SITE UPDATES, ANNOUNCEMENTS, AND CUSTOMER SERVICE INFORMATION

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  • T JaimanT Jaiman Posts: 560
    edited May 2012

    Byrdie said:
    It would appear the store still cannot tell that you have already bought an item -- even if it's a freebie. I just put the Genesis Bracers in my cart (because it came up in the New Items) then wondered if I hadn't already downloaded it. Lo and behold, I had, just yesterday. But not a peep out of the store software about having already purchased this product.

    This was something that it was known would not be working on launch, it isn't a bug. As a result I wouldn't expect it to change until the main bug-swatting is done.

    Huh? This is the first time I see someone from DAZ mention that they knew the new site was not working properly before it was released. So they were just surprised that the problems are far bigger than they thought they would be. I feel like a guinea-pig right now.
    .
    We are guinea pigs right now. But in a good way (or at least necessary way).


    I'll explain what I mean in agonizing detail. :)


    Sounds like a low-priority bug, or it needs a change to be made (options, new/modified code).


    You do the bug hunt before you make make lots of changes. Every change complicates troubleshooting. Biggest bugs first.


    When they first call tech-support (if available) they want to be able to say "This is my store, on your software. WTF?." Same way for consulting the manuals. (The company tested the default software, and maybe a few option changes, they can't test it all).


    I'm not a pro - but this is the order to do it in: (List may be incomplete, or contain amateurish inaccuracies)


    This list doesn't account for anything like changing drivers, or the changing stuff with various bits of equipment (which may have it's own software) that interfaces with the new software.


    1) Set it up for your use, changing as few defaults as possible. (Load the store & forum, do the minimal necessities).

    2) Test. 2b)*** Get it to an apparently-stable state. (***I don't want to renumber).

    3) Stress test (put it online).

    4) Bug hunt.

    5) Kill all possible bugs.

    6) Test after each bug-kill.

    7) Kill any bugs caused by each bug-kill. 7b)*** Test each... ad infinitum. (***I don't want to renumber).

    8) Change defaults the way you want.

    9) Test.

    10) Customize (add/modify code) (one at a time)

    11) Test each change.

    12) Keep going until you just accept that nothing's perfect. :P


    That being said, this sure isn't a very good advertizement for the software. }:->

    .

    Post edited by T Jaiman on
  • T JaimanT Jaiman Posts: 560
    edited May 2012

    You joined at a chaotic time. I understand your frustration.


    What do you need help with?
    .

    You can also browse the Knowledge Base. This contains many articles that are frequently asked.

    So who checked your Knowledge Base now?

    I don't think you'll find your answer there. The Knowledge Base doesn't have anything for these store problems.


    Tech support people automatically say that, every time. It's for people who have easy questions, so that they can get their answer without adding more email for the support people.

    I am now amazed "DAZ make an evasive answer to get out of a difficulty."

    He didn't mean it that way.


    You should ask us here. After that, if you need to, you can ask here: http://www.daz3d.com/shop/help/help-contact-us

    your public documentation are like a drawing lots.

    or only exploreing in maze.

    Yes. :smirk:


    The forums normally have your answers, though. It's just that the forums are a wreck, right now.
    .

    Post edited by T Jaiman on
  • DAZ_bfurnerDAZ_bfurner Posts: 62
    edited December 1969

    argel1200 said:
    Should I contact support if I cannot see PC pricing or see the PC listed under My Subscriptions or is that a issue being worked on?

    Yes, contact the support team and they will be able to assist you.

    You can call the tech support team or create a support ticket.

  • BagletBaglet Posts: 0
    edited December 1969

    T Jaiman said:


    1) Set it up for your use, changing as few defaults as possible. (Load the store & forum, do the minimal necessities).

    2) Test. 2b)*** Get it to an apparently-stable state. (***I don't want to renumber).

    3) Stress test (put it online).

    .

    Maybe, just maybe, this ought to be done on a separate machine or group of machines with a test URL rather than on the live main store. They could ask a few people to beta-test the trial site with some sort of sweetner like a voucher. That should get some of the worst wrinkles out before it all goes live.

