I will NEVER be a Verizon customer again!

Let this serve as a warning to anyone who doesn't want their money "held hostage" by this company.
I was a VERY HAPPY Verizon customer for years.  I had Verizon wireless, Fios TV and Internet, and when I had a landline phone, it was Verizon as well.  Their tech support staff was great for me (when I had issues), and the tech's that came to the house to do installation were very friendly.
THEN, in August, my contract was up, and I was also planning to move.  I planned to take my Verizon services with me, but I then found out that my roommate already had Fios.  So I cancelled my Fios service, expressed to the agent on the phone that I had been a very happy customer, but my new roommate had Fios, so we didn't need two accounts, and that I would be extremely likely to get Verizon service again in the future, because I enjoyed them so much.
My Fios was disconnected 6 days into a billing cycle (as arranged), and this is where the trouble began.  I was told when I disconnected "you will received a pro-rated bill this month", I was assured I would be charged for the 6 days.  Instead, a couple weeks later, I get a bill for the FULL amount of a month's service.
Of course, I contacted customer service.  This online agent tells me that I was charged for the full amount because I was billed before the disconnect date.  She said that I had to pay for the full amount OR I would be charged late fees.  And then "next month you will receive a refund".  Now, this is a ridiculous method of billing to begin with, let's just say that.  But in the end, I agreed to it.  (For the record, I went back and forth with this very rude and condescending "service agent" for awhile before finally giving up on anything satisfactory happening)
So, I wait until this month... anticipating my refund.  I get my "memo bill", and there is a credit to my verizon account.  So I asked an online agent again "how do I get this credit refunded to my account?"  She sends me a copy and paste response (as usual, and I'm sure their trained to do so) about my final bill, etc.  So I tell her "I just got my final bill, and it has a credit on it, I want to know if I can get the credit sent to my debit account", her response "it has to say final".
The take home from this second conversation:  I conversed for a few minutes with an individual who sent me copy and paste responses, and then sent me rude condescending messages as if I couldn't read.  OBVIOUSLY, if you say something to someone, and they have questions, it is because they want clarification, and some kind of help, not for you to say the same thing over again and then be rude about it.  And, the kicker, they will send your refund (when they feel like it) electronically to your bank account if you have one on file... otherwise, you have to wait 60 more days for them to mail you a check.  AFTER you receive whatever they deem to actually be your "final bill".
Clearly, the online assistants are a waste of time.  And worse than that, the billing methods of this company are completely screwed up.
As long as there are other options out there for TV and internet, I won't be a Verizon customer.  I honestly think I would sooner sign a contract with Comcast than sign with Verizon again.
Current customers:  If you're planning on severing ties with Verizon, ever: be warned that it is going to be a 3-4 month process, just like trying to get rid of a really clingy ex-girlfriend.

Take this up with the BBB.  As that is a completely unacceptable way to do business. 

Similar Messages

  • Why I will never shop at Best buy again, EVER!

    I will never shop at best buy again! Over the years I have made sure to buy anything tech at best buy. I was a premier member for several years. Ive bought MacBook’s, Tvs, tablets, all kinds of tech. I used to send my customers to best buy to purchase all things tech because of the accidental warranty. Ive used the accidental warranty A LOT. It has been a great blessing as I am a darn cluts! Ive tripped and dropped MacBook’s, even had one randomly crack right across the screen. Ive had some pretty stupid battles with cuomer services In electronics that have failed. Im a network engineer with a degree in my field nd love all things tech. I one time put a solid state drive in my last mac which shorted out. I was told it would not be covered because I shouldn’t have changed the hard drive as I was not qualified. This flat out ticked me off more than anything. After speaking with their legal department about how the book that cam with the darn laptop they sold me had section on how to change the HDD and this would not void the warrenty. I decicded to go to best buy to swap it instead of apple. Which was a MAJOR MISTAKE. Not only did they junk it out on me but I had to pay to have it replaced with in its first year!!! I never even thought of the manufacturer warranty as it sent me into a MAD war path. So I reckon I deserved the $300 dollar loss…I was able to recover from most of this. I realize that most of the geek squad crew lacks education in the technology field. One of the most amazing feats of the local geek squad was when I was using canned air to blow the keyboard out on the mac. Yip it be my luck one blew off. Brought to best buy. Got a cell phone call before home that it was fixed. Now I had researched these keyboards and what was required to replace them. This was not a snap it back on feature. Went and picked it up. Was told by a supervisor named Paul that they had a keyboard in stock. Got home (youp silly me) opened her up. The key was crooked, it was even loose. Pressed it a couple time. Popped off with a string y substance. Yup they glued the darnkey on. MIND BLOWN
    Anyway through the years and the issues I just kept piling up. My wife bought me an alienware computer for Christmas. I fell in love!! I loved every bit of it. Much to my despair I left it on the table one day and my very curious 2 yearold yanked on the cord and down it came into many pieces. It never ran the same again. At this point I was bed ridden due to a rare disease. I jad just finished a series of 14 surgeries and was recovering for a few months or so. My wife bought it to Best buy  they had decided they wouldn’t fix it on the warranty that it was cheaper to replace. My wife called, and told me . I was a bit disappointed but I said as long as it works im fine. Well the phone rang a few min later, my wife, the manager did not have another alien ware, I told her I would wait and asked if she could have them order it. We were told best buy no longer carries them. So we would need to pick a different one. I was really upset. The had nothing equivalent to my alienware for playing games. I will be in a chair or bed for the majority of my life at this point. So I had gotten into PC gaming and invested a bit of cash into software. SO they hooked me up with an ASUS that was supposed to be equivalent of my alien ware. Of course that wasn’t the case. We had been snookered. Some of my games did run. Well, I had a working computer. Well like an idiot I had spilled water on it in a few months. Its was so dang slow. I sent it off to geek squad 4 times. They kept arguing with me So for a few months I used a computer that was slower than a P4. Well I got a new one.  Now keep in mind each time its replaced I have to pay cash. For the warranty. I had spent another couple of thousand on warranty issues when these idiots screwed up. Granted a couple of times for the spill were my fault but gluing a darnkey on my mac??? I had to pay almost 300 to insure it!!! CUZ THEY GLUED A KEY ON. BULL CRAP. Well when I got the new one it took 2 days to reload my software, welp wouldn’t you know it was defected? Wife brought it back sent it off nothing wrong. They JUNKED IT AGAIN. ANOTHER almost $300 BUCKS FOR A WARRENTY!!!! But you know what, it was my darn fault for not realizing they were stealing and using my wifes lack of knowledge. Perhaps for me it was all the pain killers, I don’t know. But what I can say, I got MAD and had My wife put me on speaker phone as I lost my composure. Well 3 more ASUS same model, same store, all within a DAY had defects, I was so darn angryI told my wife to get our money back wed go buy elsewhere. Well they didn’t want to do that!!!!! They wanted to give me less than what my aleinware cost!!! I already took a loss with the friggin ASUS 3 computer in a matter of days, wouldn’t work. Which brings us to today. Computer sucks, wont run new games. I got screwed by best buy. Yes it is my fault I was stuck in bed after surgery. But that’s why I paid an extra $300 for that reason and knowing with 4 kids and a clutz I needed to buy that protection. So I am thankful for it. But I know Geeksquad and best buy took advantage of my wife who is not computer literate. I haven’t been able to get up for long. But soon I will take this asus back to the store AGAIN. Once I get it replaced I will sell it on amazon or craigslist in its sealed state!
    So this is why I will never shop best buy again. Dell offers the same warranty. Not only is it cheaper, but they send our parts next day and a tech come to you next day and fixes it at your home. So hopefully by weeks end ill have the strength to go into best buy I will ne returning 2 wireless a routers and any other things I can. Then I will terminate my business with them. I can’t even believe that the 3 months I was under hospital care that best buy would use a pregnant women as such. But now they have lost a lifetime customer. I am 

