Mote Marketing, Inc.

Thanks Daniel. I don't believe we've updated our PHP version, but let me check.

Patrick (and Matt), this is hardly a case of "momentary frustration". I've been purchasing and using IPS products since 2007, for Pete's sake. It is an irrefutable fact that the IPS ACP now makes it (at best) difficult, and (at worst) essentially impossible to start a support ticket. It wasn't always that way. I am not a casual, ignorant or lazy end-user...as an FAA LAX air traffic controller and international aircraft accident investigator, I ran $100M+ safety-critical national airspace capital software projects, and am a highly-experienced tech dude in a hugely diverse range of disciplines by virtually any standard. I personally developed the ReachOut365 platform, which is used by some of the world's largest insurance companies, and routinely work with Fortune 500 companies. I'm not bragging; it's just the truth. If I have access to decent self-support, I can resolve 99.9% of any issues that arise. I hate having to start a support ticket and engage in the time-consuming back and forth by email dance and would much rather self-serve. I should not be penalized and jacked around simply because "the rest of the human race is stupid" (to paraphrase Patrick).
On the contrary, with IPS, I do not enjoy such access. Your "Help & Support" pages, despite having voluminous articles, rarely enable me to solve complex issues. Many of them are hopelessly out-of-date, and refer to screens and settings (e.g., social media integration) that bear no resemblance whatsoever to the present realities. Many of them are also extremely "shallow" in terms of necessary detail as well. I fully understand how difficult it is to keep such things updated, but that is not my problem in this case (except that at the end of the day, you've made it "my problem"). On the other hand, you marketing/sales media is first-rate. It's clearly a matter of priorities.
Furthermore, your ACP "Get Support" function explicitly and unavoidably requires the Admin to disable all third-party customizations (in order to even start a ticket). A few days ago, I did that (with extreme hesitation, and for good reason, as it turned out), and when I clicked the "Re-enable customizations" (or similar button), my custom app settings (developed by one of, if not the Number-1 IPS-savvy and experienced [non-IP employee] Devs on Planet Earth), all but one were not re-enabled, which effectively nuked my website. I had to call that Dev to have her re-enable everything, which cost me out-of-pocket). I rarely ask for support, but when I do, after spending thousands on your products over a 15 year period, it shouldn't be such an unmitigated pain in the ass. I've been told by not merely one, but several IPS-expert Developers that we've worked with (in so many words), that, "IPS products are generally really good, but their support absolutely sucks. It's not just "my" opinion...it is a widely-held truism.
Whilst I certainly understand you guys wanting to "channel" the support process to prevent issues that can be thusly resolved (by disabling 3rd-party plugins and apps, etc.). I have better things to do than to bust your balls, but I am extremely unhappy with this convoluted and crappy support ticket process, and I am not the only one by any stretch.
I've already paid my Developer to work around the issue that I was attempting to start a stupid support ticket about, so that's no longer an issue. We have a highly customized site that has cost me tens of thousands to develop. Much of that expense is because the IPS front-end UI is so clearly designed by Developers (rather than talented UI designers), and among other things, so profoundly inefficient (in terms of screen "real estate" usage) and un-intuitive in terms of UXI strategies.
In all fairness, I must also say that, once a support ticket actually somehow gets through, you guys are excellent (for the most part) in resolving issues (provided they don't come anywhere near straying from your frankly draconian definition of what constitutes "covered" topics). I understand that your margins require tight control, but I feel like you guys take it to a rather absurd extreme at times. Again, it wasn't always that way. Perhaps I'm just spoiled by the polar opposite end of the spectrum, such as Rackspace's Support and documentation, which blows your doors off on its worst day. It is hardly surprising or inappropriate for a businessman who has a lot riding on this platform choice to express strident frustration at poor performance.
Even despite the huge pile of cash I've spent to self-resolve the clumsy UI issues (in particular), I am finding myself very seriously wondering if we made a ginormous error in judgment by going with the IPS platform, and the lack of effective, timely support is no small part of that second-guessing. Could you (Matt and IPS) please consider:
Streamlining the support ticket process. Focus a bit on bringing your Support articles up-to-date, and; Hire or contract with skilled UXI designers? Thank you.

