Two days ago a customer posted in the General Section of their forum that despite raising a ticket two months earlier relating to a problem with his purchased Airbus he still had not received a reply.

A few hours later his post was no longer visible.

Ordinarily I wouldn’t post here about a one-off incident like that but there’s more.

In early May I posted a simple request. Given it’s been two and a half years since the last Concorde update for P3Dv5 would there be another to address the outstanding issues. I listed them. Nothing that prevent users from successful flights but knowing FSL’s dedication I expected them to be tidied up.

Despite several attempts to get a response from the developers no reply was given.

I have the phone number of one of the developers. When I called him it went to voicemail. Text messages have gone unanswered. A private message here on AvSim hasn’t been read despite his regular visits.

Whilst I can live with no one replying to me odd though it is because this person and I have always got on well this behaviour is very out of character. His silence is strange.

But it was the post two days ago that has caused me to write this. With only minor updates released this year for their Airbus series there has been no major releases of anything else. The Christmas message from the owner made no mention of Concorde for any sim.

Continued polite requests for any news on Concorde for MSFS from many people have gone unanswered. Indeed I can find no mention of them announcing a MSFS Concorde. Strange for a company that released a 32-bit Concorde for FSX 15 years ago.

I’m wondering if they’re in trouble.

There have been posts by Lefteris regarding an upcoming update for the Airbus MSFS fleet as recent as two weeks ago.

I do, however concur about the frustrating lack of information regarding the Concorde (and whatever else they are working on).

Best,

@evaamo , i guess those must be within the Airbus forums that non-customers don’t have access to. What type of update? A whole new aircraft or just more tweaks to existing ones.

Their business model is unique. I wonder how they make money with two serious competitors to the Airbus.

6 minutes ago, Ray Proudfoot said:

@evaamo , i guess those must be within the Airbus forums that non-customers don’t have access to. What type of update? A whole new aircraft or just more tweaks to existing ones.

Their business model is unique. I wonder how they make money with two serious competitors to the Airbus.

second job for a few of them.

3 minutes ago, fluffyflops said:

second job for a few of them.

The last time I spoke to the lead programmer for Concorde he had gone full time. I suspect they have other sources of income.

I’m still trying to work out why I and many others cannot receive a reply to polite questions.

2 hours ago, Ray Proudfoot said:

I’m still trying to work out why I and many others cannot receive a reply to polite questions.

Treat 'em mean, keep 'em keen?

17 minutes ago, DD_Arthur said:

Treat 'em mean, keep 'em keen?

They’re out on their own in that regard. People patiently waiting for something I believe will not arrive.

From what I can gather on the FSLabs forum regarding the A321, they're testing a new update having reworked some of the GSX integration (maybe because of the latest GSX updates) amongst other things. Hopefully it will appear soon.

@FPVSteve , so why would that prevent them answering a question that required only a Yes / No response? There’s a big difference between silence and outright rudeness.

And why don’t they even say Concorde for MSFS is being worked on? No one in that topic is asking when it will be released. Just a clue as to how advanced it is.

Then there’s the outright refusal of a leading developer to answer his phone or reply to a text message even if it’s just to say “I have nothing I want to say to you” bizarre though it would be.

I wonder if the gentleman who posted about his ticket has received an apology yet.

It’s not just one issue. It’s multiple and I used to be very close to Lefteris and his co-developer. How sad how things have changed. 😟

These questions aren’t directed at you Steve. I thought long and hard before posting the above. This attitude has been going on for months if not longer.

No point speculating or indirectly berating the FSLabs team. I'm sure they're adult enough to know/realise that their attitude could be alienating customers or potential customers but that is their concern.

Even though I do own their A321CEO and am generally satisfied with it in MSFS2020, apart from the frustratingly incomplete visuals, I am holding off on their NEO. Too many complaints and unresolved issues in their fora are allowing me the luxury to wait for, either the anticipated update which is supposed to solve a tonne of issues or, for the Fenix version (hardly any news on that front either).

6 hours ago, speedyTC said:

No point speculating or indirectly berating the FSLabs team. I'm sure they're adult enough to know/realise that their attitude could be alienating customers or potential customers but that is their concern.

I’m not berating them. Read my post again. I stated facts. The only speculation was wondering if they’re in trouble given how quiet they’ve been for several months. I just don’t understand why adults behave in such a manner. What is there to be gained with that attitude towards their current and future customers?

Maybe they have other contracts outside the home flight simulation community that require absolute secrecy at all times? Maybe this has become a habit over time? I do not know, but I have always suspected that FS Labs have other much bigger commercial contracts for their software, and the home flight simulation community is just a bonus spin off on the side. It took them (apparently) a long time to turn their attention to MSFS from P3D, and there was confusion as to how they could have survived during that time, considering that sales for P3D nose dived into the ground as soon as MSFS 2020 was released.

46 minutes ago, Christopher Low said:

Maybe they have other contracts outside the home flight simulation community

I mentioned something like that on their forums a couple of years ago and got a warning from Lefteris about speculating about things I have no knowledge of. The post was hidden or deleted.

I think you’re right Chris. One team member told me he’d gone full time. You don’t do that unless you’re guaranteed a decent income. That would prove impossible unless new aircraft were rolled out on a regular basis.

I know their products are top notch. Concorde for P3Dv5 really is great. It’s just the length of time it takes them to finish a project that frustrates many. To not even make any passing reference to Concorde for MSFS - their flagship product 15 years ago - beggars belief.

The refusal to answer simple questions does them no favours too.