Paid PREMIUM Support to Magix for Xara Web Designer

I paid for premium support to Magix then received an email with my order confirmation number and access code followed by a link to the phone number. It seems Magix takes the money then does not answer the phone. It has been dialed almost straight for over 2 hours yesterday, Monday, basically half of their support hours as stated 1-4 CST. I went through this the last time I paid for Magix premium support, so shame on me. Last time took me several days to reach support with many calls within an hour or so each day.
It feels as though they have taken my money with no plans on answering the call. Heck, there isn't even an automatic attendant answering and giving me my position in line. Oh, I did get an email suggesting a few links that may resolve my issue. None of the suggestions pertained to my issue, go figure. The email went on to say if this did not resolve your issue, click the "No" button....there was not a "No" button (you can't make this stuff up). It was probably good that there was a not a "No" button or I would have broken my mouse clicking it. I don't think my printer will hold enough paper to print a detail call list for this month. While I loved the product in the past, the support could be reflecting the direction the product is moving towards. Bottom line, DON'T PAY FOR PREMIUM SUPPORT, they aren't going to give it to you anyway, Magix won't even answer. On a good note, they treat everyone the same, whether you pay or not. Give it a try for yourself, first try to find the support numbers, don't worry about paying for it, just try to dial it and see if you get anything. If you do, please patch me in! Remember, patch me in, don't forget about me, please. They should have paid me to not support their product. 🙁😣😖😫😡 (Not enough emojis...too funny).
I just notice below this post, it says "Tips for getting quick responses...", they should have tips for getting a paid premium support call answered.


Starship, Tuesday, 06/05/18, still no answer at Magix Support.

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Originally Posted by klowetx

On a good note, they treat everyone the same, whether you pay or not.

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That's really funny -- if it weren't such a sad story.

Hi, I had a similar experience with Magix. See here: https://www.talkgraphics.com/showthr...270#post585270
An e-mail request has remained unanswered to this day.
It's a shame how Magix/Xara treats its customers. What makes me really angry is the silence on the part of Magix and Xara.

Xara + Magix is very shaky, on the verge of collapse, I'd say. It is really funny, Boy, or it would be if it weren't also such a pity.
The answer of course is for everyone to vote with their feet and look elsewhere for their design requirements.
Bob.

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Originally Posted by iamtheblues

Xara + Magix is very shaky, on the verge of collapse, I'd say. It is really funny, Boy, or it would be if it weren't also such a pity.
The answer of course is for everyone to vote with their feet and look elsewhere for their design requirements.
Bob.

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I admit I am a fan of Xara software but I'm not sure I understand why you are professing the end is nigh. I'd say the opposite. All indications I've read from Xara management are that things have changed but it is business as usual. Xara and Magix have never excelled at customer relations and communications, but their desktop software is definitely still being updated and moving forward (albeit slowly and maybe not in the direction you or I want). I also don't believe there is a good alternative integrated web and design application available elsewhere just at the moment.

Hi klowetx,

Can you send me your order confirmation number and I will see what's going on with Magix. I'm really sorry to hear about their support, I'll do my best to make sure this goes to the appropriate department as it's really unacceptable on their part.

Thanks
Rob

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Originally Posted by Jonopen

I admit I am a fan of Xara software but I'm not sure I understand why you are professing the end is nigh. I'd say the opposite. All indications I've read from Xara management are that things have changed but it is business as usual. Xara and Magix have never excelled at customer relations and communications, but their desktop software is definitely still being updated and moving forward (albeit slowly and maybe not in the direction you or I want). I also don't believe there is a good alternative integrated web and design application available elsewhere just at the moment.

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I am still a regular user of Xara for any work that requires vector tools and would probably never go anywhere else for that. It is a valuable tool for me in that respect.
However, all the other bells and whistles are, in my opinion pretty much irrelevent.
There is a lot that Xara excels in doing, with the notable exception of Open Type support, which is ill-conceived and useless for the intended purpose.

Affinity Designer and Photo are two programs that work seamlessly together and do most of what Xara's flagship program does, but are cohesive and integrated,
despite being 2 separate programs (also still far cheaper for the two than Xara Designer Pro).
The web stuff is of no use to me, so as it stands I can get by with just Photo and Graphic Designer. The problem is that good as Xara's design tools are, there has been
no advancement in the past five years or so. Far too long between updates and Xara staff tending to hide in the background (with the notable exception of Rob-Xar).
There should be profuse and heartfelt apologies for failing to deliver anything of value. (TABLES! Don't forget the TABLES!!) Really! You couldn't make it up.
The Affinity team on the other hand produce regular meaningful updates in a fraction of the time at a remarkable cost.
I have not even mentioned the farcical situation relating to the subscription model. That is what it is, despite denial. Nobody understands fully how it works and people are
shelling out for a promse of jam tomorrow and being let down when they do eventually add the bloody tables, which were never even asked for.