PS - It's not "cluttered" at all, as it's simply an underline (or other unobtrusive indicator, such as small "Help" info (e.g., "i for info" icons) on or adjacent to existing UI labeling denoting help popups available. That's the entire point (to not clutter the interface with always-displayed help text, but displaying it only when the user wants to see it, which is facilitated by a brief delay in displaying the mousover popup, to avoid inadvertent display unless the user hovers over the desired label for a certain amount of time). The other point is that it intrinsically  ties help "articles" directly to the relevant UI elements). Our users have responded quite favorably to this strategy, and the IPS ACP could really benefit from this, since so many features are not at all "intuitive", in terms of how they are intended to work, or what the correct setup options are for any given scenario. Microsoft and others use this approach extensively, so it's hardly controversial or "ground-breaking". It obviously requires a sound balance between brevity (of a popup) and the verbosity of a full-on external Help article.

Patrick (and Matt), this is hardly a case of "momentary frustration". I've been purchasing and using IPS products since 2007, for Pete's sake. It is an irrefutable fact that the IPS ACP now makes it (at best) difficult, and (at worst) essentially impossible to start a support ticket. It wasn't always that way. I am not a casual, ignorant or lazy end-user...as an FAA LAX air traffic controller and international aircraft accident investigator, I ran $100M+ safety-critical national airspace capital software projects, and am a highly-experienced tech dude in a hugely diverse range of disciplines by virtually any standard. I personally developed the ReachOut365 platform, which is used by some of the world's largest insurance companies, and routinely work with Fortune 500 companies. I'm not bragging; it's just the truth. If I have access to decent self-support, I can resolve 99.9% of any issues that arise. I hate having to start a support ticket and engage in the time-consuming back and forth by email dance and would much rather self-serve. I should not be penalized and jacked around simply because "the rest of the human race is stupid" (to paraphrase Patrick).
On the contrary, with IPS, I do not enjoy such access. Your "Help & Support" pages, despite having voluminous articles, rarely enable me to solve complex issues. Many of them are hopelessly out-of-date, and refer to screens and settings (e.g., social media integration) that bear no resemblance whatsoever to the present realities. Many of them are also extremely "shallow" in terms of necessary detail as well. I fully understand how difficult it is to keep such things updated, but that is not my problem in this case (except that at the end of the day, you've made it "my problem"). On the other hand, you marketing/sales media is first-rate. It's clearly a matter of priorities.
Furthermore, your ACP "Get Support" function explicitly and unavoidably requires the Admin to disable all third-party customizations (in order to even start a ticket). A few days ago, I did that (with extreme hesitation, and for good reason, as it turned out), and when I clicked the "Re-enable customizations" (or similar button), my custom app settings (developed by one of, if not the Number-1 IPS-savvy and experienced [non-IP employee] Devs on Planet Earth), all but one were not re-enabled, which effectively nuked my website. I had to call that Dev to have her re-enable everything, which cost me out-of-pocket). I rarely ask for support, but when I do, after spending thousands on your products over a 15 year period, it shouldn't be such an unmitigated pain in the ass. I've been told by not merely one, but several IPS-expert Developers that we've worked with (in so many words), that, "IPS products are generally really good, but their support absolutely sucks. It's not just "my" opinion...it is a widely-held truism.
Whilst I certainly understand you guys wanting to "channel" the support process to prevent issues that can be thusly resolved (by disabling 3rd-party plugins and apps, etc.). I have better things to do than to bust your balls, but I am extremely unhappy with this convoluted and crappy support ticket process, and I am not the only one by any stretch.
I've already paid my Developer to work around the issue that I was attempting to start a stupid support ticket about, so that's no longer an issue. We have a highly customized site that has cost me tens of thousands to develop. Much of that expense is because the IPS front-end UI is so clearly designed by Developers (rather than talented UI designers), and among other things, so profoundly inefficient (in terms of screen "real estate" usage) and un-intuitive in terms of UXI strategies.
In all fairness, I must also say that, once a support ticket actually somehow gets through, you guys are excellent (for the most part) in resolving issues (provided they don't come anywhere near straying from your frankly draconian definition of what constitutes "covered" topics). I understand that your margins require tight control, but I feel like you guys take it to a rather absurd extreme at times. Again, it wasn't always that way. Perhaps I'm just spoiled by the polar opposite end of the spectrum, such as Rackspace's Support and documentation, which blows your doors off on its worst day. It is hardly surprising or inappropriate for a businessman who has a lot riding on this platform choice to express strident frustration at poor performance.
Even despite the huge pile of cash I've spent to self-resolve the clumsy UI issues (in particular), I am finding myself very seriously wondering if we made a ginormous error in judgment by going with the IPS platform, and the lack of effective, timely support is no small part of that second-guessing. Could you (Matt and IPS) please consider:
Streamlining the support ticket process. Focus a bit on bringing your Support articles up-to-date, and; Hire or contract with skilled UXI designers? Thank you.