    Greetings cm6pack,
    Welcome to the forum! After reading through this debacle with your Alienware and ASUS laptops, I can understand why you would be frustrated with the outcome. After having so many exchanges, who wouldn't be disappointed in the experience you have described? I am truly sorry for any inconvenience or discouragement these exchanges may have caused you.
    When a device is exchanged under the manufacturer’s warranty, the Geek Squad Protection plan may carry over to the new device under some circumstances. However, if it is exchanged under the Geek Squad Protection plan for accidental damage, per the terms and conditions of the Geek Squad Protection plan, the plan is considered fulfilled and a new plan must be purchased to cover the new device. That being said, unfortunately it seems that the store would have been correct in fulfilling your some of the previous plans if the device was exchanged due to accidental damage, requiring a new one be purchased.
    I was able to locate the receipts form these exchanges using the email address you registered on the forum, and I am sending you a private message with some further information in regards to this issue. You can check your private messages by signing into the forum and clicking the envelope icon in the top right corner of the page.
    Sincerely, 
    Tasha|Social Media Specialist | Best Buy® Corporate
     Private Message

  • I will never buy another HP Product Again!

    I tried to get some help with an issue that I have been having and could not decide where the issue fit best so I posted it over multiple areas ... NOT to SPAM, but because it did not fit into anyone area ... here it is listed below;
    I have a HP Pavilion a6152n PC purchased in Sept. 07, running 32 bit Vista
    For a while my web cam worked fine, but now, while I can see the web cam, those on-line using such services any Skype and Yahoo. can NOT.
    The audio continues work fine and CAN be heard by the other party ... the problem is with the video.
    I even bought a new web cam thinking maybe it was a problem with the cam, but the same problem repeats on THREE different web cams, one microsoft and two Logitech, so if must be some kind of software(hardware) problem with the computer.
    I am hoping it is an easy fix ... I just have no idea what it is, Please help!
    Thanks so much and have a good day!
    Not one area ... could be hardware, could be software, could be 'other' ... I wanted to get as many eyes as I could so maybe someone would have a solution.
    No solutions from HP ... just my posts locked.
    That is NOT the kind of customer support that I deserve and I will be taking my future business to other providers.
    My suggestion is that HP have both more help and more respect for its clientele.
    Thank you for reading this!
    Message Edited by Clyatt on 06-01-2009 05:16 PM

    I have had problems with HP from day one and HP would not-could not solve my problem so I lived with it for several years.  After intensive searching for help from HP, I took my HP products off line and bought a Brother AIO and booted it up and guess what....IT WORKED PERFECTLY  the first time.  It finally scanned to Word and I could edit my files.  NEVER could do that wtih the HP G85 AIO which was very expensive and the HP 2400 PhotoJet which was expensive at the time.  Not only would HP refuse to help me solve the problems with my AIOs, HP wanted money UPFRONT just to ascertain what might be the problem.  I have had my home office setup for consulting but was limited as to what I could do with the HP products but now I am certain that with the Brother, I can do all I need to make clients happy and bring in an income.  I, too, will never buy another HP product again.   And by the way, Wendy, get the hell off the forum....you are an HP employer and are as useless as your products.  You should be solving our problems with your products rather than talking gibberish.

  • WILL NEVER BUY AN HP PRODUCT AGAIN!

    I am incredibly unsatisfied with HP.  I bought my laptop (a dv7 4077cl) from Sam's Club a little over a year ago (in October of 2010), and over Thanksgiving the heat sink and fan assembly began to go bad.  I am in graduate school right now, so I let it go until finals week was over, and then took it home to see about getting it fixed.  After having tried Staples, Best Buy, and various computer stores to find a replacement heat sink/fan assembly, but couldn't.  So, I decided to try and call HP directly in order to get a replacement part, therefore I could fix it myself and save myself the $250+ they would charge me to fix it. First, the computer service technician told me they would need to replace the entire motherboard, which is blatantly untrue.  Then, we called back and were told that those parts were not available for customers to purchase (however, hard drives, moniters, etc. were).  I asked if I were to take it to a computer store, if they could get the part, and the representitive at HP stated that no, the only way to fix my laptop was to go through them directly.  It is absolutely RIDICULOUS that a) my laptop has hardware that goes bad after just over a year of use and that b) the only place we can get the part is through HP, for a crazy amount of money.  My family has bought roughly 6 or 7 computers from HP, as well as family friends, and after this experience I will never EVER buy another HP laptop again.  I will also tell every single person I know about this experience and urge them not to purchase an HP laptop.  This experience has been way more of a headache than it needs to be, and I can not believe the amount of trouble this has caused over a small part that needs to be replaced.  If you are considering buying a laptop, I urge you to reconsider and purchase a Dell or a Mac, because HP clearly does not stand behind their products. 

    Dont feel bad.
    I tried contacting HP service today about an issue I'm having with a Lap Top I purchased for my son last Christmas. The display has taken a dump and now the Hard Drive has crashed. I called a month ago. First I get that the Lap Top was out of warranty... I pourchased it on 11/26/2010 and they toldf me the warranty had expired ion July. I was told I needed to send in proof of purchase to verify the warranty period, but never recieved the email they claim to have sent. Now its really out of warranty and they wont help! I asked to speak to a supervisor and was told NO! can you beleive it! NO! if I wanted to have my lap top repaired I would have to pay for it! HP SUCKS! I own 5 HP computers 2 HP Printers, and I will Never buy another HP product again! Way to Go HP Customer service at its best!
    Happy Holidays!

