Ok, so maybe I have been reading a little to much of Darren Slatten recently but I love his style as it matches much of my own thoughts and desires but he just acts on them.   Well today, I finally had the camels back snap on me when I tried to buy yet more overpriced equipment and services from Cisco.

Recently I bought a new edge router for the home.  I ended up getting the RVS4000 small business VPN gateway with Protect link service built in.   I got this as a few of my bigger clients need me to help them on their local network issues alot and a few of them a are a few hours away.   So with some dyndns action I setup direct IP filtered VPNs so I am always local on their network and can service them faster then ever.   For my small home office this device is hardcore overkill, but as a total solution it is a perfect and so I got it.    Now we are a design firm and so naturally we are 100% Mac users (please no flame emails).   To this end we have limited security software installed on our devices, and for the past 3 years have lived in the wild of the internet with ZERO incident.   Well, as our business grows, we have actually brought a couple of windows machines into the office (yes they are banished to the corner).   I started to think that I needed to put some AV on them.   I started to price out a muli seat license from Avast (love them for home users), but this is for business usage.   I realized that it would cost me easily $100.00 for a service that would only bog down the machines.

While I was reworking some internet filters on the router, I remembered that I could get a complete solution that resided on the router, and acted as a filter for all users.   Since I am tapping about 1% of the power of this device I thought perfect it cannot cost more then $100.00 or so bucks, and if my Macs can get that little bit of extra edge then all is good.    So, off to Cisco small business website to see what I can find.   This is where the anger starts to build.   If you go to Ciscos website it is so unfriendly, and designed to literly force you to read till you give in and sign up for a partner program.   They make it very difficult to buy any products etc.   But I am getting ahead of myself, and letting the fun out of the bag.    While searching for new firmware (since I am here) for the RVS4000 I see a nice friendly “chat now” button and click.   Hopeful that some nice person at Cisco direct could help.   After filling out everything up to my blood type and SSN I finally got someone on the line.    Here is the ENTIRE chat with ZERO edits.

Thank you for choosing Cisco. We will be with you shortly.
You are now chatting with Rajish.
Rajish: Thank you for choosing Cisco Systems.  How may I assist you today?
Rajish: Hello David
David: I have a RVS4000 and I am intrested in buying the protectlink service
Rajish: I would be glad to assist you with that.
Rajish: May I know how many users would be there in the network?
David: only 2 of us, but we have 3 laptops and two hand held devices
Rajish: Alright David
Rajish: David , Kindly give me a moment here while I gather the required information.
Rajish: David , please look at Cisco ProtectLink Gateway of Cisco ProtectLink Security which Protect Your Business against Spam and Web-Based Threats
Rajish: Please click here for Cisco ProtectLink Gateway datasheet
Rajish: Was that link helpful for you David ?
David: yes and no… I appreciate the data, but how much and where do I buy it from
Rajish: Please allow me a moment david
Rajish: David , The cost for Cisco ProtectLink Gateway Security Service  having part number L-PLGW-5= is $129.99. The price I have is the list price; you will get this product at a competitive price from our reseller.
Rajish: May I know that if you have Cisco rep or reseller working with your company ?
David: No there is no rep working with us… I do not deploy your services, just needed more of a robust device for my home office so I went small business
Rajish: i see
Rajish: If you would like, I can set you up with a Cisco partner/reseller to discuss this project in more detail, provide a recommendation, a quote, and any additional assistance you may need, would that be okay for you ?
David: honestly, that is way overkill for my needs… I just want to buy the service… if there is not a simple way to do that…. then it is a lost sale!
Rajish: Thank you for waiting. I’ll be with you in just a moment.
Rajish: In that case i will send you one link from where you can directly purchase from our site
Rajish: Please click here for Cisco ProtectLink Security Solutions: Models
David: thanks… to be honest this is really alot harder then it should be… I work with hundreds of small business and 99% of them are under 5 people and they would NEVER go through this many hoops just to order antivirus… you need to make it drop dead easy or you just loose out on a MASSIVE market
David: ARGHHHHH – FAIL!
Rajish: I understand that David
David: the link does not have a buy, it is merely the same link you sent earlier if you scroll to the bottom and click
David: well this is a lost sale, and probably will be a lost device as I am not willing to jump hoops to do the Cisco dance….
David: you can read about my disgust tomorrow on http://digitalpure.com
Rajish: apologize for the inconvenience. I would like to assure you that you are important to us and that I am here to assist you
Rajish: Did you tried our 30 day trial for this Protect link ?
David: Well, honestly a simple google search shows me almost 100 sites that have this product now that I know the part number and they all allow for the product
Rajish: I understand
David: I do not want a trial, I want to buy it…. to buy it you need to contact a PARTNER! === EPIC FAIL!
Rajish: Please note that, we sell our products through our resellers/Partners/Reps
David: NONE of the online partners on your website have this product listed for sale
David: this is the biggest secret that Cisco has
Rajish: Also the link that I had given you is to buy it from our website.
Rajish: No.
Rajish: Please go through the link that I provided.
David: really where, can you provide me the EXACT url…. the one you sent give me a trial…. click the get started link and it tells you to FIND A PARTNER
Rajish: I will also send you the phone number of the partner that you can purchase this software.
David: I do not want a phone number… you really are not understanding this are you…. I just want to buy it online and be done… I do not want to jump through hoops, listen to some salesman try to sell me other crap….. I just want to give you money, and you want me to dance
David: so, please do not have a single person contact me unless they are offering me a free year for this really bad experience
David: I will be shopping for a new edge router for my business and will STOP suggesting my clients use your services
Rajish: You can call our Gold Partner CDW to purchase this product in the phone number 800.750.4239
David: like I said, I work with hundreds of small home office users, and have deployed about 12 of these…. DONE! never again
David: yeah, have you ever called CDW that is a 60 minute ordeal to get anything done…. Again, you failed to read and listen to my concerns and just followed the script handed to you.
David: thanks but no thanks…. unhappy customer leaving chat and leaving your company

So, I wish that there was timestamps in there, as many times the rep would be gone for almost a minute or two and then come back with a healthy scripted answer.   I found it funny after it was very clear that the tone of the conversation had failed never did he offer to actually resolve the issue rather try and force a trial (where you have to have a partner call you) or have me call CDW which is even a bigger joke.   I finally closed the window after a 5 minute wait and no response from the rep.

Anyway, so what is the net result of this.

1. I am NOT buying their ProtectLink Product
2. Unless Cisco calls me and give me a year free of their protectlink product free in the next 14 days then I have a brand new RVS4000 for sale

They have proven that the small business person is not worth their time, and so it is not worth my time to give them more money.   I am sorry Cisco but you need to step back think about the market you are loosing and then think about how the share holders would feel if they read this thread and saw the EPIC FAIL that you had.

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