Never buy PowerDirector: A rant on incompetent Indian call centers

ebykowsky

ebykowsky

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[RANT]
Don't buy it unless you want to be stuck on hold with customer support reps in India who don't know WTF they're doing and have absolutely no ability to actually make anything happen.

I bought PD11 around a year ago and had issues where it worked for a month, then wouldn't let me activate the codecs necessary to use the software. It delivered a message that I may have fallen victim to pirated software, despite the fact that I bought it from a reputable vendor (and PD even admits that it shouldn't be telling me this, since it's a legit vendor).

Well, after a month, I didn't need it, and went on my way not worrying about it. I did need it about half a year later, but had uninstalled my operating system for other reasons and ultimately PD11 installed fine when I put it back on, and gave me another month of use.

Now, I need it again, and it won't work for the same reasons as before (although I don't feel like reinstalling my OS to get another month of usage this time). Well, I have spent a total of around 5-6 hours on the phone and on email with these guys. I have been told that my issue has been "escalated" around 5 times, I've been provided with a new download link 4 times to no avail (I keep telling them this doesn't work), and they refuse to accept any of my solutions to the issue:
1) Provide me with a new activation code
2) Provide me with a copy of PowerDirector12
3) Give me a refund for the software that does not work

I feel like the first two should be simple for them to do; it costs literally nothing for them to do either of these.

I tried being nice with them for the first 4 hours of conversation, but just got off the phone having absolutely snapped at them. I will absolutely never buy another Cyberlink product (PS: the vendor was Herman Street)
Just thought you guys would like to know in case you're ever in the market for a digital video editing software.
[/RANT]
 
ebykowsky said:
[RANT]
Don't buy it unless you want to be stuck on hold with customer support reps in India who don't know WTF they're doing and have absolutely no ability to actually make anything happen.

I bought PD11 around a year ago and had issues where it worked for a month, then wouldn't let me activate the codecs necessary to use the software. It delivered a message that I may have fallen victim to pirated software, despite the fact that I bought it from a reputable vendor (and PD even admits that it shouldn't be telling me this, since it's a legit vendor).

Well, after a month, I didn't need it, and went on my way not worrying about it. I did need it about half a year later, but had uninstalled my operating system for other reasons and ultimately PD11 installed fine when I put it back on, and gave me another month of use.

Now, I need it again, and it won't work for the same reasons as before (although I don't feel like reinstalling my OS to get another month of usage this time). Well, I have spent a total of around 5-6 hours on the phone and on email with these guys. I have been told that my issue has been "escalated" around 5 times, I've been provided with a new download link 4 times to no avail (I keep telling them this doesn't work), and they refuse to accept any of my solutions to the issue:
1) Provide me with a new activation code
2) Provide me with a copy of PowerDirector12
3) Give me a refund for the software that does not work

I feel like the first two should be simple for them to do; it costs literally nothing for them to do either of these.

I tried being nice with them for the first 4 hours of conversation, but just got off the phone having absolutely snapped at them. I will absolutely never buy another Cyberlink product (PS: the vendor was Herman Street)
Just thought you guys would like to know in case you're ever in the market for a digital video editing software.
[/RANT]
Click to expand...

Personally, I use Adobe Premiere Pro. I have PowerDirector installed (it came with the computer), but I've never used it.

Maybe I should give Power Director a try. Premiere Pro's a bit much for my humble editing needs. But it's included with my Adobe Creative Cloud subscription; and besides, it's kind of fun to pretend that I'm Spielberg.

-Rich
 
Standard Indian software support call center script:

HELLLLLLOOO, I would very much like to fully help you with your problem.

First I would like you to reboot your machine. Did that fix your problem? No.

OK, now I would like to your read me the version of our software that you have installed so I can check for updates. OK. Well good, it looks like you are current.

Well it's time to get serious. I would like you to find the operating system disks that came with your computer. OK, great.

Now we are going to do a process called formatting your hard drive. It should only take a few minutes. Then we can reinstall our software and you should be in great shape.