  • HT201611 probably will never rent anything from itunes again. I rented a movie on iphone but cannot watch it on my ipad or macbook. this is ridiculous..and i am dissapointed. and the 2 days expiration is another absurd thing. again, dissapointed.

    probably will never rent anything from itunes again. I rented a movie on iphone but cannot watch it on my ipad or macbook. this is ridiculous..i am very disappointed. and the 2 days expiration is another absurd thing. bc i typically dont have the time to watch a 1 hour and 30 minutes movie but will watch a little every morning for a week to finish. this 2 day expiration force me to waste my time watching the movie. very, very dissapointed. next time ill rent from google. this kind of mistake should not be made by apple.

    Okay, you need to contact support definitely about what's going on. Here is a form that will send an e-mail into support for you:
    http://www.apple.com/emea/support/itunes/contact.html
    As far as the prices, the difference is likely the laptop version is the SD version and the iPad one is available in HD. That's the only reason you'll see a price difference. It has nothing to do with the device with movies/movie rentals. Apps yes, these no.

  • I will never shop at Best Buy again!

    Purchased a Flat Screen TV for my workout room on 11/16 at the Buckhead GA store.  Brought the TV home and had to order a new cable box which I did a few days later. Due to the holidays I did not get around to installing the TV until 12/5.  I had to get the cable run to the room, install the wall mount etc., and I have 4 other TVs so I was in no rush.  I finally get around to unpacking the TV to get it hung, plug it in, and there is an internal crack in the screen.  No problem I thought. So I put the TV back in the original box with the original packing and bring the original receipt back to the store to exchange the TV for a non-cracked one..  The store manager tells me that since it had been so long they could not accept the TV for exchange.  I was caught completely off guard as I expected it to be a no-brainer switch.  My response to the manager was "So you think that I saved all of the packaging for three weeks, broke the TV and then brought it back?"  He shrugged and I realized he was not going to do anything, so I walked out.
    In the last 5 years at Best Buy I have purchased: 2 Ipads, 2 Macbooks, 2 Laptops, 1Sirius XM receiver, 1 Set of speakers, and numerous phone cases, cords, etc. I am a rewards memeber and shopped at BB even though I could get better prices w/o sales tax by shopping Amazon.com.  
    I will never set foot in your store again and will do my best to spread the word about my experience!
    Bye Bye Best Buy!
    Solved!
    Go to Solution.

    Hello duugh,
    Welcome to the forum. I am truly sorry for the delay in replying to your post. I can certainly imagine your dismay at discovering a crack in your new TV upon opening it, and I would be very frustrated also if I was denied an exchange. After several days have gone by from the date of purchase, I would assume it would be difficult for the manager to determine if the damaged occurred in transit to our warehouse, and I'm very sorry for any disappointment this has caused.
    That being said, it is my goal to assist my customers in any way I can, and I would be happy to look into this further. Using the e-mail you registered on the forum, I was able to locate the order, and once I have more information I will be sending you a private message. To view your private messages, please make sure you are logged onto the forum, and click on the envelope in the top right hand corner.
    Thank you again for visiting the forum, and I will be in contact as soon as possible.
    Maria|Social Media Specialist | Best Buy® Corporate
     Private Message

  • The Worst Customer Service of My Life and Why I Will Never Shop at Best Buy Again

    This afternoon I decided I wanted to buy a Playstation 4. I discovered, while browsing Best Buy's website, an offer to trade in a PS3 Slim and controllers for $100 +$10 per controller. I took in the console, three controllers, and two games valued at $12 and $5 respectively for a total of $147 in trade in value. I knew what I was supposed to be getting when I walked in the door.
    So I enter store #1155 (Charlotte-Northlake) with the intention of trading in my PS3 and accessories, for a PS4 Destiny bundle. A very simple transaction, that could have easily been handled quickly (and was later handled quickly and painlessly by GameStop). I approach the desk and encounter this lethargic looking automaton named Ashlyn. Or something like that. I explain to her what I want to do, and how much I expect to get out of the trade in. She says "Well, you'll get whatever comes up on the thingy". So I set my console, 3 controllers, 3 cords (HDMI, power, controller), and two games on the counter next to the thingy (computer) and she proceeds to test to see if the console works. She incompetently moves the device and power cord over to the plug in station/screen to see if it works. After much confusion over which plug goes in what hole (I literally watched her try to plug the power cord into the HDMI slot), they stand around trying to turn on the controllers and connect them to the console. She finally discovers she needs the controller cord and asks me for it. I look on the counter to discover that it is no longer there. So I run out to the car to see if it's there, and it isn't. I come back in, and ask her if maybe she dropped it when she picked up the power cord, and she looks at someone else and says in her best impression of an incredibly rude person, "He only brought in two cords". I told her to look on the floor, and of course she found it. So they plug everything in, everything works, great. Now punch in whatever it is you punch in on the thingy and give me my PS4. Nope. Now she has to spend 20 minutes sighing and shaking her head at the computer while repeatedly asking me if my PS3 slim "is 500 GB" to which I respond, literally every time, yes. Eventually she gets help from a distracted eastern european co-worker who asks me "How much is it?" and I say "100" to which Ashlyn replies in another fantastic impression of a terrible customer service worker "He told me it was 500". I clarified that I meant $100 and 500 GB and they proceed to shake their heads and sigh at the screen as they fail to understand what I can only assume were heiroglyphics. So at this point Ashlyn has called me a liar twice, and has not once made eye contact with me, or attempted even the most basic customer service. She finally comes to the price of $117 dollars which I say "That's not right, did you get the controllers?" Naturally she did not. But also neither of them knew how to use the heiroglyphic thingy in front of them, so finally they said "Well, we can't do it in our system, so you'll have to take $117". I said no, took my stuff, and walked out. Ashlyn is a terrible customer service "specialist" and should be quickly fired.
    Part 2:
    So shaking and fuming I walk out the door to my car with my console and accessories in tow, and decide to call the other Best Buy near me at Concord Mills (Store #268). So I call, explain what I went through, and the girl on the other end of the line says "Oh, some people just don't know where to find the the right thing to do it" and said I could come down there and get it taken care of. So I head down to Concord Mills with hopes of finally making my simple transaction. I get there, tell the girl at the desk what happened, she more or less ignored me, and said she had to take it in the back and test it. Fine, do your thing. She comes back, and says "Where did you see the hundred dollar thing?" so I look it up, and WHILE I'm looking it up she says "I know what deal you're talking about, but I can only give you $40 dollars because this is in poor condition" once again in what I can only assume is corporate standard "Terrible Customer Service Rep Tone". I told her that a console is still in good condition if nothing is broken and it works perfectly, and that a few scratches don't mean "poor condition", this isn't a disc. She says "I'm not marking this as good condition, all I'll give you is $40." so I angrily picked up my stuff, and walked over to the GameStop in the nearby mall. Told him what happened, he took the console, checked that it worked, gave me $140 for everything, I paid the difference for a PS4 and they sent me on my way. 15 minutes. 2 hours of rude customer service reps at Best Buy sent me to GameStop, and I will honestly never set foot in Best Buy again.
    So that's my story.
    {Removed per Forum Guidelines}
    Charlotte, NC Resident and Former Best Buy Customer

