Terrible upload experience and terrible customer service

[Tomurusan]

I got tired of Fusion nagging me to upgrade from Version 4 to 5 every time I launched it so I paid my fifty bucks and downloaded the upgrade. That's when the fun started. The system charged my credit card immediately but never gave me a License Key, without which I can't open Fusion 5. Worse, the download of Fusion 5 overwrote Fusion 4 in my Applications folder, leaving me dead in the water. Two calls to Customer Service resulted only in vague promises of "High Priority" requests for my License Key - within 24 hours! - or an "evaluation" license key and zero action. To get any work done today I had to delete Version 5 and restore Version 4 from Time Machine. Not what I consider good value for fifty bucks. If I haven't heard from Customer Service with a working License Key by noon I'm canceling the order and demanding a refund.

[Dr_Gary]

Stay with 4.1.3...

I have been testing 5.00/5.01 and it is buggy.  I also see no compelling advantages for the V5 upgrade...I'm sorry to say.  I am running Windows 8 just fine on 4.1.3 with none of the bugs that 5 introduced.  The Windows Experience Index, boot times, etc., are all the same for Windows 7 and 8 under 4.1.3 and 5.

I have been using Fusion since version 1.  I still am a supporter of VMware Fusion...but I think the version 5 release was rushed out the door...with too many bugs and too few new features.

I will be hanging on to my $50 until 5.1 at least....

GKG

[Tomurusan]

Thanks. Sounds like advice worth taking. Fusion has always worked well for me, but if they can't even get customers a license key it makes you wonder what else they might have overlooked.

[Tomurusan]

The plot thickens. It seems they can't refund my fifty bucks until I have a License Key, never mind that the fact that they can't seem to give me a License Key is the reason I want the refund in the first place. After several more contacts with the Marx Brothers in Customer Service - THEY are calling ME! - they just sent an e-mail asking me to forward them the e-mail with the invoice. Never mind that they sent me the invoice in the first place and therefore should already have it. But of course the e-mail address they gave me to reply to is their "do not reply" customer service e-mail address. Round and round we go ...

[Dr_Gary]

Wow...sounds like they need to do an overhaul of the entire purchase/license process to me.

I am a bit surprised quite frankly...I have worked via the VMware folks on their ESX and Fusion product lines for years...and I don't recall ever having issues like this.

Still running 4.1.3 and happy...

I hope you can get your issues resolved.

[danwright]

Glad I read this Thread, I will not be ordering version 5 just yet.

[MaxTheCat]

For what it’s worth, my experience was similar.  I ordered upgrades to Fusion 5 Professional and Workstation 9 on the 23rd.  My credit card was billed within 30 minutes and I immediately received an invoice with no license keys.  The order didn’t show up under My VMware and neither did the keys.  On the 24th, still no keys so I called support.  I wasn’t very happy with the response (“try waiting another 24 hours”) so I entered a support request and also sent an email to VMware marketing asking them to look into it.  I finally got my keys on the afternoon of the 27th, so it only took 4 days.  Of course now I have submitted two more support requests since the keys work to activate the products but show up as “Invalid Keys” when I try to register them at My VMware.

As far as I am concerned VMware’s support needs some rework, at least in the license support area.  A few months ago we ordered 4 copies of Workstation 8 where I work and it took three weeks to get access to the license keys.

I may be incorrect but I believe VMware “vends-out” both their online store and their license management technical support.  So in the event of a problem, it appears to get anything done you have to push enough for it to get escalated to someone with some authority.

I really like VMware products and would rate the ones I’ve used as almost universally “excellent” (except Fusion which only gets a rating of “good” from me).  But they need to work on their after sale support.  Right now I would rate their after sale support as “unacceptable”.

[danwright]

I thought credit card could be charged until product was delivered. No Key would be a Violation I would think.

[Tomurusan]

Sorry to hear you had a similar experience but it's also reassuring to know someone else has seen this same Bollywood farce. I was beginning to think I had made the whole thing up.

I agree that Fusion - the only VMWare product I have used - is excellent. If only we could say the same about the rest of the operation.

[MaxTheCat]

While some might consider charging a credit card prior to delivery of a product bad service I don’t believe it is illegal, at least not in the United States or more specifically California.

As to Fusion, I rate vSphere and Workstation “Excellent”, I only rate Fusion as “Good.”  I specifically want to virtualize OS X on OS X and Fusion has some rendering issues with some parts of the OS as well as with Pages and some other applications, which makes Pages and those other applications completely unusable in a Virtual Machine.  ( I will say however, my experience is that VirtualBox and Parallels have exactly the same issue.)  And since Pages is the Number 2 best selling app in the Mac AppStore, I think that qualifies it as a significant issue.

But, my opinion based on my experience, is that right now VMware needs to address their customer service issues more than any short comings in their software.

[Tomurusan]

MaxTheCat - Your applications are way more complex and demanding than my plain vanilla uses for Fusion, in which it works perfectly.

By the way, I swear that one of the customer disservice representatives introduced herself with, "Hello, my name is Vanilla ...".

Maybe they outsourced all the back-office stuff to the Spice Girls. Although even they would probably do a better job of it.

[Tomurusan]

To bring this sorry thread to a conclusion, VMWare finally came through with the License Key 3 - count'em, three - days after I paid for the upgrade. Version 5 seems a bit snappier on my iMac, although that may be mostly wishful thinking.