VMware completely s**ks

Out of order update:  VMware worked it out today.  I think the secret was to ask a manager to actually call and talk to me.  I was always getting "we have forwarded your ticket to the responsible department".  Today when I asked for a phone call it all happened and came together.  So, I wanted to put this update at the top of the entry so people know it did end well.  How I feel about VMware and their ability to support their customers (it took no less than 15 days to get this done) is still not good but I am happy that I can move on.  Now to get my VMs working and create more, and add another 8GB of RAM to the system.

VMware recently upgraded their ESX from 3.0 to 3.5.  3.5 has great features like no limit (well 128GB) on RAM (was 8GB), no limit of processors, and now local, nas, or iscsi storage.  Then even reduced the price by 200 bucks.

I bought 3.0, 5 days before 3.5 shipped (no pre-announce, completely surprised by the release).  I logged in to my account on VMware, and the 3.5 software is there ready to download.  No extra documentation, just a simple ISO to download, burn, boot, and upgrade, which I did.

Turns out I need a new licence file as I did not gain any of the new feature and I actually lost virtual SMP support (i.e. allocating 2 or 4 core to a VM).  This broke a VM of my laptop which was a dual core.

I call them asking for a new license file and it has been a nightmare.  It's 14 days later and they still can't product a 3.5 license file to which I'm allowed to have but no one can generate

The best quote so far:

Amit Das: I understand your dissapointment, Jon. We are from the licensing team. Unless the license is generated, we would not be able to proceed further.

That would be the licensing team saying they can't generate the license.  Sounds like I'm pretty screwed.

Thanks VMware - you are worth every penny of your market cap - not.

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An update:

I have been pushing this issue really hard with VMware to the point that I actually got a phone call today.  I can put my server into eval mode and it'll work for another month and a half with the features turned on.  That's not the point though.  The gentleman who called was gracious, apologetic, and was obviously frustrated too.

The entire point of this is; do I as a professional in the industry want to work with VMware?  I have a clear need for machine consolidation at home.  I have also done a test where it was clear that for a starter/foundation VI3 license, the product can pay for itself in a development environment.  These examples are why I spent my own money on a server and their software.

What’s clear is that if I need help with something, I wont get it and the company has utterly failed to be effective.  Something went terribly wrong as they grew and the executive team should know it.

Another example of dysfunction: I used my LinkedIn contacts to get the VP of Support.  I wrote her a long letter explaining the situation and asked, actually begged, for help.  I got no response but what she did do was make it so she is not findable on LinkedIn anymore.  Very classy.

What I do like is the fact VMware has found and read this blog.  Go VOX!

What I do hope is that executive staff read it.  As it stands now, a 20 year Ops veteran would not purchase nor recommend VMware products at all.  VMware; show me that your company can actually move and be effective when necessary potentially we can talk.  VMware; you do have good technology but you are a company that is so dysfunctional that it simply cannot be a viable option for any business due to the risk exposure.