  • kitakoredazkitakoredaz Posts: 3,526
    edited December 1969

    >Tajiman

    though I do not think I can tell you clearly what I feel about daz,
    I try it.

    At position of daz new fellow ,I do not want moderator and yours annoyd any more.
    I am just new bie.(no I am new bee. I think I am bee who stray into daz world by sweat words )
    I am not so angry, though frastrated about Shop announcement and official documentation.
    I enjoy studying and plyaing 3d by daz studio.

    At position of daz customer, I just say what I feel.

    Do not you think If I can get accurate information by "offical documentation",
    If I can find where is answer ,I need not ask many basical questions in this forum?

    I do not feel annoying to study step by step with dictionary,
    but daz has not traffic sign officially where I should go to find answer by myself.

    yeah , I feel a little pain to ask "kind volunteer and fellow " of many questions.
    because they has no duty to help me.

    The turuth is I hesitate to ask.questions in this forum now.
    But they (DAZ) lead me if I want to find answer , just ask here.
    And I have no choices ,do I ?

    Now I do not expect daz documentation any more .
    why they pretend, there is answer?

    why they do not say "many of documents are under construction still now"
    And "documentation about daz4 will complete when daz studio 5 or daz studio 6.come"

    they do not tell even how to make meta data,
    how to save with many option,(preset , daz sean)
    how to adgjust many parameters 3d light shader at "surfaces tab"
    .yet.

    I may get them from forum and rendoro, and other web sight.
    (yes I got answer "how to make metadata" by forum volunteer)

    I would latther hope "Blondys new tutorial2 and 3" come at "DAZ funky shop".

  • T JaimanT Jaiman Posts: 560
    edited May 2012

    Baglet said:
    T Jaiman said:


    1) Set it up for your use, changing as few defaults as possible. (Load the store & forum, do the minimal necessities).

    2) Test. 2b)*** Get it to an apparently-stable state. (***I don't want to renumber).

    3) Stress test (put it online).

    .

    Maybe, just maybe, this ought to be done on a separate machine or group of machines with a test URL rather than on the live main store. They could ask a few people to beta-test the trial site with some sort of sweetner like a voucher. That should get some of the worst wrinkles out before it all goes live.

    They did, last time, because it was the same software, with tweaks. It plugged into alongside their other equipment.


    But people stayed away - there was no stress test, last time, until they took the old store box offline.


    Last time probably only involved two storefront boxes, interfacing with a bunch of other boxes. (Probably a customer-info box, an order processing box...)


    But I imagine, that Magento probably needed to have changes made to the way existing boxes interacted. That'd make it impossible to run both in parallel.


    And Magento may have had to take over some of those other boxes.


    To further complicate things, the old forum couldn't just plug in, it all had to be on Magento.


    You did say "or group of machines", but assuming it was possible with two sets of software (how all-encompassing is Magento, I wonder)...


    How many more boxes did they have physical space for? How much would all those boxes cost? Enough offline-conditioned-power? Air conditioning?
    .

    Post edited by T Jaiman on
  • T JaimanT Jaiman Posts: 560
    edited May 2012

    >Tajiman

    though I do not think I can tell you clearly what I feel about daz,
    I try it.

    At position of daz new fellow ,I do not want moderator and yours annoyd any more.
    I am just new bie.(no I am new bee. I think I am bee who stray into daz world by sweat words )

    Do not you think If I can get accurate information by "offical documentation",
    If I can find where is answer ,I need not ask many basical questions in this forum?

    I do not feel annoying to study step by step with dictionary,
    but daz has not traffic sign officially where I should go to find answer by myself.


    Please, do not worry, kitakoredazu - ask us anything. We can point you to where to go, or answer your questions.


    For every person who asks, there are many others who learn from the answer. We all still learn things here, and at other forums.


    The old forum is stored at:
    http://forumarchive.daz3d.com
    We cannot talk there, anymore. But there is a lot of information. Sadly, it's search is broken, they will try to fix it later.

