Blackbox Simulation appears to have done a PSS!

[qnh 70]

Support queries unanswered, customers unable to activate purchased aircraft. 

[Wise87 1,275]

PSS, wow that brings back memories from the old days. 

[ZKOKQ 984]

Sitting on a beach in Ibiza no doubt. Oh well, people were warned.

[Jude Bradley 659]

I think that BBS came from PSS.

[ZKOKQ 984]

23 minutes ago, Jude Bradley said:

I think that BBS came from PSS.

Oh yes, they sure did. I could say more about Dad and Dave, but I don't wish to breach Avsim TOS

[EastFB72 16]

Thats a relief then... Was tempted to buy this the other day just to get an A330 in my hanger

Decided against it as no A330 is better than their version!!

[Jude Bradley 659]

Some people never learn how to run businesses properly. Failed once, failed again. Biting off more than they can chew I recon.

[HighTowers 1,434]

not sure about not activating aircraft.  But perhaps this may be premature to jump to those conclusions. The last post on their FB page was 1 week ago saying they are busy working on it.  Whether its a lie and procrastination is anyones guess. They are up against AS so you would think they would want to be sure to complete this and get ahead of the game.  Then again we are waiting .90 and version 1.0 wont be for another 3-5 years.

[qnh 70]

1 hour ago, HighTowers said:

not sure about not activating aircraft.  But perhaps this may be premature to jump to those conclusions. The last post on their FB page was 1 week ago saying they are busy working on it.  Whether its a lie and procrastination is anyones guess. They are up against AS so you would think they would want to be sure to complete this and get ahead of the game.  Then again we are waiting .90 and version 1.0 wont be for another 3-5 years.

Check their “client center” plenty of users are asking for support with no response. 

[daniel_schm 16]

Keep in mind they "released" their unfinished product back in 2013 (I think so). 6 years later it's still not finished. We switched multiple simulators in the meantime :D.
Wait for the Aerosoft A330 or FSLabs A330 (which might be early released than BBS A330 v1).
Sorry for the hard word but BBS is just scam. Point.
They just make promises and that's it. The product is not usable. We expect quality and this is something BBS can't deliver (at least right now).

[LecLightning56 33]

I get the idea that the plaudits will continue to flood in. I am getting the popcorn out!

[Benjamin J 751]

I got their widebody product at a sale. I reckoned that for the price it was an acceptable risk to take - and I'm glad I didn't spend more on it at the time. I installed it and did one flight, but was rather put off by it. Mostly in relation to the button click sounds, the rather awkward ground handling, the strange 'bounce' upon landing while having pressure on the stick (this is supposedly a real thing, though), the incorrect modeling of the VC (looks to be much improved in v0.90), the very incomplete FMGC... I've been waiting for v0.90 ever since. The screenshots they post here and there look promising, but it means nothing until it's on my computer. I will say that the product shows promise, but only time will tell if it will eventually deliver.

[FrankSalo 272]

3 hours ago, qnh said:

Check their “client center” plenty of users are asking for support with no response. 

They are responding to comments on their last Facebook post, one stating that one of the team members had open heart surgery some weeks before and the last response a week ago was that they were "working on it"

 

We'll see.

[pracines 823]

What bothers me most is that unaware/new flight simmers potentially suffer the consequences.

I know there are easy ways to "shun" companies, and it has been done in the past (Airiane comes to mind - I know for different reasons). For the life of me I cannot understand why PSS/BB has not been "officially" shunned.

BB should have been shot down from the very beginning, unless they kept the same name (PSS) and restored users ability to get products they paid for FIRST. If they did things the right way they would likely be very successful, because their PSS Airbus series was quite nice in its day.

Until they do the right thing, I cannot hope the best for BB  (I wish I could!). It just does not seem like "hard work", and "customers matter" is a part of their vocabulary or mindset. 

Also in light of this:

This community way too often allows for developers (or their family) illnesses to not just throw a wrench into the mixer (acceptable/totally understandable), but to actually cast the mixer into a black hole! If all/most companies in the world did this, world chaos would result. There are practical solutions to avoid the black hole for customers sake. But its like some developers "turn into doctors" who are in constant surgery for years, or they simply will not sell the code/business when they get cancer and are dying. There is a responsibility that has been largely ignored in this community, and its not right. The fact is, people get hurt, get old, cancer, accidents, family gets sick --- these are all realities; contingencies that seem to be overlooked. And for the sake of a "sudden love" for other peoples families and loved ones we just allow for customers to be overlooked, and even ignored for months/years/forever. The result is a "lack of love" for consumers.

Flight simulation needs to become a bigger deal, and if developers are going to start a business, they NEED to allow for these contingencies and have a plan in place for their customers. If not, then don't start the business, or freeware is an option until a responsible plan is possible.

Please don't think that I don't care about developers/illnesses, its just that I (we all have to) care for flight simming consumers too. We cannot stop illnesses/death from happening, but we can have a back up (flight) plan when they do. We all grow old and eventually die, but flight simming (more specifically, a wonderful add-on) does not have to die.

[dave2013 1,123]

The term "Caveat Emptor" comes to mind.

A number of these so-called "companies" are actually one or two "developers" looking to make a quick buck off the flightsim community.  They make big promises and create pretty screenshots and videos, release an unfinished or amateurish product with promises to release regular updates and improvements, and then disappear.

The only way to really stop this is to 1)be skeptical and don't buy any product unless you can confirm from multiple sources that it is of good quality, and/or 2)start suing them, which costs a lot of money but would set a good example for the rest of the developer community when the plaintiffs win the case and the "company" has to start issuing refunds.

Dave