Patrick (and Matt), this is hardly a case of "momentary frustration". I've been purchasing and using IPS products since 2007, for Pete's sake. It is an irrefutable fact that the IPS ACP now makes it (at best) difficult, and (at worst) essentially impossible to start a support ticket. It wasn't always that way. I am not a casual, ignorant or lazy end-user...as an FAA LAX air traffic controller and international aircraft accident investigator, I ran $100M+ safety-critical national airspace capital software projects, and am a highly-experienced tech dude in a hugely diverse range of disciplines by virtually any standard. I personally developed the ReachOut365 platform, which is used by some of the world's largest insurance companies, and routinely work with Fortune 500 companies. I'm not bragging; it's just the truth. If I have access to decent self-support, I can resolve 99.9% of any issues that arise. I hate having to start a support ticket and engage in the time-consuming back and forth by email dance and would much rather self-serve. I should not be penalized and jacked around simply because "the rest of the human race is stupid" (to paraphrase Patrick).
On the contrary, with IPS, I do not enjoy such access. Your "Help & Support" pages, despite having voluminous articles, rarely enable me to solve complex issues. Many of them are hopelessly out-of-date, and refer to screens and settings (e.g., social media integration) that bear no resemblance whatsoever to the present realities. Many of them are also extremely "shallow" in terms of necessary detail as well. I fully understand how difficult it is to keep such things updated, but that is not my problem in this case (except that at the end of the day, you've made it "my problem"). On the other hand, you marketing/sales media is first-rate. It's clearly a matter of priorities.
Furthermore, your ACP "Get Support" function explicitly and unavoidably requires the Admin to disable all third-party customizations (in order to even start a ticket). A few days ago, I did that (with extreme hesitation, and for good reason, as it turned out), and when I clicked the "Re-enable customizations" (or similar button), my custom app settings (developed by one of, if not the Number-1 IPS-savvy and experienced [non-IP employee] Devs on Planet Earth), all but one were not re-enabled, which effectively nuked my website. I had to call that Dev to have her re-enable everything, which cost me out-of-pocket). I rarely ask for support, but when I do, after spending thousands on your products over a 15 year period, it shouldn't be such an unmitigated pain in the ass. I've been told by not merely one, but several IPS-expert Developers that we've worked with (in so many words), that, "IPS products are generally really good, but their support absolutely sucks. It's not just "my" opinion...it is a widely-held truism.
Whilst I certainly understand you guys wanting to "channel" the support process to prevent issues that can be thusly resolved (by disabling 3rd-party plugins and apps, etc.). I have better things to do than to bust your balls, but I am extremely unhappy with this convoluted and crappy support ticket process, and I am not the only one by any stretch.
I've already paid my Developer to work around the issue that I was attempting to start a stupid support ticket about, so that's no longer an issue. We have a highly customized site that has cost me tens of thousands to develop. Much of that expense is because the IPS front-end UI is so clearly designed by Developers (rather than talented UI designers), and among other things, so profoundly inefficient (in terms of screen "real estate" usage) and un-intuitive in terms of UXI strategies.
In all fairness, I must also say that, once a support ticket actually somehow gets through, you guys are excellent (for the most part) in resolving issues (provided they don't come anywhere near straying from your frankly draconian definition of what constitutes "covered" topics). I understand that your margins require tight control, but I feel like you guys take it to a rather absurd extreme at times. Again, it wasn't always that way. Perhaps I'm just spoiled by the polar opposite end of the spectrum, such as Rackspace's Support and documentation, which blows your doors off on its worst day. It is hardly surprising or inappropriate for a businessman who has a lot riding on this platform choice to express strident frustration at poor performance.
Even despite the huge pile of cash I've spent to self-resolve the clumsy UI issues (in particular), I am finding myself very seriously wondering if we made a ginormous error in judgment by going with the IPS platform, and the lack of effective, timely support is no small part of that second-guessing. Could you (Matt and IPS) please consider:
Streamlining the support ticket process. Focus a bit on bringing your Support articles up-to-date, and; Hire or contract with skilled UXI designers? Thank you.

