KVR Audio

PsYAuM · Post by **PsYAuM** » Sat Mar 16, 2019 11:58 am

I felt compelled to make this post because i couldn't find a relevant thread that was dedicated to outing and praising those who deserved to be singled out for praise or rage.
People should know who the bad apples are when it comes to spending there hard earned money. I for one don't want to give my money to a company who can't even acknowledge you when you have a legitimate issue you need help with and likewise it is nice to praise those who respond fast, especially those smaller one man one app companies.
So i am going to start this thread of by sharing my recent experiences with software houses and i urge you to do likewise because people should be made aware of exactly what they are stepping into when they buy from certain companies.

Audio Damage's
customer service is awful or should i say none existent. I purchased Discord 3 many years ago and have been wanting to buy the upgrade. I tried logging into there account to be told that my account was one of many on a crashed server and that i should open a new account on there new server.
i have emailed them 3 times and tweeted them 4 times wanting to know how opening a new account would affect me being able to upgrade and if i had to open up a new account could i open it in a different email because i don't really use the email i purchased Discord 3 on anymore.
A reasonable request in my book. Obviously not in there eyes. 3 emails & 4 tweets and not one reply. completely ignored. Ignore like the plague unless having no customer service is no problem for you.
* I have read other people say they have been given the same treatment by Audio Damage so buyers beware!

Steinberg (Cubase)
very slow very unhelpful customer service even though i was trying to raise a reasonable point that the information they provided me with on this resale wizard was incorrect.
Buy with caution!

Mozaic Beats (AutoTheory)
Super fast and helpful response. Considering this is a very small company if not a one man band they put Audio Damage and Steinberg to Shame with there customer service.
Buy with confidence that someone is there to help with any issues you may have as there response was ridiculously fast!

Dmitry Sches
reasonably fast response but very helpful response. Don't know how that will change now that everything is going to be going through Plugin Alliance for them but if it stays the same then there customer service was very very good.

Cupwise (Nebula plugin)
Slow response but very helpful.
Acceptable customer service (just) if they could speed it up a bit it would help them a lot.

Bitwig
reasonably fast response but very helpful response.
There customer service was very very good.

Polyverse
Slow response but very helpful.
Acceptable customer service (just) if they could speed it up a bit it would help them a lot.

Acustica Audio
Slow response but very helpful.
Acceptable customer service (just) if they could speed it up a bit it would help them a lot.

Klysoft (ITVL)
fast and helpful response. Considering this is a very small company if not a one man band they put Audio Damage and Steinberg to Shame with there customer service.
Buy with confidence that someone is there to help with any issues you may have as there response was fast!

Arturia
reasonably fast response and very helpful.
There customer service was very very good.

Algonaught (Atlas)
reasonably fast response and very helpful.
There customer service was very very good.

Audiomodern (Riffer)
Very fast response and very helpful.
There customer service was Excellent.

Plugin Alliance
Slow response but very helpful.
Acceptable customer service (just) if they could speed it up a bit it would help them a lot.

UVI
Slow response but very helpful.
Acceptable customer service (just) if they could speed it up a bit it would help them a lot.

Sonic Charge
Slow response but very helpful.
Acceptable customer service (just) if they could speed it up a bit it would help them a lot.

VPS
Slow response and not very helpful at first, even though i thought my issue was clear enough.
we got there in the end but they definitely need to work on there customer service.

Zynaptiq
reasonably fast response and very helpful.
There customer service was very very good.

please share if you have positive or negative experience with software developers customer service.
it may just save someone a huge headache banging there head against a brickwall like you would be doing with Audio Damage.

chk071 · Post by **chk071** » Sat Mar 16, 2019 12:11 pm

Well, that's all very nice and stuff, but, i'm sure the next person will report totally different behavior. For example, i had the experience with Steinberg that they're slow but very helpful. The experience with Arturia support was that it pretty much depends on who you are dealing with. I had one very knowledged person who dealt my support request, and one very inexperienced and unknowledge person. And now? What is this worth? Why do you share it? Obviously to inform people about good and bad customer support, which i have just proven to be totally user and user case dependant. So, basically, this is pretty, pretty pointless.

mladi · Post by **mladi** » Sat Mar 16, 2019 12:24 pm

I had good and bad customer support even with the same dev (in my case NI) just like chk071 already pointed out. The person i first had to deal with was inexperienced and told me wrong things about the upgrade path to Komplete. Also i see the good intention behind the post it's a difficult thing and another user may had another experience so..

