Report a service problem on behalf of a customer - including when and how to do so
Applies to: Partner Center | Partner Center for Microsoft Cloud for US Government
Appropriate roles: Global admin
If your customer is experiencing a service problem that you can't resolve, and that meets the criteria described in Escalate problems to Microsoft, your indirect provider can file a support ticket for them. This process is also useful for escalating fraud concerns.
Submit a service request for a customer
Use the following steps to submit a service request on behalf of your customer.
Sign in to the Partner Center dashboard and select the Customers tile.
Select a customer.
From the customer menu, select Service requests.
From the New request dropdown menu, select the platform. You'll be redirected to the appropriate portal to create the service request.
Note
Support Operations partners transacting Dynamics 365 in CSP are required to maintain a support agreement of Advanced Support for Partner (ASfP) plan or higher. This support agreement is required to submit Dynamics 365 incidents on behalf of a CSP customer. Learn more about the support agreement options.
Microsoft Azure
Important
When you need to create a service request for your customer in Azure, be aware of the following:
- Indirect resellers cannot open tickets via the Azure portal on a customer's behalf. For the moment, an Indirect reseller doesn't have an option to create an Azure support request for customers even if they have a support contract. This can only be raised by the Indirect provider.
Select New support request.
Fill out the support request with the appropriate information, and then select Create:
In the Basics section of the support request, make sure to select Cloud Solution Provider in the Support plan field.
In the Contact information section of the support request, enter your information, not your customer's information.
Later, review your customer's service requests within the Microsoft Azure portal by selecting Manage support requests.
You may need to create a support request for a customer when you don't have administrator permissions for that customer. This event could happen in one of two scenarios:
- You didn't request administrator privileges when you first established the relationship.
- You only manage a customer's Azure subscriptions, so you don't have administrative permissions.
In either of these cases, you can use the following procedure to create a support request.
Copy the customer's domain name from their account page in Partner Center.
Go to
https://portal.azure.com/[customerdomainname].Select the Azure subscription that requires support.
Select New support request, and then follow the prompts to create the request.
Office 365, Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online, Enterprise Mobility Suite
In the Create a service request section, choose the appropriate support category. You may need to select More... to view more articles.
Complete the service request form, and select Submit.
Tip
Make sure to include your contact information, not your customer's.
Later, review your customer's service requests by going to the Office 365 admin center and selecting See all support tickets.
Support for commercial marketplace products
Microsoft doesn't provide product support for commercial marketplace products. You'll need to contact the Independent Software Vendor (ISV) who published the product to get support.
To find the ISV's contact info:
On the Marketplace page, select the product you need help with.
On the product's page, you'll find support contact info. This information may be one or more of the following options:
- A link to a support entry point on the ISV's website
- A support email
- A support contact phone number
FAQ
See the following frequently asked questions about service requests you might submit on behalf of a customer.
What is included as part of the Support Entitlement?
Service requests should be filed through Partner Center. They're available for Azure, Microsoft Office 365, Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online, and Enterprise Mobility Suite. As a partner participating in the Cloud Solution Provider program, you can expect priority response time to your major issues.
Support for your own partner tenant isn't included as part of the CSP support benefit. However, Office 365, Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online, and Enterprise Mobility Suite don't charge a separate support subscription fee for partners or customers. Azure does charge a fee, but if you're entitled to Signature Cloud Support or other Microsoft Partner Network (MPN) benefits you may use these benefits to pay that fee.
This benefit applies to all partners participating in the Cloud Solution Provider program, whether paid or on a trial period. Billing and subscription management support is also included as a free component of this package.
How quickly will I get an initial response?
Our initial response times depend on the severity of the incident submitted. The severity of an issue is determined by your indication of business impact when you submit a service request.
Initial response times for technical break-fix incidents:
- Critical Impact (severity A): Two hours (Significant loss or degradation of services. Production services down.)
- Moderate Impact (severity B): Four hours (Moderate loss or degradation of services. Production services partially affected.)
- Minimal Impact (severity C): Eight hours (Minimal loss or degradation of services. Services still available or non-production services affected.)
Initial response times are for English-speaking support only. Local language support is provided during business hours. For incidents that fall within the boundaries of the support entitlement but aren't considered break-fix incidents, the initial response time may be up to one business day.
Can I submit a service request by phone?
No, phone support isn't offered for this program.
What happens if I sign in to the Azure portal and bypass Partner Center?
If you sign in to the Microsoft Azure portal directly, you're viewing the center in your own context, not a customer's context. This context is why you should only sign directly into the Microsoft Azure portal when creating a service request for your own subscriptions.
Your CSP program support entitlement doesn't provide for support on your own Partner subscription. Because of this limitation, you need to provide your valid support plan entitlement when you create a service request that concerns your own Partner subscription. Examples include MPN contract ID, Premier, or an Azure support plan. For more information, see the Azure Support FAQ.
What happens if I sign in to the Microsoft 365 admin center portal and bypass Partner Center?
If you sign in to the Microsoft 365 admin center directly, you're viewing the center in your own context, not a customer's context. This scenario is why you should only sign directly into the Office 365 admin center when creating a service request for your own subscriptions.
How do I get extra Dynamics 365 support?
If you're experiencing issues related to: Dynamics 365 Plan Subscriptions, Licensing, Billing, Finance & Operations, Dynamics 365 product licenses or you require further technical support:
Contact Dynamics Support