I am an enterprise-level UI designer and capital software project manager, and if you give me a decent support and help system, I can resolve almost anything on my own, but I am almost never successful using the IPS so-called "Support" system. Many of the articles are completely out of date, and do not reflect current realities. It's so damned ridiculous and frustrating. For God's sake, PLEASE get your faeces together.

I also wish for this. It applies to the developer documentation as well, where some articles tell you to do things in ways that will make absolutely sure your resource doesn't get approved to the Marketplace. It's frustrating to the point where I'd rather read the source code directly than try to make sense of the documentation, which in my humble opinion is not a good sign.
I understand and respect that keeping help guides and developer documentation up-to-date is a time-consuming task, but outdated and sometimes wrong documentation is worse than no documentation.

Thanks for the through and detailed feedback.

I'm sorry that you had issues with the disable/enable 3rd party customisations tool. Generally we find this to be robust but as with anything in code, it's possible edge cases arise. I'll happily take any logs or information you may have as to way your custom app failed to come back online so we can look for any issues with our code.

I realise it's the "can you turn off your modem and turn it back on again" step is frustrating but when you come onto our side of the fence, you see dozens of tickets a day where something is broken, so we investigate and it sometimes goes through a T1 tech (20-30 mins) then into a developer (60-90 mins) to determine that it's an issue with third party code. This happens daily. In your case with a skilled developer, there's only a slim chance it's the case, but we have to pitch this at the lowest common denominator unfortunately.

We are in a bit of a bind as we're committed to low renewal fees, so the forum app renews at $80/year or just under $7 a month. This doesn't cover a lot of support time or development time, so we really have to make it as streamlined as possible. It's why we're still able to offer email support for our cloud community plans. I would imagine it's why Rackspace are also able to offer support.

In terms of documentation, we do review it but not as often as we would like to. That's a fair comment and I'll review our policy. 

Patrick (and Matt), this is hardly a case of "momentary frustration". I've been purchasing and using IPS products since 2007, for Pete's sake. It is an irrefutable fact that the IPS ACP now makes it (at best) difficult, and (at worst) essentially impossible to start a support ticket. It wasn't always that way. I am not a casual, ignorant or lazy end-user...as an FAA LAX air traffic controller and international aircraft accident investigator, I ran $100M+ safety-critical national airspace capital software projects, and am a highly-experienced tech dude in a hugely diverse range of disciplines by virtually any standard. I personally developed the ReachOut365 platform, which is used by some of the world's largest insurance companies, and routinely work with Fortune 500 companies. I'm not bragging; it's just the truth. If I have access to decent self-support, I can resolve 99.9% of any issues that arise. I hate having to start a support ticket and engage in the time-consuming back and forth by email dance and would much rather self-serve. I should not be penalized and jacked around simply because "the rest of the human race is stupid" (to paraphrase Patrick).
On the contrary, with IPS, I do not enjoy such access. Your "Help & Support" pages, despite having voluminous articles, rarely enable me to solve complex issues. Many of them are hopelessly out-of-date, and refer to screens and settings (e.g., social media integration) that bear no resemblance whatsoever to the present realities. Many of them are also extremely "shallow" in terms of necessary detail as well. I fully understand how difficult it is to keep such things updated, but that is not my problem in this case (except that at the end of the day, you've made it "my problem"). On the other hand, you marketing/sales media is first-rate. It's clearly a matter of priorities.
Furthermore, your ACP "Get Support" function explicitly and unavoidably requires the Admin to disable all third-party customizations (in order to even start a ticket). A few days ago, I did that (with extreme hesitation, and for good reason, as it turned out), and when I clicked the "Re-enable customizations" (or similar button), my custom app settings (developed by one of, if not the Number-1 IPS-savvy and experienced [non-IP employee] Devs on Planet Earth), all but one were not re-enabled, which effectively nuked my website. I had to call that Dev to have her re-enable everything, which cost me out-of-pocket). I rarely ask for support, but when I do, after spending thousands on your products over a 15 year period, it shouldn't be such an unmitigated pain in the ass. I've been told by not merely one, but several IPS-expert Developers that we've worked with (in so many words), that, "IPS products are generally really good, but their support absolutely sucks. It's not just "my" opinion...it is a widely-held truism.
Whilst I certainly understand you guys wanting to "channel" the support process to prevent issues that can be thusly resolved (by disabling 3rd-party plugins and apps, etc.). I have better things to do than to bust your balls, but I am extremely unhappy with this convoluted and crappy support ticket process, and I am not the only one by any stretch.
I've already paid my Developer to work around the issue that I was attempting to start a stupid support ticket about, so that's no longer an issue. We have a highly customized site that has cost me tens of thousands to develop. Much of that expense is because the IPS front-end UI is so clearly designed by Developers (rather than talented UI designers), and among other things, so profoundly inefficient (in terms of screen "real estate" usage) and un-intuitive in terms of UXI strategies.
In all fairness, I must also say that, once a support ticket actually somehow gets through, you guys are excellent (for the most part) in resolving issues (provided they don't come anywhere near straying from your frankly draconian definition of what constitutes "covered" topics). I understand that your margins require tight control, but I feel like you guys take it to a rather absurd extreme at times. Again, it wasn't always that way. Perhaps I'm just spoiled by the polar opposite end of the spectrum, such as Rackspace's Support and documentation, which blows your doors off on its worst day. It is hardly surprising or inappropriate for a businessman who has a lot riding on this platform choice to express strident frustration at poor performance.
Even despite the huge pile of cash I've spent to self-resolve the clumsy UI issues (in particular), I am finding myself very seriously wondering if we made a ginormous error in judgment by going with the IPS platform, and the lack of effective, timely support is no small part of that second-guessing. Could you (Matt and IPS) please consider:
Streamlining the support ticket process. Focus a bit on bringing your Support articles up-to-date, and; Hire or contract with skilled UXI designers? Thank you.

