Why do you make it so difficult to get support?

Michael-Babbitt wrote on 4/19/2023, 1:29 PM

After a faulty Windows update I was forced to reset my PC. Now I cannot authorize Sound Forge because it's telling me the SN is already registered, and I get thrown into a loop where I end up here on the forum only to find no solutions. I have deadlines that I need to meet, and no way to get support which is incredibly frustrating.

One should not have to post their grievance about the products they paid for to a support forum in order to get support, instead of getting the work done! But here I am, wasting time typing this, knowing I can't get this issue resolved in time to finish this project. I'm going to have to switch to different audio editing software so I can get the work done. Terrible.

I followed all the steps required and after de-authorizing one computer, I am still unable to authorize. This is a serious problem! Why would I ever want to upgrade or purchase any of your products from hence forth when you treat me this way? I work for a software distributor who handles high-end producers and we would never dream of utilizing the kind of careless support you offer. I am shocked that you are still in business!

Sincerely,

Michael

Comments

SP. wrote on 4/19/2023, 2:02 PM

@Michael-Babbitt You wrote that you got the error message, that the product is already registered. Was this error code -24? This means you enter an incorrect e-mail address.

No Magix staff is active here. We are all users like you.

You need to create a support ticket if you want technical support. Click on the SUPPORT link at top of this page and then select your product. On the next page scroll down until the bottom and click on Contact Support and create your ticket. That's it. I'm not sure why you cannot find that.

But be aware it will take some days until you get a response. So maybe we can help faster.

browj2 wrote on 4/19/2023, 2:09 PM

@Michael-Babbitt

Further to what @SP. indicated, on the page for Sound Forge Pro are FAQ's with various topics. Before contacting support, you are supposed to take a look at these to see if the solution to your problem is not already there. For your case, it most likely is and is under Error -24.

John CB

Michael-Babbitt wrote on 4/19/2023, 3:14 PM

@Michael-Babbitt You wrote that you got the error message, that the product is already registered. Was this error code -24? This means you enter an incorrect e-mail address.

No Magix staff is active here. We are all users like you.

You need to create a support ticket if you want technical support. Click on the SUPPORT link at top of this page and then select your product. On the next page scroll down until the bottom and click on Contact Support and create your ticket. That's it. I'm not sure why you cannot find that.

But be aware it will take some days until you get a response. So maybe we can help faster.

Firstly, that the support staff is not active here is a tragedy, especially when this was the only option for support that I was offered. The link to "SUPPORT" gave me a runaround until I ended up here. Believe me when I say that I work for a company in this space, I know how to offer support the correct way. This is NOT that.

There is no option for me to open a ticket.

That said, indeed I had missed a character in my email address so appreciation to you for pointing this out. If it were me, I would change the prompt to say "Are you sure you entered your email address correctly? It does not seem to match the one we have on file." This is why it's important for companies to understand what obstacles are preventing their customers from having an excellent experience and make necessary changes to facilitate that. I don't think Magix is capable of such a thing now.

Michael-Babbitt wrote on 4/19/2023, 3:17 PM

@Michael-Babbitt

Further to what @SP. indicated, on the page for Sound Forge Pro are FAQ's with various topics. Before contacting support, you are supposed to take a look at these to see if the solution to your problem is not already there. For your case, it most likely is and is under Error -24.

John CB

I shouldn't have to look up the error code, my friend. That's counterintuitive. We are creatives, not programmers. Companies who approach customer support with a programmer mindset such as this are completely missing the opportunity to provide straight-forward, easy to understand errors that may present themself.

The company I work for would never dream of such a way to offer support. This is below the bar.

SP. wrote on 4/19/2023, 3:28 PM

@Michael-Babbitt Great you found the error! 👍

Magix support is fine. I never had problems with multiple requests to them over many years.

I'm not sure why you cannot open a ticket because after clicking on Contact Support there should be a bug blue button you can click on to send an e-mail.

And the error message states that another e-mail address was used. So that would be the first thing to check.

After all, this problem could have been solved in a short time but maybe you had a long, hard day of work. I also know the feeling that it gets complicated to stay concentrated after working a full day on something mentally exhausting.

browj2 wrote on 4/19/2023, 3:30 PM

@Michael-Babbitt

I shouldn't have to look up the error code, my friend. That's counterintuitive.

Was there not an error code shown that you didn't indicate in your post?

Would you prefer to raise a ticket and wait for 2 or 3 days for a cut and paste answer to a problem for which the answer is already available to you?

We are creatives, not programmers. Companies who approach customer support with a programmer mindset such as this are completely missing the opportunity to provide straight-forward, easy to understand errors that may present themself.

So you're saying that giving you an error number and description and looking it up on a list that is not very long is too hard for creative people? Seriously?

And so on...

Michael-Babbitt wrote on 4/19/2023, 3:40 PM

@Michael-Babbitt

I shouldn't have to look up the error code, my friend. That's counterintuitive.

Was there not an error code shown that you didn't indicate in your post?

Would you prefer to raise a ticket and wait for 2 or 3 days for a cut and paste answer to a problem for which the answer is already available to you?

We are creatives, not programmers. Companies who approach customer support with a programmer mindset such as this are completely missing the opportunity to provide straight-forward, easy to understand errors that may present themself.

So you're saying that giving you an error number and description and looking it up on a list that is not very long is too hard for creative people? Seriously?

And so on...

As a working professional, yes, seriously. If you don't understand this then I suggest trying producing music professionally and see what it's like to interrupt your flow and spend time digging for your issue, instead of getting work done. :)

johnebaker wrote on 4/19/2023, 4:33 PM

@Michael-Babbitt

. . . . it's telling me the SN is already registered . . . . I shouldn't have to look up the error code, my friend. That's counterintuitive.

In the case of this error code, looking up an error code would not be necessary - the error message, like many others, is self explanatory, ie the complete error message itself includes the reason for the error, ie 'serial number has already been registered to another email address' ?

John EB
Forum Moderator

Michael-Babbitt wrote on 4/19/2023, 4:53 PM

@Michael-Babbitt

Hi

. . . . it's telling me the SN is already registered . . . . I shouldn't have to look up the error code, my friend. That's counterintuitive.

In the case of this error code, looking up an error code would not be necessary - the error message, like many others, is self explanatory, ie the complete error message itself includes the reason for the error, ie 'serial number has already been registered to another email address' ?

John EB
Forum Moderator

I understand why you would feel this is "self explanitory" but it actually isn't. You see, in context where someone believes that they have entered the correct email address, this error isn't helpful. My understanding was that the error was telling me the product has been registered to "another email address" as it saying to me "it's already been registered". The operative word "another" is not as clear as you might think.

The better way to achieve clarity would be to change the error to state something like this:

"...has already been registered to a different email address". Further, adding something like "Check to see if you entered your email address correctly". Would have literally ended it. The choice of word "another" is subjective.

johnebaker wrote on 4/20/2023, 3:04 AM

@Michael-Babbitt

. . . . in context where someone believes that they have entered the correct email address . . . .

The belief that the correct email address has been entered is quite common, however due to 'confirmation bias', ie the incorrect address may be believed to be the correct one, or a typo is often missed.

The most 2 most common typo's are, a comma instead of the full stop (period), or a space, in, or at the end of the email address.

Error messages in general tend to be of a more technical than verbose.

John EB

rraud wrote on 4/20/2023, 11:56 AM

FWIW, see this comment for detailed instructions requesting a support ticket. It is simpler than it used to be, but can still be a little confusing.

That said, most problems can be resolved through this users forum.