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TechTracker PART II
Aaron Smith came to the rescue and sorted out my purchase problems at VersionTracker.com. It was most kind of him to personally give me a call with the good news. That was within a couple days of my posting Part I of this blog entry. He is one of the creators of VersionTracker and MacFixIt.
The lowdown:
MacFixIt is now, indeed, totally free for all. My brain is at fault for believing VersionTracker was following with the same. VersionTracker Pro continues on for those who enjoy its dedicated VersionTracker Pro application and all the perks of the VT site. I of course happily paid up to continue my subscription.
What went wrong:
Billing went out to previous VersionTracker Pro and MacFixIt Pro bundle subscribers, charging them for another year of both. Not only was this wrong, but the theoretical price charged for the update was also wrong. TechTracker caught the problem a bit late, but refunded the cost of MacFixIt Pro to everyone last week. Thank you.
What remains wrong:
1) CNET tech support. Please note that TechTracker has its own support staff whom I very much appreciate. When I can through to them, they have always come through for me. What is terrible is the CNET support staff. In the past I have had them insult me, treat me like a dimwit newbie, spew incorrect information at me, and act like utter idiots. I very much hope this changes. But the fact that they 100% ignored my requests for correct information regarding all the blunders at the VersionTracker site does not bode well for them. I find this very sad. I hope CNET sort this out rapidly and permanently. I like their parent company CBS and have consistently supported their work, much as I have supported TechTracker. CNET, however, have a lousy reputation these days at most of the boards I visit.
(If you've followed my Mac-Security blog you know how much I did not enjoy CNET's recently posted anti-Mac security FUD article. I ripped it to shreds through a series of four articles).
2) MacFixIt Pro is STILL listed on the TechTracker purchase page. $24.95. No such thing guys!
3) The Bundle of VersionTracker Pro and MacFixIt Pro is STILL listed on the TechTracker purchase page. $59.95. Again: No such thing guys!
Here is where I found #2 and #3 still listed at the TechTracker site:
https://secure.versiontracker.com/account.php
Aaron Smith provided me with a toll phone number to reach him. I'll be calling him this coming week to see if he can have #2 and #3 corrected.
I'm too nice a guy to ask for compensation for putting up with and sorting out this mess for TechTracker.
In the film industry, smart directors have an assistant called the 'Continuity Girl'. The reason a girl is typically used is because women tend to have a better eye for inconsistencies between camera shots. The most famous Continuity Girl was Alma Reville, who worked with Alfred Hitchcock. She eventually became his wife. Personally, I do not want to become anyone's wife, but apparently I am playing the role of Continuity Girl for TechTracker. **sigh**
I'll post Part III when the TechTracker purchase page is sorted out.
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Showing posts with label TechTracker. Show all posts
Showing posts with label TechTracker. Show all posts
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Thursday, September 10, 2009
TechTracker Goes Oblique Part I
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TechTracker Part I
I'm a big fan of TechTracker. I've enjoyed talking with one of its creators and back everything he has accomplished. It is a GREAT organization. Or it was until CNET bought it. Since that time it has been what I can only call a mess. And the mess is getting bigger this month. Real big.
TechTracker created VersionTracker.com and MacFixIt.com. I have been a paid member of both for yonks. Their services are great and matched by no one. But last year they started revamping their system and their servers. The ongoing transition has been very difficult to endure. Let me give you an example: The VersionTracker database has tags for applications that are compatible with Snow Leopard 10.6. Except the tags aren't showing up in the user interface, and their support staff don't know why. WTF?!
Then last week a sequence of events started that must be one of the strangest stories going on over the Internet. This will twist your mind:
1) A couple months back TechTracker announced that there services would become free for all. Nice! They offered a refund to all members, prorated, for the amount of time left on their accounts. I got 10¢!
2) Then at the stroke of midnight, September 7th, I had my VersionTracker Pro account cut off. Dead. Gone. I was an ordinary citizen again. Huh?! Did I miss something? So I wrote TechTracker about it early that morning. I wrote twice. I never heard back from them! All I got were auto-bot notes with an incident numbers. I got two of those auto responses for each of my support requests. Very weird, like their bot was stuttering.
3) Then about three hours later I got a message that both my VersionTracker Pro and MacFixIt Pro accounts had been renewed, and I had been automatically charged $64.74. HUH?! So both Pro services were still available?! WHAT?! I checked around their confusing website:
What could be going on? Someone murdered their support staff? Possible. More likely they all went on vacation for the week and turned off the auto-bot on the way out the door. Other possibility: My ripping to shreds last week of their diabolically stooopid anti-Mac security FUD article about Mac OS X security inspired them to treat me poorly. Revenge for speaking truth to dopiness? Oh CNET. Living down to my lowest expectations? I hope not.
What to do, what to do. I'm going to give it another week before I cancel my subscriptions over a the TechTracker sites. Its a cliff hanger! I'll let you know what response I receive from TechTracker, if any. If I kill off my TechTracker accounts I'll let you know and cry on your shoulder. I love those guys. This trouble is making me sad. :-(
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TechTracker Part I
I'm a big fan of TechTracker. I've enjoyed talking with one of its creators and back everything he has accomplished. It is a GREAT organization. Or it was until CNET bought it. Since that time it has been what I can only call a mess. And the mess is getting bigger this month. Real big.
TechTracker created VersionTracker.com and MacFixIt.com. I have been a paid member of both for yonks. Their services are great and matched by no one. But last year they started revamping their system and their servers. The ongoing transition has been very difficult to endure. Let me give you an example: The VersionTracker database has tags for applications that are compatible with Snow Leopard 10.6. Except the tags aren't showing up in the user interface, and their support staff don't know why. WTF?!
Then last week a sequence of events started that must be one of the strangest stories going on over the Internet. This will twist your mind:
1) A couple months back TechTracker announced that there services would become free for all. Nice! They offered a refund to all members, prorated, for the amount of time left on their accounts. I got 10¢!
2) Then at the stroke of midnight, September 7th, I had my VersionTracker Pro account cut off. Dead. Gone. I was an ordinary citizen again. Huh?! Did I miss something? So I wrote TechTracker about it early that morning. I wrote twice. I never heard back from them! All I got were auto-bot notes with an incident numbers. I got two of those auto responses for each of my support requests. Very weird, like their bot was stuttering.
3) Then about three hours later I got a message that both my VersionTracker Pro and MacFixIt Pro accounts had been renewed, and I had been automatically charged $64.74. HUH?! So both Pro services were still available?! WHAT?! I checked around their confusing website:
- The cost for the bundle of VersionTracker Pro and MacFixIt Pro really is still listed there at their site, despite their claims to be making them free. What planet am I on?!
- There is a bundle listed for both services together. The cost is $59.95, not $64.74. So I was charged more because why?
- Verification of the continued existence of VersionTracker Pro was found on a separate page on the site and in their VersionTracker Pro software. So, I was misinformed? But I wanted verbal, human verification as well.
What could be going on? Someone murdered their support staff? Possible. More likely they all went on vacation for the week and turned off the auto-bot on the way out the door. Other possibility: My ripping to shreds last week of their diabolically stooopid anti-Mac security FUD article about Mac OS X security inspired them to treat me poorly. Revenge for speaking truth to dopiness? Oh CNET. Living down to my lowest expectations? I hope not.
What to do, what to do. I'm going to give it another week before I cancel my subscriptions over a the TechTracker sites. Its a cliff hanger! I'll let you know what response I receive from TechTracker, if any. If I kill off my TechTracker accounts I'll let you know and cry on your shoulder. I love those guys. This trouble is making me sad. :-(
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Snow Leopard 10.6.1 Update - Where? Click Me
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I made the title for this article link to where you can get the downloadable version of the 10.6.1 updates, both client and server. Somehow Apple has not gotten around to adding these updates to the regular downloads page. Very strange. So you have to go here instead:
http://support.apple.com/downloads/
You'll also find there the new Security Update 2009-005 for Tiger and Leopard. For now I am going to skip reviewing the security fixes as I am gearing up for a big boring article summarizing the past month and a half of security patch trends, similar to what I did last month.
I finally got my claws on the client version of Snow Leopard. Tomorrow I expect to test out the Server version.
Blethering:
No iPod Touch with camera on 9-9-09?! I'm betting it is a marketing manoeuvre, one that will push forward in time my purchasing the iPod Touch.
I've noticed a lot of updates to software I thought was dead, all to make them Snow Leopard compatible. Kewlness.
What's up with TechTracker? I'm in total confusion as to what CNET have done to them. I'm getting the idea that even TechTracker is confused. I think I'll write an article about it! Coming up!
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I made the title for this article link to where you can get the downloadable version of the 10.6.1 updates, both client and server. Somehow Apple has not gotten around to adding these updates to the regular downloads page. Very strange. So you have to go here instead:
http://support.apple.com/downloads/
You'll also find there the new Security Update 2009-005 for Tiger and Leopard. For now I am going to skip reviewing the security fixes as I am gearing up for a big boring article summarizing the past month and a half of security patch trends, similar to what I did last month.
I finally got my claws on the client version of Snow Leopard. Tomorrow I expect to test out the Server version.
Blethering:
No iPod Touch with camera on 9-9-09?! I'm betting it is a marketing manoeuvre, one that will push forward in time my purchasing the iPod Touch.
I've noticed a lot of updates to software I thought was dead, all to make them Snow Leopard compatible. Kewlness.
What's up with TechTracker? I'm in total confusion as to what CNET have done to them. I'm getting the idea that even TechTracker is confused. I think I'll write an article about it! Coming up!
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