ORIGINAL: krizrox

Or maybe the reality is that Cakewalk has a 99.9% customer satisfaction rate and the 1% vocal minority (like George suggested) are the only ones who come here to complain?

...who will never be satisfied no matter what Cakewalk does (or anyone else for that matter)?

I might be ignorant but I'm not seeing like 10,000 people logging onto this forum to complain about this. I'm certain Cake must have more than a few dozen customers around the world.

I feel your pain, having been there too (I could write a book). Do you think it would be better for Cake to charge for tech support like Microsoft and Norton do?

What do the rest of you think? Is it really as bad as these guys are making it out to be?

Larry,

There are just as many people who've gotten bad service recently from Cake, but haven't come on here and complained. I'm one of them. I've chosen to reserve final judgment until my transaction has completed (which'll be when v. 6 is released). I did, however, send an email to customer service letting them know how dissatisfied I was with them so far.

Also, I'd like to point out a couple of things you've apparently missed: The 7-page thread on this forum called "Cakewalk Online Store" would be, for many, more than enough evidence that at least, for a period, Cake were experiencing an unusual number of order-related problems. Add to that the fact the company is seemingly short on tech support staff, and well, even if I hadn't experienced problems myself, I would tend to believe the reports from others. Exactly why you seem so dismissive of them is beyond me...

JD

ORIGINAL: JonD

Larry,

There are just as many people who've gotten bad service recently from Cake, but haven't come on here and complained. I'm one of them. I've chosen to reserve final judgment until my transaction has completed (which'll be when v. 6 is released). I did, however, send an email to customer service letting them know how dissatisfied I was with them so far.

Also, I'd like to point out a couple of things you've apparently missed: The 7-page thread called "Cakewalk Online Store" is more than enough evidence that at least, for a period, Cake were experiencing an unusual number of order-related problems. Add to that the fact the company is seemingly short on tech support staff, and well, even if I hadn't experienced problems myself, I would tend to believe the reports from others. Exactly why you seem so dismissive about them is beyond me...

JD

It doesn't seem to me that he's being dismissive. It seems to me he's being pretty reasonable. You yourself say "at least, for a period, Cake were experiencing an unusual number of order-related problems" which implies that the online store problem was unusual and temporary, and the severity a simple matter of degree.

I think what some people may object to is blanket and unsupportable statements like "Ridiculously bad customer support" and assumptions that, in spite of evidence to the contrary in some cases (i.e., email filtering in the case of missing registration codes), all these problems are obviously Cakewalk's fault.

In other words, it's just as wrong to claim that their support is terrible just because one happens to be experiencing a problem, as it is to claim that their support is flawless just because one has never had a problem.

JMHO. I'm in the never had a problem with Cakewalk category. They're not perfect, but who is?

ORIGINAL: pattse

In 2006 email is a legitimate form of communication. For many people, myself included, it is the preferred form of communication.

It still is a potentially "flawed" method of communication for urgent needs. Email is not 100% reliable 100% of the time. There are server issues and other intermittent problems that sometimes prevent the proper send/receive functions of your email. Even as we speak, I'm having problems sending email from my OWN website's email; yet, I can send email to my website from another email account and it's received perfectly!

The problem here is that (quite often it seems) Cakewalk doesn't answer emails. They offer a way to contact them through email but then they ignore you.

I beg to differ, in the past ten days I've sent email to CW regarding three separate issues and received a response within 36 hours on each occasion (they post a disclaimer that a response should be expected in approximately two business days). One of my requests was for a detailed registry edit function and the tech who responded provided very specific instructions (as well as a file attachment containing the registry entry that was needed for me to customize the function that I wanted to perform)...

If you send email to CW and don't receive a response within 48 hours (weekdays), then you should call them! I've sent important email to clients and/or family members that required a timely response. If I didn't get the response as expected I picked up the phone and called them. More often than not they informed me that they never received the email I was calling about!