Let me just say that we are fully committed to fully and completely satisfying all of our customers and if there is anything else we can do we are HAPPY to help. Thank your soooooooo much for calling.
 
Don't you love it when the tech on the other end has an accent as thick as molasses, then says his name is "Steve".

Yeah, right.
 
LoneAspen said:
Don't you love it when the tech on the other end has an accent as thick as molasses, then says his name is "Steve".

Yeah, right.
Click to expand...

Uh huh. I talked to Alex and Ryan over there. They could barely pronounce those names.

Anyway thanks for letting me vent, guys!
 
I have PowerDirector, but I bought it direct from thier site and have not had to call support, yet. It is a bit of a resource hog, though.
 
John221us said:
I have PowerDirector, but I bought it direct from thier site and have not had to call support, yet. It is a bit of a resource hog, though.
Click to expand...

That was my main mistake: not buying it direct from the site. But still, seeing how they treat customers who call in, I'm certainly not buying any more of their products. One of their "solutions" to my problem was to just buy PowerDirector12 for an additional $70. Another "solution" was to pay $29/month for phone tech support (the guys I called only offer "product" support). Yeah frigging right.
 
ebykowsky said:
That was my main mistake: not buying it direct from the site. But still, seeing how they treat customers who call in, I'm certainly not buying any more of their products. One of their "solutions" to my problem was to just buy PowerDirector12 for an additional $70. Another "solution" was to pay $29/month for phone tech support (the guys I called only offer "product" support). Yeah frigging right.
Click to expand...

They should have given you a new activation code, I agree.
 
no experience with version 11 but I have been using PD8 for years with no issues at all.
 
I've gone off a few Indian call centers before.

This week we have been having trouble with our Comcast cable system. It kept saying we weren't authorized to view our normal HDTV channels.

I called technical service and got the run around of my life. Here is a few highlights of my week long endeavor.

"Sir this problem is because your cable rate is to high. To fix this issue we have to give you our NEW promotional package. It will reduce your monthly total by XXX"

"Oh well you need to have phone service through us to view that package"

The BEST ONE "Sir good news. I see that you have a HDTV box. This box can receive HDTV. I only have to sign you up for a new low price package." :idea:

NO S***!!! I am calling about our HDTV!!!!!

IT took five calls to get a human in the U.S. :mad2:
 
ARFlyer said:
I've gone off a few Indian call centers before.

This week we have been having trouble with our Comcast cable system. It kept saying we weren't authorized to view our normal HDTV channels.

I called technical service and got the run around of my life. Here is a few highlights of my week long endeavor.

"Sir this problem is because your cable rate is to high. To fix this issue we have to give you our NEW promotional package. It will reduce your monthly total by XXX"

"Oh well you need to have phone service through us to view that package"

The BEST ONE "Sir good news. I see that you have a HDTV box. This box can receive HDTV. I only have to sign you up for a new low price package." :idea:

NO S***!!! I am calling about our HDTV!!!!!

IT took five calls to get a human in the U.S. :mad2:
Click to expand...

Yep, the Indians will hold true to protocol, that's what your cable company pays them to do. It takes a real american to get fed up with your BS and cave. :D
 
bartmc said:
Yep, the Indians will hold true to protocol, that's what your cable company pays them to do. It takes a real american to get fed up with your BS and cave. :D
Click to expand...

Amen! Now if only they'd give me that American to talk to!
 
bartmc said:
Yep, the Indians will hold true to protocol, that's what your cable company pays them to do. It takes a real american to get fed up with your BS and cave. :D
Click to expand...

All I wanted was the account fixed and not some new fancy package or savings. I let one agent fix it by giving me the savings. She ended up giving us a crap package that completely screwed the account up.

The American looked at the account and saw that it was a old router that was the issue. The router had never been taken off the account when we upgraded the box. No questions, no cornering sales tactic and a very friendly attitude.

