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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Greetings cm6pack,
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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
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Le 08/06/2014 19:07, Stan Jones a écrit :
>
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Why I will never buy another Creative product ever again....

I just replaced my creative sound card with a brand new Asus. So far the Asus works perfectly, sounds great and was super easy to install. The first creative card I bought was deader than roadkill in 3 months. The second Creative card I bought(The one I just replaced) would intermittently stop working either in the middle of doing something like playing a game for no apparent reason or simply not work at all when you boot up the computer. No error messages, no indications of any kind. It would just go silent. I have a feeling that part of the reason this may have been happening is because the shape of the card was very weird and never fit in my case quite right so I had to almost force it to line up with the screw hole so that it wouldn't fall out of the PCI slot. Not the case with my new Asus card. I put it in the slot, everything lined up perfectly and took about 0 seconds to install.
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One bad product, well maybe somebody had a bad day at the factory. 2 bad products is pushing it. 3 bad products means there is a serious quality control and cheap parts problem in the company. Perhaps this is because I am buying their low end products. Maybe their 200? - 300$ range products are better. But after all this hassle and waste of money I sure as hell am not wanting to find out.
Next on the agenda: replace the crappy Creative speakers with something nicer. Sad really, the Sound Blaster used to be the Industry Standard. Now your cards are junk. After 6 months the metal on the card is literally rusting and corroding away. I have NEVER seen that happen on a computer peripheral before and I have bought a lot video cards, sound cards, etc... Goodbye Creative. That is the last dollar I spend on you.

Which component is broken? If it is only the hard drive it can be replaced, and someone here will be happy to help with that.
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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
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Dear Adobe. Your useless customer service is why I will never choose to purchase another Adobe product. For $200, I get to read tons of other users questions, Yay!

Last time I try your "help"

Since this is the only message you have in your history it appears to be the first time you ever tried to get help thru the forums. You should try posting a question that explains your problem so that someone might be able to offer help.

Why I will no longer be a customer of Creative.

/ I am the president of a web development firm who uses Skype and a Creative webcam to communicate with our clients around the world. This morning, we had to re-load our computers' OS because of some issues we were having, and when I went to look for the drivers for our web cam, there were none at all on the Creative website. It is a model that is still on sale at the Creative website and my local best buy, but there is NO information on this product in your support section. It is code # VF045.
I then called the Creative customer support folks to be informed that I would have to pay $5.00 for a CD to be SNAIL MAILED to me as they do not provide the drivers for this product on their site.
Are you kidding me? That is absolutely rediculous.
Last year we over $30,000 dollars on computer hardware and software and we expect that to go up. But I am now researching alternate webcam and audio products, because if this is the way you guys treat your clients and customer base, good ridance. Rest assured, as an influencer to my clients and staff, I will do what I can to recount this to anybody that will listen.

I am a computer technician with over 30 years experience and have bought 2 ZEN Stones. Both turned themselves into bricks shortly after the warranty period. As a knowledgable technician I researched the problem on Creative's support venues and attempted all suggested solutions before filling out the requisite support form. I provided all the necessary troubleshooting information.
The result? A very polite totally lame canned response that make it obvious my problem submission was not read. In fairness I have to comment that the response is par with most online support. It seems corporations are not interested in provideing a quality support product to their clients. Why else would they outsource to offshore countries you cannot understand for phone support and provide such lame canned responses?
They just don't care. Period. It costs less so corporate greed wins out and customers be ****ed.
If I could have found an email address for the CEO or any Corp officer I would have sent this to them.
Below is my correspondence with support. Creative Labs be ****ed!
Thank you for the standard, typical, canned reply for laymen.
Please forward this reply to your supervisor, your customer satisfaction
executi've, and your CEO, as I even more disatisfied with Creatives Labs now.
Perhaps they are able to read.
It is extremely obvious that my information was not read at all.
If it had been read you would have seen that I have already done all the
steps you suggest.
I am a computer technician with over 30 years of computer repair experience.
I have serviced personal computers since they first began to appear .
Before attempting to contact you I research the problem on your web site,
which by the way I found to be of little use and poorly done as a support
service.
I tried the suggestions for rebooting and resetting this now worthless rock.
I know about drivers, device manager and scanning for new devices. I own 4
PCs that I build myself. The device was tested on 2 of them and a DELL
laptop. It's broke. It a rock. A piece of junk.
I did not write to you with ANY expectation of getting any useable
suggestions for making this pieces of garbage work again. Neither was I
seeking an RMA, knowing full well that an RMA request would be rejected
because:
a) I cannot prove a purchase date and
b) even if I could produce a receipt for this rock , it is out of the 30 or
90 day warranty period.
What I did write to Creative Labs for was, to indicate my extreme
dissatisfaction with this worthless rock product line and Creative Labs as a
whole. Having already wasted my money on 2 models of rock and having both
of them fail completely in less than a year is more than enough bad
experience for me to express my displeasure and relate that displeasure with
Creative Labs and it's products to my friends and any one else thats willing
listen.
Furthermore your ( Creative Labs' ) lame canned response is more reason for
not ever buying a Creative product again, as it only shows that you do not
even read the information provided by your customers that are experiencing
difficulties with your poor quality products.
The Stone is a piece of junk and the support is no better.
L W
----- Original Message -----
From: "Creative Americas Customer Support"
<[email protected]>
To: "
Sent: Monday, June 22, 2009 7:5 PM
Subject: Re: CLI - Technical Support Request - (ZEN Stone with built-in
speaker) (KMM9063478I5977L0KM)
Dear ,
Thank you for reaching us at Creative Technical Support; we appreciate
the opportunity to assist you.
I understand your ZEN Stone with built-in speaker does not work
properly. I apologize sincerely for any inconvenience this caused you.
Please try the following troubleshooting information.
. Verify the player’s detection in the Device Manager.
-Check the Device Manager, click Start, Settings, Control Panel and
System.
-Select the Hardware tab and click the Device Manager button.
-Click the + next to Uni'versal Serial Bus Controllers.
-Click the + next to Disk dri'ves.
2. If the player does not appear at all or appears but with an error
code, please refer to this knowledge base article:
Error "Driver Not Found" During Installation
http://support.creative.com/kb/ShowA....aspx?sid=4782
3. If the player is detected in the Device Manager without any errors,
please check if the player is listed under My Computer. If the player
does not appear in My Computer, you may need to manually change the
dri've letter assigned to your player. Pease refer to our knowledge base
article:
“MuVo, ZEN Nano, ZEN Nano Plus or ZEN Stone Not Listed as a Removable
Dri've in Windows Explorer” by following this link:
http://support.creative.com/kb/ShowA....aspx?sid=2254
If possible, try to connect your ZEN Stone player on another system and
see whether able to get it to recognize on that system.
However, if the issue still persists, you may need to send your player
for repair/replacement. Please follow this link to have an RMA issued
for your product:
http://us.creative.com/onlinerma
If you still require assistance, please reply to this email with any
previous correspondence to ensure the quickest and most accurate
service.
Best Regards,
Technical Support
Creative Labs Americas
Original Message Follows: ------------------------
==================================
Subject: CLI - Technical Support Request - (ZEN Stone with built-in
speaker)
Name:
E-mail Address: Self Description: Advanced PC User
Region: Americas
Country: United States of America
Support Inquiry: My Creative hardware stopped functioning correctly
Product: ZEN Stone with built-in speaker
CCPP Certificate Number:
Serial Number: c8pf229802m2589q
Purchase Date: Jan/07/2009
Operating System: Windows XP
Firmware Version: unknown
Creative Model Number:
Connected To:
Detailed Problem Description:
This is the 2nd and Last creative stone I have bought. This one like the
last worked for a few months and just quit. It is no longer recognized
on a usb port and does not show up any wheere in my system. After a
reset the light will come one and that is it. Period. Nothing more until
the rese button is pushed again and then the idiot light goes out. The
Recovery and format processes do not work as this player does not get
detected by windows no matter what is done. I am SO disappointed with
Creative Labs Stone PLUS and Stone plus with speakers turning into a
real stone that I will NEVER again purchase ANY Creative Labs product
ever again. Furthermore I will relate to anyone and everyone I know that
I am extremely disatisfied with Creative Labs.
==================================
Edit: Advisor name removed for privacy reasons.
Message Edited by KokChoy-CL on 06-29-2009 09:03 [email protected]