Yes, it IS the year 2006, and technology has come a LONG way...But it still ain't perfect! Don't blame CW, because you really don't know whether they actually received your email (or if they tried to reply)...If you have an important issue to resolve...CALL THEM! At least then you'll know that you aren't being ignored...If you can't resolve your issues that way, THEN you can post generic negative remarks about CW's support team...

Just my 2¢ worth due to all of the tech-support bashing that's been going on lately...

ORIGINAL: JonD

Also, I'd like to point out a couple of things you've apparently missed: The 7-page thread on this forum called "Cakewalk Online Store" would be, for many, more than enough evidence that at least, for a period, Cake were experiencing an unusual number of order-related problems. Add to that the fact the company is seemingly short on tech support staff, and well, even if I hadn't experienced problems myself, I would tend to believe the reports from others. Exactly why you seem so dismissive of them is beyond me...

JD

I'm not sure a response to this is going to have any positive impact but I did actually go and read through much of that particular thread you mentioned. Here's what I found:

A few international customers were having problems placing orders with their credit cards. I didn't plan to spend too much time on this but I counted approximately 10-12 messages from customers (apparently all outside the US) who were experiencing problems. I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and say the number was closer to 20. And let's say that for every person that actually took the time to come here and post a message, there were 5 more that didn't. What does that come to? 100 people? For arguments sake, let's say that there were 10,000 people that didn't have any problems. Is that 1%? I'm not good at math. If it is, that seems like an acceptable number to me considering that perhaps maybe half of those who complained - it wasn't even Cakewalk's fault to begin with. Who knows what the real numbers were. No one here knows for sure.

Oooohhh... but wait! What's this? At least two in-depth responses from Cakewalk apologizing for the trouble and providing instructions on how to resolve the issues. Including telephone numbers for you to call! BOY is that terrible customer support. I just can't believe it. The worst I've ever seen. Yes sir. You are so right. That is just horrible. Ridiculously bad. I've never seen such horrible customer support in my life. How dare they?

And if that ain't bad enough, now they are planning on hiring additional customer support representatives to improve the situation. That's it. I'm getting rid of Sonar and buying Pro Tools. I have this $15,000 lying around I don't know what to do with.

Any other rants I can shoot holes in?

All I will say nobody with a problem is interested in percentages and why should they be. If you buy something and for whatever reason you cannot use it then I think you will agree that you are bound to complain out of pure frustration. If it only happens to one in a million is totally irrelevant to the person with the problem. I don't know if some of you are on bonus points for jumping on someone who voices a frustration or a word against Cakewalk but give the guy a break.

I live in Spain and purchased direct from Cakewalk when Sonar 5 was announced, it was a nightmare for European Customers. It was such a mess that I had to phone the USA several times and in the end they sent Sonar 5 directly to me by FedEx. 10 out of 10 for the guy at Customer Support for biting the bullet. However the supply from the online shop from Cake was an absolute disaster and going by the threads on those who have recently taken advantage of the free Sonar 6 offer it appears it still is.

Lets see what happens when 6 starts shipping particularly for European Customers. My honest and sincere advice is to hang on until your local distributor has 6 on his shelf. That way if you have to phone it will be less expensive. Oh and I love Cakewalk software but the Online shop has severe problems when it comes down to Europe and yes it will lose customers unless it gets its act together. Saying so on this board is making Cakewalk aware of a very real problem and hopefully one that they will eventually resolve. Jumping up and saying how wonderful they are doesn't solve anything for anybody. Put your gun away you are a lousy shot; remember we are Cakewalk users and that should put us on the same side.

Gerry

ORIGINAL: krizrox
....
[Oooohhh... but wait! What's this? At least two in-depth responses from Cakewalk apologizing for the trouble and providing instructions on how to resolve the issues. Including telephone numbers for you to call! BOY is that terrible customer support. I just can't believe it. The worst I've ever seen. Yes sir. You are so right. That is just horrible. Ridiculously bad. I've never seen such horrible customer support in my life. How dare they?