The best call center I have had to deal with is Seagate. Extremely helpful, will BS while waiting for the account to load or whatever. It takes one call and I've always have a replacement HD in the mail 15 mins later.
 
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I've had quite excellent Indian call center guys, so it's hard to paint them all with the same brush. A company who acts like the one described above would have the same idiocy only with a different accent if they did it in the US.

Getting past the "My name is Bob" deal with one Indian support he emailed me (under his harder to pronounce indian name" with the files I needed to fix my problem (can't remember what company it was now).

Dell is perhaps the worst. There are known problems with certain models that they tell customer support to stonewall the customers on with. It's reprehensible.
 
flyingron said:
I've had quite excellent Indian call center guys, so it's hard to paint them all with the same brush. A company who acts like the one described above would have the same idiocy only with a different accent if they did it in the US.

Getting past the "My name is Bob" deal with one Indian support he emailed me (under his harder to pronounce indian name" with the files I needed to fix my problem (can't remember what company it was now).

Dell is perhaps the worst. There are known problems with certain models that they tell customer support to stonewall the customers on with. It's reprehensible.
Click to expand...

Funny, I just used Dell customer support and loved the experience. I had the total protection plan though. Told them about a glitch and some cracks in my screen; they told me right away to send in my computer (shipping provided) and it came back inside of a week. They had replaced the screen with a new, higher resolution one and much of the hardware, such as the mouse pad and lots of the trim had been changed out. Feels like I have a whole new computer without even asking!
 
flyingron said:
I've had quite excellent Indian call center guys, so it's hard to paint them all with the same brush. A company who acts like the one described above would have the same idiocy only with a different accent if they did it in the US.

Getting past the "My name is Bob" deal with one Indian support he emailed me (under his harder to pronounce indian name" with the files I needed to fix my problem (can't remember what company it was now).
Click to expand...

My experience with Indian support techs has been pretty positive, as well. I recently had to call HP support for what I believed would be a warranty replacement of the WiFi card, but the tech was able to diagnose a driver issue that I'd missed. I was pretty impressed by his diagnostic skills.

He also made it clear that if the diagnostics didn't work, I could either return the laptop for service, or he would send the replacement card for me to replace myself, at my option. In his case, HP had empowered him to make those decisions. Apparently Cyberlink doesn't empower their techs to do the same, which reflects more on Cyberlink than on the tech.

My most interesting Indian support experience was with "Mack," who worked for Vonage when I used to use them for my business phone service. I couldn't get the fax to work, so I called Vonage support.

Mack asked me for the fax machine model, ran through some settings until he found ones that worked for that machine, sent me a test fax, and asked me to fax something back to him to make sure everything was working. We repeated this several times, using various types of documents, so he could fine-tune the settings. Then he set those settings as the defaults for that line.

A few days later, Mack called me to make sure that everything was still working. He did the same periodically for the next few months. One day I told him to make sure to call me if he ever made it to New York, and we'd have a drink.

Sure enough, a few months later, he called to tell me he was visiting New York City; so I met him at JFK and we had a few drinks. More than a few, actually. Mack drinks with respectable prowess.

I think you're going to find doofusses (or is it doofi?) in any group. I also think Americans are rather arrogant as a group and find it hard to comprehend that there are smart people in other countries, too. Overall, I've found Indian support techs to be quite knowledgeable once you get past their peculiar accent. I think a situation like OP's really reflects more on the company than an entire nation.

-Rich
 
Since we are ranting- I bought a new car that came with 3 months of XM. I let it lapse as I listen to audiobooks a lot, but now I want music again. I go online and try to renew/extend the service. Keeps kicking me out of my account. Fine, I try to use the site as a new customer and it says this radio is under a different account. Frustration level is now yellow. After trying every combination to get it renewed, I give in and use the online chat. Frustration level orange. After repeating my steps to the online person, she says that its a new car and the free trial expired. Frustration level red now. I type slowly that I want to renew it and add it to my account. She says she cant do that, I need to call an 800 number. I dont understand, here is money, take it please. Call the 800 number, after a long wait, I get a male voice that I can tell will not be a pleasant call, so I hang up. Frustration level white. Its been 2 months, I still cant make myself call.

