AVSIM taking a standpoint.

[Staffan 12]

Hi,Have been thinking for quite a while now on the ongoing pattern from various payware companies, treating their customers like crap.Couldn

[John_Cillis 2,406]

Speaking only for myself, I think it is hard for a third party to get involved in web commerce, since there's no door to knock on, often no voice to listen to (or even language in common), and a mix of law.Add to that the source of complaints--for every legitimate one, there's also someone who has such a strong agenda, they suffer from "selective" amnesia. Example discussion:Customer: "And they didn't reply to any of my emails"Advocate: "What did you ask"Customer: "For a new license key"So the Advocate goes to our add-on provider, gives them an earful and learns that "Customer" distorted facts, is an out and out pirate, used abusive language, etc....My point is it takes a huge amount of resources for a site to act as our advocate, because there's TWO parties (and sometimes more) involved. That cost has to be covered somewhere.Last item--I think threads like this, which are worthy of thought but detract from discussion of every day MSFS use, need to be in Hangar Chat where they are better on topic. After all, many sims have third party Add-on support.-John

[Staffan 12]

To a certain extent I can understand your opinion.However, I am talking about the general pattern going on by payware companies, where they suddenly stops with any type of support.The bad thing in this is that they not only treat their present customers like crap, but also leads new customers into a wall of silence when they need support. Just take a look at the Lago forum. And how many old and new customers who want answers. But not a single word from the company.I don

[Tom Allensworth 1,532]

"Couldn

[Staffan 12]

"Every vendor in the hobby reads the AVSIM forums and believe me, if the vendor cares at all about their public relations, they quickly focus on the issue and deal with it."Hi Tom,Well, then it is obvious that they don

[Tom Allensworth 1,532]

Staffan,Darwinism applies to commerce too. Its survival of the fittest. Those that respond to and nurture their customers, are those that survive and prosper. Those that don't become extinct. And there is nothing more important to survival than the "public buzz" that occurs here and elsewhere. If the "buzz" goes negative, then you can bet that a concerned commercial vendor worth his salt will be doing all they can to rectify the situation.

[Guest jeffg]

I feel the same why when it comes to some of the add-ons we have out there.I think that the major flight sim forums should come up with some way of saying don't buy this software as its only going to be discarded soon and your money wasted.I think that reviews that give honest opinions are whats needed.I own all the software that was listed and its all off my HD for the reasons given.I know that some of the software vendors are only 2-3 people but if you put out a product and don't follow up with support than it sould be said and loudly here in this and the other forums that you should not buy their product.Thats my view for what its worth. Jeff Gerbert

[Guest Jimbofly]

All it takes is for people to be aware of these companies and vote with their wallets. As long as people buy products from shoddy companies, those companies will exist. Unfortunately people don't always keep themselves informed, and will continue to buy products from companies that don't deserve their money.James

[MD83 1]

Lago have really hit rock-bottom. They haven't replied to ANY of their users in several weeks. This is completely ludicrous, and there is no way that I'm going to buy from a group like that!"If it doesn't have a VC ... who cares!? http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v615/DarrenA300/smug.gif "

[Guest]

If you do that ALL software wil be branded as "don't buy" immediately.There's always someone out there who doesn't like it or holds a grudge against a company.Then there's different tastes. Someone thinks a product isn't "realistic" enough and suddenly you're not allowed to buy it (never mind whether your tastes are different).I'd venture to say that 90% of all negative messages put out about products and companies on these here forums (and other similar forums) are based on either misunderstanding of a product (people thinking a product too complex or not complex enough) or people making impossible demands on customer support (like sending an email on 10PM on a saturday evening and coming in to complain the next morning that he's not yet had a response).Many others will immediately chime in stating their indignition at this terrible injustice without knowing any of the details.

[Staffan 12]

Hi,If you read my posts, you see that we are talking about different things. ;-)I am talking about payware companies sudden pattern with building a wall of silence.My advice to those companies...."Communicate and keep your customers informed, or close your business"....plain and simple. ;-)A producer/customer relationship should always be based on mutual trust. It is the producers/distributors major responsibility to keep that trust alive. We, the costomers, have showed our trust in buying the products. And the "winers" are always a minority,..and can be put aside.Both you and I know that most payware addon companies are serious, with proper customer support. The sad thing is the companies who make us all beleive that they are organized companies, working 24/7 with addons, while in reality, instead a one or two person company, programming a couple of hours per week/month as a hobby. :-rollIf those payware companies should inform the customers what to expect or not expect from them when buying their product, it should be a completely different story. Fly safe, Staffan AhlbergSweden/Stockholm/ESSAhttp://www.scandicair.com/images/dc9_banner.jpg"I will come and cut your lawn for a high quality DC8-63 system"[/color]My specs are:Dell Dimension 4600 P4/3.0 Ghz1024 Mb DDR333 Dual channel memory (2x256,1x512)128 Mb ATI Radeon 9800 ProOmega 2.5.58DirectX 9.0cW XP Home with SP1E171FPb Flat panel monitor 17"240Gb (2x120) 7200rpm HD