Ultimate Traffic II - disappearing airlines

That's IMO an unfair and wrong statement.

Then let me clarify. I would argue that by definition it is an expression of customer dissatisfaction; otherwise why would they seek a refund? The customers' needs were not met, either because the product fell below their expectations, or because they set their own expectations too high, or they adopted a 'try and see' approach and decided that it wasn't what they wanted. I agree that 'admission of failure' is a more moot point, and the failure may be on the part of the supplier, or the customer, or the supplier in settiing customer expectations wrongly...ad infinitum. But I'm sure in the supplier's ideal world, no customer would want a refund because they'd be completely satisfied. I know from previous personal experience that we regarded every customer walking away as a failure, either because our service disappointed them, or because we set expectations wrongly, and we so regarded it as yet another an opportunity to improve our offering. In this context, if I were Flight 1, and still regarded UTII as a flagship product, then I would be concerned about customer migration or stagnation, and see an issue that needed addressing. If I were selling a product that purported to include as many real-world schedules as possible, then the successive departure of major airlines would concern me, because it would threaten to erode my product. The root cause is obviously the move of airlines to internet-only sales, and cutting out physical outlets, together with the physical schedules that UTII use as the basis for the product. But supposing the trend continues? Supposing the next airline to leave UTII is Southwest, and then Easyjet? Suppose it catches on with the other carriers, Delta, United, etc? Where would that leave UTII? That would certainly concern me as a customer, because up to now I have loved UTII's 'out of the box' immersibility and sense of the real world. I would also expect it to concern Flight 1, and have them looking for some feasible way of getting the schedule information by other means. Flight 1's refund policy is a beacon in the market, something that other suppliers should aspire to, even though it involves electronic products that can never be truly 'returned', and it also shows a great deal of trust in the honesty of the customer. But it is also business-savvy. Unlike with other flight simulation vendors, where if we are disappointed with the product we just tend to grumble to ourselves and leave it gathering dust on our system, this policy does give them a tangible measure of how satisfied or otherwise customers are. So if they don't regard a refund as a 'failure', i would at least expect them to see it as an opportunity for improvement.