The end is nigh, although that isn't what I said, the end is nigh at the consumer end of things. The Magix Roundabout may well keep turning, but with meagre customer
support and no telephone response, they will have nobody to talk to when the customers all move on to something far better. But Magix won't be bothered,
they have many other interests, so the Xara side's failure won't worry them too much.
I still stand by my statement that Xara-Magix is very shaky but collapse may be avoided. But in the grand scheme of things it won't matter too much either way.
In all honesty with regard to Xara, there is nothing to see here, folks. Adobe can cope with the loss of customers as a result of their pricing policy, because Adobe's products are the industry standard. Xara-Magix are nowhere by comparison. The future of Xara looks pretty bleak to me.

One should not lose sight of the fact that a new company was formed for xara cloud: Xara GMBH, based in Berlin

So that means there are now two 'Xaras' both apparently part of the Magix 'partnership'

On the one hand this might mean seperate devlopment teams result in resources not being diverted from one project to the other; on the other it means either project can be curtailed or abandoned independantly of the other...

Magix doing the marketing and support for the desktop project may just be an efficient way of avoiding a duplication of effort.. or it may be the first step in a transition... 'good' or 'bad'

According to me, Xara is a dying horse. Magix as stable owner lets it die. Xara alone does not have the strength (money) to keep the horse alive.
Affinity is too far ahead of Xara to even play. Adobe has stopped Muse. What did Magix/Xara do?
Nothing, because they always did nothing and waited for others to pick the apples.
Tare but true.

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Originally Posted by iamtheblues

...the bloody tables, which were never even asked for.

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I understand your position well enough. Smart Tables, however, are Xara's attempt to reclaiming it has a professional DTP application, still a bit wide of the mark if you include the problems with Open Type features too. And don't forget we got Text Inside for our troubles as well.

Perhaps, as a demanding customer base, we are too rich a sauce for Magix.
I feel Xara has taken a drubbing over this painful transition. Let's give it the benefit of the doubt and see what it can produce for the next update. Matt Bolton was promising 3 to 4 a year, so early August is crunch time.

Acorn

xara are also adapting to the modern 'egalitarianism' of things - ie professional now means it is a program intended to enable 'ordinary' users to make 'professional' level product, rather than a program for professionals themselves... hence the hiccup with squish methinks...

Serif took that place that once Xara occupied. The only way Xara can move forward is with the web designer, but that too has competition that are years ahead of what Xara offers. Therefore the Cloud came into play and soon that too will be gone. I love competition, for us we just spend money and learn a new tool and camp in another place for a while until they too go out of flame.

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Originally Posted by handrawn

xara are also adapting to the modern 'egalitarianism' of things - ie professional now means it is a program intended to enable 'ordinary' users to make 'professional' level product, rather than a program for professionals themselves... hence the hiccup with squish methinks...

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I think it's the way of the world, Steve. Dumbing down is all around us. The BBC (especially TV) presenters talk to us as though we are six-year olds. It has been reported that IQ levels are falling, and have been doing so for many years since an all-time high around the 1960s.

In the world of vector graphics Adobe Illustrator is too complex and not user-friendly. Even Affinity Designer, which is definitely user friendly is considered by some to be unfathomable.

Xara Designer makes an easyish program to use far more recondite than it should be, by dint of adding bits and pieces to the vector drawing that should be straightforward but which palpably are not (witness the arcane idiocy that is Ye Olde Bitmap Tracer).

Xara is guilty of overthinking a relatively simple program to use, they seem to be wilfully ignoring requests for improvements by seemingly deliberately ignoring sensible suggestions in Dear Xara. Perhaps it is a coding issue, the whole thing seems to be a house of cards. Add a new feature and something else fails to work properly. Instead of doing the sensible thing and telling users that there will be an hiatus while the code is repaired/rewritten and extend existing licencing whilst it is sorted (which would take the pressure off the back-room boys immesurably) there seems to be a panic to introduce stuff (Tables) just as a pacifier, so they can stumble on to the next thing that nobody wants that might stop the complaints rolling in.

This is why I stated elsewhere that Xara looks extremely shaky to me, they are looking over their collective shoulders at Affinity which is growing in stature and reputation at a fraction of the price. There is only one possible winner in this particular two-horse race.
Bob.

