An open letter to Fahim,
I am making this complaint about eFrontier public because of their disastrous (in my eyes) support and public relations. I subscribed to pre-ordering Poser 7 a while back, and just over a week ago I received the registration codes and links for downloads. Last Tuesday, after several false starts, I downloaded the zip files concerned into their own directory. What followed is a nightmare. Not only could I not unpack them, but every time I subsequently clicked on that directory, Windows Explorer choked! I have an anti-virus program, Sophos; when I tried to check the files out with that, Sophos refused to work too!
That same day I sent an email to support, using the form on the eFrontier site. I'm still waiting for a reply a week later.
The following day I sent an email to Sales, again using the eFrontier form. I'm still waiting 6 days later...
We're now at Thursday last week. I emailed Fahim concerning the above. Four days ago I got an email from a Colin Gerbode -- he suggested that I delete the files and attempt to download them once more. I deleted the previous downloads, and three times I tried to download them from the eFrontier site -- each time I was presented with an alert box which said "Internet Explorer cannot download Poser7...The server returned an invalid or unrecognized response".
I have just tried to download the files once again -- now I am directed to an "Access Denied" page, and told that I am "not allowed to access that resource".
Fine, I don't want to access that resource any more -- or ever again. But I DO want my money refunded. At the moment I am being cheated. If this posting is ignored I shall take this further.
John Oakley
Poser 7 Download Issues
Moderators: Víctor Paredes, Belgarath, slowtiger
Poser 7 Download Issues
You can't have everything. Where would you put it?
The lesson to learn from this is to buy a boxed version through e frontier's supplier channels. At this moment, e frontier's servers seem to be overloaded by the Poser downloads. And if your harddrive dies on you, it is much easier to reinstall from a disk than re-download through the internet.
John, I really hope you'll get your refund asap. See it as a test for e frontier's after sales service. If they fail, please tell us, so we'll know what kind of company e frontier is. Perhaps then we can put some pressure on e frontier to clean up their act.
John, I really hope you'll get your refund asap. See it as a test for e frontier's after sales service. If they fail, please tell us, so we'll know what kind of company e frontier is. Perhaps then we can put some pressure on e frontier to clean up their act.
Thanks for the support, Rasheed. I have asked for a refund on several occasions, to be met with a wall of silence. So things don't look good at present, but yes, I'll definitely keep everyone posted. I hope I can report back on some positive news...
You can't have everything. Where would you put it?
It can be frustrating. I hope too that efrontier takes care of this asap. I know that someday I am going to be downloading a new update for ASP.
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While you are waiting here's a little story about some trouble I had a while back.
I had ordered DSL through Verizon some years ago. I live in an... old neighborhood. 50 year old house. Not very tech savvy neighborhood. I think tin cans and string was pretty cutting edge with most of my neighbors.
I was most likely the first person on my street to get high speed DSL.
It took more than a year... close to two... before it was working correctly. At one point I was at my wits end... I threatened to cancel the whole thing and go with cable.
The tech person on the phone begged me not to. She suddenly got very serious and said that they really had no idea what was wrong and they needed to find out. She pleaded with me to let them keep trying to fix it. I honestly believe they probably changed every junction box and wire between my house and the phone company before it worked properly.
I was on a first name basis with the workers who came out every few days... weeks... to test my line over and over. On many occasions I could be found out side in the middle of the night with a phone plugged into my NID telling tech support; "No. It doesn't work out here either... and it's raining."
The problem kept getting tracked further and further from my house. It was like those christmas lights that if one bulb is out the whole thing stops working. They had to fix junction boxes on several of my neighbors houses.
The funniest moment was when the phone guy looked at the connection outside my house. He did one of those long frightening whistles and used the Lords name in vain. Apparently someone years ago had wired the phone to the outside pole using indoor wiring. It took a couple of days but they replaced the whole thing and even rewired into the house.
Eventually it worked. I was able to be online during a rain storm or a snow storm... or... a Tuesday.
So... that is my sad tale of customer support woes. I still have the nightmares.
-vern
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While you are waiting here's a little story about some trouble I had a while back.
I had ordered DSL through Verizon some years ago. I live in an... old neighborhood. 50 year old house. Not very tech savvy neighborhood. I think tin cans and string was pretty cutting edge with most of my neighbors.
I was most likely the first person on my street to get high speed DSL.
It took more than a year... close to two... before it was working correctly. At one point I was at my wits end... I threatened to cancel the whole thing and go with cable.
The tech person on the phone begged me not to. She suddenly got very serious and said that they really had no idea what was wrong and they needed to find out. She pleaded with me to let them keep trying to fix it. I honestly believe they probably changed every junction box and wire between my house and the phone company before it worked properly.
