Dissatisfaction with Capture One Tech Support
On 12/22/19, I reported a problem "automatically" downloading images with C1 (13.0.1.19). I was able to manually import the images, so I did not lose total C1 functionality. I never experienced this problem with previous versions of C1.
On 12/22/19, I received an automated reply from C1, "Your request (xxxxx) has been received and is being reviewed by our support staff."
It is now 1/1/20 and I have not heard any response from Tech Support.
On 12/22/19, I received an automated reply from C1, "Your request (xxxxx) has been received and is being reviewed by our support staff."
It is now 1/1/20 and I have not heard any response from Tech Support.
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...think this is normal, nobody really works in europe till 6.1. 0 -
I had a similar poor response a couple of weeks ago.
When tech support finally did respond, the answer wasn't even directed at my question.
I ended up fixing the problem myself.
This is in contrast to a couple of years ago where I got a quick and useful response.
Something has changed.0 -
NNN636440347581429185 wrote:
On 12/22/19, I received an automated reply from C1, "Your request (xxxxx) has been received and is being reviewed by our support staff."
It is now 1/1/20 and I have not heard any response from Tech Support.
Christmas.0 -
It's definitely not about Xmas, I've had responses both on the 24th and 31st.
Not saying that I'm a happy customer though, the 'new' support interface where there is a distinction between C1 and P1 customers doesn't sit well with me at all - and the C1 thing isn't any good obviously, in that it doesn't give you an insight into which issues you've reported, doesn't give the subject of the report that it communicates about, and annoys you with captchas.
And neither am I convinced that C1 20 was ready for release - there seem to be lots of issues around opencl.0 -
Thank you for confirming my experience.
It does not make me happy, but now I know that I am not imagining the poor service that I experienced.0 -
Sytse wrote:
It's definitely not about Xmas.
Course it is. There will be at best a skeleton staff on duty until after the break, and you've just been lucky.0 -
Yes, the support has been terrible and only getting worse.
I've had to deal with multiple other support teams from multiple other companies over the holidays -- no longer than 48 hours for a response.
Whilst still waiting on a half broken ticket system and human response from P1/C1/Whatever you'd like to call them today.0 -
this is only an adjustment to reality. the image the fan cloud has nourished for years that p1 is the best antidote to evil adobe and more like a mom and pop shop where customer and owner are a big loving family ways never true. it is very easy to sell a lot of software via download today but it is very costly to provide sufficient support for a fast growing number of user which are probably less experienced than in the old days. 0 -
its every day christmas for c1 looking at their price model. i am happy for them.
i am not happy filing a support request a month ago and all i got back is 2 notes which were so obviously standard replies and no one really read my 3 sentence problem.
what i think they are party hard with all the money they make with selling style packs. i dont get it someone really pays the price for it.0 -
I certainly agree with the poor support. I have sent 4 support requests over the last 3 weeks and have heard NOTHING.
This is discouraging enough for me to reconsider C1 and advise my friends to consider alternatives. Even the support website has become far less user friendly0 -
Over the last four years I'm used to gettin a response of some kind from C1 Tech suppport within two or three working days.
But I can't recall sending a support request during the Christmas - New Year period and what the timeline was.
I observe a big influx of new users with C1 20, larger than in past new releases, I expect their support staff is going to be working hard to handle the higher volume of support requests, sounds like they have a pretty big backlog now.
I also observe that Phase One is a Danish company, but many of the support staff are in the UK. I think at least some of the SW designers must be in Denmark. I expect they are going to have some Brexit related issues to sort out later this year.
I was one of the C1 20 Beta testers and I like the new release, but I am going to wait for at least one more dot release before I make the upgrade from C1 12.
There is not an enourmous difference between C1 12 and C1 20, and a C1 license typically allows one to run previous releases, i.e. C1 releases are not backwards compatible (e.g. C1 12 will not open or convert a C1 20 catalog) but upgrading is typically trouble free.
If C1 20 bugs are a real problem, and your camera is supported in C1 12, and you do not have too much work invested in a C1 20 catalog, might be a solution to use C1 12 for a while.
You can have several different Capture One versions installed at the same time, in my Applications folder, I have a folder "CaptureOne Versions", and below this a folder for each version, in my case C1 10, C1 11, C1 12 and C1 13 Beta. I typically also keep the last "dot" release just in case. E.G. I still have both 12.1.3 and 12.1.4
I am pretty careful with my catalogs, don't want to accidently open a C1 11 catalog with C12, or it will not be a C1 11 catalog anymore (although you can "undo" a catalog upgrade, C1 leaves a backup version of the dB in the catalog. Just don't do any editting after the accidental upgrade).
So my Main Catalog for C1 12 is "Main12", to differentiate it from C1 11's "Main11".