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Originally Posted by iamtheblues

... Instead of doing the sensible thing and telling users that there will be an hiatus while the code is repaired/rewritten and extend existing licencing whilst it is sorted (which would take the pressure off the back-room boys immesurably) there seems to be a panic to introduce stuff (Tables) just as a pacifier...

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Magix will be wanting a healthy return on their investment and that probably comes from new 'whizz-bang' features, so bug-squashing and streamlining go on the back burner. Let's hope it doesn't boil dry! Xara Clodd is yet another distraction.

Hi Bob

I didn't really mean 'dumbing down'... more a case of 'enabling'... in the same way that my android phone enables me, someone who does not know one end of a camera from t'other, and has no time or inclination to learn, to take passable photos... xara cloud will eventually, if it succeeds, enable designs of a type to be made by those who are not 'designers' by nature or profession

We shall see what happens regarding the rest... certainly the 365 update model has so far turned out to be a cake not worthy of any candles at all from my point of view; not even worth the nibble...

Starship Update, Thursday, 06/14/18. It has been a journey of unbelievable proportions. I find myself 10 days beyond my initial log in date for this issue. Yes, Jeff seems to have been a help with someone contacting me. Thank you Jeff. It was a long and brutal 7 days to due to misunderstandings of the issue in the original email. But once on track it was determined a variant on a hidden object was causing the problem. None of the other hidden objects had issues with the same variant and so I still do not understand why. Heck, I don't even understand the variant. Instead of working with something I did not understand it was simply deleted. Now I don't hide any objects, just delete them.

It's been a long road to resolve this issue with only one last task, the money. Yes, it's all about the money now! Normally I would simply let it go, but due to the lack of any support or the ability to reach out to support via email or phone. I want my money...show me the money. The person that emailed me for support is with Xara, not Magix, even though they are the same company. He referred me to the Magix Support Center yet there is no way to email them. The center (https://support2.magix.com/customer/en/request) has a link "New Request" that did not work with one of my browser, now that I have switched to another, I sent a request in for a refund. An automatic email reply said they would get back to me in a few days...seriously. Oh well, what's a few days right? Before clicking the submit button to send the ticket in, it showed me my original ticket and asked if it was related. I'm thinking, that was submitted 14 days ago yet I received a confirmation on this ticket saying it will be a few more days. Deja Vu.

Looking forward to posting my next Starship Update hopefully with a refund in the bank. Magix, it's time to COWBOY UP or make me walk the plank...what are you going to do?

for those here who do not visit magix forums the post above is a copy of klowetx' posting in magix forum here:

https://www.magix.info/uk/forum/paid...port--1206838/

[just in case you were wondering who Jeff is]

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Steve, you know my position on the whole shebang with MagiXara. They are, as a company awful beyond belief.
I only have one question, which I am addressing to the whole world; how on earth are they getting away with all of this nonsense? Really, How?
Should there not be an independent authority in place to deal with all of this questionable treatment of people who have ponied up some serious cash for the dubious privilege of owning/renting this garbage? Premium support, my bottom!
Bob.

under english law if you suffer financial loss, above a certain level, you can peruse a claim for redress in the small claims court

xara would presumably point to the EULA in defence, but... also in english law there is a principle that unfair contract conditions cannot be enforced

question is... is the EULA 'unfair' in that legal sense ? - it would be an interesting exercise were it ever to happen ;)


Anyway, the shambles that was ver 15 and it's eventual update to ver 15.1 says to me that the company suffers from a classic syndrome: big ideas implemented in a hurry lead to stupid mistakes that are time-consuming to fix [squish] - and that means there is even less time to do what was planned [noddy tables]

It all comes down to money - it always does, and if Xara does not make a success of the Xara Cloud project there won't be any, and no Xara... this was said in so many words a while back by a representative of the company; offloading support and sales to Magix just reinforces this idea

Without the money they cannot do any serious upgrading of the desktop - it will just be minor tweaks and ephemeral content

It is not a nice place to be, not for us, not for them....

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Originally Posted by handrawn

if Xara does not make a success of the Xara Cloud project there won't be any, and no Xara...

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Too many similar(like Xara Cloud) projects already exists.
And not one year. And cheaper. And they adequately perform their functions.
What is new about Xara Cloud? Almost nothing.
Partly Xara Cloud better than similar products, but those things in which he is better ... the people who need it will not be used is in the clouds. IMHO.
They will not get from Xara Cloud a sufficient amount of money. And if get ... they will have no reason to go back to desktop products)).
They should be lowering prices for their desktop products.
Why Seriff have enough money for development, and Xara is not enough? The price difference is 5(!) times. Small sales? Maybe the software is too expensive? When I bought and now - i regret NOTHING! But at this point(a complete lack of progress) - upgrade cost of XDP365 is unreasonably expensive.
I love Xara and I will use her for many more years. But when some important for me features will appear in other programs, and probably about Xara will have to forget(.