I am an enterprise-level UI designer and capital software project manager, and if you give me a decent support and help system, I can resolve almost anything on my own, but I am almost never successful using the IPS so-called "Support" system. Many of the articles are completely out of date, and do not reflect current realities. It's so damned ridiculous and frustrating. For God's sake, PLEASE get your faeces together.

IPS makes it essentially impossible to get decent product support. I just clicked "Get Support". The only option to proceed was to disable all customizations, which I did, but it would not allow me to disable the custom theme. Then, I when I clicked "Reenable all customizations", all but one were not reenabled, causing our site to go belly-up. I had to call my Developer and have her re-enable everything, which costs me cash.
Why does Invision SUCK so incredibly hard at providing reasonable support? I've been using your products for something like 15 or 20 years, and have given thousands to your company over the years, but you just keep pissing me off to the point that we are seriously looking for other options to power our platform. Seriously, your support is just faeces.
Also, despite the fact that all of the relevant PHP functions are quite clearly disabled, I have a persistent warning that "Dangerous PHP functions are disabled. According to my Developer, this is a common and widespread problem. Why, oh why can't you guys do better than this? This is an expensive platform, but it has way too many issues, including a UXI that is clearly designed by Developers with ZERO human interface talent. Can't you guys hire someone who knows how to design UIs with a modicum of expertise?
 