    Hello puckettsd,
    My younger brother got his hands on his own PlayStation 4 a few months ago, and ever since then, I don’t think he’s talked about anything else. In fact, whenever I go to my parents’ house for a visit, I can always hear him discussing game strategy with his friends through his headset.  While I’m not much of a gamer myself, I certainly understand the PS4’s appeal, so I can see why you were excited to take advantage of our Sony PS3 Slim Trade-In offer and trade up to the new console.  It’s disappointing to hear that your visit didn’t go as smoothly as planned though, and I’m sorry for any frustration this caused while you tried to figure this out on your own.
    With any trade-in offer, we should always be assessing the item in question to determine its condition. This is done to make sure you are getting the best offer possible. An item may fall under in four categories - Good, Fair, Poor and Substantially Impaired/Not Working (see here for descriptions). As Ashlyn wanted to figure out which category your PS3 Slim fell under, she took the time to see if your console powered on and made sure your controllers worked properly. This doesn’t explain why she may have had difficulties adding on your controllers to the promotion though. If an associate isn’t sure about how to do something within our systems, they should be asking a member of leadership for guidance.  I’m sorry if oversight caused you to leave the store unsatisfied.  
    Having said this, I appreciate it that you were willing to provide us a second chance and visited our Concord Mills store.  I can understand your frustration though if this store didn’t feel that your console met the terms of the promotion and therefore didn’t meet minimum $100.00 offer. In the terms and conditions of the trade-in offer, we do state that the console must be in good condition to qualify. I truly apologize for this discrepancy. Regardless, I’m glad to hear that you were able to trade in your PS3 Slim for a new PS4 console, even if it wasn’t through us.  
    Experiences like the one you describe are never ones we like to hear, but thank you for taking the time out of your busy day to let us know about it. As a company, we realize there may be areas in need of improvement, and without feedback like yours, we wouldn’t be able to identify them properly to promote better service. Please know that I have documented your concerns as this a great opportunity for the store to learn from, and it is my hope that you give us a second chance in the near future.
    Respectfully,
    Alex|Social Media Specialist | Best Buy® Corporate
     Private Message

  • I WILL NEVER BUY A SAMSUNG PHONE AGAIN. NEVERRRRR......

    I have been with VERIZON for so many years now. I am happy with the service they provide. They're pretty good with having signal almost everywhere I go. But this Froyo update for the FASCINATE thing has been going on for so long. It is very upsetting. You read all the post online. Some are good and some really idiotic. Like people defending Verizon, saying Verizon never said anything about giving an update. It was there sales representative... trying to make a sale that made the promise. First of all... these sales representative represent VERIZON. That's why they are representatives. Second, be that as it may that Verizon never said anything about an update... why not post here at your own website and answer our question. It is your own website for goodness sakes... It is your own Verizon community. Just say the word and answer our simple question. Is there going to be an update or not? We deserve better. And by answering our question... we as customer can make our decision whether to drop the SAMSUNG brand altogether or if we should go to another network.
    Alot has been said that it is taking awhile because of all the bloatware that Verizon is trying to put on the phone. I don't really care about that technical stuff. Just be honest with us and tell us if there is going to be an update or not.
    I do think Fascinate is an OK phone. Another not so intelligent customer said that we should be happy since the Fascinate is doing a good job because it is working as it is suppose to when we can receive and send text and phone calls. If that is all I wanted I wouldn't get a smartphone. I would have bought a dumbphone which is a lot cheaper. We us customers are not asking alot. Just a little bit of honesty
    Updates are important. In this technological age... alot of the electronic gadgets we have can be updated quite easily. If Samsung's hardware and there software can't be updated... that's fine with me. At least I will know and when I do purchase another smartphone... I will know for sure to scratch this on the list.
    To those customers who are disappointed... spread the word. Good thing about technology is we can tell everyone how we feel about a product. Tell your friends. I'm not sure who to blame is whether it's VERIZON or SAMSUNG... but verizon on their own website are keeping us hanging. Being a good paying customer I think I deserve better. I hope Verizon remembers that we are not just numbers... we are people who deserve better.

    papa_leo wrote:
    @M91-30
    Maybe it is enough for defending the big corporates and look at this problem from consumer point of view. WE'RE ALL BEING LIED TO! 
    Enough is kissing Verizon and Samsung {word filter avoidance}, they won't cut you any good deal only because you are defending them.
    fixed.
    and I'm not kissing anything, you need to look at all the factors, instead of just complaining.
    1. there are a LOT of differences between the phones in the line.
    2. some have touchwiz, others don't, and there are two  versions of touchwiz used in the line.
    3. manufacturers have taken his long, and longer to release significant updates. and how can people use how long froyo hasbeen out? the phone is only 5 months old. you can't develop an os for a phone and launcer that aren't out, yet.
    4. it takes time for them to do testing to make sure the release is stable, and works.
    there has been froyo for this phone for weeks. if you have to have it, it's there for the taking.