I was on a first name basis with the workers who came out every few days... weeks... to test my line over and over. On many occasions I could be found out side in the middle of the night with a phone plugged into my NID telling tech support; "No. It doesn't work out here either... and it's raining."
The problem kept getting tracked further and further from my house. It was like those christmas lights that if one bulb is out the whole thing stops working. They had to fix junction boxes on several of my neighbors houses.
The funniest moment was when the phone guy looked at the connection outside my house. He did one of those long frightening whistles and used the Lords name in vain. Apparently someone years ago had wired the phone to the outside pole using indoor wiring. It took a couple of days but they replaced the whole thing and even rewired into the house.
Eventually it worked. I was able to be online during a rain storm or a snow storm... or... a Tuesday.
So... that is my sad tale of customer support woes. I still have the nightmares.
-vern
Heyvern, that's pretty funny!
I am happy to report that Fahim has contacted me, and has been very gracious about eFrontier's problems, and made me an offer that I can't refuse! (No horse's heads involved either...) So thankfully my faith in eFrontier has been restored in this season of goodwill to all men.
Thank you for your support and interest.
I am happy to report that Fahim has contacted me, and has been very gracious about eFrontier's problems, and made me an offer that I can't refuse! (No horse's heads involved either...) So thankfully my faith in eFrontier has been restored in this season of goodwill to all men.
Thank you for your support and interest.
You can't have everything. Where would you put it?
Only I hate it when you need a desperate cry for help like this to get things done. That shouldn't be necessary. Well, customer support isn't what it used to be. Unfortunately, many companies think customer support is a burden, in stead of an opportunity to distinguish from the competition.
Listen to what Ed Horrel has to say about this in his podcast about customer support Talk About Service. He sometimes makes phone calls to unsuspecting customer support lines to ask for service, only to find himself struggling with an uncooperative voice response or menu system. Sometimes you can't escape the impression that companies see customers as a necessary evil. "You see me as a distraction from your routine? I'm your source of income, dear support person!" "I want x amount of donuts, and you told me I can't have them, because otherwise there aren't any left for other customers? What kind of nonsense is this?"
Listen to what Ed Horrel has to say about this in his podcast about customer support Talk About Service. He sometimes makes phone calls to unsuspecting customer support lines to ask for service, only to find himself struggling with an uncooperative voice response or menu system. Sometimes you can't escape the impression that companies see customers as a necessary evil. "You see me as a distraction from your routine? I'm your source of income, dear support person!" "I want x amount of donuts, and you told me I can't have them, because otherwise there aren't any left for other customers? What kind of nonsense is this?"
I had the misfortune to use Verizon DSL in a historic small town with frequent thunderstorms. The net connection would go haywire with every storm, and Verizon told us (essentially) we were lucky to be able to use DSL at all, because some houses' wiring just can't handle it. I'm much happier with cable.
In E-Fronier's defesnse they are profoundly busy this season. I think Poser 7 eclipsed all expectations and it seems Anime Studio is selling faster than ever too. Their servers could not be prepared for what hit them.
In a similar example, if any of you use Vue products from E-On Software, the same thing happened with their release of Vue 6. I called them because I couldn't download it and, even though I eventually decided not to buy (it was in my vbext interest to buy a boxed full licence rather than upgrade so I get a disc for Mac AND PC rather than just one,) I talked to the support guy on the phone for a while. He basically said it was like that commercial, remember the one where the guys at a web company get their store setup and online and the first order comes in? They start smiling, and then a few more orders come in and they are really happy, and then suddenly thousands and thousands of orders come in and they all fall silent. Remember that commercial? That basically what happened with Vue and with Poser 7.
In a similar example, if any of you use Vue products from E-On Software, the same thing happened with their release of Vue 6. I called them because I couldn't download it and, even though I eventually decided not to buy (it was in my vbext interest to buy a boxed full licence rather than upgrade so I get a disc for Mac AND PC rather than just one,) I talked to the support guy on the phone for a while. He basically said it was like that commercial, remember the one where the guys at a web company get their store setup and online and the first order comes in? They start smiling, and then a few more orders come in and they are really happy, and then suddenly thousands and thousands of orders come in and they all fall silent. Remember that commercial? That basically what happened with Vue and with Poser 7.
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Terrence Walker
Studio ArtFX
LEARN HOW TO Make YOur Own Animated Film!
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Terrence Walker
Studio ArtFX
LEARN HOW TO Make YOur Own Animated Film!
Get Video Training to Show You How!