Why can't I ask customer service-related questions here?

Question

I have questions about how I go about using various tools or products. Can I ask these questions here? If not, why? Where can I ask them?

Answer 1

Some questions about specific products or services, especially about how to use them, should be directed toward the appropriate support channels for that product or service simply because we don't know the answer. There may be some people here who have encountered your issues before that can answer your question. Maybe there's even an employee of the company that provides the product here.

But...we aren't the company's customer service. We don't set policy, track how policies change over time, or have good insights into how policies are set. We don't have any authority to make decisions. As policies change, our answers and experiences will also quickly become out-of-date and irrelevant.

We're not here to act as customer support on any company's behalf.

Our mission here is to help you with problems and challenges that you face while creating, delivering, and maintaining software responsibly. If you are using or have access to various tools, that information may be helpful as we may be able to point you in the right direction. But we may not have our tools configured in the same manner as you, or have the same add-ons, or how to get enhancement/change requests to the company the creates the software.