I have been around here with Plex for a long time (before they got their venture capital), ran it for free until such time as I could afford to donate the cost of Lifetime Plex Pass as a thank you to the devs. I mention this do point out that I am on the side of Plex. HOWEVER, I do agree with @moody_blue about the need for an actual button to skip signing up for Plex Pass at the time on PMS installation.
I write this as a common user (ignore the Ninja next to my name for this post).
Many of the biggest names in software do not provide personal support unless you have a contract or are willing to give them your CC upfront on the call with a per hour/minute fee OR they use a 900 phone number.
I don’t think some people get the fact that quality phone support (not read off a script) takes quality people who know the program inside and out, know how to use it on multiple operating systems and devices and know and understand networking. This type of person isn’t going to be hired for $40K a year. More like $100+K a year.
But just as an exercise assume without benefits, employer costs, personal days, vacation or anything else this person is paid $50K a year (about half the real value if that). So that’s $50K / 52 weeks / 40 hours = $25 per hour in costs.
Doesn’t matter if it’s online chat, phone or email, it’s time that is needed from someone getting paid to do dedicated support. How can you possibly justify this on a $5 a month subscription (cheaper if paid for in bulk)?
Anyone who understands Plex, knows that the people paying for Plex-Pass help’s to subsidize those that don’t pay. Plex has overhead besides it’s employees and physical tangibles. It has license costs, server rentals and other “virtual costs” that we normal users don’t see, but know obviously exist. Some things are obvious like cloud servers but other things are briefly mentioned like “included with Plex-Pass” for things like the EPG for the DVR. That of course is only one example but there are many. There is a lot of value in Plex-Pass membership and this surely isn’t close to pure profit to Plex. My point to this is that even your $5 a month plex-pass membership isn’t pure profit.
So how could they or similar companies ever think of providing free support? I think you all realize this isn’t feasible.
Would you be happy with paid support with a CC or 900 number like many other companies do? Or can you use the free support forums where employees, ninjas and many others volunteer their time to help others?
Please don’t take this post as “another arrogant post”. It’s not meant to be that way, but a touch of reality or my personal opinion, that I think a lot of people will realize is true once they think about it.
Free one on one support just isn’t possible in the current model without having to charge for it.
Carlo
I agree with @cayars A pay per incident support line like many other serious software companies is probably a GREAT idea.
(oh BTW most 1st level Customer Support Agents do not make 100k… lol)
In fact that is exactly how it should be done.
Leave the Plex Forums intact as a User Group that provides help as it does today.
The only issue I potentially see with that is the current stability and the high number of reported incidents. Some folks might feel paying for support on bugs would be robbery.
So no matter how Plex decides to grow up and play like big boys they need to get their act together…
LOL
A side benefit to doing this is maybe Customer Support becomes a profit center for Plex
Aside note:
I personally do not see why Plex should be free in any case.
If you notice that is usually the reason some folks get nasty here. It’s is said, basically, that Plex is free so don’t expect customer support and shut up.
Well guys. Get PMS ready for prime time and sell it. Maybe offer 90 day - 120 day eval period before you need to pay…
I don’t want to sidetrack this thread but a lot of support issues could be install related or network related so a typical 1st level support thing wouldn’t cut it. You would want knowledgeable people handling the calls that understand permissions, NAS, networking, etc… Not script reading kiddies or people who waist 15 minutes before transferring you to level 2 then 3 support. 
Is Plex Pass required for any base functionality? No. The server runs and works in all basic functionality without any form of or need for payment.
Does the Plex app cost on some platforms? Yes. But it is a small one time charge and Plex Pass is only required for a very few clients that are in beta.
One of the most popular clients, Roku, is totally free and there are several flavors of Plex clients that work well for all the most common Clients that also have alternatives that are free. Ex: OpenPHT for Windows and PlexKodiConnect for Android. Both of those are fully functional and well designed.
You can also get a Raspberry Pi and run many clients that you do not have to pay for.
I have a Plex Pass but I do not use any of the fancy/advanced features that it open’s up. In fact the only real benefit I see that is at all important to me is the Pass gives me access to several forums where I can be ignored by the best.
I bought the Pass to support Plex after I discovered that there was no other media manager that even came close to filling my needs.
Is Plex arrogant in a lot of their actions and responses? Yes! But that does not detract from the usefulness and quality of the system.
It is actually understandable that there is a high level of arrogance in the Plex support system. They are constantly bombarded with the same questions that are well answered in the FAQs and guides. Those documents are pretty well written and kept pretty well up to date and I find them pretty easy to find and use. I even understand that they are available in multiple languages other than English but I have not checked that out as American English ( Actually the sub-dialect called Texan) is my first and best language.
Plex has been and is moving in directions that I disagree with a LOT but I really do not see a problem with communication. Plex is a lot like God. They do not directly respond to every prayer as the answers already exist in the documentation and sometimes when they do answer prayers the answer is no.
The other side of this is that users, and sometime it includes me, are too thin skinned. A response/answer seen as “arrogant” is often simply short and straight to the point. That is not truly “arrogant” but rather it is just simple and if it does not answer the question or does not satisfy the user then the user needs to try other ways of asking or the nee to revisit the documentation to at least be able to ask better.
We, users, have responsibility in the present world of helping the helpers help us. I know that seems foreign to the idea of customer service but it is a fact of life in the current world. The quality of customer service is directly related to the quality of the customer and, unfortunately, people have reduced the effort they are willing to expend to learn new systems while increasing their demands on said software.
In the current world customers are every bit as responsible for bad customer service as the companies that are providing the product or service.
When I was a boy I spent a lot of time on my uncle’s farm. Once a year we would take the cow down the road to get her serviced by their neighbor’s bull. Now, whenever I hear the words “customer service,” I wonder who’s getting screwed.
Of all companies I deal with that have systems even approaching Plex’s complexity I find Plex’s support system the best and their level of arrogance among the lowest.
To all commenters: Thank you. Maybe a little less arrogance and a little less thin-skin and us newbies and the long-time users and employees can arrive at productive solutions the 251 articles don’t readily or common-sense easily explain ‘how to’ to newbies who’ve spent many years building their libraries and metadata.
ttrenchj
