Author Topic: GemX - missing in action (Read 284352 times)

Darwin · « **Reply #150 on:** October 09, 2007, 09:04 AM »

My purchase from August 12 was refunded today. Amazing... both that SWREG are so good about this and that GemX didn't respond to a single message - just let a customer and $70 drift away.

Beth UK · « **Reply #151 on:** October 10, 2007, 08:16 AM »

I noticed that today on the GemX site the links to the old forum and the Gemx blog have been removed from the site navigation - so there is life there...

Darwin · « **Reply #152 on:** October 10, 2007, 08:34 AM »

Bizarre. It's a step in the right direction, but why don't they go the extra INCH and post something, anything, in the News section on the homepage?

Beth UK · « **Reply #153 on:** October 10, 2007, 08:53 AM »

It's a step in the right direction

Darwin, I am not sure about it being a step in the right direction because despite those links to the forum and blog being removed there is still no direct communication with customers. Have to say I wonder if the latest activity is related to your refund and a fear that a spate of refund requests might follow? Hard to say. Odd that it happens on the same day. $:-\$

Darwin · « **Reply #154 on:** October 10, 2007, 09:09 AM »

Heh, heh - I over-edited my previous reply as I speculated about the same connection between my refund and these latest moves at gemx. Prominent in ALL of my communications to gemx, including the messages sent through SWREG, was the point that they shouldn't be providing links to forms of communication that aren't supported. Of course, I also demanded that they update customers as to what's going on, at the very least via a news item on their home page. Note that despite the refund, my Do-Organizer registration file is still available to me for download and my DSM's remain unanswered. Crazy.

If this trully IS a response to my refund, they are off their rockers. They could have avoided, or at least delayed, the refund going out and possibly retained me as a customer by simply entering into a dialogue with me! Instead it appears that they'd rather lose money and a customer than explain themselves...

doublewitt · « **Reply #155 on:** October 10, 2007, 05:17 PM »

In general, a forum is like the life-line for a product and it's development. It's a vital resource for users and it's also criterion for purchasing software. Most people avoid software companies who have no forum and almost no means of communication. eMAIL alone just won't do...

Removing the links looks like a suicide move to me...
There isn't much sense to that. How many software companies pull stunts like that...??!! the fact that they alone do it, brings a greater spotlight on them and the consequences will certainly be negative. It's really a strange affair...

Darwin · « **Reply #156 on:** October 10, 2007, 05:39 PM »

Hmm... put like that, doublewitt, I can see why Beth is less optimistic than I am about what this portends for gemx. I honestly hadn't thought of it in those terms - was too busy being happy that there a actual signs of life. You're right, of course. Far better to reactivate the forum and let people say their piece. Mystifying.

borengate · « **Reply #157 on:** October 11, 2007, 11:23 AM »

Hi guys,

The GemX team has posted a big piece of news informing that all forums are closed down because they can not afford enough man-hours to maintain them and that they had "to organize their priorities as needed" (sic). Also, they greatly appreciate the collaboration of all of us that have posted messages in the forum, especially doublewitt (formerly Tiptop). So, bad news but at least something is moving, it seems that there is still some life inside GemX. Less is nothing.

I hope that one of their priorities will be the release of DO3 and TNP updates as soon as possible since all their man-hours can be focused now on that work. We would greatly appreciate that some information about the current state of these topics.

I think that they (GemX) is also reading this forum...so, don't hesitate to SHOUT IT OUT LOUD: WE ARE STILL WAITING FOR THE UPDATES, DON'T FORGET YOUR CLIENTS!

Darwin · « **Reply #158 on:** October 11, 2007, 11:36 AM »

Thanks for alerting us to that, borengate. I suspect you're right and that they have noticed this thread. At this point any signs of life are welcome.

Carol Haynes · « **Reply #159 on:** October 11, 2007, 12:28 PM »

Can someone get them on false advertising? They advertise:

on the homepage and

It's Simple and Responsive

Besides producing superior quality applications, GemX is proud to offer one of the best support services in the industry.

That's the heading on their support page.

Given that they don't seem to respond to any form of communication (even the company that processes payments) surely this must breach an advertising standard. (Sorry I don't know anything about Dutch advertising regs. but that would definitley have to be removed in the UK if challenged).

Darwin · « **Reply #160 on:** October 11, 2007, 12:44 PM »

Heh, heh, I haven't asked them to remove the claim about the support, but I've ranted at them numerous times about not living up to it!

Josh · « **Reply #161 on:** October 11, 2007, 02:37 PM »

It seems to me they removed the forums so no one could see the many negatives being posted about their software. Thats fine, if thats their choice, however, I am moving to letting download sites hear my wrath about them. I am updating sites like betanews.com, download.com, cnet.com, etc and will let my words be heard there. Since they seem to ignore paying customers via their touted DSM product, maybe this will get their attention.

Josh · « **Reply #162 on:** October 11, 2007, 02:39 PM »

Also, to all, I got a DSM response today, here is what it said about refunds.

The refund from another was a unique experience, however, if you wish to pursue this, it is your decision. DSM is now active. as well as email support. It just means you will have to restate the problem you wish help with.