  • I will never complain about Creative products again...long story

    Two days ago I was a winy little #$%&* complaining about what my Zen Touch didn't do. It didn't support Audible, it didn't support Janus, has few accessories, blah, blah, blah. Then, it didn't do anything...it broke. So, in my infinite wisdom, I decided that I would get a replacement. I had always looked for something a little smaller, a little sleeker, and not an iPod (that's another story altogether). I didn't go out and just grab what looked good on the shelf...no, I had my priorities. Battery life is important, almost more so than features. I looked up several candidates
    <BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr>
    Zen Touch - 40Gb - 24 hour battery
    Sony Network Walkman HD05 - 20Gb - 40 hour battery
    iRi'ver (insert model here) - 20Gb - 6 hour battery (or was it 2)
    Apple iPod Photo - 60Gb - 2 hour battery
    Zen XTra - 60Gb - I don't remember the battery life[/quote]
    At the time, I didn't even consider a 5Gb player because I was distraught. I had just lost something that, until that morning, was just another thing that I took everywhere with me. I didn't realize the gaping hole that its loss would create.
    After reading some reviews, I settled on the Sony player. It's small, it's slick, ZDNet gave it a sweet review with the only real bad points being the software (Sonic Stage) and the only available music service (Sony Connect) and it's got a 40 hour battery. I got this beautiful piece of audio hardware back to the office and quickly downloaded some tunes from EMusic (excellent bit rates...better than ANY download service period...if you like independent labels), loaded SonicStage and dumped the songs on the player. At first I thought, "SonicStage is a little slow...", but I had no idea what I was in for. I played the device and noticed...the sound...a little tinny. So what! I'll mess with the EQ later! I have a 40 hour removable battery! I also noted, that you can't build playlists on the fly. They had a "Bookmark" feature, but the only way to add songs to a bookmark was if the song was currently playing. I missed "Add to selected" but hell, it's got a 40 hour battery. I got the beast home, installed SonicStage on my PC and pointed it to my music library of some 5000 songs. SonicStage didn't like the fact that my library was on a network dri've (I have a Buffalo LinkStation that has nothing but media on it.) It began the import and after 2 hours of lots of blinking lights on my router asked me if I wanted to copy the files to my local hard disk. Of course not! That's what I bought the link station for! Creative doesn't have a problem with this! Why was Sony concerned? I told it "No!" After about another hour of activity, It showed me that it had begun importing the files. Four hours later it was done. Seven hours total to import my files? No problem, I have a 40 hour BATTERY! I then, sleepily as it was 2:30 in the morning, began to copy music to the device. Since I had also done this at work, the software said that I couldn't put any files from another computer onto the device. I had to delete the songs on the device and register my home computer. Fine, the songs are still in my library. I deleted the files, the hourglass appeared...and stayed... Thirty minutes later...the hourglass...what the #$%&! Now, I was told ahead of time that I would absolutely hate the software by a friend that owns a newer MiniDisc player. I have a faster computer than him so I thought it would be different: it wasn't. I have a great deal of tolerance for computers because I am a computer programmer and technician. I could not deal with this...this THING had to go.
    Today, I returned the Sony THING and gave myself till lunch to think about buying a new player. I came to the following conclusion. My Zen Touch will get fixed. I will use my Zen Touch until it completely dies. I like Creative's Zen Explorer...it's small, fast, and integrated into Windows. I like being able to queue up exactly what I want to play on the fly. Sony's didn't offer any of that. The Zen Touch may be a little fat, a little old (technology ages quickly), but the Touch really does nearly everything I wanted and does it well. Sony didn't even come close...it was just a pretty face, a slim design, and a bad personality. From what I can tell, Sony designed it's software for smaller players and smaller libraries. To me it doesn't seem to keep in mind, that I may not want to play everything by one artist or genre. It doesn't allow me to play an album, queue up another, and another...it allows that functionality on the song level through it's bookmarks. From what I hear the iPod is similar, but since I have no experience with the iPod, I cannot comment (If it is I'll add that to my reasons not to buy an iPod).
    At lunch, I returned to Fry's (my 4th time in 2 days) and went looking. I picked up a 5Gb iRi'ver, then a Rio Carbon. I stopped... I was doing it again. Creative players had been good to me... I didn't need another big player...just a small player I could use as a backup...the Touch would be fixed! I then picked up a Zen Micro and didn't turn back. Perhaps my comfort level with the Creative devices is just way to high. Perhaps the Sony software just shocked me. Whatever it was; unless I can see how a player works and how the software reacts, I think Creative will always get first consideration when choosing a new device.

    SSR wrote:
    iTunes only works on two platforms, so it's hardly some paragon of development.
    It's still one supported platform more than any other software, including Creative's Mediasource. This is a paragon of development compared to other MP3 players' software.
    SSR wrote:
    The only reason they got it working on Windows was to sell more iPods and tunes from their store.
    You say that like it's a bad thing. One wonders why other MP3 player manufacturers haven't done the same thing in return to boost their own sales. There is no MP3 player to compete with the iPod on the Mac because it seems no other manufacturer is able to write compatible software or firmware. Gi'ven that the iPod started on the Mac and really started the MP3 player appeal for the masses, I find it staggering that no other MP3 player software developer even considered writing support for the Macintosh into their own software development plans.
    SSR wrote:
    I find the UI for iTunes *awful* so it's not as simple as you make out. Also the UI is hardly Windows compliant.
    You may not like the UI for iTunes, but hundreds of thousands of other people love it! I (personally) prefer WMP0, but iTunes is the only other MP3 player management software that even comes close to that. Mediasource is laughable next to iTunes. The iTunes UI may not be windows compliant, but that's hardly a failing. When I referred to compliancy, I mainly meant the firmware (such as UMS support) did not conform to any known standards which meant that the software developers for the management software faced the burden of making it compatible with other (non-Windows) platforms.

  • "Group Policy Service & Permission Problems" I Will Never Buy Microsoft Windows Computers Again..

     I am trying to get some last bit of use out of my Worthless Microsoft Windows Software.. I have spent more time attempting to make this worthless  junk work, than I ever get using the computer for what it is designed for.. Both My Windows 7 Pro,
    and my Windows 8.1 are the worst products Microsoft has come out with ever.. I started out using Punch Card Machines, in the 70's that worked better than the junk Microsoft is selling us today.. The last 13 computers I have purchased with Windows software
    are all in the dumpster. Their tech support is worthless, and half the time you get sent from one phone number to another, and no one knows anything.. I have purchased two sets of software from Microsoft store that have turned out to be Non-Genuine, I paid
    full price for, have receipts of sales, dates, validation key numbers, and still spend three days in a row trying to explain to the other end that my software they sold me is shit, and no one understands.. And on top of that will not give me a e-mail address
    to send them a copy of the proof of purchase to them for my file, and to prove to them they are selling shit, and they will not  give me a  address to send them their problems plagued software..  I have three sets of software that i downloaded,
    and had disk sent as backups that have bad validation keys, and Microsoft will not honer their sales, and will not give me keys that work.. 
    If it dose finally work, I can not get the "Diagnostic Policy Service" to start, this online troubleshooting will not  work, never has worked  on windows 8, nor have I ever had any sound on the same computer, nor has my Windows Media
    Player ever worked either.. Both Win 7 Pro, and Win 8.1 Group Policy will not let me download anything on the C-drive that can possibly repair what is wrong with the Crap at hand, Their my computers, but I have no permission to do a goddamn thing to repair
    what is wrong with it,,I do not want to read another fucking article on tech shit, I want to know how to delete "Group Policy" from every machine I have, because its only purpose I see it to keep me from using my machine , and forcing me to have
    to sit on hold and listen to those idiots on the other end just say its another 99 bucks to fix something that I have already given them 99 bucks several times before to fix nothing.. WTF, I was never a fan of Bill Gates, but today he looks like a genius compared
    to who/what is working there today.. Dose this happen to everyone, or am I just jinxed? Can someone give me a patch or something besides another article to make this shit work..  Thanks, Barnstormer2790

    Wouldn't think anyone wants to help you at all with that attitude - Microsoft products work just great for me.
    perhaps you should look closer to home for the issues you have!! Im Out!!!!

