What is up with PSS?

[Guest]

Hello Everyone,I've been visiting the Avsim forums for quite some time and I've never had a reason to post something on this forum until now. This post is not intended to be a flame but to bring to light what I consider to be some VERY serious customer service issues.I am a very big fan of the PSS product 747-400 Professional and was an avid user of that product until FS2002 hit the market. I was disappointed to learn that the PSS 744 would not be fully compatible with FS2002 until a patch was completed to upgrade the product but this was understandable and I was content to be patient and wait for the few months that it would take to complete the patch.Since then, I've noticed a very disturbing trend develop in the way users of this product (as well as 777) have been treated when simply inquiring when the patch would be finished. Recently, an APPROXIMATE time schedule was put forth by PSS stating that the patch would be finished on or about May 8th. Being someone that works in the IT field myself, I realize that that time schedule could slip, but it was nice to know that the patch is nearing completion.On the Tuesday night (7/5) before the expected completion date of the patch, a forum user by the name of B777ER made a post entitled "Patch status for 777/747.....tomorrow is 2 weeks". This PSS product user simply asked this question: "I hate to be a bother but.... Tomorrow is May 8 which will make it 2 weeks. Just wondering if that timetable is still correct and if we can expect them this week or has it been pushed further back?"His first response was from Robert Kirkland of PSS and was very cordial. Robert simply stated that the Final Airbus patch was not completed and that had pushed the completion of the 747/777 patch back about 10 days. The next poster from PSS was not so nice.Phoenix 1 (he will not sign his real name) went on to berate the original poster (and anyone else waiting for the patch) with such language as:"PLEASE let this be the very last "your 2 weeks is up" Post""time is what we need to complete the jobs not time wasted in the forum responding to posts like these.""Any further posts on the matter WILL be deleted"These types of comments would be expected if PSS had been inundated with posts saying 'where's that patch you promised?', yet the only post to even mention it is the one above. I've also been infuriated by comments like this one (regarding 747/777):

"(phoenix 11):We are not obligated to upgrade it because it was originally designed specifically for FS2000 with no intention of it ever being FS2002 compatable. PSS is paying for the hundred or so programming labor hours to update it to function in FS2002, but they are not charging the end user any money for it. It is being done as a gift to keep our customers happy and show that we appreciate their loyalty. So PSS invests all this time and money in the upgrade and doesn't make any profit off of it. Doesn't sound like a smart business model to spend all this capital while not returning a profit does it? Well, this is the exact model everyone is demanding PSS to follow."

No plans to make 747/777 FS2002 compatible? First time that was made public as far as I know. And, are you seriously suggesting that people believe that PSS stands to make NO money from additional sales of 747/777 when the patch for FS2002 is completed?Where am I going with all this? I simply wish PSS to know that there are several loyal customers out there that are absolutely thrilled with their products but not so thrilled with the attitude. Just because I didn't purchase Airbus, I'm made to feel like I'm a second-class customer. I paid $50 for 747 Professional and don't plan on spending another dime with them until I feel as though ALL customers are treated with fairness and respect.I realize that PSS enjoys a "special relationship" with Avsim (their support forum is with Avsim). Other negative comments about the way PSS does things have been quickly quashed and I fully expect this post to get the same treatment. PSS seems to think that some people will complain no matter what you do to make them happy. Just remember that making people happy is part of ANY successful business.Matt Wampler

[Guest]

The replies by some PSS members are sometimes infuriating. Although I do see both sides of the coin here. But there's one thing that comes out of all this that PSS still hasn't understood. They have to stop giving release dates. Any delay and everybody will flame them. It happened with the initial release of the Airbus, and they've just done it again with the patches (and the upcoming Dash 8-300). You'd think the Airbus mess taught them a lesson (we all pretty much agree it was released too early, before completion and full testing), yet they do it again.PSS, stop giving release dates and the amount of flaming you get will diminish tremendously. How many times has it got to happen before you finally understand that ? You're not Microsoft, you are not big enough to just ignore complains following a delay. One day, it will cause your end if you keep going on like this. Who cares that people will ask for a release date ? Shut them up by showing them what's been already done and what's yet to be done, with no time estimation. People love to drool over screenshots or feature lists. It's basic communication skills. I'm afraid you still have to learn these. Project Airbus manages to do it and you hardly see a discontented customer on their board, despite the fact that their release is already a month and a half late. On the other hand, you get tons of previews from them. Make your choice.__________________________________________________________EricUPDATED: List of all airlines, aircraft manufacturers and aircraft types recognised by ATC:http://www.geocities.com/eric_2203/orhttp://ftp.avsim.com/library/esearch.php?D...atID=fs2002misc

[Guest Phoenix]

Eric, Sky, I am going to say this again for about the 1000th time, We have tried to be responsive to the customers regarding the patches and their completion and share with them our target dates. However, everytime we have responded to this issue we have gotten bashed. And instead of reading the posts already in the forum some individuals have chosen to ask it over and over again. Eric, you are right the patches will be done when they are done. And that does need to be the response. When working on patches schedules can slip due to a number of reasons. In this case it was due to the fact that we agreed to do more work on the Airbus and then we had our principal programmer down sick for a week and off the job.The constant badgering and even threats we have dealt with has gotten us all a little testy. As for the posts regarding even doing the patches let me clarify. The 777 and 747 are FS2000 products. No where in the licensing agreement did we, at the time they were sold, agree to do an update for FS2002. We are doing that update for free in order to satisfy the requests of the customers. In return we have been hammered beause we didn't do them right away. We have tried to explain this over and over again but to no avail. A comparison would be to expect MS to send you a free upgrade to Office when they released XP or Win 2000. As for making more money, it is very unlikely that the few additional sales this will generate will offset the costs that we have and will incur in completing the patches. If you figure just a reasonable $20 an hour and the costs is really close to $100 an hour then we would have to sell a lot of new aircraft to pay the bill.We are a small company of only 6 people and there are only so many hours in a day. We are moving as fast as we can to complete all three patches and will release them when they are done. Which we all hope will be very soon. So please a little patience, it isnt costing you anything but a little waiting time. And also understand that until you stand on our side of this issue you really can't understand what is involved. Robert KirklandPSS SUPPORTsupport@phoenix-simulation.co.ukhttp://www.avsim.com/pss/phoenix.jpg

[Guest]

>We are moving as fast as we can to >complete all three patches and will release them when they >are done. >>>Robert Kirkland >PSS SUPPORT In case you misunderstood my post, I never asked for a release date, neither did I ask for any in the past. I wasn't talking about your developing abilities either. The part of your post I quoted is what you should be telling more often instead of talking about dates. You say people ask for dates. Don't answer them. It's better than being late (whatever the reasons) and getting bashed for it. Show them the progress, talk about new features/bug fixes... etc. You might even get some helpful feedback regarding the making of the patch. Oh well, just trying to help, it's up to you in the end.__________________________________________________________EricUPDATED: List of all airlines, aircraft manufacturers and aircraft types recognised by ATC:http://www.geocities.com/eric_2203/orhttp://ftp.avsim.com/library/esearch.php?D...atID=fs2002misc

[Guest Phoenix]

I give up. I try to communicate in a positive and informative matter and all I get is a negative reaction. This is why we are so frustrated over this issue. I will say no more.Robert KirklandPSS SUPPORTsupport@phoenix-simulation.co.ukhttp://www.avsim.com/pss/phoenix.jpg

[Guest Miro Majcen]

Before this one goes out of hands, please remember this is a General Discussion forum and PSS issues don't belong here. This thread is now locked. Miro MajcenAVSIM OnlineManaging Editor Europewww.avsim.com