Another useful trick is to edit the Icon for Capture One to add the version number. From Get Info, you can select an application's Icon, copy and paste it into some tool like Pixelmator. From there you can add a small "12" or "B" or "20", then copy and paste back into the icon in Get Info. Now you know which C1 version it is by the icon.0 -
See this also for support issues: [The Capture One forum has migrated to a new platform, as a result all links to Capture One related postsstopped working and have been removed] 0 -
Eric Nepean wrote:
I expect they are going to have some Brexit related issues to sort out later this year.
Like what?0 -
In the past my experience with the C1 support was good. I reported bugs, sometimes there where questions on how to reproduce the problem and eventually the problem was solved. There is always room for improvement (like reporting the bugfix back to the customer), bit all in all this was fine.
But with the rection to the last bug I reported I was not satisfied at all. I reported the bug way before christmas via the new interface. In the description I stated, that I tried to update to macOS 10.15.2 to resolve the issue, which clearly implies, that I tested it with 10.15.1 before.
The only reaction I got from the support was "10.15.2 is not supported, downgrade to 10.15.1 when you need to use C1". I clarfied, that I observed the bug with 10.15.1, but got no response to that.
This reaction of the support ist more than irritating in several ways:
- It gives the impression, that the support staff wants to get rid of the annoying customer as fast as possible, without caring for the needs of the customer. Besides that it clearly shows, that the bug report was not carefully read. At least I would have expected the question, if the bug occured with the previous macOS version.
- Downgrading is potentially a lot of work, you should give this advice only if it is a known bug (which should have been documented in the release notes) and it can clearly be solved by downgrading (which it could not). Beside that downgrading would expose the customer to security risks in the old macOS version.
Beside that: I checked the C1 release notes yesterday and 10.15.2 is yet not officially supported. That is three weeks after the release of this macOS version. I know the argument, that C1 has to be tested with new macOS versions. But first that is what beta versions are for and second this should not take 3 weeks for a point release. Hopefully Phase One has a automated test suite, that can be executed aftera new macOS release. If these teste reveal issues, these should be documented.0 -
AlexJ wrote:
Beside that: I checked the C1 release notes yesterday and 10.15.2 is yet not officially supported. That is three weeks after the release of this macOS version. I know the argument, that C1 has to be tested with new macOS versions. But first that is what beta versions are for and second this should not take 3 weeks for a point release. Hopefully Phase One has a automated test suite, that can be executed aftera new macOS release. If these teste reveal issues, these should be documented.
10.15.2 is supported, at least: nr.1 on the list of bug fixes in the release notes states "Fixed an issue with tethering on MacOS Catalina 10.15.2".
https://www.captureone.com/en/features/release-notes
Can't comment on your other grieves. Like you I've always had a good experience in the past and haven't had the need to contact support lately. I can imagine they're swamped though, with the release of v20. I wish they'd get off this release cycle rat race and beta-test their products longer.0 -
Despite the listed bug fix, the system requirements, further down in the release notes state „ Support for macOS 10.15 is supported for builds up to 10.15.1“, but this might be a bug in the release notes. I wish they'd get off this release cycle rat race and beta-test their products longer.
I could not agree more!0 -
It seems there is a growing number of unsatisfied users. Particularly with the way support has been, well, unsupportive. I have filed tickets for a number of bugs with no resolution (C1 12 crashes and upgrading issues to C1 20). The response timeframe when support have bothered to reply has also been unreasonably long, 35 days since my first support request with no resolution yet.
We can whinge all we want on this forum but if there is no response from support the only other avenue is to officially report this to the Citizens Advice Bureau. Depending on what country you reside in you have rights when purchasing a service or product and if the level is not what was described, then you are entitled to compensation and/or a refund. Just because they are a Danish company doesn't exclude them from having to abide by this rule.
If the only mode of contact is through filing a support request, whether it be a support request or a complaint about support, tell them how you would like the issue to be resolved, screenshot the request and the ticket number and document the time it takes for a reply.0 -
when you look at how other companies do a public beta tests like for example serif, open and transparent so every tester knows what bugs are unsolved and which are solved and than compare it to c1 you understand why so many issues had not been fixed before release.
now they are for sure flooded with an amount of support requests their system is not able to handle. but a welcomed side effect of their support setup was for sure that user never were able to see the real amount of problems or what features are really requested from a majority because everything was kept out of public. this is an issue because as other user have reported many bugs or problems never got ironed out from version to version. further more here a handful of user worked hard to downplay everything and defend c1 as a self appointed voluntary support team.
It would be very easy to set up a true support forum where user can report or see confirmed / solved bugs before they open a support ticket. this would very much reduce the redundant load of requests but such an openness is porpaably not in the interest of p1.0 -
I think you folks are on to something. Create a forum for beta testers, publish the bugs that were found with each beta release, and include the bug fixes that need to be tested with each beta release. Of course, we will need to participate in beta testing.