NTO · Post by **NTO** » Sat Mar 16, 2019 12:36 pm

Just because the thread is here, and they deserve it:
AAS transfers and support by email and has been exemplary.

Robmobius · Post by **Robmobius** » Sat Mar 16, 2019 12:54 pm

These are generally pointless threads... As chk071 has pointed out experiences are going to vary from person to person.

Luckily I find most devs pretty good. The only terrible experience I've had was with FLUX.

telecode · Post by **telecode** » Sat Mar 16, 2019 1:20 pm

NTO wrote: ↑Sat Mar 16, 2019 12:36 pm Just because the thread is here, and they deserve it:
AAS transfers and support by email and has been exemplary.

Okay. I will throw in my experience.

Native Instruments support has been really great so far for many years that I have been a customer. For a large company that has so many products in their portfolio and so many customers -- that have always ALWAYS gotten back to me within a reasonable time. Sometimes within a day. At most 3 days. Even for the stupidest simple questions that I should have first searched their site forums and the KBs . it's always in there -- though sometimes buried under a different tag.

Aloysius · Post by **Aloysius** » Sat Mar 16, 2019 1:30 pm

I felt compelled to say nothing.

imrae · Post by **imrae** » Sat Mar 16, 2019 2:47 pm

Knowing that the level of support is inconsistent is useful in itself.

But I'm really only interested in the experiences of "real" KVR contributors; this kind of exercise is rather vulnerable to drive-by rants of mysterious origin.

Kazrog and Dimitry Sches were both very helpful when I reached out to them. Novation were responsive and pleasant.

tapper mike · Post by **tapper mike** » Sat Mar 16, 2019 5:43 pm

Having been a former support technician and supervisor.

It really depends on the commitment of the guy in charge. It's hard to find competent techs with programming knowledge who want to be techs. In smaller operations this can be handed off to software developers who have little patience or interpretive skills. It's the last thing they want to do so they brush it off as long as they can.

In larger operations support is shuffled off to third party companies that work off of scripts (India) They never vary from the script, They may not fully understand the issue at hand and as a result when something doesn't go right they go back to the beginning of the script and start from there.

It takes a lot of hand holding for a manager to work things through with tech in support. Especially due to the misconception by the general public that being an arsehat is the only way to communicate or just a form of fun. And it's a delicate balance for the tech to when explaining the difficulties a given caller is providing.

PsYAuM · Post by **PsYAuM** » Sat Mar 16, 2019 6:33 pm

Robmobius wrote: ↑Sat Mar 16, 2019 12:54 pm These are generally pointless threads... As chk071 has pointed out experiences are going to vary from person to person.

i fail to see how giving someone an insight in to a companies communication skills before they part with there hard earned cash is a pointless exercise.
Yes it is very true that in some cases there will be mixed reports. What is the worst that can come from this?
A buyer has an informed choice to make and the developer's are aware that there reputation is on the line and can either continue to neglect there duty or make the necessary changes to improve the customer service.
Nothing will improve if people ignore it where as everything can change should the developer know that customers are scrutinizing them.
Of course its understandable that occasionally a developer maybe forced to switch off from a rant by an unreasonable customer (a courtesy message stating this should be sufficient) but in my two negative reviews i have a very reasonable reason to ask for assistance from both Audio Damage and Steinberg.
I would suggest if people want to post a negative comment about a companies customer service that they should at least provide a brief outline as to the reasons they have contacted the customer service department of the company they are reviewing.
At least then a buyer can make his/her own mind up as to if the company acted improper or if the customer is right to have an issue with them.

chk071 · Post by **chk071** » Sat Mar 16, 2019 6:46 pm

PsYAuM wrote: ↑Sat Mar 16, 2019 6:33 pm
Robmobius wrote: ↑Sat Mar 16, 2019 12:54 pm These are generally pointless threads... As chk071 has pointed out experiences are going to vary from person to person.

i fail to see how giving someone an insight in to a companies communication skills before they part with there hard earned cash is a pointless exercise.