And if that ain't bad enough, now they are planning on hiring additional customer support representatives to improve the situation. That's it. I'm getting rid of Sonar and buying Pro Tools. I have this $15,000 lying around I don't know what to do with.

Any other rants I can shoot holes in?

Okay, last time (sigh). Larry just to be clear, I'm not trying to convince this board of of anything. You seem to think I'm intent on showing that Cakewalk support is terrible, blah,blah,... when I've already said that even though I've had recent problems too, I still won't air them out here on the forum because the transaction isn't over, and I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. (I did respond to an email to their support dept letting them know I wasn't happy, but that was the extent of it).

What I've objected to here (and notice I've only responded to you, Larry?)... is your patronising attitude toward those who've had problems... your constant insinuations that they're in the minority (They know, and it's irrelevant - as long as the problems keep happening)... your implying that you alone "know and have had experience with customer service"... your comments like the ones above where you either give inappropriate analogies or invoke sarcasm to imply that the "whiners" have nothing to whine about...

"Any other rants I can shoot holes in?". Wait a few hours. I'm sure someone will come along with a complaint about their order -- and you'll be able to enlighten them.

My apologies to the forum. I realize that my exchanges with Larry have, in part, kept this thread bumped, so I'll just end my side of it now.


JD

I'm not on anyone's side. Contrary to what you might think, I'm sympathetic to the international community. There's no doubt in my mind that some of you have a legitimate gripe. And there's also no doubt in my mind that Cake is doing their best to resolve the situation.

There's not much we as fellow users can do to help you with this, and other related issues. I don't know how many times Cake has been here telling us they don't monitor this forum often enough. And yet people think that all their software registration and on-line ordering issues will magically be resolved by coming here and making unpleasent and irresponsible comments about the company.

Sorry - my position hasn't been swayed by your rebuttals. If you are haing a severe problem, pick up the phone and call them. Be persistent. Patience and persistence always pays off.

My .02:
I'm not sure I would classify the original post as "rediculously bad" in an era of over-zealous spam filters.
If you didn't receive a registration code by email, and then didn't receive a reply to a support query from the same email address, then very likely it's an email problem.

I understand it's frustrating, and THE SAME THING happened to me: I didn't receive a registration code... then emailed support about it... didn't get a reply... and then thought about it for a while. In my next support email, I gave an alternate email address under the assumption that my ISP was filtering my emails from Cake (as they do with Apple and MOTU). I then received my registration the following day, at the alternate email address.

It's annoying, but I don't see more than that... I've had much worse from other companies (Apple comes to mind...) that just don't care anything about you. I don't see that from Cakewalk... seriously.
The reality is that ISPs are filtering more and more of your email BEFORE it even gets to your inbox, and before it gets to your local machine and IT'S spam filter. It's recent technology, and it's got plenty of bugs to work out...
Moreover, ISPs upgrade the filtering software, trying to find the "best" one... you might get emails today, but not tomorrow.

Personally, I find email less reliable now than it was 3 or 4 years ago, but I get MUCH less junk mail than I once did.

A simple fix on Cakewalk's part that would help a lot would be to allow alternate email credentials during registration... two email addresses.
It wouldn't help everyone, but the percentage of users not receiving emails at either one would certainly decrease.

If you don't get emails from support, supply another email address... they're free...
From the many threads here and at a few other forum sites, this problem is increasing all around... MOTU and Apple both have it, and both have had it with my addresses. Occasionally, one rogue email will actually get through...

Take care,
- zevo

Yes I agree. The Cakewalk registration server IP address (or range) is blocked by some providers. Other Cakewalk mails may get through. I would like Cakewalk to investigate this. It shouldn't be all that difficult to send those confirmations from a "non-spam" address.

I try to be a ghastly ghoulishly GOOD customer at all times
48 hrs then a pleasant phone call
Maybe it IS foreign to me !
Cakewalk has been very very good to me