The alternative is for each new release to be followed by a tsunami of complaints about bugs and functions that don't work.
Jerry C0 -
NN635680879799322049UL wrote:
I think you folks are on to something. Create a forum for beta testers, publish the bugs that were found with each beta release, and include the bug fixes that need to be tested with each beta release. Of course, we will need to participate in beta testing.
The alternative is for each new release to be followed by a tsunami of complaints about bugs and functions that don't work.
Jerry C
P1 has a very outdated view of costumer relation. it is rather unique in todays software world that a company avoids any open exchange with their user base but have the show run by some pseudo staff. even when the house is on fire like with the tethered issue it takes them days to react so I don´t think they are open enough for a public beta forum. new versions should just be seen as a gift brought to us by a supreme company devotedly praised and bought nothing more. I don't see any sign which suggests they are interested in feedback. one might also think with such a bugy release someone in charge would come forward and say sorry for the troubles but…….0 -
I also contacted support before Christmas, on the 21st, and haven't heard from them yet (except for an email saying that the request had been merged with another). And as far as I can see, there's no way of seeing the status of the request, nor the request itself for that matter.
As for beta tests, when testing a beta version of Capture One 12, the completely erratic behaviour I experienced with the search function was largely ignored.0 -
Well, since they crippled the support system for Capture One that was only a matter of time.
It feels like more and more people are buying C1, yet they don't seem to care or deem it necessary to provide support for their ever growing amount of customers. 😐0 -
How long does it normally (outside of holiday seasons) take C1 tech support to respond to a request? 0 -
thomaskyhn wrote:
How long does it normally (outside of holiday seasons) take C1 tech support to respond to a request?
It was at most 2 or 3 days before they change the way in which cases are submitted.0 -
The old system, still used for P1 camera users, used a different database to track problems. It required you to enter the C1 version you were using and your operating system. Omitting this on the new more free form system only increases the complexity of tracking down a problem. The lack of a history for each support ticket makes it hard to follow the conversation without keeping all of the emails from the support team.
Though this may not be correct, support seems to have been subcontracted to some other entity that is not providing the same level of service to remain competitive. While it seems the number of complaints on the Forum about the new tech support is high, the total number of us commenting is small compared to the customer base and so C1 may not think it as important to its business as we would think. A survey of customers would characterize the consensus view.
Jerry C0 -
NN635680879799322049UL wrote:
The old system, still used for P1 camera users, used a different database to track problems. It required you to enter the C1 version you were using and your operating system. Omitting this on the new more free form system only increases the complexity of tracking down a problem. The lack of a history for each support ticket makes it hard to follow the conversation without keeping all of the emails from the support team.
Though this may not be correct, support seems to have been subcontracted to some other entity that is not providing the same level of service to remain competitive. While it seems the number of complaints on the Forum about the new tech support is high, the total number of us commenting is small compared to the customer base and so C1 may not think it as important to its business as we would think. A survey of customers would characterize the consensus view.
Jerry C
So you need to buy a P1 camera if you want better support? What happens if you call them, are you just referred to the online support?0 -
tenmangu81 wrote:
It was at most 2 or 3 days before they change the way in which cases are submitted.
It was often longer, depending on complexity, time of year. etc.
Plenty of posts on here to attest to that.0 -
"So you need to buy a P1 camera if you want better support? What happens if you call them, are you just referred to the online support?"
I wish I knew how to call them, but yes, no P1 camera, no direct support from P1 for the C1 software. You now have to go to the C1 only site for support. Also, you can't just say you have a P1 camera - they check if you have one.
I agree with Keith. The old system, while it was easier to use and keep track of the problem as it was resolved, did not always produce a quick successful resolution. Sometimes problems were referred to the software engineers for future work. Sometimes problems related to individual systems took a lot of time and back and forth to resolve, while reproducible problems reported by many users were resolved more quickly. However, I did have the impression real efforts were made to understand and resolve my issues.
Only time will tell if C1's new strategy for support is better or worse. The only way to accurately compare the P1 versus C1-only route is for an owner of a P1 camera to submit cases to both sites and see what comes back 😕
Ultimately, the need for support is inversely proportional to how well the release was debugged.
Jerry C0 -
Frankly, the dissapointing part regarding the support system is the years of correspondance lost without warning.
Anyway, unless there are some major and acknowledged changes -- this is a clear as day sinking ship for professionals and it's high time someone rocked the boat.
G0 -
photoGrant wrote:
Anyway, unless there are some major and acknowledged changes -- this is a clear as day sinking ship for professionals and it's high time someone rocked the boat.
Indeed.0
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