As has been pointed out, these are no insights into companies communication skills, it's merely YOUR personal experience with their support.

And, if may add this, the amount of experiences you made with so many companies also makes me wonder how much of an "easy" customer you are.

Also, such "good intentions" often equal to having an axe to grind with the respective companies.

Aloysius · Post by **Aloysius** » Sat Mar 16, 2019 7:14 pm

How do we know you're not a competitor trying to run down the competition?

PsYAuM · Post by **PsYAuM** » Sat Mar 16, 2019 8:12 pm

chk071 wrote: ↑Sat Mar 16, 2019 6:46 pm
PsYAuM wrote: ↑Sat Mar 16, 2019 6:33 pm
Robmobius wrote: ↑Sat Mar 16, 2019 12:54 pm These are generally pointless threads... As chk071 has pointed out experiences are going to vary from person to person.

i fail to see how giving someone an insight in to a companies communication skills before they part with there hard earned cash is a pointless exercise.
As has been pointed out, these are no insights into companies communication skills, it's merely YOUR personal experience with their support.

And, if may add this, the amount of experiences you made with so many companies also makes me wonder how much of an "easy" customer you are.

Also, such "good intentions" often equal to having an axe to grind with the respective companies.

1) i agree

2) i shared my reasons for contacting both Audio Damage & Steinberg (the two not so good reviews). I will let whoever may or may not find my information useful decide if my apporoach to both companies was unreasonable. I will happily reply to messages and provide screenshots if required.
If i am unsure about something or require information about a product that is what customer service is for. Do you have to so pessimistic to presume that it must be my fault for wishing to clarify something?
again i will happily share the communique between me and any of the above companies that i have named so as anyone can decide for themselves if i was a pain in the arse or not.
But if you are being presumptuous i believe you will be proven completely wrong on this point.
i would just hope then that you would the decency to acknowledge to yourself that your presumption was way of the mark.

3) i wouldn't go as far as saying it was malicious but certainly there is a level of contentment in making others aware.

PsYAuM · Post by **PsYAuM** » Sat Mar 16, 2019 8:18 pm

Aloysius wrote: ↑Sat Mar 16, 2019 7:14 pm How do we know you're not a competitor trying to run down the competition?

You don't.
But i would have to have my fingers in a lot of pies to be competitors to all of those companies.
is there a company that's products compete directly with Audio Damage and Steinberg. I can't think of one of the top of my head.
i have made it clear my reasons for contacting those who i have singled out. i am hiding nothing and i am leaving it in the hands of the paying customer to make an informed decision based on the information presented in front of them. Again if requested i will happily share communique made with these companies so how is this a bad thing?
Do you believe it is right that a company should just completely ignore a paying customer with a reasonable request?

jancivil · Post by **jancivil** » Sat Mar 16, 2019 8:25 pm

PsYAuM wrote: ↑Sat Mar 16, 2019 6:33 pm
Robmobius wrote: ↑Sat Mar 16, 2019 12:54 pm These are generally pointless threads... As chk071 has pointed out experiences are going to vary from person to person.

i fail to see how giving someone an insight in to a companies communication skills before they part with there hard earned cash is a pointless exercise.

Well that's you failing, is all. A "company" cannot have a single communication skill set to that degree; they may think they have a 'culture' but unless it's a really small enterprise there will simply be variance because of individuals.

Steinberg for example: my experience ranges from stellar, something virtually unbelievable to abysmal. This ranges from the store in Indiana to somewhere surely in Europe, to begin with.

The good & the bad customer service.