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Unhappy with service

Posted: 21 Aug 2007, 20:54
by cryptickilla4f
I have been testing smartfoxservers functionality for over a month now.
I work with a development team which administrates about twenty websites
that are in the top 100,000 list on alexa. Some of which are interested in smartfoxserver. Today we will make our final decision on this so called service predictably we will highlight the lack of support or no support we have received from this website and smartfox server will be called non workable. This is sad since i have personally spent countless hours asking for help and emailing this tech support with not one single response, and the fact that smartfoxserver.com will be loosing potential customers over this..
O yes and for further reference. having a "help forum" and a contact us" link which are virtually unaccessible and completely useless is not good p.r.

Posted: 22 Aug 2007, 08:03
by Lapo
Hello,
I am sorry for the inconvenience.
I would also like to point out that the help service provided here is completely free for every SmartFoxServer user, whether they have bought a license or not.

Of course we give precedence to our clients in responding and we usually answer the most important requests and bug notifications first. As you may have noticed we try our best not to leave any question unanswered unless is out of the scope of this forum or if it's already been discussed many times.

I have checked your posts in the forums: these questions about connections and router configuration are asked constantly on a daily basis and they have been thoroughly discussed in our board. If take a couple of minutes to look at the sticky messages or if you perform a search, you can see it by yourself. :)

Also I am not aware of any email that was sent to us with this nickname. Maybe you could send that email again?

About dedicated support: as stated in our F.A.Q we can provide quicket forms of support/consulting to all our clients at reasonable prices. You can contact us directly to ask more details.

Hope it helps

Posted: 16 Dec 2007, 00:12
by amnesya
I must say that after having tested many other different gameservers, and after having complained about some SFS issues, this is at the moment the best server to develope on, considering the price and the performances.

The Docs and the examples are uniques on the net, and posting issues on the forum always get a reply (even if not in real time).

I'm not trying to be loved by the staff by saying this (I really dont' care and I'm sure I'll bother the staff many times before my app gets finished), but I must say... they have done a really great job.

Posted: 16 Dec 2007, 00:53
by Kicksome
As a paying customer I'm very happy with the support and service. I really don't know any companies with a successful product that give any meaningful support free. Especially those who haven't purchased anything. (I know my company doesn't)

When I put it in perspective, we are a gaming site Alexa ranked < 5000. We use:

1) Coldfusion Server by Adobe
2) MS Sql Server 2005
3) Multiple DB and Web servers with a top tier hosting company
4) various utilities like backup software etc...
5) SFS

SFS support has been far and away the best support we receive - especially on the forums. On top of this, it's free - which is incredible. You just don't get this type of support from Adobe even with the $1K+ plus support contract - same with MS SQL server.

So even if there was a product that was easier to use and better - I doubt I'd be interested. The support has been invaluable here, not only by the staff but by other users.

Posted: 16 Dec 2007, 17:15
by Lapo
Hello,
thanks for the nice comments :) It's good to see that the work efforts put in the support board produce their results: the forum has been growing steadily during the years and it has become very active for this type of product.

We're very happy to see that users exchange tips and code between them and of course it is a great tool for us for keeping track of bugs, possible improvements, suggestions in order to make SmartFoxServer better on each new release.

Stay tuned for the "almost-around-the-corner" 1.6.0 release! 8) :)

Posted: 16 Dec 2007, 20:31
by potmo
I agree with the previous posts. Im very happy with the support and the fast replys. I have been trying to contact Adobe support many times to report bugs and ask questions. It is impossible to eaven get anyone to answer.

Big ups to Smartfox Support/Development crew.

Posted: 17 Dec 2007, 05:23
by Menser
Heya-

Forget being a paying customer, Im still just fadidaling(yes its a word, i made it up) with things as far as smart fox goes and Im still just using the free License. Despite that, i still have received very wonderful and timely responses here on the forums.

Love what you have done so far, looking forward to what your making, keep up the good work!

_-Menser-_

Posted: 17 Dec 2007, 09:44
by mariana
I'm also not (yet) a paying customer, although I will become one soon, as my project is almost complete.

I have to say that I could not have done it without SFS and their support people, especially Lapo; I am surprised at how good they are and sometimes wonder how they do it.

Also, I am most thankful for their help, I think their documentation is excellent, most times I get all the info I need from the forum, and the product is exactly what I needed.... I'm no specialist in interactive multiplayer games; in fact, when I started last March I was a total newbie, but I have been able to build one that all my friends love.

Again: thanks, SFS support team, and you all have an excellent 2008!

Mariana

Posted: 17 Dec 2007, 19:36
by mistermind
If they had an online chat support it would be great :D But hey, we're talking about an excellent product that suppress all needs from a "not so big" group of clients. It is not like everyone that uses Flash will use SFS, so just for the fact that we have an amazing group of dedicated creators that help as much as they can, doesn't mean it is perfect. Some stuff you really have to work around yourself.
Its not like I can search on google for "Smartfoxserver force login solution" like I do with Flash when I have an issue, but I trust that whenever I have an specific problem, all I have to do is post here and wait a couple hours.
So my overall opinion on support is: excellent!. I've been SFS client for over 3 years now and I couldn't have done it without the help of Lapo and his staff.

Posted: 19 Dec 2007, 16:47
by mixart
I looked into 2 other options when looking at at smartfoxserver and the reason I chose this over others was the active community here. Even though it might not be totally buzzing around here all the time, I usually get some type of answer within a day or two at the most.

Regarding the other options I looked into, my questions posted in their community/forums would never get answered or the product hadn't been updated in years - new releases come out here regularly which gives me confidence that issues are addressed promptly.

Like any product out there, if you want instant top notch service you will have to pay.

Add me to the +ve experience list

Posted: 19 Dec 2007, 18:17
by delany
Add me to the +ve experience list

I am also at the evaluation stage for a top 10,000 website and I have to say that the support in advance of a purchase (on this forum in particular) are one of the reasons SFS is almost certain now to be our choice. This sort of commitment not only to customers but to potential customers and to the SFS community is indicative of the commitment to the product - which also results in what seems to be a quality product with attention to detail and regular, innovative updates.

Posted: 19 Dec 2007, 21:56
by DaveyJJ
I am also in the same boat as many others here ... evaluating for a major website based on SFS's feature set and power.

And I am impressed so far with the commitment that Lapo and dax make to the forums, and the willingness of other forum regulars to help out or point to wards an answer. So far, so good anyway.

PS. Anyone tell me where to find a MP Flash chess game to incorporate or buy for the site? :wink: