Technical Support

At Rhino Software, one of the things we pride ourselves on is providing prompt, friendly technical support to our customers. As a small company, we're able to let you directly contact the software developers. This enables you to get personal assistance from highly skilled people who are intimately familiar with the product and know what they're talking about. That's rarely the case when you deal with the support staff of a large company or mega-corporation, who frequently outsource their support duties to 3rd-party firms who can only provide canned answers to your most basic questions and not much more.

Rhino Software provides technical support for its software products and services through a mixture of online documents, downloadable files, and e-mail correspondence. If you just need some general questions answered, then please check out our FAQ page. If you're stuck on a problem, go to the Solutions page to review tips on using our software and solutions to common problems that other users have run into in the past. And don't forget to check out our Downloads page to obtain the latest free upgrades to your software product.

Should you ever need to report a possible software bug, please fill out our Bug Report Form. If you've checked out your software's Help system and scanned the Solved Cases page and you're still totally stumped on a problem that you just can't get past, then please remain calm and Contact our Tech Support staff via email. We do our best to ensure that all email requests for technical support are answered within 2 business days. Although in most cases, we typically get back to our customers much faster than that.  

For additional details about how technical support works, how to contact us, and what self-support tools are available to you, please click on the corresponding links provided below.

How Support Works:
Limited Free Support | Basic Pay Support | Advanced Pay Support | Support for Old Versions

How to Contact Us:
Submitting a Support Request | Reporting a Bug

Self-Support Tools:
Download Free Upgrades | FAQ | Search this Site | Tips & Solutions

How Support Works

While we're more than willing to answer your questions and help solve any problems you might encounter when using our software, like most software companies we simply can't afford to provide that support for free for an unlimited amount of time. As a result, we've structured our support system into 3 distinct tiers: (1) Limited Free Support, (2) Basic Pay Support, and (3) Advanced Pay Support. Based on an internal company study, between 85-90% of our customers are adequately covered by our Limited Free Support system and never end up paying a dime for technical support. Of those users who do need to go the pay support route, it's about a 50/50 split between those needing to use Basic Pay Support versus those needing Advanced Pay Support. And if you compare Rhino Software's tech support fees versus those of most other software companies, you'll discover that our fees are extremely reasonable and affordable. So while most customers can get by just fine with free support, those who must use pay support can do so without breaking their bank accounts. It's all part of our company's goal to provide you with fantastic software and helpful support at a price you can afford.       

Here's how each of our three technical support tiers works:

(1) Limited Free Support

Customers are entitled to receive free technical support (via e-mail) on three (3) Basic support requests. What is a Basic support request? A Basic support request is any type of question (or brief series of questions) that you ask us relating to use of a software product, which can be answered by our tech support staff in less than 1 hour. Typically, questions of this type involve asking us how to use a certain software function, perform a specific task, or solve a simple problem.

When a customer e-mails us with a technical support request, our tech team assigns a Case Number to that request and investigates the problem. Once the investigation is complete, the technician emails a written answer to the customer. This normally occurs within 2 business days of receiving the customer's request for help. Support cases are considered to be closed when the customer's question is fully answered and his/her problem is solved.

Once a customer has received free technical support for three (3) Basic support requests, all future requests for basic support are handled using the Basic Pay Support option.

Please note that there are a few special types of questions and support requests that are always free, and which do not count against your limit of 3 free basic support cases. These include:

1. Problems downloading the software from our web site.

2. Problems installing the software onto your computer.

3. Problems connecting to your program's database after you've installed the software, but before you have officially unlocked/registered it.

4. Requests for Unlock Codes.

5. Requests for Usernames & Passwords to access a restricted area of our web site.

6. Reporting a software bug (must first be verified by our tech staff to actually be a bug).

(2) Basic Pay Support

Once a customer has used up his or her 3 free requests for Basic support on a given software product, he or she can receive basic technical support using our Basic Pay Support system. As stated previously, a Basic support request is any type of question (or brief series of questions) that you ask which relates to the use of a software product, and which can be answered by our tech support staff in less than 1 hour. Rhino Software charges a flat $12 fee to handle basic support requests.

Each request for basic support is assigned a Case Number. The customer's credit card is then charged $12 to cover the tech support fee. Payment can also be made via PayPal, and in all cases the customer must make payment before support services are provided. A Rhino Software technician then investigates the case and sends a written answer/solution to the customer via email within 2 business days of receiving the customer's support request.  Support cases are considered closed when the customer's question is answered and his/her problem is solved.

(3) Advanced Pay Support

When a customer needs our technical support team to help them solve a complex problem, he or she can use our Advanced Pay Support system. A complex problem, referred to as an Advanced support request, is a problem (or series of questions) that takes our tech support team 1 hour or more to solve. A typical example of an Advanced support request involves the customer sending his database to a Rhino Software technician, and the technician looking at the database and fixing data-related mistakes the customer has made (such as importing the wrong stats file, recording transactions for the wrong date, and so forth). Special needs that fall outside the typical range of technical support, such as having a technician create a custom help document or movie demo for a customer, also fall into the realm of Advanced Pay Support.

Advanced support requests are always resolved using the Advanced Pay Support system and are not included as part of the 3 free basic support requests that all customers receive when they purchase new software. Rhino Software charges a flat $25 fee to handle advanced support requests.

As with all types of tech support, each request for advanced support is assigned a Case Number. The customer's credit card is then charged $25 to cover the tech support fee. Payment can also be made via PayPal, and the customer must make payment before support services are provided. Upon receipt of the customer's support request, a Rhino Software technician will investigate the case and send a written answer/solution to the customer via email within 2 business days. A support case is considered closed once the customer's question is answered and his or her problem is solved.

