help with the graphics issue there were only two categories one was billing or something and the other was unable to login. There was no way to get help for anything else plus there was a note that said if i misfiled a ticket it would simply be deleted. I went back recently for another issue and there were more categories. However basic support tickets from what I have seen never get answered. I deleted the one on the graphics card with the explanation that I had bought a new card. The system was not glitchy when I filed it and it was up and running in total.

I have no idea if basic account tickets get answered in general and truly i'm not worried about it I was just posting in response to the types of issues that we might have that would require support. I simply know that my tickets have not been answered or resolved and one is about 2 months old. There is not even an indication that anyone has even read it and since there was no real category for it then it likely got deleted on their end. My issue was a compatibility with the card series that they missed programming for. I could not really remain in second life for mroe then a minute without the card crashing so doing anything about it in world was not possible. The only resources opened to me as a basic account holder since the software would not run with the card was to contact them from outside SL. According to the phone service information I can only contact for billing so that leaves the ticket system. Anyhow for me I pay tier on 10k of land but its owned on an estate. So i pay a fair amount only to a middleman who then will pay his tier to LL. Its not that i am not active its actually the total opposite. For me there is no concierge help so if i see a downed sim there was no way to contact anyone. When I put in the new ticket a couple of days ago there was a slot now for downed sims however two months ago there was no way to report a downed sim as a basic account without them deleting the ticket

the instructions where to only file according to the categories offered or the ticket would be deleted so if your reporting a downed sim and using another slot because there is no downed sim slot then the ticket was deleted and never looked at beyond the subject line.

When we had the griefer attack because my previous experience was that there was no real way as a basic account holder to deal with it i just ingored it and hope some premium holder or concierge customer would report it. In all honesty as a basic account holder who pays $75.00 + USD in tier a month its a bit upsetting but you get used to it and basically just put most problems on ignore because there is very little that can be done about them.

The only thing I can report is an abuse report. The basic account tickets are not answered at least mine have not been so there is no point in submitting one for anything cause no ones gonna pay attention

for the card i was told to file an support ticket becaus it was an nvidia card and a newer one and it should have worked. So i filled one. Tech support is just that help with installing the software and getting it running if your not tech savy. some games have little mini programs that fix graphical issues that they create on the fly and email to individuals etc. So I filed a ticket. Which was unanswered. No one even told me they could not help. lol