Every once in a while I make a mistake where I know I did something wrong but cannot pinpoint the exact problem. These are the worse kind of mistakes because I don't know what I need to learn to avoid repeating the mistake. As a result I often back away from the problem even though leaving the issue un-addressed may be yet another mistake.
I made one of these mistakes on this blog back in December of 2006. Sinan Karaca from InstallAware Software Corporation asked me to blog about their new WiXAware product. At the time, I had a very negative impression of the company based on my conversations with other people. While I was impressed with Sinan's presentation and believed that WiXAware showed great promise, I allowed my negative impression to color our discussion and, later, my two blog posts.
After realizing that something had gone wrong I backed away from the whole issue and left it unresolved.
A few weeks ago, Sinan reopened the discussion and we traded emails until it became crystal clear to me what mistake I had made 18 months ago. The fundamental mistake I made was that I never gave InstallAware the opportunity to address the issues I had based my negative impression on. In the recent email discussion, Sinan explained his side of the story and I came to realize how the misunderstandings began then spiraled out of control.
I apologized to Sinan and he forwarded my apology on to the WiXAware team. If I could undo my mistake, I would. Fortunately, Sinan was good enough to reopen the dialog when he saw an opportunity and help me see clearly what I did wrong and allow me to learn from it. I immediately offered to make my apology public in an effort to bring the issue to close and Sinan accepted.
Sinan Karaca and InstallAware Software Corporation, I apologize for the attitude I had in our first meeting and follow up posting. I fully admit that I should have given you the opportunity to explain up front and address any grievances I might have had. I'm sorry.
From here I hope that InstallAware and Sinan and I can start again. I also encourage you to develop you own impression of InstallAware Software Corporation. Finally, for those of you that haven't already made this mistake, please learn from mine.
Rob
Being given the chance to apologise is one thing and taking it is another, I am please to see that you were both offered and took the opportunity to publicly mend bridges and learn from this error in judgement.
Well done to both parties
Joe
Rob, that was an awfully stand-up thing for you to admit. I hope you'll post a review of their (hopefully updated) product when you have the time.
Best,
bob
Unfortunately my experiences with InstallAware are quite a bit different. I won't bother opening a can of worms, but your initial impressions were not entirely unjustified.
I am looking right now at WiXAware's website and after all this time it is still a copy/imitation of Advanced Installer's site.
Sorry Rob but I agree with AJ. And I liked your blog better when you were quick, opinionated and had some tests. Or did InstallAware's lawyers finally get to you?
I agree with previous statements; my experiences with InstallAware have been very different indeed. I believe those experiences are reflective of an organization that is struggling mightily from an ethical perspective.
The people they have working for them, abusing their customers in their forums (until the threads magically disappear) and whatnot - it's actually rather revolting.
Allison, no one's lawyers "got to me". <smile/> I believe I made a mistake and thought I should apologize for it. That's all. As I noted above, you should develop your own impression.
I'm also interested in what you mean when you say, "liked your blog better when you were quick, opinionated and had some tests." Lately, I feel like I've only been receiving negative feedback so I’ve been trying to adapt. It sounds like you might have different feedback. Feel free to comment here or contact me directly.
DO NOT apologize to the folks at InstallAware - please! I have never said this about any company before, but these guys seem to have some serious problems.
I've seen these guys do some *very* questionable things and then work their asses off to dance around them and cover them up. I used their InstallAware product for a while, but no longer.
Their customer service is TERRIBLE!
if anyone is around, and has anything to say about WiXAware 2.0 (not InstallAware), i would like to hear about your experience as i am evaluating the product (and company).
I had the misfortune of an association with Sinan Karaca several years ago. For a long time we provided him (at no cost) with our software and source codes with free upgrades. He was abrasive in assisting with bug reports - his insults became much to harsh (especially since he was a free loader) so we parted ways. I would not recommend any product this guy is associated with.
I agree totally with the others, the staff at InstallAware do not deserve an apology, they need to seriously change their attitude toward the people that provide their income - their customers. If I treated my customers the way they have treated me I would certainly go out of business.
They are very quick to infer you are some kind of moron if you have any difficulty with their product, but if you dare say anything back, they will cut you off from ALL support and delete your posts.
Their product is OK, but I would never have bought it if I knew the way I would be treated as a customer.
I agree totally with the others, the staff at InstallAware do not deserve an apology, they need to seriously change their attitude toward the people that provide their income - their customers. If I were to treat my customers the way they have treated me, I would certainly go out of business.