RBernier · « **Reply #163 on:** October 11, 2007, 03:05 PM »

I have DSM'd Gemx several times without receiving any response. Last week I told them that continuing to sell their products without providing support is considered fraud in most civilized countries. None of my messages have received any response (surprise, surprise). I did notice that as of today, the Gemx home page has the statement about the forums being closed permanently, and although you can still download their products, they no longer have the download/advertisement available on the home page. I think they are getting ready to close up shop permanently. I think folks need to be warned about the blatant lack of support befor they lay down the big bucks that many of us have already wasted.

Regards,
Ron Bernier

doublewitt · « **Reply #164 on:** October 11, 2007, 03:26 PM »

They waited ALL THAT TIME before making an announcement...!!! (2 months) They tortured their clients with no "active" concern. Now that's a poor show of professionalism. Not only that, in early August, they said that in 2 weeks we would see version 3.1. It's now 2 months and no show for the update. They could have helped in compensating with an announcement for an available update at the same time. That would have made a difference... They are so unthoughtful. They recuperated so many man-hours as they said over the past 2 months and no update... they really have no class at all...

It seems that they don't have the man-hours for support services either.

zak11000 · « **Reply #165 on:** October 11, 2007, 08:48 PM »

Read my post from the other day. I was sure they would be back and I wasn't wrong.

Its not surprising - they can't take the criticism so have decided to hide and take the forum down. Its pretty pathetic if you ask me. That message is dishonest and doesn't show any character or real respect of their customers. Or as tiptop says - it shows no class. And that bit about there not being enough people to reply to the messages.. What's that about? Sometimes days would go buy without them even posting one reply. How long does it take to post a reply - 20 seconds? I guess they are too busy to spend a couple of minutes a day posting replies. They must be working day and night on the software...

But I guess we should be happy that development will continue because their software is good. Its a shame that they themselves can't live up to the quality of their software. Be men guys - don't hide behind emails and your non-existant "support system"... You have nothing to hide from. Criticism can be taken in a constructive way if you choose. After all, you want your product to be the best it can be - and so do we. We are on the same page. Be men not little boys... In the end you will lose out because people will be posting negative reviews on software download sites.

And yes, they are definitely reading this forum. Its a shame they don't have the guts to reply.

Josh · « **Reply #166 on:** October 12, 2007, 05:25 AM »

I now know they will be reading this thread. In my latest DSM (Which finally received a response) asking for a refund, I made light of this thread so they can see what their paying users think about the way they were treated. I will notify you of its status when I receive another reply.

MarcS · « **Reply #167 on:** October 12, 2007, 05:26 AM »

Hi everybody,

To my point of view there is no "GemX team" but only one, perhaps two, individual(s) under the hood.

This can explain a lot of thinks.

Also, perhaps money is very scarce in the company. How many registered users are we? Not more than one hundred, I suppose. The software business, especially the pim area, is very competitive. Every day you have expenses, in The Netherlands like everywhere in the real world.

Anyway, my hope is that GemX will survive, because these softwares are very clean, and could have a great future. Of course, for example doO is very buggy and not usable as it is. But I'm suppose it only needs a few days of debugging to be one of the best pim available.

Other contradictory idea: perhaps GemX has realized that the main core of the software code was too bad, and that it was useless to try to debbug it, but that it was necessary to rewritte it again in a better way from a blank page. Then they (or he) was starting to despair because the task was enormous.

Just thoughts...

With kind regards,
Marc (registered doO user)

Josh · « **Reply #168 on:** October 12, 2007, 05:31 AM »

If they do not have the people to support the products they are putting out, then perhaps they need to stop adding new features and freeze it until current features are fixed to some definable standard. Right now, the calendar system is useless if you want reminders. The email module is useless if you try and setup advanced rules. These are just two of the many bugs I've encountered that are most prominent in my mind.

I respect that developers have bills just like everyone else, I just cant imagine that their closing down their forum due to "lack of time" is a legitimate claim. From my experience, there was maybe 5-6 NEW bug reports a day. This is not very many new posts. I really believe what has been pointed out here. The team simply couldn't take the amount of criticism they were receiving and decided to close the forums.

doublewitt · « **Reply #169 on:** October 12, 2007, 06:30 PM »

From my experience, there was maybe 5-6 NEW bug reports a day. This is not very many new posts. I really believe what has been pointed out here. The team simply couldn't take the amount of criticism they were receiving and decided to close the forums.
-Josh (October 12, 2007, 05:31 AM)

Well, the forum was rather slow-paced, in general. There's no reason why they couldn't have put 20 minutes/day to offer valuable input. Certainly anything from 20 - 30 minutes doesn't ruin your day's schedule, especially if you are using do-Organizer! Applying a "minimal" and consistent attention like that would have been sufficient. The idea is to be constant.

Darwin · « **Reply #170 on:** October 12, 2007, 09:16 PM »

Yes - I agree Doublewitt. They seemed to my mind to keep up quite well for quite a while. Jon and Peter seemed in general to take criticism and suggestions well and to keep up with the pace just fine. I went away for June and July and when I returned in August the forums were still open (just, as it turned out) but "no one was home". A week or so later and they were gone... Given the grammar and style of the latest news post, I wonder if Peter Brooks is still around? The writing doesn't have his stamp on it, which I found odd.

doublewitt · « **Reply #171 on:** October 12, 2007, 10:16 PM »

How can you not have enough man-hours for 20-30 minutes per day?
The reality is that the real reasons are disguised...

