Re: Scribe Report Generator - beta testers needed

From: Wolfgang Rochow <contactme_at_mysignatureline.com>
Date: Wed, 19 May 2004 20:29:54 GMT
Message-ID: <6tPqc.153$gx1.141@clgrps12>

"D Rolfe" <dwrolfeFRUITBAT_at_orindasoft.com> wrote in message news:_7Fqc.8280$qP2.16436_at_news.indigo.ie...
>
>
> Alex Molochnikov wrote:
> >>Why Alex cannot understand our repeated requests is a mystery.
> >
> >
> >>I've only asked you to be polite. I haven't commanded, demanded,
> >>ordained or ruled that you do anything. I neither have nor desire such
> >>authority.
> >
> >
> > No, you only "requested" that I go away from the newsgroup that you and
four
> > other people apparently came to regard as their own. To back up this
> > "request" (if yelling, shouting and hurling insults can be called a
> > "request") you and the other four pointed me to the group's charter
which,
> > upon closer examination, turned out to specifically permit such topics
as:
> >
> > Techniques for more efficient access
> > Importing and Exporting data
> >
>
> You also chose to ignore the charter for
> comp.databases.oracle.marketplace. But then for someone who has posted a
> more or less identical message to lots of other newsgroups what should
> we expect? See:
>
>

http://www.google.ie/groups?q=scribe+beta-testers+Alex+Molochnikov+group:com p.*&num=100&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&filter=0
>
> You are spaming USENET by making identical posts to multiple newsgroups
> repeatedly. If what you're doing is OK then why aren't other people
> doing it?
>
> > Who are these "potential customers"? A group of people, five in
> > total, who dismissed our work out of hand, not even trying to pretend
that
> > they took the time to learn what it is about, but still felt competent
> > enough to insult me for defending my right to post into this NG?
> >
>
> I have spent several hours revewing your product and web site. I did
> this to test my theory that "nothing marketed with SPAM is worth
> owning". I was rapidly able to establish that 'scribe' does not support
> multiple tables and is therefore useless in the context of Oracle or any
> other commercially credible RDBMS. The amount of time I spent evaluating
> your product compares very favourably with the amount of time you spent
> getting it to work with Oracle.
>
> While I was at your web site I also found the following about your
> employer's attitude to customers:
>
> http://www.gestalt.com/getit.html#donot
>
> The paragraph above contains the intriguing sentance about what happens
> when you buy something:
>
> > By requesting this fee-based License upgrade, you are signifying your
satisfaction
> > with the chosen Product based on your demo experience and you
irrevocably waive
> > your right to any charge-back (refusing the credit card charge on your
account)
> > for any reason whatsoever.
>
> In plain English:
>
> If you buy a product from gestalt they won't give you your money back
> under any circumstances.
>
> Considering the product is software and that an individual download
> costs the vendor almost nothing why such an extreme policy? Is it that
> they have had problems with chargebacks in the past? Even if I liked
> their product I wouldn't do business with someone like this.
>

It does not surprise me to have some people take things totally out of context.
Remember, that we are talking on the www.gestalt.com site about STEP FORWARD!
Now to your question: "Why such an extreme policy?" Because:

1. we allow free downloads for Demo and live testing purposes;
2. we allow anyone to create complete applications;
3. we allow the full and complete testing on a single licence over a sufficent period of time;
4. then, if one has determined total suitability and achieved absolute satisfaction, and only then do we expect anyone to request and obtain a commercial license for a fee.

Therefore, we state on our website:
"Do Not Purchase any STEP FORWARD version unless . We are giving you every opportunity to test STEP FORWARD, so that your decision to license it will be an intelligent choice. Therefore, you must be satisfied that the Product will meet your requirements before you decide to purchase a License for its use."

In plain English: We don't want anyone's money until they have achieved satisfaction. Other developers presumably sell their products first and then hope that the customer will be satisfied - hence the need for a refund policy. We prefer our business model. We believe it to be more customer friendly.

Now as to dissatisfied customers, etc. If you had read our web site thoroughly, you would have read these comments:

      "STEP FORWARD has recently completed a new computer program for . Trust Company's Health department. This program delivered exactly what STEP FORWARD promised and more. The complex program was completed in a much smaller time frame than was expected, allowed management to have a program that met all their needs plus their dreams, and convinced . Trust Company's management that they would never again have to restrict their business visions to fit programming limitations."

      Rick Skauge, President
      * * *
      "... With recent changes within our company, our service needs have

been greatly affected. There has not been a situation that couldn't be handled in a straightforward way with STEP FORWARD software, making the transition worry free. STEP FORWARD software has been efficient with each challenge we've dealt with, including those that continue to be introduced. I can't imagine where we would be without . always offering their exceptional service and the impressive STEP FORWARD software capabilities."

      L. Costea, Administrator
      * * *
      ". We always felt that STEP FORWARD could adequately meet our needs;

however, we had no true appreciation for the sheer magnitude of the data capture features and analytical and reporting capabilities which are now available to us. .

      As an internet services provider with a large customer base, having an efficient and accurate billing system that also handles all aspects of pre-authorized third-party collection procedures is of paramount importance to us. Unfortunately, our previous ISP-specific system was not capable of providing for that need. In fact, we are sure that we lost money through non-generated billings and we had no capacity to accurately research our suspicions or customer account inquiries.

      All this has changed with STEP FORWARD. Being user-definable and using visual [graphical] programming involving iconic templates and executable flow-charts, it enabled us to create a complex information management system that includes accounting and non-accounting data. We did not encounter any limiting factors during the configuration process.

      STEP FORWARD empowered us to define what we want and have the assurance that we will get what we want, without any undue delays. With STEP FORWARD we are able to increase our competitive advantage to a degree that is not possible with existing pre-configured applications. In our opinion, STEP FORWARD is a must for every small- to mid-sized business whose management wants to regain control over its information and management processes as we did.

      Gregory H. Smith, CA, CFO

Wolfgang
contactwolfgang_at_gestalt.com (remove contact to email)

www.gestalt.com

> > People, who - inspite of being (presumably) professionals - behave like
a
> > gang of school bullies, interested only in harrassment and domination,
and
> > at times looking more like sharks in a feeding frenzy. People, who could
not
> > stomach the idea that some automated tool can render their unique and
> > indispensable skills useless, and engaged into a smear campaign against
it
> > and its developers.
> >
>
> People have been trying to automate software development since, oh,
> 1985. People with more money and intelligence than gestalt. Nobody has
> succeeded. Why should we take you any more seriously than a perpetual
> motion machine vendor or a cold fusion advocate?
>
> "smear campaign"? That phrase implies that I have lied. I evaluated your
> product and came to the conclusion it was useless. You have chosen to
> ignore my comments on it. I have 750 times more experience with Oracle
> than you do. Doesn't that make you a teeny bit curious? Everything I
> have said about scribe is backed up by facts, usually taken from your
> own website.
>
> > - I will continue to post my invitation to test our report generator,
but
> > this invitation, naturally, will exclude you and your "supporters". I
will
> > do this regularly, until we get the desired amount of feedback from the
> > users.
>
> In other words: Forever.
>
Received on Wed May 19 2004 - 15:29:54 CDT