    Google
    site:forum.daz3d.com
    and add your search words. You will see, we like to help. We usually have the answer. If you don't find it there, quickly, please ask us here..


    Drag the links into a document, and use search+replace to change "forum" to "forumarchives". Do the same with the forum links that you see in the old forum's messages.


    Hint: try adding "tutorial" to your search. It might go a little faster (not much). Many people have made tutorials. But everybody asks for a tutorial, so google can't tell if it's a question or an answer.


    Daz is like a generous friend, to us. Just one who doesn't always finish everything he should. (Very busy).


    So we are happy to help him, by answering questions. We also help each other, that way.


    But now, his house is a mess. It's uncomfortable, to be here. We don't spend as much time here, until it's fixed.


    Whoever is here, at any time, is happy to help. But it might take longer to get an answer from us.

    Post edited by T Jaiman on
  • kitakoredazkitakoredaz Posts: 3,526
    edited December 1969

    Mr Tajiman, so thanks but,

    I knew what you teach me (the links of archived forum and how to serch, how to plus image)

    "Drag the links into a document, and use search+replace to change “forum” to “forumarchives”. Do the same with the forum links that you see in the old forum’s messages."

    Yes I knew that, I wrote that in my topics (New user forum, but my writting cleared off by someone)
    http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/457/

    But now it is not so important for me. I just hope some moderator do not think I am noizy man.

    Oh no, You and many guys are so kind but, I should say again.
    You and many kind men have no duty, and
    DAZ have duty
    to arrange readjust informations about which their application ,plug in ,and those what they sell now
    in their funky clazy store.

    If daz think they do not need, it is enough, They soon loose many new comer.
    though their daz studio 4 have many cool funciton.

    But I know , it is not much this topic. I knew . I just bited parts of anouncements.
    Yes, I have many question to ask kindmen,so please check when I ask in forum( for new comer)
    or Nuts and Bolts.

    Now I wait answer about "lip sync" and other plug ins.
    http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/469/
    (sorry I ask otherthings in this topic for shop, this is last reply here)

  • SkirikiSkiriki Posts: 4,972
    edited December 1969

    For the record -- my "auth_pending" issue was solved via Zendesk contact. Joanie, thank you so much!

    *runs off to think what kind of tomfoolery she can do with a Ren outfit and 60s kitchen*

  • frank0314frank0314 Posts: 13,189
    edited December 1969

    That's good to here!

  • LEI1LEI1 Posts: 0
    edited December 1969

    Is there an ETA on replies from customer service?? I've sent them an email - to support @ daz3d.com, when Zendesk was down - and it's now been 2 weeks without either reply or acknowledgment, not to mention they've just double charged me for my PC membership AND I've had an Authorization Pending hold (another double charge) on my PP for two weeks!


    What a disaster this switchover is proving to be.

    Do I need to RE-report these things to zendesk, now that it's back up? Also can anyone give me an answer as to when the intro sale for the SuperSuit will be ending?! I've asked three times.

  • frank0314frank0314 Posts: 13,189
    edited May 2012

    DAZ is super backed up on emails for support so not sure how long it will be before they get to it. If your in the US the best way to get it resolved quickly is to call them. I believe the sale period for the supersuit is June 7th.

    Post edited by frank0314 on
  • sapatsapat Posts: 1,735
    edited December 1969

    I've written to daz but got no response.

    I'm still having issues being logged in as different customers and being shown wishlists that are not mine. I don't even have a wishlist here anyway. So this is a real concern no matter what they say they have in place to secure information.

    Even when I do make a purchase, the 'Add to Cart' button is still not working until I refresh the browser page. After I do make the purchase, my cart does not empty out. It still showed items in it. I had to manually go into the cart and remove each item one by one.

    I don't like checking out here anymore. I want to be able to see the entire transaction in an itemized list where it shows all discounts being added, any vouchers or coupons, etc. I don't see any of that now and I don't like it. Also, I've looked through every single page I can find and can't see where it lists what my balance is for vouchers, coupons, etc. where the hell do you find that now??