Before I knew there was going to be an Affinity software line I made noise about the cost for XDP's non-upgrade price. At $300 it was out of line. The upgrade cost is as well.

For $170 I get the upgrade to CD's latest version. I think that is also a bit high with the move to yearly releases, but the value is there and I will upgrade next month. Corel Corp also played some shenanigans concerning their license this year. It was met with resistance and Corel back-peddled. (Had to do with installation count.) Corel did implement some great new features, included some macros and plug-ins that they previously sold separately. So even at the $170, there is value.

And the best thing is, I could stop at v.2017 and not lose my access to the same content as when I purchased it and all the updates/bug fixes are there should I ever need to re-install it.

What Magix/Xara is doing isn't criminal I suspect. But it isn't morally sound, either. I am still in the position to want to help Xara if that help is acted upon. I still believe in what XDP could be. It is still the fastest drawing application I use. But it could be more in substance than flash-bang (which really is a whimper anyway these days).

And still Xara remains silent re this issue Mike. It is by far the most complained about feature in TG in recent the past 24 months!

Yeah, Egg, there is a bit of chatter...

I think it's the most contended issue since I've been here. It's at least the longest contended issue, anyway.

Dang thumb hit the post button. I also meant to add that like CD, if there is actual substance to an upgrade, one can overlook a given price point.

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Originally Posted by maksimon

..Maybe the software is too expensive? When I bought and now - i regret NOTHING! But at this point(a complete lack of progress) - upgrade cost of XDP365 is unreasonably expensive....

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I certainly love the software - up to the point at which art brushes were implemented I reckoned it value for money.. now for me it definately is not, and that is quite apart from the 365 update model which is devious

Where I come from devious is defined as the use of underhand tactics to achieve an outcome, and that is what the update model is... Xara can dress it up anyway they like, but they have failed to deliver the substance of what they promised.. they appear to be just milking it, [and at the same time attempting to lock in users with the online content...:rolleyes:]

So not only does that raise the question: is the update maodel actually working for them? it also means that, whilst the program is maybe worth the asking price when bought new, the upgrade price is not for those of us sensible enough not to get caught in what BF calles the 'xara lemming trap'

For the company: Catch 22 - market saturation and stiff competition can mean loss of income.. would reducing prices fix that or make it worse?

I think the time is past to make cost adjustments outright.

But perhaps it still be done via tightening of a fragmented product line-up. XDP really could be the design application minus the web stuff. Or truly make P&GD that thing, roll into the Web D. Pro the remainder of the drawing stuff of XDP. Or...whatever to reduce the product line-up and reduce prices.

Or let the sales peter out all together and punt.

I don't think the on-line thingy is a sustainable, exponential-growth product. If it had begun years ago, maybe. Before there was the bazillion on-line options. I realize the on-line options are different in scope, but Xara doesn't have the market penetration to make such a thing omni-present in business life. If they had, if the desktop products enjoyed a high adoption rate, then maybe having the on-line thing as an option beginning 5 or so years ago may enjoyed a high "buzz-factor" and been a sought-after business solution. But today? I'm not seeing it.

Does Affinity publish websites like Xara?

@Dan - affinity designer and photo don't - afaik there are no current plans for this

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Originally Posted by mwenz

But perhaps it still be done via tightening of a fragmented product line-up. XDP really could be the design application minus the web stuff. Or truly make P&GD that thing, roll into the Web D. Pro the remainder of the drawing stuff of XDP. Or...whatever to reduce the product line-up and reduce prices.

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Like many others here, I love XDP as it is, with all its current functionality.

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Originally Posted by Boy

Like many others here, I love XDP as it is, with all its current functionality.

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The product line is too fragmented. If all the features of XDP were in XP&GD related to non-web stuff, then I would be all over that. But it's not.

If XDP had a realistic price, they could do away with WebThingyPremium and you would (obviously) maintain what XDP has. Xara gets to eliminate/lessen what historically has caused confusion with their product naming and fragmentation. It would be win-win for everyone.

I don't want anyone to get less. Not even Xara/Magix. I do want the brand to be stronger. I want them to have greater market presence and market penetration. They cannot do the latter with such product overlap. They cannot do the former unless they take positive action. Niether, though, is likely to happen based upon their history.