#2561663 - 08/02/08 11:07 PM
An Open Letter to FSD International
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Joined: Apr 2003
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Colonel Kern
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To whom it may concern,
I was at one point a very satisfied customer of yours. I appreciated the quality of your work and enjoyed a couple of your products.
You have ruined that relationship.
I have been attempting to reinstall one of your aircraft on my one and only gaming computer but have been refused activation due to a fault in the logic of your computer verification routine. You will not respond to any of my inquiries as to how we may resolve this. I would gladly try to explain why you might be getting a "false positive" if I would only get some cooperation from your organization.
I certainly will not do any further business with your organization and I will discourage anyone else from doing so until this matter is brought to a satisfactory conclusion.
Kirby Kern Omaha, NE
The Colonel
"They're not toys. They're collectables."
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#2562312 - 08/04/08 04:53 AM
Re: An Open Letter to FSD International
[Re: Colonel Kern]
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Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 1,649
FishTaco
Forever Cromulent
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Forever Cromulent
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Perth, Western Australia
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Looks like some things never change.........
I feel your pain, plenty of threads about this at avsim and flightsim. Don't post any more over there though, they'll just be shut down. Best thing to do is what you said, don't offer them any more business.
I take it from your comments that their business acumen and general manners have not improved then?
Kindest regards,
AJ
"If you know the enemy and know yourself, your victory will not stand in doubt; if you know Heaven and know Earth, you may make your victory complete." - The Art of War - Sun Tzu
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#2562408 - 08/04/08 12:50 PM
Re: An Open Letter to FSD International
[Re: FishTaco]
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Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 1,057
Colonel Kern
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It would not bother me so much if they would at least TALK to me. I really do not know why they are getting a false positive regarding multiple computer installs. Obviously they have a flaw in their detection technique. I would be more than willing to walk through the process and help them figure out what the problem might be. But they have convicted me on false data and do not feel obiligated to correct the issue.
Very sad. Petty, petty folks over there. They need to grow up and act like a real business.
The Colonel
"They're not toys. They're collectables."
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#2562414 - 08/04/08 01:11 PM
Re: An Open Letter to FSD International
[Re: Colonel Kern]
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Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 1,649
FishTaco
Forever Cromulent
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Forever Cromulent
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Perth, Western Australia
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Sounds like they have not changed their ways....
Let me guess, you got a number of emails, insulting, threatening emails, accusing you of pirating their bloved software. You did this because you tried to do a re-install of one of their aircraft that you had purchased.
Yes, there is one of their team who is big on the insults; hard to believe I was dealing with a grown man.
Fight it Colonel. They will make a few more idle threats to you, quiz them about what their magic "installer" has put onto your PC. Quiz them about it "phoning home" without your consent. At the end of all this, you will probably get a refund, and a polite email informing you that they would rather not have you as a customer.
Stand up for your rights as a customer! I did.
Kindest regards,
AJ
"If you know the enemy and know yourself, your victory will not stand in doubt; if you know Heaven and know Earth, you may make your victory complete." - The Art of War - Sun Tzu
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#2562448 - 08/04/08 02:13 PM
Re: An Open Letter to FSD International
[Re: RSColonel_131st]
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Joined: Dec 2003
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FishTaco
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No I did not.....LOL
BUT, I did manage to categorically PROVE something (One should not mess with a systems administrator) 1. Their aircraft adds a Windows registry entry that cannot be removed, and could "possibly" degrade the performance of your simulator to a point where you have to reinstall. 2. Once opened, the "pirated .dll" which is supposed to send alarm bells ringing to them, is actually an integral part of the Windows operating system. 3. To them, your install will show up as "on multiple computer" if your ISP assigns a dynamic IP Address to your computer. Thus, if you do not have a static ip with your internet service provider, this problem will keep happening!
For a bunch of people who are "software developers" I am quite suprised that I had to explain all of this to them a couple of years ago. But hey, at least I got my money back!
Kindest regards,
AJ
"If you know the enemy and know yourself, your victory will not stand in doubt; if you know Heaven and know Earth, you may make your victory complete." - The Art of War - Sun Tzu
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#2562473 - 08/04/08 02:44 PM
Re: An Open Letter to FSD International
[Re: FishTaco]
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Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 1,057
Colonel Kern
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Reinstall the sim or XP?
I think my issue is the dynamic IP address one.
The Colonel
"They're not toys. They're collectables."
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#2562481 - 08/04/08 02:54 PM
Re: An Open Letter to FSD International
[Re: Colonel Kern]
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Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 1,649
FishTaco
Forever Cromulent
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Forever Cromulent
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Perth, Western Australia
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It can reach a point where you have to reinstall the sim.
They sent me a TRACEROUTE log of my internet activity (that REALLY made me question them) and then I pointed out that my ISP had had to transfer additional addresses to the West coast.
After I explained that, they got a little more polite with me.
Kindest regards,
AJ
"If you know the enemy and know yourself, your victory will not stand in doubt; if you know Heaven and know Earth, you may make your victory complete." - The Art of War - Sun Tzu
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#2562497 - 08/04/08 03:33 PM
Re: An Open Letter to FSD International
[Re: Weird_Crapolla]
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Joined: Dec 2003
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FishTaco
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There is that option as well of course, though not one that I would usually take.
I think the OP's real gripe is the manner in which he has been treated, they really do treat you like a common criminal. It's not really a matter of the software as such methinks.
