Cusomter Service in FS Payware...

[Paul Golding 92]

Oh that'll be it then...............for an insane minute or two I'd talked myself into thinking it was because I'm a nice guy and the 727 was basically bug free and complete at release ;-)http://www.dreamfleet2000.com/gfx/images/F...BANNER_PAUL.jpg

[albar965 1,042]

>No! It will be announced when it is ready.>No announcements will be made until it is tested and ready for>release!>No date will be announced until it is ready!>So generally it will be ready when it is ready!These answers do not look like there is some professional software development going on (project plans, milestones, planned release dates etc.). This looks more like hacking.My boss asks me every few days for estimates and plans and stuff when something will be finished or not. If I'd give these answers above... Alex

[Guest bobsk8]

>Perhaps I am reading into this further than I should, but I>am seeing this more and more and feel a bit alarmed at what I>read from time to time. I know in most cases forums can be>hard to decipher as far as facial expressions and tone of>voice, but by reading the post I saw below I get a REAL>NEGATIVE feeling from this particular vendor.>>THIS IS A FLIGHT SIMULATOR PAYWARE ADD ON VENDOR>REPRESENTATIVE, AND THE PERSON WHO POSTED IS AN ASSIGNED>MODERATOR OF THE FORUM(S). FOR OBVIOUS REASONS I AM NOT GOING>TO SAY WHO OR WHAT COMPANY THIS IS BUT IT'S A "BIG COMPANY" AS>FAR AS THE FLIGHT SIM BUSINESS GOES...>>QUOTE:>>----------------------------------->No! It will be announced when it is ready.>>No announcements will be made until it is tested and ready for>release!>>No date will be announced until it is ready!>>So generally it will be ready when it is ready!>>I think that covers all other questions, this post is now>locked....SMILY FACE ICON HERE>>------------------------------------>>END QUOTE>>I have been in retail for a long time now and currently manage>the department I work in. If I were to take this tone with a>customer that walked in off the street I don't think they>would come back OR stay very long! (NOTE: Especially the last>2 lines of the comment above)>>I know software is different, and I also know flight sim>payware is a unique market, but does that give these vendors>authority to treat us customers this way?>>I say no friggin' way! At least word the reply differently and>be more polite about it. It's not like the original question>was put this way. Perhaps "Please see the sticky post I have>about this here ->>>" and post a link to the topic?>>Maybe the management of this vendor needs to monitor what>their moderators are saying in their forums becuase this could>have a long term ill affect on their company.Just from reading your post, I can tell who this vendor is. The entire tone on their forum reminds me of the town bully telling everyone else how stupid they are and how much smarter the bully thinks he is. They have a good product, and they also have arrogance in their attitude honed to perfection. It's a shame, because I think alot of people seeing this on the forum, don't bother to visit the forum and contribute, for fear of setting off the Wrath of Khan. The problem with an attitude like this, is it eventually catches up with you, no matter how good your products are, and pretty soon you will find yourself preaching to an empty church.

[Guest aihuntersandgatherer]

Tom,Thank you for raising this!I saw this post in the companies forum when it was posted and must say that this kind of response is rather rude and not very much appreciated by me (and I bought a few of their products).Some people here have stated that this kind of rudeness 'is in some cases necessary'. If you'd knew where this quote is coming from such a statement would be hard to justify. This was only the third question in the forum in regards to the release date of the product in question. The first question was answered and the company stated that the product would be released sometime after the daylight savings. I find it therefore not to inconceivable for a large payware vendor to answer the renewed question in an appropriate manner. No one has an issue with the fact that the release date might not yet be known. It's a question of manner and I find a certain trend of payware companies to forget about that.Let me say this however: the company involved here is generally an example of very good customer support! It seems however that the company employees/owners have somewhat abandoned providing written support for the product involved and have instead provided some users with 'certified' banners and left the support to them. Fine with me, but whoever is ending up providing the support should be up to the task.Just my two cents worth.Phew...Cheers,Alex YSSY

[Guest IanP]

How many FS developers actually do it full time and how many do it in the spare time that their lives and jobs that pay the mortgage allow?People often seem to assume that FS developers are large companies (e.g. Microsoft) with the product you are getting as their sole income. I think a few people around here would be surprised at how loosely associated and "amateur" some of the design groups are.I work in an industry where deadlines are very much set years in advance and are paramount - we can't move a blockade planned two years earlier because someone broke a limb and missed a month of work. On the other hand it isn't at all unusual for someone on an FS development team to say "I can't do anything for the next few weeks, I'm absolutely snowed under with work."Of course, I'm sure most of them would be quite happy for people to pay enough for them to give up the day jobs... I just can't see it happening.You're not talking to professional customer services people with most developers - you're talking to flight sim fans trying to get paid for the time and cost incurred making an add-on for you to use... Except that they often don't get time to actually *use* a model after they finish it, because they have to actually catch up with the day job, housework and kids, then start the next project people are insisting they should have released already.Ian P.