    Too many things have changed here all at once and this is (for me), a devastating breach in my relationship with Daz after 7+ years as a loyal PC customer. Not happy at all with any of this drastic, and IMO, unneeded change to the store and forums.

  • frank0314frank0314 Posts: 13,189
    edited December 1969

    Your balance can be found by going to my account then store credit

  • sapatsapat Posts: 1,735
    edited December 1969

    I tried looking there, but I don't see anything, and there should be. C'est la vie.

  • s l fs l f Posts: 147
    edited December 1969

    s l f said:
    My Account has just developed a serious problem as of today. Though my Account name and password are verified as being correct, I keep on being sent back to the login page. I can only access my Wishlist and the Forums - I CAN NOT access Zendesk to report this issue and I CAN NOT access any other parts of my account like downloads etc. Everything sends me back to the logon page. I have no option but to report it here in the hope that the message can be passed on as I live in Australia and so phoning DAZ is not a desirable option, both financially and time zone wise.

    :(


    Edited to add:

    And now that I have been to the forum I can now access my account details?!?

    I've had problems with being logged in on some pages but not others. The suspicion has to be that it's some kind of caching issue, but for now I've found it works to log out on a page that shows me logged in and then log in again after that.

    Thank you very much for that possible workaround Richard :) I shall see if it works for me too.

  • T JaimanT Jaiman Posts: 560
    edited May 2012

    sapat said:
    I've written to daz but got no response.

    I'm still having issues being logged in as different customers and being shown wishlists that are not mine. I don't even have a wishlist here anyway. So this is a real concern no matter what they say they have in place to secure information.


    As I understand it, you aren't logged it at all. You're just seeing the stuff the last person saw, in the unsecured area (store). If you try to reach any secure area, you have to log in for real.


    I imagine the storefront is on one server, and secure info is on another.


    If the storefront thinks you're the person who didn't say bye, when they left, they might show you the wrong prices (PC/not), but that's it. When you go to your account, they turn around and look at you, so to speak, and card you.


    Not happy at all with any of this drastic, and IMO, unneeded change to the store and forums.

    I'm not happy, either. It's quite maddening. :sick:


    But it's like a joke I heard:.


    "This car is shot."
    "Ok, what'll it take to fix it?"
    "Well... the only way to do it, is if we jack it up, and run a new car underneath."


    Now that they changed software, they've got serious bugs to kill. Once they're free to add & modify code, and switch away from defaults, I hope it'll get a lot more like we're used to. It should have the flexibility to offer a lot more configurability than the last platform. So it's possible it could get a lot better than what we left.

    Post edited by T Jaiman on
  • BagletBaglet Posts: 0
    edited December 1969

    T Jaiman said:

    They did, last time, because it was the same software, with tweaks. It plugged into alongside their other equipment.


    But people stayed away - there was no stress test, last time, until they took the old store box offline.


    Last time probably only involved two storefront boxes, interfacing with a bunch of other boxes. (Probably a customer-info box, an order processing box...)


    But I imagine, that Magneto probably needed to have changes made to the way existing boxes interacted. That'd make it impossible to run both in parallel.


    And Magneto may have had to take over some of those other boxes.


    To further complicate things, the old forum couldn't just plug in, it all had to be on Magneto.


    You did say "or group of machines", but assuming it was possible with two sets of software (how all-encompassing is Magneto, I wonder)...


    How many more boxes did they have physical space for? How much would all those boxes cost? Enough offline-conditioned-power? Air conditioning?
    .

    I didn't realise that it was a bought-in complete system. That explains a great deal. I'd just assumed it was built in-house as that's the sort of thing I'm used to. If it runs on some sort of *nix then you could make a cheap and cheerful testbed with a Linux system so long as it was only for a few users. But as you say, they may be reluctant to do a small test if bitten before and there may be restrictions in the software licensing.

    I had a look at Magneto's website - it looks like a large sprawling sort of beast with add-ons to do everything so I'd guess very encompassing.

  • DavidGBDavidGB Posts: 565
    edited December 1969

    Sigh.


    Well this is all fun.