Patrick (and Matt), this is hardly a case of "momentary frustration". I've been purchasing and using IPS products since 2007, for Pete's sake. It is an irrefutable fact that the IPS ACP now makes it (at best) difficult, and (at worst) essentially impossible to start a support ticket. It wasn't always that way. I am not a casual, ignorant or lazy end-user...as an FAA LAX air traffic controller and international aircraft accident investigator, I ran $100M+ safety-critical national airspace capital software projects, and am a highly-experienced tech dude in a hugely diverse range of disciplines by virtually any standard. I personally developed the ReachOut365 platform, which is used by some of the world's largest insurance companies, and routinely work with Fortune 500 companies. I'm not bragging; it's just the truth. If I have access to decent self-support, I can resolve 99.9% of any issues that arise. I hate having to start a support ticket and engage in the time-consuming back and forth by email dance and would much rather self-serve. I should not be penalized and jacked around simply because "the rest of the human race is stupid" (to paraphrase Patrick).
On the contrary, with IPS, I do not enjoy such access. Your "Help & Support" pages, despite having voluminous articles, rarely enable me to solve complex issues. Many of them are hopelessly out-of-date, and refer to screens and settings (e.g., social media integration) that bear no resemblance whatsoever to the present realities. Many of them are also extremely "shallow" in terms of necessary detail as well. I fully understand how difficult it is to keep such things updated, but that is not my problem in this case (except that at the end of the day, you've made it "my problem"). On the other hand, you marketing/sales media is first-rate. It's clearly a matter of priorities.
Furthermore, your ACP "Get Support" function explicitly and unavoidably requires the Admin to disable all third-party customizations (in order to even start a ticket). A few days ago, I did that (with extreme hesitation, and for good reason, as it turned out), and when I clicked the "Re-enable customizations" (or similar button), my custom app settings (developed by one of, if not the Number-1 IPS-savvy and experienced [non-IP employee] Devs on Planet Earth), all but one were not re-enabled, which effectively nuked my website. I had to call that Dev to have her re-enable everything, which cost me out-of-pocket). I rarely ask for support, but when I do, after spending thousands on your products over a 15 year period, it shouldn't be such an unmitigated pain in the ass. I've been told by not merely one, but several IPS-expert Developers that we've worked with (in so many words), that, "IPS products are generally really good, but their support absolutely sucks. It's not just "my" opinion...it is a widely-held truism.
Whilst I certainly understand you guys wanting to "channel" the support process to prevent issues that can be thusly resolved (by disabling 3rd-party plugins and apps, etc.). I have better things to do than to bust your balls, but I am extremely unhappy with this convoluted and crappy support ticket process, and I am not the only one by any stretch.
I've already paid my Developer to work around the issue that I was attempting to start a stupid support ticket about, so that's no longer an issue. We have a highly customized site that has cost me tens of thousands to develop. Much of that expense is because the IPS front-end UI is so clearly designed by Developers (rather than talented UI designers), and among other things, so profoundly inefficient (in terms of screen "real estate" usage) and un-intuitive in terms of UXI strategies.
In all fairness, I must also say that, once a support ticket actually somehow gets through, you guys are excellent (for the most part) in resolving issues (provided they don't come anywhere near straying from your frankly draconian definition of what constitutes "covered" topics). I understand that your margins require tight control, but I feel like you guys take it to a rather absurd extreme at times. Again, it wasn't always that way. Perhaps I'm just spoiled by the polar opposite end of the spectrum, such as Rackspace's Support and documentation, which blows your doors off on its worst day. It is hardly surprising or inappropriate for a businessman who has a lot riding on this platform choice to express strident frustration at poor performance.
Even despite the huge pile of cash I've spent to self-resolve the clumsy UI issues (in particular), I am finding myself very seriously wondering if we made a ginormous error in judgment by going with the IPS platform, and the lack of effective, timely support is no small part of that second-guessing. Could you (Matt and IPS) please consider:
Streamlining the support ticket process. Focus a bit on bringing your Support articles up-to-date, and; Hire or contract with skilled UXI designers? Thank you.

IPS makes it essentially impossible to get decent product support. I just clicked "Get Support". The only option to proceed was to disable all customizations, which I did, but it would not allow me to disable the custom theme. Then, I when I clicked "Reenable all customizations", all but one were not reenabled, causing our site to go belly-up. I had to call my Developer and have her re-enable everything, which costs me cash.
Why does Invision SUCK so incredibly hard at providing reasonable support? I've been using your products for something like 15 or 20 years, and have given thousands to your company over the years, but you just keep pissing me off to the point that we are seriously looking for other options to power our platform. Seriously, your support is just faeces.
Also, despite the fact that all of the relevant PHP functions are quite clearly disabled, I have a persistent warning that "Dangerous PHP functions are disabled. According to my Developer, this is a common and widespread problem. Why, oh why can't you guys do better than this? This is an expensive platform, but it has way too many issues, including a UXI that is clearly designed by Developers with ZERO human interface talent. Can't you guys hire someone who knows how to design UIs with a modicum of expertise?
 