  • Never buying another Creative product again

    To anyone at Creative who might be reading this,
    I recently submitted the following question to Creative email support: "When do you plan on releasing updated drivers for the Audigy 2 line which will support Vista and be compatable with the Service Pack installation? (The lack of up to date drivers currently prohibitsupgrading to SP according to Microsoft) Thank you."
    In return, I received the email below. As a long time supporter of your company, I'd like your team at Creative to know that this canned, non-reply pretty much guarantees that I will never buy another Creative product again. The notion that a simple email query can't be answered if it's more than a year after the purchase date is laughable. Especially when it's related to your company failing to keep up to date with the roll-out of one of the most common operating systems in the world.
    Thank you for so clearly indicating the little regard with which you hold your customers.
    ----- Original Message ----
    From: Creative Americas Customer Support < [email protected]>
    Dear _,
    Thank you for contacting Creative Labs regarding your Audigy 2 Platinum.
    From the detailed description provided; I understand you wanted to know
    when will updated drivers for Audigy 2 be release so that it can support
    Windows Vista. I would like to apologize that you have to go through
    this issue on your sound card.
    However, based upon your product's date of purchase 27/4/2003, it
    appears you're beyond the complementary telephone (60 days) and e-mail
    ( year) support period.
    If you are covered under a Creative Care Protection Plan (CCPP) and are
    within the warranty and service coverage of your plan, please reply back
    with the e-mail address the plan was purchased under, as well as your
    CCPP order and reference number.
    If you are beyond your complimentary support period and not covered by a
    Creative Care Protection Plan, there are helpful support options that
    are still available to you.
    . You may take advantage of our free web support services by visiting
    www.**bleep**.com to access the following resources:
    Knowledge Base of expert solutions, frequently asked questions, and
    reference material
    Download drivers and application updates
    Auto update will automatically detect and download the latest updates
    for you (not available for all products)
    Product documentation
    Tutorials
    User-to-user customer discussion forums
    2. You can purchase a Creative Tutor session to receive expert help and
    advice from a Technical Advisor by phone. Each Creative Tutor session
    is only $2.99 and covers one support issue for up to 30 minutes. To
    start, simply call -405-707-8777 Monday through Friday from 9AM until
    6PM Central Time. Please have your credit card ready when calling.
    3. If you believe you product is in need of repair and wish to simply
    pay for an out of warranty repair, you're welcome to reply to this
    message to request an out of warranty repair. Simply confirm your
    product's name, model number, serial number and an advisor will provide
    you with a repair quote and instructions on how to safely ship your
    product to Creative.
    4. You may utilize 3rd party on-line forums and discussion groups that
    can be found using on-line search engines.
    However, you may want to download and install the updated driver and
    software applications from our download site which is more compatible
    with your Windows Vista.
    DOWNLOAD LINK: http://us.creative.com//support/downloads/
    -Select ?Product Type? + ?Product Categories? + ?Product Name?, once you
    have select your product option, select the ?file type? + ? Language? +
    ? Operating system?.
    If you would like to search for additional solutions and for future
    references, you can search through our Knowledge Base website, http://us.creative.com/support/kb.
    Again, I apologize for the complications that you have experienced and I
    understand where you're coming from. Meanwhile, you might want to take
    advantage of our products and accessories.
    Bring out the vibrancy in your entire music playback with the Creative
    Aurvana Live! Headphones. Lightweight and ergonomically designed, the
    Aurvana Live! is perfect for listening to music on the move or for your
    home entertainment use. Constructed with revolutionary driver technology
    and in-depth acoustic tuning, it deli'vers a natural and faithful audio
    presentation akin to a li've performance. Sharp transients and dynamic
    passages are handled with effortless finesse. For realistic music
    listening, look to the Aurvana Li've! today.
    For more information regarding our accessories please refer to this
    link:
    http://us.creative.com/products/product.asp
    Thank you for choosing Creative Labs.
    Sincerely,
    **removed**
    Technical Support
    Creative Labs Americas
    Original Message Follows:
    ==================================
    Subject: CLI - Technical Support Request - (Audigy 2 Platinum)
    Self Description: Advanced PC User
    Region: Americas
    Country: United States of America
    Support Inquiry: ID(5) I need help with a third-party software
    application
    Product: Audigy 2 Platinum
    CCPP Certificate Number:
    Serial Number:
    Purchase Date: 27/4/2003
    Operating System: Windows Vista 32-bit
    Creative Model Number:
    Computer Brand/Model:
    Processor/CPU:
    Memory:
    BIOS Type/Revision:
    System Board/Chipset:
    Detailed Problem Description:
    When do you plan on releasing updated drivers for the Audigy 2 line
    which will support Vista and be compatable with the Service Pack
    installation? (The lack of up to date drivers currently prohibits
    upgrading to SP according to Microsoft) Thank you.
    ==================================
    *Please remove the names of our email advisors per the forum rules. Dale-CL
    Message Edited by Dale-CL on <span class='local-date'> 03-26-2008<span class='local-time'> 2:0 PM To anyone at Creative who might be reading this,
    I recently submitted the following question to Creative email support: "When do you plan on releasing updated drivers for the Audigy 2 line which will support Vista and be compatable with the Service Pack installation? (The lack of up to date drivers currently prohibitsupgrading to SP according to Microsoft) Thank you."
    In return, I received the email below. As a long time supporter of your company, I'd like your team at Creative to know that this canned, non-reply pretty much guarantees that I will never buy another Creative product again. The notion that a simple email query can't be answered if it's more than a year after the purchase date is laughable. Especially when it's related to your company failing to keep up to date with the roll-out of one of the most common operating systems in the world.
    Thank you for so clearly indicating the little regard with which you hold your customers.
    ----- Original Message ----
    From: Creative Americas Customer Support < [email protected]>
    Dear _,
    Thank you for contacting Creative Labs regarding your Audigy 2 Platinum.
    From the detailed description provided; I understand you wanted to know
    when will updated drivers for Audigy 2 be release so that it can support
    Windows Vista. I would like to apologize that you have to go through
    this issue on your sound card.
    However, based upon your product's date of purchase 27/4/2003, it
    appears you're beyond the complementary telephone (60 days) and e-mail
    ( year) support period.
    If you are covered under a Creative Care Protection Plan (CCPP) and are
    within the warranty and service coverage of your plan, please reply back
    with the e-mail address the plan was purchased under, as well as your
    CCPP order and reference number.
    If you are beyond your complimentary support period and not covered by a
    Creative Care Protection Plan, there are helpful support options that
    are still available to you.
    1. You may take advantage of our free web support services by visiting
    www.**bleep**.com to access the following resources:
    Knowledge Base of expert solutions, frequently asked questions, and
    reference material
    Download drivers and application updates
    Auto update will automatically detect and download the latest updates
    for you (not available for all products)
    Product documentation
    Tutorials
    User-to-user customer discussion forums
    2. You can purchase a Creative Tutor session to receive expert help and
    advice from a Technical Advisor by phone. Each Creative Tutor session
    is only $2.99 and covers one support issue for up to 30 minutes. To
    start, simply call -405-707-8777 Monday through Friday from 9AM until
    6PM Central Time. Please have your credit card ready when calling.
    3. If you believe you product is in need of repair and wish to simply
    pay for an out of warranty repair, you're welcome to reply to this
    message to request an out of warranty repair. Simply confirm your
    product's name, model number, serial number and an advisor will provide
    you with a repair quote and instructions on how to safely ship your
    product to Creative.
    4. You may utilize 3rd party on-line forums and discussion groups that
    can be found using on-line search engines.
    However, you may want to download and install the updated driver and
    software applications from our download site which is more compatible
    with your Windows Vista.
    DOWNLOAD LINK: http://us.creative.com//support/downloads/
    -Select Product Type + Product Categories + Product Name, once you
    have select your product option, select the file type + Language +
    Operating system?.
    If you would like to search for additional solutions and for future
    references, you can search through our Knowledge Base website, http://us.creative.com/support/kb.
    Again, I apologize for the complications that you have experienced and I
    understand where you're coming from. Meanwhile, you might want to take
    advantage of our products and accessories.
    Bring out the vibrancy in your entire music playback with the Creative
    Aurvana Live! Headphones. Lightweight and ergonomically designed, the
    Aurvana Live! is perfect for listening to music on the move or for your
    home entertainment use. Constructed with revolutionary driver technology
    and in-depth acoustic tuning, it deli'vers a natural and faithful audio
    presentation akin to a li've performance. Sharp transients and dynamic
    passages are handled with effortless finesse. For realistic music
    listening, look to the Aurvana Live! today.
    For more information regarding our accessories please refer to this
    link:
    http://us.creative.com/products/product.asp?
    Thank you for choosing Creative Labs.
    Sincerely,
    **removed**
    Technical Support
    Creative Labs Americas
    Original Message Follows:
    ==================================
    Subject: CLI - Technical Support Request - (Audigy 2 Platinum)
    Self Description: Advanced PC User
    Region: Americas
    Country: United States of America
    Support Inquiry: ID(5) I need help with a third-party software
    application
    Product: Audigy 2 Platinum
    CCPP Certificate Number:
    Serial Number:
    Purchase Date: 27/4/2003
    Operating System: Windows Vista 32-bit
    Creative Model Number:
    Computer Brand/Model:
    Processor/CPU:
    Memory:
    BIOS Type/Revision:
    System Board/Chipset:
    Detailed Problem Description:
    When do you plan on releasing updated drivers for the Audigy 2 line
    which will support Vista and be compatable with the Service Pack
    installation? (The lack of up to date drivers currently prohibits
    upgrading to SP according to Microsoft) Thank you.
    ==================================
    *Please remove the names of our email advisors per the forum rules. Dale-CL
    Message Edited by Dale-CL on 03-26-2008 12:10 PM