    I bought an item in the DAZ store last Sunday, which seemed to work OK apart from me never getting a confirmation email. But when i went to download what should have been a Poser installer and a DS installer, the download link to the DS installer gave me the wrong file - it was just the Poser installer again with the wrong file name. Matters as i bought it to use in DS, not Poser. Went to put in a support ticket, but tickkets not working then so emailed, but no reply yet, so have now raised a ticket too.


    Just noticed that DAZ have failed to auto-renew my monthly Plat Club membership, due after the great DAZ site 'upgrade' (I use the term very lossely); instead they've set my membership to 'expired' and removed my access to the Members Forum and Plat prices in the Store.


    And most of the time there's no link to My Account on the store pages (though just occasionally there is). Generally i have to come to the forums to get a page with a link to My Account on it.


    And that's not to go into all the other things wrong with the store, wishlists and forums that everyone else has listed.


    You know, over the years I've seen a lot of websites I use - commercial, personal, Open Source project et al - perform complete changes to their sites and stores, and I have never, ever, ever seen such a complete, unmitigated mess made as this one by DAZ. It just utterly beggars belief. I can also only assume that the lack of a detailed apology by now, with ETAs on when the assorted aspects will be fixed, by DAZ officials (not their forum mods - I mean real DAZ high honchos) means that it's all gone so ujtterly wrong that they are just sitting staring at the mess in bemusement without a clear idea still of how it all went wrong and how they are going to fix the mess.


    I know DAZ have wanted their software and other prducts to be thought of as 'professional' software for the professional market, not just the hobbyist market. This site 'upgrade' just fits with the software releases - never anything like enough testing before unleashing things on the customer, so the end result is completely unreliable. but somehow we're supposed to just shrug and chuckle l;ike they're a batty but favorite old Uncle we should forgive, or a couple of teens programming in their attic after school with bags of enthusiasm and ideas if a total lack of organisation and discipline. Well, that doesn't cut it. DAZ are a supposedly professional company, and should produce results commensurate with the word 'professional'. There will be very, very few professionals in the 3D graphics industry prepared to rely on DAZ's output.

    I'll be interested to keep an eye on DAZ advertising for staff. I honestly cannot think of any other properly professional company where this level of mess up could happen without someone very high up having to carry the can for the disaster. Then again, I can't think of any other company who would allow something so important as the new site launch to go so wrong for so long.

  • edited December 1969

    T Jaiman said:

    Not happy at all with any of this drastic, and IMO, unneeded change to the store and forums.

    I'm not happy, either. It's quite maddening. :sick:


    But it's like a joke I heard:.


    "This car is shot."
    "Ok, what'll it take to fix it?"
    "Well... the only way to do it, is if we jack it up, and run a new car underneath."


    Now that they changed software, they've got serious bugs to kill. Once they're free to add & modify code, and switch away from defaults, I hope it'll get a lot more like we're used to. It should have the flexibility to offer a lot more configurability than the last platform. So it's possible it could get a lot better than what we left.

    I still don't understand why the 'new' site wasn't sufficiently tested prior to release. I am left with the impression that the decision was made to go even when it was not ready for public consumption and damn the torpedoes. Even when it was apparent that the whole thing was a huge mess, it wasn't taken offline and worked on. As a result, there's now a huge backlog for customer service which exacerbates the problem. Instead of just dealing with fixing the major bugs, they have a gazillion of unhappy customers to pacify.


    There's been very little communication in terms of e-mails on the situation but lots of promotional ones which also leaves the impression that DAZ is more interested in pushing product than disseminating information. We shouldn't have to check the forums for information! There seems to be a huge disconnect here with the consumer. Why people still need to post asking when the expiration dates of sales is beyond comprehension.


    DAZ folk, please address this for all sales items. A little communication with updates on the site's situation would also go a long way and would be much appreciated.


    And speaking of sales, the Dream Home Sale was terminated a day early. Whether that was due to the transition matters little at this point. It was advertised until 17 May. To be fair, I was able to contact cs @ daz before they removed the address on the Help page. First getting an e-mail to use the non-existing Zen Desk and then being offered to do a refund on items purchased, which I politely rejected as:


    A) It's a hassle.
    B) It didn't apply to the rest of the customers.