I am an enterprise-level UI designer and capital software project manager, and if you give me a decent support and help system, I can resolve almost anything on my own, but I am almost never successful using the IPS so-called "Support" system. Many of the articles are completely out of date, and do not reflect current realities. It's so damned ridiculous and frustrating. For God's sake, PLEASE get your faeces together.

Patrick (and Matt), this is hardly a case of "momentary frustration". I've been purchasing and using IPS products since 2007, for Pete's sake. It is an irrefutable fact that the IPS ACP now makes it (at best) difficult, and (at worst) essentially impossible to start a support ticket. It wasn't always that way. I am not a casual, ignorant or lazy end-user...as an FAA LAX air traffic controller and international aircraft accident investigator, I ran $100M+ safety-critical national airspace capital software projects, and am a highly-experienced tech dude in a hugely diverse range of disciplines by virtually any standard. I personally developed the ReachOut365 platform, which is used by some of the world's largest insurance companies, and routinely work with Fortune 500 companies. I'm not bragging; it's just the truth. If I have access to decent self-support, I can resolve 99.9% of any issues that arise. I hate having to start a support ticket and engage in the time-consuming back and forth by email dance and would much rather self-serve. I should not be penalized and jacked around simply because "the rest of the human race is stupid" (to paraphrase Patrick).
On the contrary, with IPS, I do not enjoy such access. Your "Help & Support" pages, despite having voluminous articles, rarely enable me to solve complex issues. Many of them are hopelessly out-of-date, and refer to screens and settings (e.g., social media integration) that bear no resemblance whatsoever to the present realities. Many of them are also extremely "shallow" in terms of necessary detail as well. I fully understand how difficult it is to keep such things updated, but that is not my problem in this case (except that at the end of the day, you've made it "my problem"). On the other hand, you marketing/sales media is first-rate. It's clearly a matter of priorities.
Furthermore, your ACP "Get Support" function explicitly and unavoidably requires the Admin to disable all third-party customizations (in order to even start a ticket). A few days ago, I did that (with extreme hesitation, and for good reason, as it turned out), and when I clicked the "Re-enable customizations" (or similar button), my custom app settings (developed by one of, if not the Number-1 IPS-savvy and experienced [non-IP employee] Devs on Planet Earth), all but one were not re-enabled, which effectively nuked my website. I had to call that Dev to have her re-enable everything, which cost me out-of-pocket). I rarely ask for support, but when I do, after spending thousands on your products over a 15 year period, it shouldn't be such an unmitigated pain in the ass. I've been told by not merely one, but several IPS-expert Developers that we've worked with (in so many words), that, "IPS products are generally really good, but their support absolutely sucks. It's not just "my" opinion...it is a widely-held truism.
Whilst I certainly understand you guys wanting to "channel" the support process to prevent issues that can be thusly resolved (by disabling 3rd-party plugins and apps, etc.). I have better things to do than to bust your balls, but I am extremely unhappy with this convoluted and crappy support ticket process, and I am not the only one by any stretch.
I've already paid my Developer to work around the issue that I was attempting to start a stupid support ticket about, so that's no longer an issue. We have a highly customized site that has cost me tens of thousands to develop. Much of that expense is because the IPS front-end UI is so clearly designed by Developers (rather than talented UI designers), and among other things, so profoundly inefficient (in terms of screen "real estate" usage) and un-intuitive in terms of UXI strategies.
In all fairness, I must also say that, once a support ticket actually somehow gets through, you guys are excellent (for the most part) in resolving issues (provided they don't come anywhere near straying from your frankly draconian definition of what constitutes "covered" topics). I understand that your margins require tight control, but I feel like you guys take it to a rather absurd extreme at times. Again, it wasn't always that way. Perhaps I'm just spoiled by the polar opposite end of the spectrum, such as Rackspace's Support and documentation, which blows your doors off on its worst day. It is hardly surprising or inappropriate for a businessman who has a lot riding on this platform choice to express strident frustration at poor performance.
Even despite the huge pile of cash I've spent to self-resolve the clumsy UI issues (in particular), I am finding myself very seriously wondering if we made a ginormous error in judgment by going with the IPS platform, and the lack of effective, timely support is no small part of that second-guessing. Could you (Matt and IPS) please consider:
Streamlining the support ticket process. Focus a bit on bringing your Support articles up-to-date, and; Hire or contract with skilled UXI designers? Thank you.