Lack of responses to emails regarding payware addons can be annoying, particularly when they are about issues with products that have been paid for. Of course, there are reasons why emails might not be answered, but listed below are the ones that relate to me:-

• Gaya Simulations - misaligned runway centreline markings at the hand crafted LDRI Rijeka. A bit of a moot point now, considering that I have just purchased the new version of this airport from Pilot Experience Sim. However, the lack of response from this company to emails regarding issues seems to be rather more common than I would like. Considering that they are actively involved with the base product itself, I would expect much better communication. On a side note, I recently noticed a couple of issues at ENCN Kristiansand (runway entry signs 03-21 should be 21-03, and there are runway edge lights in the turn around area short of the runway 21 threshold), but I suspect that sending them an email about this would be pointless....
• Simtek Solutions - bent runway at LGPA Paros (part of their LGPA Paros/LGNX Naxos product). I have emailed them several times about this over the past year without success. However, I did find another possible email address (although it could actually be a different company), so I have sent another request for this to be corrected. The lighting at one end of the runway is offset because of this "bend" (which is clearly visible at the halfway point), and you can probably appreciate how this upsets my OCD nature
• Terrainy Studios - nothing wrong with the scenery products that I have. I was just looking forward to their "upcoming" LGZA Zakynthos and LGSO Siros products. Unfortunately, it seems that they have been gone now for over two years (based on the date of their last Facebook message), so there is zero chance of these two seeing the light of day
• Pilot's - bleed through of base image textures on the taxiways at LEAL Alicante (with PG disabled). I have now sent three emails (including one today) regarding this, but so far I have only been greeted with virtual tumbleweed rolling across my empty InBox....

I guess that other AVSIM members must have tales of emails that have vanished into the twilight zone?

My daughters have assured me that email is dead.

 

Yea, my daughter tells me the same thing; email is no longer really used these days. Even I rarely use it communicate and I would say that at least two-thirds of what I do receive is junk or unsolicited email these days. Developers seem to be relying more and more on discord or forums for support and feedback, not unlike how I use Teams or Slack depending on the job and organization am working with. Direct messages are WA or text messages

Which raises the question though: Assuming these companies don't want to be contacted by email, why are they publishing an email address?

I don't think any of this has anything to do with email itself as the medium - you're looking for support on sceneries which, already, doesn't happen to the extent it should. And expecting companies that have never shown much interest in providing that support to email you with something different.

Gaya produced KDFW for Asobo. 5 years later - still trash.
Pilot's has never shown the desire to revisit anything (Dash 7 included!)
Never heard of the other two, but you describe one as being a dead company already

Not sure what you were expecting but the signs were clear.

9 hours ago, Christopher Low said:

Lack of responses to emails regarding payware addons can be annoying, particularly when they are about issues with products that have been paid for. Of course, there are reasons why emails might not be answered, but listed below are the ones that relate to me:-

• Gaya Simulations - misaligned runway centreline markings at the hand crafted LDRI Rijeka. A bit of a moot point now, considering that I have just purchased the new

I guess that other AVSIM members must have tales of emails that have vanished into the twilight zone?

Never had the other products but Gaya has been quiet for a while (for me at least) after some issues. So much so that I have deleted their products and moved on to others that actually respond and update.

 

I remember the times when nearly all payware developers had their own support forum together with a reliable email/personal message support in many cases.

I wouldn't expect a reply to an individual email to a developer these days. Especially not to a minor niggle. 

Most of the times I use Facebook or Discord to contact the devs involved... Indeed less luck via mail... Some companies not reachable at all. RDPresets for example, but also Fly X Simulations...

14 hours ago, Christopher Low said:

a couple of issues at ENCN Kristiansand (runway entry signs 03-21 should be 21-03, and there are runway edge lights in the turn around area short of the runway 21 threshold), but I suspect that sending them an email about this would be pointless....

And there are some misaligned textures at parking positions as well. I reported it via their own Zendesk reporting tool - if I remember correctly - and got a fairly quick response with an acknowledgement. Fixes never materialized though. Thankfully their gorgeous LIRQ doesn't have such massive issues. Their customer support is a shame, and although I love their work I probably would only purchase another Gaya product after I have seen a thorough review that proves there are no major issues.

In general, I think it is not so much an issue of the communication method but the willingness of developers to invest time and money into an already paid product. My impression is also that the expectations of us customers play a major role. No manufacturer of aircraft add-ons can afford to ignore customers in the long run, regardless of the price tag. Scenery developers, on the other hand, generally seem unwilling to release more than one service package – if at all. I don't even want to start talking about adjustments to the current development status, which is very annoying for airports where construction is essentially constant. And they seem to be getting away with it, perhaps because the development time for a scenery is shorter than that for an aircraft, and they can therefore generate fresh cash more quickly and are therefore less dependant on customeer satisfaction.