Additional Notes:

1. Customers who anticipate that they'll need frequent support can purchase a Platinum Tech Support package for only $40. The platinum support package entitles you to support for either five (5) Basic support requests, or three (3) Basic support requests and one (1) Advanced support request. The package provides an attractive 33% savings off the regular price of technical support, and is a smart buy for inexperienced software users and people who love to ask lots of questions.
2. No matter what type of support request you submit (Basic or Advanced), you are not required to pay anything if the technician determines that your particular problem is due to a software bug.

Support for Old Versions

When a major new version of a software product is released, Limited Free Support for the old version of the product remains available for a period of 60 days after the official release date of the new version. Once that 60 day period has elapsed, all technical support for the old version is handled via Basic Pay Support or Advanced Pay Support.

Upgrading to the new version of a software product resets your free support usage counter to zero, meaning that you can receive free technical support for 3 Basic support requests again. In other words, basic support requests that you've made for prior versions of the software don't count against you when you upgrade to the new version. 

Here's the list of Rhino Software products that are no longer eligible for free technical support:

Self-Support Tools

> FAQ = answers to frequently asked questions
> Solutions = solutions to common problems other users have run into
> Downloads = get free upgrades to your software
> Search = search for information on our web site

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) 

Are you thinking about purchasing a Rhino Software product, but need some general questions answered first? Or perhaps you've just begun using one of our programs and are wondering what some of the major functions do? If these scenarios describe you, then please take a moment and check out our FAQ page. 

Tips & Solutions

When you first begin using one of our software products, we strongly recommend that you carefully read the Getting Started guide that came with your software. Some of our programs such as Rhino Baseball, include narrated, movie-style demos that show you how to use the program's major functions. The first thing you should do before working with any major function/window is to watch the demo associated with it to see how it works.

But what happens when you run into a problem that the program's demos or help system doesn't directly address? Over the years we've helped our customers solve various problems that they've run into when setting up their data, importing data files, entering and maintaining information in their database, and so on. We've started to compile answers & solutions to our users' most common problems into a User Solutions document. So if you're stuck on a problem that has you spinning your wheels, please refer to our Solutions page as it's quite possible that other customers have run into the same problem as you and we've published a solution to it.

Download Free Upgrades 

We periodically publish software upgrade files to ensure that our registered customers keep up-to-date with the latest version of the product. These Maintenance Releases are provided free of charge, and can be accessed through links provided in the Registered Customers section of our Download Central Page. It's a good idea to check the Download Central page every 6-8 weeks to see if there are any new upgrade files available for your particular software product.

Software upgrade files are provided as self-extracting Zip files (with file names that end in .EXE). No special software is required to unzip and run self-extracting files. When you attempt to download one of our software upgrade files, you'll be prompted to provide a special Username and Password before downloading the file. The Username and Password that you need will be emailed to you by our Technical Support team when the first free update for the software becomes available. This Username/Password combination is not the same as the temporary one you used to download the software after you made an online purchase, nor is it the same as your unique Username/Password combo that's used to access the Rhino Stats Service.  

A handful of free program files and sample reports are also provided on the Download Central page. Most of these files are provided in ZIP file format. In order to open a Zip file and extract its contents, you'll need a program such as WinZip (www.winzip.com).

Search this Site

Not sure where to find information on a topic that interests you? Then try our online Search Form which scans our web site and retrieves the information you're looking for.  

Submitting a Support Request

Sometimes our software users import the wrong file into their database or make data-entry errors that they aren't sure how to fix. If you're one of those people, relax. You're certainly not the first person to make an honest mistake. We can help you figure out what's wrong with your data and fix it, or explain the steps you need to follow to accomplish a complex task that you're just not sure how to perform.

You can contact our Technical Support team by sending email to support@rhinosoftware.com any time of day. We strive to answer all customer support requests within 2 business days. Please do not contact us by phone; always send your support requests via email. Should your problem be something that we feel would be best handled by talking it through over the phone, we will arrange a time for a phone consultation.

Please be as detailed as possible when describing your problem. That includes listing the version of the software product you're using, the screens that you're working with, any error messages you're getting, and the steps you went through to cause the problem. When the problem is data-related (such as problems with data specific to your particular fantasy league), it's often helpful if you can send us a PSR report that shows us a snapshot of your data. In extremely difficult cases where Advanced Pay Support is required, the technician may ask you to email us a copy of your database so that we can manually correct the data for you. The bottom line is; the more details and information that you can provide to us, the faster and more accurately we can solve your problem. 

Reporting a Software Bug

Do you keep getting an error message that you don't understand when you perform a certain task over and over again in the program? Does the software seem to be calculating numbers incorrectly, or not properly saving results to the database? Does the program sometimes crash inexplicably? When these kind of things happen, it's possible that you've encountered a program bug. What can you do about it? Follow the 3 steps we've outlined below to see if you've really found a software bug and whether or not there's a fix available for it. 

Steps You Should Take:   

1. Check out our List of Known Bugs. It's possible that other people have run into the same problem that you have. If there's a workaround solution for your particular problem, it will be posted there.

2. Check out our Download Central page for the latest software upgrade files.
   If there's an upgrade file that you haven't downloaded yet, do this:
   (A) Read the notes corresponding to the upgrade file to see what's included in the upgrade.
   (B) If your bug is listed there, download the upgrade file and install it on your PC.
   (C) If your bug isn't addressed by the latest upgrade file, proceed to step 3.

3. Fill out our Bug Report Form and submit it. Please be as specific as possible when filling out the form so that we can accurately assess your problem and help you. List the text of any error messages you've received, and outline the steps you took to produce the problem. A Rhino Software technician will respond to your bug report submission within 2 business days.