[Paul Golding 92]

>Just from reading your post, I can tell who this vendor is. Wish I could.......I need to get out more! http://www.dreamfleet2000.com/gfx/images/F...BANNER_PAUL.jpg

[Mike T 208]

Paul:Please stop posting to this thread. You are NOT ALLOWED because you have this nasty habit of releasing relatively bug free aircraft, within the promised timeframe and have, for some strange reason, decided that your customers should be happy with their purchase. I demand that you stop this behavior immediately!!! On your next release we'll be watching you my friend....Oh yes! And if you don't release it 5 months late, unflyable and brutally berate at least 50% of your customers we will have no choice but to boycott Dreamfleet due to your total respect for your customers and top notch products, which we simply cannot tolerate.Now, go take some "Mean Classes" at the local college, drop this nice guy crap and don't come back until your finished! :-lolRegards,Mike T.

[Paul Golding 92]

LOL!!! I got to show my kids this.............Sam, Ollie, Daisy - see, I'm not all bad really ;-)http://www.dreamfleet2000.com/gfx/images/F...BANNER_PAUL.jpg

[mankal4 0]

I believe this is the source....http://ultimatetraffic.flight1.net/forums/...ts.asp?TID=1159

[Ricardo41 5,949]

Every internet message board has its fair share of board trolls. However, over the last 5 years or so most trolls have developed clever strategies to avoid getting banned. One such strategy is, in regards to flightsim sites, to take the sides of developers and start insulting customers. One such example is a notorious troll poster, who after getting banned from almost every other flightsim sites, is plying his trade over on the Flight1 support forums. Now, I would have no problem putting this particular poster in his place if 1) I had the time 2) the inclination to do so. However, I did write a private message to one of the admins, pointing out to them that it was a not partiuclarly professional attitude to have customers be insulted by some random guy. Basically, the reply was: heh, if customers insult us, it's ok to insult customers back. Go figure. ricardo

[Guest Kingair315]

"Now, can you imagine a design team for Ford or GM saying, "Uh, we ran into a few unforseen problems, boss. We will be a year or so late in releasing next year's models." Never happen, they just release what they have, and do a recall to fix things that are killing people. At least no one dies when an addon is released, not even the worst has ever killed anyone. Personally, I'd rather wait, than have it rushed out. There will always be bugs, have been seeing them in software since the early 70's. Let them set the schedule, even take extra time, and reduce the number we find. Its better than weekly updates.

[Guest aihuntersandgatherer]

Ricardo,There sure are some people who try to stretch the envelope and peoples patience to the max. In this case however the person asked the following question: "Some news on Winter schedule ???"Nothing wrong with that in my opinion. The poster was new to the forum (only has two posts to date) so there was no bad history either.Point is: 'trolls' are one thing, and you are right: few people manage to put them in their place without descending to their level. The customers manner isn't to blame here.Cheers,Alex YSSY

[Guest bobsk8]

>Ricardo,>>There sure are some people who try to stretch the envelope and>peoples patience to the max. In this case however the person>asked the following question: >>"Some news on Winter schedule ???">>Nothing wrong with that in my opinion. The poster was new to>the forum (only has two posts to date) so there was no bad>history either.>Point is: 'trolls' are one thing, and you are right: few>people manage to put them in their place without descending to>their level. The customers manner isn't to blame here.>>Cheers,>>Alex YSSY>>Well it is obvious what provoked the rude response......... It was the ??? at the end of the sentence... How dare anyone use ??? on a message board... ;)

[Guest IanP]

[mgh 89]

The poster - collezio - may have only made two posts but they both asked the same question, even though it had already been answered by John GoodwinIn a thread - Winter Schedules Update - someone asked asked on 23 October:"When can we expect the winter schedule update?"John Goodwin replied on 23 October:"It will come when it comes"collezio responded on 24 October with:"Also I am convinced that he will come when it comes , but you have one idea of release date?"collezio then started another thread - Winter - on 31 October and said:"Some news on Winter schedule ???"I'm surprised the response he got was so polite!