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!

Why I won't buy another Creative product

Why I won?t buy another Creative product![size="3" face="Times New Roman">?[size="3" face="Times New Roman">It all started when I bought my first 7. speakers, Gigaworks S750. Since I li've in Iraq... not all creative products are available, so when I was on a trip to a near by country I found the Gigaworks and returned happy home hoping I?ll have great experience?well it was until they broke only 3 months later! Nice job creative for a 500 dollars set of speakers ?well done!
[size="3" face="Times New Roman">?[size="3" face="Times New Roman">And then there is the Audigy 2 ZS, I ?m a power user and I really find it hard to get the fixes and driver updates, what the hell creative? You guys can't find a way that make it user?friendly? What the hell is wrong with your support? I really don?t know what fix or driver to get when I download them manually, and don?t get me started with the automatic update it sucks big time.
[size="3" face="Times New Roman">?[size="3" face="Times New Roman">Then vista comes and nothing works on vista, no THX setup, nothing except for a crappie driver console!
[size="3" face="Times New Roman">?[size="3" face="Times New Roman">And now they do that to Daniel_k?!?! well that?s it ! no more creative for me, the ?next time I?ll stay with my mother board sound, since it won?t make that difference on Vista.
[size="3" face="Times New Roman">?[size="3" face="Times New Roman">I hope you are happy Creative!
?
[size="3" face="Times New Roman">?P.S: Many people come consult me about getting upgrades for their computers and guess what I?m going to tell them about whether they should buy a creative soundcard?

I agree completely. The corporate monkey who started this war on consumers should be tarred and publicly humilated. I won't stand for this. I've been a long time creative labs consumer, but no more. Creative Labs is now at the same gutter as MPAA/RIAA as far as I'm concerned.

Never Again Nokia ! - EPIC FAIL ¡

The title says it all reason :
I've purchased an n97 for nearly 30000 inr two years back - i know very well that its completely outdated and due to hardware restrictions - it wont ever be updated to anna or belle ¡ . But how come nokia expect me to suffer for their fallacy of putting a mere 128mb ram and 434 mhz processor on their flagship ? I envy these first gen s^3 devices - they've got 2 major updates !- anna /belle and now belle refresh is coming ! Not to count numerous minor updates too ! Why then were we left with pathetic firmware on our devices ! -we never wanted belle or anna atleast make the current one more usable !
I've lost hope in you nokia ! Atleast if you have read numerous requests in here for doing something for s60v5 devices in here - you would not have done this to us !
I pity myself for having bought your flagship and will never again do the mistake of buying a nokia ! Who knows even lumias may suffer the same fate when wp8 arrives !
This is not only a single person expressing his anger here ! There are thousands behind me ! Fall nokia fall - YOU ARE AN 'EPIC FAIL' !

thanks for the the reply -'adrianhughes' but i.ve clicked the contact us but a hell lot times from day one (since i bought my nokia) - it is utter useless ! And i do believe that users have the right to express their feelings here ! - not that it'll change anything ! - but to make sure that we dont give up without a fight !

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

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 03-26-2008 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).

Why i will never again buy a creative prod

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