I think so too: emails and posts didn't seem to be from Peter Brooks himself - it really showed...

datamill · « **Reply #172 on:** October 13, 2007, 07:52 AM »

I think part of the reason for the gemx problem was that the vision of a package with so many features was too big to handle. They put the whole thing out at once and there wasn't enough time, so they bounced from section to section. They couldn't make the project come together. They were just spread too thin and I have no idea what size their company really is, but I'm guessing it's small.

This is aside from the issue of how they treated the beta testers. I think if they just said how it was going for them, we would have backed them up.

MikeH

sigh... · « **Reply #173 on:** October 13, 2007, 09:22 AM »

i really think it was just Peter and Jon - well, i also saw someone named Abraham Walker on one of the links. who knows, could be a made up name for either Peter or Jon! lol! maybe Peter IS Jon!!!

like i have said before, i think it was dangerous for them to release all of these modules and not have any of them work near "perfectly" - i am sure they became overwhelmed. extremely symptomatic - when you have too much to do, you spread yourself thin and the details DEFINITELY go by the wayside. you jump from point to point, instead of focusing on one issue, solving that issue and then moving to the next issue. that was/is GemX in a nutshell. heck, speaking of "Getting Things Done"!!!!

how can they continue to have a software product without a forum to post problems/comments? (as has been mentioned above). THIS IS INSANE!! and what could they possibly be telling the new members regarding updates - nothing!! because it would be posted on the site. if i was interested in DO (having not ever had it before) and i saw that note regarding no more forum - i would definitely raise an eyebrow and decide against purchasing the product. and since i would have trialed it first and seen how buggy it is then:

no forum for support and resolutions + buggy product = a big fat NO SALE

and what a shame...although i think that they (whomever this is) may make a comeback - i don't think i would be interested - because who's to say it wouldn't happen A G A I N.....

this really hurts me - i saw such great potential in DO - nothing like it out there - for customization features, that is and that is what i really needed and really loved. i still really want to have hope that they get back on their feet (or someone buys the company out and reorganizes it) and they are able to continue. i find that i am both angry and saddened all at the same time...

maybe, just maybe if someone more qualified and less sensitive takes it over, theres a some small percentage that i may give them another try. but it had better be a damn great comeback!!!

if this is so, would anyone else reconsider - if some other group or company took over GemX????

Darwin · « **Reply #174 on:** October 13, 2007, 10:34 AM »

I agree with you, Sigh... I'm less angry with them than I am sad. Such potential, such a big mess and all of it easily avoided by having placed a short note on the homepage a couple of months ago. They also could/should have left the forums in place with a note that said something like: "The development team will be unable to participte in these forums while GemX does x,y,z. Please excuse our absence. During this period, which will be as brief as possible, we have a diverse, knowledgeable and friendly user base that is very active in this forum. Post requests for help in the appropriate thread and we are sure that someone will be able to help you. Please feel free to continue to post bug reports and feature requests as well and we will attend to them as soon as we can".

Anyway, to get to the point, I have mixed feelings about how to respond to your question. I *did* request and receive a refund for Do-Organizer but that was more about 1. getting GemX's attention (I think it worked) 2. getting a refund while I could in case the company disappeared. I still have a licence for TexNotes Pro (not installed at the moment, though) and *might* be wooed back to GemX under the scenario that you've outlined. There is certainly nothing wrong with their vision and ideas for their products - they just need to work on managing the various projects they have on the go and balancing that with customer service. Customers (well, me

) will put up with a lot as long as they get the sense that their voice is heard and opinions/wants valued. I can't stress enough how simply GemX could have kept my $70 upgrade fee for Do-Organizer... I'd have accepted the bugginess and waited for fixes if they had simply communicated to its customer base, as outlined above.

So, at this point, I'd answer your question with a qualified "yes" - there's a small chance that I'd return to the fold. By this I mean actively using TexNotes Pro. Parting with cash for Do-Organizer would take more than that. For a start, in the immediate future, it would be nice, as the person who started this thread and as someone who has requested and received a refund (I'm betting that I am not alone), if they contacted me directly to express their sorrow that it came to this and attempted to reassure me about the future. I'd also like to hear that Doublewitt had been directly contacted as well... At this point, I think that at least some of their energy should be devoted to re-building a positive relationship with it's existing userbase. As Josh noted, many of us will be posting on other threads in other forums recounting our experiences. This negative "word of mouth" advertising is going to make it difficult to build up a new userbase, let alone recapture/retain its current one.

As an aside (and with apologies for waffling so much), I wonder what became of Chessnia and Chris Tonchev?. I know there were many others who were active on the forum, but those two stick out in my memory. I'd be curious about their reactions to all of this. Chessnia wrote the e-book on Chess... I wonder if I can find him? I'll give it a go.

EDIT: That was easy - message sent!