    I do hope DAZ will address this and give us that day back.

  • frank0314frank0314 Posts: 13,189
    edited December 1969

    Both the store and forum we tested by a large group of people. Most of the bugs were worked out, but when they went live some things changed. It wasn't foreseen and does happen often.

  • sapatsapat Posts: 1,735
    edited December 1969

    Wow, really, cuz from where 99% of us are sitting it just looks like this was cast upon us like a plague and no cure is in sight. Daz has pulled some dumb moves in the past with trying to fix things that weren't broken and we all hung tight, but this time, looks like the Titanic is sinking and the captain has abandoned the ship leaving all us helpless 'passengers' to accept our fate.

  • T JaimanT Jaiman Posts: 560
    edited December 1969

    DavidGB said:
    Sigh.
    Just noticed that DAZ have failed to auto-renew my monthly Plat Club membership, due after the great DAZ site 'upgrade' (I use the term very lossely); instead they've set my membership to 'expired' and removed my access to the Members Forum and Plat prices in the Store.

    You've got a grace period to renew the membership, if you want.


    I don't know if they've fixed it to take Paypal, yet (that was broken for PC renewal), but it'll take a card.


    If gift certificates are working now (are they?) you could pay for a gc with Paypal, and should be able to use that, if you don't want to use the credit card.

  • Scott LivingstonScott Livingston Posts: 4,331
    edited December 1969

    Did Tamesis get vaulted, or is she missing from the store for some other reason? I'm talking about the products "Modern Muses: Tamesis," "Otherworldly Wonders: Tamesis," and the "Tamesis Bundle." These are DAZ Originals by surreality. I own the bundle, so their absence isn't directly affecting me, but they're nice products for V4 and Genesis that should be available to others.

  • T JaimanT Jaiman Posts: 560
    edited May 2012
  • KeryaKerya Posts: 10,943
    edited December 1969

    DavidGB said:

    ...
    You know, over the years I've seen a lot of websites I use - commercial, personal, Open Source project et al - perform complete changes to their sites and stores, and I have never, ever, ever seen such a complete, unmitigated mess made as this one by DAZ. It just utterly beggars belief. ....

    I did see such a mess before.
    When they changed to the now old store.
    It's DAZ inherent.
    :-/

  • XOTTXOTT Posts: 0
    edited December 1969

    DavidGB said:

    Just noticed that DAZ have failed to auto-renew my monthly Plat Club membership, due after the great DAZ site 'upgrade'


    Count me in for the same thing.
    I've sent a ticket in but who knows before it'll be addressed.


    One thing in my case that was weird was that in my order history there was:
    5/29/12 --- Platinum Club Membership Renewal
    (which appeared paid since it was in my order history)


    But clicking on the order number for that entry took me to a April 20, 2012 entry, which of course was paid and valid.


    You'd think something that was automatic would be....oh I dunno....automatic?

  • darknight666darknight666 Posts: 13
    edited May 2012

    YAY, GOT IT RUNNING, when through and ran in v.d.mode in wine
    oops, sorry wrong forum section i was replying to

    Post edited by darknight666 on
  • adzanadzan Posts: 268
    edited December 1969

    So how are sales doing on the customer issue backlog
    because I posted on page 3 about pending downloads from the previous week and I'm still waiting for replies to my emails.

  • plarsonplarson Posts: 21
    edited December 1969

    Frank0314 said:
    Both the store and forum we tested by a large group of people. Most of the bugs were worked out, but when they went live some things changed. It wasn't foreseen and does happen often.

    Would you like to buy a bridge to Brooklyn?

    Next time someone suggests upgrading the website someone from DAZ should use the same method of teaching puppies not to piss in side. Taje a squirt gun full of water and spray them saying BAD BAD!

    Every time DAZ "upgrades" their website it is the same story.

    Rule 1: Live tessting isn't good.

    Rule 2: If it ain't broke don't break it.

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