    Boz968 wrote:
    Looks to me like they gave you very good advice and places to look to solve your problem yourself.
    Please suggest to us how you would resolve this problem with any of those resources? This is a known compatibility problem between Audigy series soundcards (amongst others) which can only be resolved with updated drivers which have not been written yet. It affects both recently purchased cards and older ones. In the future, I would suggest becoming more familiar with the problem before jumping in with comments (also reading the original post helps).

  • I will NEVER buy a Thinkpad again :-(

    So I opened my briefcase this morning and took out my Thinkpad T61p.
    It was warm, which worried me - it has always run very hot and it doesn't seem to shut down all the time when I close it. (note: with Win 7 my other one does).
    So I opened it up and the screen was black on half of it, garbled on the other half and had a "crack" down the middle of it.
    I called tech support. What they told me made me decide I will never buy another Thinkpad again (15 year devoted customer here who loved Thinkpads).
    They said:
    - You must have dropped it. It is NOT covered under warranty. i.e. You are lying.
    - You can send it to us to fix it. You must give us your credit card number and pre-approve a $950 charge to replace the screen.
    I told them that for less than $750 I could buy an entire new Thinkpad with an equivalent monitor and that this was ridiculous. They escalated it and supposedly Lenovo will call me (there is a prior deal between IBM and Lenovo setting prices for this) within two days.
    I checked prices locally for replacing monitors - it is $179 for parts and labor.
    Lenovo has ruined the Thinkpad brand.
    I doubt they will call me within 2 days. Prior to this any time I had a hardware problem they were great - that is why I have purchased 8 Thinkpads in the last 15 years.
    This is a lesson in how to lose a long-term customer who was completely loyal.
    Note from Moderator:  A comment which violated the forum rules was removed.

    Did you put a switched on laptop in your carry case? Also if you have a cracked LCD, there is little chance that it will be covered under warranty unless you have accidental protection warranty, no laptop company covers LCD cracks in their laptop on standard warranty term, whether it is IBM or Lenovo.
    With the full magnesium rollcage, it would take a large force to actually crack the LCD. It is a standard policy to charge customer a service fee of around 500 to 750 dollars when the company suspects there is user damage to their laptop. It is a policy from IBM days.
    Regards,
    Jin Li
    May this year, be the year of 'DO'!
    I am a volunteer, and not a paid staff of Lenovo or Microsoft

  • It is ridiculous that you do not have an email to customer service.  I have been waiting for an hour to chat, but it is never available.  this makes me not want to be a verizon customer.

    It is ridiculous that you do not have an email to customer service.  I have been waiting for an hour to chat, but it is never available.  this makes me not want to be a verizon customer.

    Think about it...
    The reason they won't use email is so they can "stretch the truth" and get away with it.  They can tell you anything you want to hear over the phone and deny it all later.  In these forums, posts can magically disappear.
    With email, they are caught between a rock and a hard place, so it will never happen.  Things said in email are much harder to go back on.

  • Verizon has failed me and I will no longer be a customer.

    I wanted to order a prepaid phone. So I did.
    I couldn't place an order with a separate shipping address than billing address. This is bad for me, because my credit card is linked to my home address, buty I live at university right now.
    I chatted online with the online orders customer service. They told me to place the order anyway and call in to customer service to have it changed.
    My order was shipped 3/12.
    The number to customer service was not for the right department and I had to be transferred multiple times. Online orders was happy to put in a request to change my shipping address. They give me a number to call back if I have any problems.
    I wait two weeks. Nothing comes in the mail. I check the tracking number, and it says it got to a town 1.5 hours from me, then was returned to sender on 3/14. That return arrived back at Verizon on 3/17.
    I call the customer service number I was given last time. It is a robot for bill paying, not the department I'm looking for. I found a general number for "Verizon customer service" and go through multiple transfers to actually get to a department that can help me. (Actually, they were the only ones who could even SEE my order details.)
    They tell me that first time customers cannot have a separate shipping address than billing address, so Verizon told fedex to stop sending my package and return it. Even though two weeks ago, customer service happily put in a request to change my shipping address.
    Today is 3/26.
    In the meantime (the ten days between 3/14 and 3/26), I was not told that my order was being cancelled. I was not refunded. I had to call to get any information other than the obvious, that my package was not in my mailbox.
    Verizon has utterly failed me. I'm reording this phone, but after the required month of prepaid service I will no longer be a Verizon customer for as long as I can avoid it. The customer service system is broken, the ordering system is bad, and customer service representitives are forced to be annoyingly "friendly". (A note on that: when they ask for my name, I can't tell if it's to greet me with a first name or to get information for my order/problem/question. It makes the conversation terrible because I don't know whether I should spell my hard-to-spell last name or even say it in the first place! Very frustrating. And the forced small talk just wastes my time. The constant transfers and representitives' inability to see details of my order unless they're in the right department is also a massive waste of my time.)

    I'm reording this phone, but after the required month of prepaid service I will no longer be a Verizon customer for as long as I can avoid it.
    Yes I did. Here it is.
    Also, stop being annoying. Thanks.

  • Why i will never again buy a creative prod

    Hi,
    scince there is no company email-adress or subforum for criticism i post my issue here to see what other users think about that:
    Below is an email i wrote to the company:
    Dear Ladies and Gentleman,
    please let me explain to you why i will never again by a product of your company.
    It is not because of the product itself, it is the way you distribute your product.
    I recently bought a Zen Creative mp3-player, which really is a fine product.
    When i bought it online, the product description said "software only available for windows"
    which is ok with me, i dont use windows anymore, and i am used to reading this sentence.
    Ususally this only means "of course you can access the product with whatever operating system you prefer,
    but the software we ship out with the product works only on xyz" (xyz meaning windows in 99%)
    Then i tried to copy my music:
    It is not possible to read or write to the player using Linux as operating system.
    Please dont tell me that this would be difficult to write your software for linux,
    i am a software engineer developing for windows and linux and i know that this is trivial.
    2.
    Even worse, you designed the player in a way, that it is impossible to copy data to it WITHOUT
    your software. And no, this didnt show up in the product description. Scince your player is more or
    less just a usb-stick, there is - from a technical point of view - not a single reason why anybody would
    need a special software just to simply copy data to an usb-device.
    3.
    Now the worst of all: I still had a windows 2000 system on one of my computers, so i tried to install
    your software on the system. which of course failed scince your software can only be installed on windows xp.
    Again, for no technical reasons.
    This leads us to 2 questions:
    a) How much money did Microsoft pay you, that even people owning a legimitate windows 2000 licence are forced to buy windows xp?
    b) Let me guess: As soon as windows Vista is released your software only runs on windows vista, right?
    Please be also informed that i also sent letters describing the case to several german popular computer magazines, and hopefully
    they will publish my concern as an example of how impertinent a company can get.
    Regards,
    Timo RoessnerMessage Edited by tr on 2-26-200604:07 AM

    Tr,
    I am not a Creative employee but I do know a bit about Plays for Sure so I can reply a bit about that.
    ). Creative did not choose to limit the players to Windows XP. Creative chose to make the ZEN line Plays for Sure devices. Microsoft was the company that chose to limit Plays for Sure to Windows XP (and at one point they were saying there would be a 2000 and ME/98SE update but it never came out). By choosing Plays for Sure I am sure Creative was aware that they would be restricting to a Windows platform but Plays for Sure was the only standard being offered that has built in database and metadata support which the ZEN line all depended on. UMS (Uni'versal Mass Storage) does not have the features that allow for the internal system database to be updated during transfer (rather you have to update it following the transfer which is usually done at boot up which leads to very long boot times following uploads). Creative had been using a proprietary system (called the PDE driver) however that also was being critisised for not being uni'versal enough and requiring the disk to install the drivers (the ZEN Micro fixed that by adding a UMS data dri've feature which many used to store the CD on). The PDE system also did not support subscription tracks like PFS does.
    2) The system is in fact not at all like a USB stick. There is a database in the background that stores all of the metadata for the tracks to allow for the sorting and subscription/DRM support. There is a USB storage mode where you can make a portion of the dri've act like a data stick using UMS but it can't support music transfer due to the limitations of the UMS system. On Windows XP machines (with SP ) the player is plug and play with no need for special software (it works with Windows Media Player). It is only when you move outside of the specified system requirements that you lose the plug and play ability.
    3) Windows 2000 isn't supported by Plays for Sure. There are workarounds, but really this is a case of Microsoft not providing a driver. You may be a
    a) I suspect Creative paid a licensing fee to participate in PFS. I would take your complaints about PFS not supporting Windows 2000 to Microsoft as they are the company that runs that program.
    b) I doubt that Microsoft would remove PFS support from Windows XP. Such a move would be horrible but once again would not be the fault of Creative.
    One might fault Creative for supporting PFS, but even today it is the only standard available that offers the features it does. It also offers support to what accounts for a vast majority of Creative's targeted user base. I am sure Creative would love for it to be offered for 2000/ME/98SE but they don't develop the license.
    Jeremy

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