Dont even ask me about trying to cancel XM service..
 
Rich is right. Again. I get frustrated with my colleagues who are rude and disrespectful to call center agents just because they're from India. And the comments they make about them afterward are way out of line.

Don't get me wrong, I know that the service is inferior, but it's not inferior because of the rep's nationality. It's inferior because they don't have the training and they are not empowered to actually help you.

When addressing blame, direct it at the AMERICAN companies that have chosen cheap, unskilled labor whom they've given zero authority to help you.

And it's worse when you're trying to get tech support via chat/IM. Every response is followed by a 10 minute pause because the rep is trying to help fifteen other people at the same time.
 
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the subtle irony I have daily is that I'm the occasional support DBA for our India data center ... oh the games that could be played ...
 
I regret the day that I installed Windows 8. After installation I mistype my password and the system was bricked, would not let me on! I called Microsoft and ended up with an guy in India. Attempting to fix the problem my e-mail account was trashed and we then had a three way conversation with my ISP to fix that. Once I was up and running I was incensed to find that some idiot at Microsoft had hidden away a setting that allowed several log on attempts. And the fool had set that to one on the software as installed! I am not an Apple fan but that almost made me change my allegiance!
 
And as another rant against Microsoft, once the machine was bricked the screen gave me a URL to contact to reset my password - with a non-functioning computer! No wonder the guy in charge of windows development left, or was fired!
 
ebykowsky said:
Funny, I just used Dell customer support and loved the experience. I had the total protection plan though. Told them about a glitch and some cracks in my screen; they told me right away to send in my computer (shipping provided) and it came back inside of a week. They had replaced the screen with a new, higher resolution one and much of the hardware, such as the mouse pad and lots of the trim had been changed out. Feels like I have a whole new computer without even asking!
Click to expand...

Same, I had a 1.5 year old laptop, no special warranty plan. One day the screen broke. 20 minutes on the phone got me a service appointment with a dell technician who came out to my office and fixed my computer the next day.
 
Unfortunate Title as the complaint is really against call centers, not the program. PD has been my favorite editor, but also use Pinnacle Studio and Movie Maker. PowerDirector has been PC Magazine Editor's Choice for the last several years... It's a good program, but be sure to install the periodic maintenance updates. Due to the complexity of video editing programs, the interactions with drivers, and the size of files, I think they all can have problems. I always make sure to save incremental copies of my projects (save1, save2, etc), so I can always go back and not lose everything.
 
CT4ME said:
Unfortunate Title as the complaint is really against call centers, not the program. PD has been my favorite editor, but also use Pinnacle Studio and Movie Maker. PowerDirector has been PC Magazine Editor's Choice for the last several years... It's a good program, but be sure to install the periodic maintenance updates. Due to the complexity of video editing programs, the interactions with drivers, and the size of files, I think they all can have problems. I always make sure to save incremental copies of my projects (save1, save2, etc), so I can always go back and not lose everything.
Click to expand...

I actually love the software; I think it is great! But, the company doesn't stand by their product, which reflects poorly on all their brands. If you never need to use support, then there's nothing wrong with it. But, should anything go wrong and you need to get help beyond simply reinstalling the program, you're SOL. Remember, they're not just selling me a product, they're selling me a product/service package, and their ability to fix my issues is part of that deal. If you're a business owner, then every minute you don't have a necessary software you're losing money. If you are a student who needs it for a project, your grade is on the line, and their inability to deal with the issue reflects poorly on themselves.

I stand by the title of the post. Also, note that I put "incompetent" Indian call centers. I have talked to plenty that are fully competent and helpful, but this goes for the ones that aren't. I suppose it could also apply to US ones as well, but the Indian ones seem to either be worse or maybe just **** me off more because I can barely understand what they're saying.
 
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