Kindest regards,
AJ
"If you know the enemy and know yourself, your victory will not stand in doubt; if you know Heaven and know Earth, you may make your victory complete." - The Art of War - Sun Tzu
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#2562551 - 08/04/08 05:21 PM
Re: An Open Letter to FSD International
[Re: FishTaco]
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Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 288
flyboy77
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I had the same problem with some software a while back.The problem lies in your registry.I fixed it by uninstalling the software then downloaded Reg-cleaner,you will find that software with it and can delete it.But be very careful with it only select what you want to remove with it.I strongly sagest not using the remove all option.Then reinstall the software.
Last edited by flyboy77; 08/04/08 05:22 PM.
NXZT Phantom case,core i7-975 oc 4.2,6gbcrucal ballistics ram at 1900 mhz,radeon HD5850 windows 7
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#2562793 - 08/05/08 02:00 AM
Re: An Open Letter to FSD International
[Re: FishTaco]
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Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 123
Fishey...)()
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I bought their C337 for Fs9/FsX a while back and could never get it installed and working in FSX. Too be fair I got good support but in the end they said it wouldn't work because I had Flight sim on a different partition then my OS! I found all kinds of odd advice while browsing their support forum combine that with the fact they put trackers in their products and I'd say walk away, or try Crappy's way
Last edited by Fishey...)(); 08/05/08 02:00 AM.
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#2563605 - 08/06/08 02:14 PM
Re: An Open Letter to FSD International
[Re: Fishey...)()]
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Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 1,057
Colonel Kern
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Yup. I've had it. I have the freeware t-38 which works just fine.
These guys have absolutely no concept of customer service. I've been in the IT biz for over 30 years and I have NEVER seen a company treat even a bad customer this poorly.
Last edited by Colonel Kern; 08/06/08 03:00 PM.
The Colonel
"They're not toys. They're collectables."
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#2563694 - 08/06/08 04:26 PM
Re: An Open Letter to FSD International
[Re: FishTaco]
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 25,138
RSColonel_131st
Lifer
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Lifer
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 25,138
Vienna, 2nd rock left.
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3. To them, your install will show up as "on multiple computer" if your ISP assigns a dynamic IP Address to your computer. Thus, if you do not have a static ip with your internet service provider, this problem will keep happening! Does that mean their addons are phoning home the IP adresses of the computer where they run - not just for activation? That would be incredible bad press for them.
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#2563740 - 08/06/08 05:54 PM
Re: An Open Letter to FSD International
[Re: RSColonel_131st]
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Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 1,057
Colonel Kern
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Member
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I wish I knew. They will not tell me what they are using to identify "multiple" installs. If I knew I might be able to fix this very obvious bug in their code.
The Colonel
"They're not toys. They're collectables."
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#2563788 - 08/06/08 07:19 PM
Re: An Open Letter to FSD International
[Re: Colonel Kern]
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Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 2,453
NineLives
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Shropshire UK
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Never dealt with them but reading this with interest. Just visited their site. Their 'mission statement' --------------------------- FSD International designs and sells high quality add-on aircraft for Microsoft® Flight Simulator by: working in a cooperative manner, dealing friendly and honestly with our customers, and providing quality products and support to customers. FSD will: Serve our customers and our community with respect and goodwill using the highest standard of ethics and integrity. Manage all communication between customers and team members and insure that all parties conduct themselves politely and with mutual respect. Insure that the confidentiality and product licenses of all parties are protected. Support both developers and end-users in the prevention of illegal or unauthorized use of any copyrighted product, either from FSD or from other sources. Maintain the highest professional standards of quality and support on behalf of our customers. ----------------------------
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#2564129 - 08/07/08 12:41 PM
Re: An Open Letter to FSD International
[Re: Colonel Kern]
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Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 1,649
FishTaco
Forever Cromulent
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Forever Cromulent
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Perth, Western Australia
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Well, to coin one of your wonderful American sayings, they really "Screwed the pooch" with me.
When the disagreements were going on, they sent me a TRACERT log that had come from my own IP address, claiming that I had done "multiple installs". Now, I ran the TRACERT myself, and in the period of two days, I would have had to have installed their aircraft on my computer, then flown to Sydney on the east coast, installed on two computers there, and returned to Perth.
The simple explanation is that a range of IP's were sent by my ISP, from Sydney to Perth. I explained this to them, and also questioned if dynamically assigned IP's were in use in the United States. I then questioned them deeper about how they had obtained said information about my computer.
It was then I recieved an email advising me of a refund, and their desire to never have me as a customer again. I still have the emails archived actually. I made a bit of bad news on a number of forums about this, but it seems that they have not changed their ways. Real shame, because SOME of their products are good.
The way I still see it, malware has been installed on my computer, as when I was doing the install, there was nothing in the disclaimers about sending my information back to FSD. They denied this vehemently of course - but then, they would, wouldn't they?
Kindest regards,
AJ
"If you know the enemy and know yourself, your victory will not stand in doubt; if you know Heaven and know Earth, you may make your victory complete." - The Art of War - Sun Tzu
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#2564161 - 08/07/08 01:42 PM
Re: An Open Letter to FSD International
[Re: NineLives]
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Joined: Dec 2003
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FishTaco
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NineLives;
This went out through Trend Microscan Internet security pro without even a peep.
That is why I am so vocal about this.
Kindest regards,
AJ
"If you know the enemy and know yourself, your victory will not stand in doubt; if you know Heaven and know Earth, you may make your victory complete." - The Art of War - Sun Tzu
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