They are very quick to infer you are some kind of idiot if you have any difficulty with their product, but if you make the slightest inference that the product has issues, they will cut you off from ALL support and delete your posts.
Their product is OK, but I would never have bought it if I knew the way they would treat me as a customer.
Unfortunately, I have to agree with most of what has been said above. The InstallAware product itself is fine, but customer service is nothing less than appalling. We are looking for an alternative product because of this.
Do not apologize to them. There pirates. They wont provide old installers. Then, the release a required upgrade to install the recent version. which wipes the old one off, tell you you need a license key for the new one and then wont provide an installer for the old. So basically you pay for the upgrade of dont use installaware.
there customer service is appauling and does not answer question. I did not think a company could be this unprofessional.
This makes for depressing reading. Anyone had a good experience with InstallAware? I like the product, although haven't bought it yet - it fits closest to our aging Wise installation. I so want to buy it, but you guys have given me some serious reservations.
I'm also in a quandry -- I'm a VERY unhappy InstallShield customer who has been impressed with what I read on InstallAware's website, yet all of the above posts make me hesitant to work with such an organization.
I have been using InstallAware for several months with some success. I am now trying to install the same version on other computers with the floating license I purchased. I have been unable to install the floating license on other PCs. I had a hard time finding an email I got from them with a password, which was required to install the trial version. When emailing them for tech support I was told that they had never heard this problem before. I got on their support forum and posted a couple messages, including one to another person who could not find an email to install a trial version. I told them they could not count on them for help. I was banned from the forum, and I'm sure I won't get any more help from them. I am appalled at the customer service. I have searched for help on the internet and winced at some of the replies to customer's questions. At this point it is too late to consider alternatives, but in the future we will.
This guy's recent experience says a lot about InstallAware: http://www.codeproject.com/Lounge.aspx?msg=2994975#xx2994975xx
Regardless of the abusiveness of anyone, if you make a mistake you should try to rectify it - whether the party *deserves* it or not. I have been on both ends of the spectrum and appreciate when someone takes the first step of reconciliation. Nice job, Rob.
Ive never used InstallAware but i probably never will with all the negative things I've heard bout their customer service. They seem not to care at all about customers and the product doesn't even seem all that great. I guess it works from what i heard but you cant treat people like crap even if you app is great but if its just an ok product... shoot you should at least pretend to be nice
How does letting them have a chance not equal their reputation preceding them, their former customers' opinions, their customer support, their past triumphs AND mistakes... I think you got smooth talked.
I definitely agree with the comments about how rude InstallAware’s employees are from the account reps trying to get your business to the support staff.
I was recently in the process of evaluating the product when I discovered and issue that caused my test installation to fatally crash. I tried to help myself and search the forums only to find another user with the same issue 6mo prior and no response from support. I posted a support request about the same issue while stating my uneasiness, as a potential new customer, that no one answered the previous post. I received a response from an InstallAware employee that they have responded to the issue along with “May I suggest you try to research harder before jumping into conclusions.” No other help was provided. He did not include any links to their response to the issue nor did he offer any further support. Irritated by this, I responded back that this was incredibly poor customer service after which I was then banned from the site along with deleting my post. Not just my user login but my company’s IP address. I then contacted the InstallAware rep Candice Jones to whom I explained my unhelpful/rude encounter with support and asked if she could help me resolve the issues so I could continue my eval. She responded with some rude statement of her own and said we don’t want your business.
I will NEVER BUY InstallAware products and I hope they reap what they sew.
BUYER DEFINITLY BEWARE!!!
We used Wise and Installshield for our installations. Our installations using WiseScript were distributed over 50000 times without having great problems.
Now we think about switching to windows installer technology. InstallAware is the only product that offers MSI-installations with scripts like WiseScript. MSIScript (Wise) are not like WiseScript anymore (at the moment).
Are there any alternatives available? They should also support new technologies very fast.
Just to say that in the end we didn't go for InstallAware and just used WiX. More effort initially, but something that I think is well worth it.
And judging by the comments, this was the right decision!
We use InstallAware and I must say it is a great product. But the way the people at InstallAware behave to there customers is shocking. I have never seen so rude commentas as on there forum. Take a look at these 2 examples, and this is just some examples. Pick any random thread with Michael Nesmith and you will be stunned.
http://www.installaware.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4437
http://www.installaware.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4277
We moved from Wise to AdvancedInstaller about 15 months ago. It's a terrific product, with frequent updates, and a respectful, professional support staff. I looked at several products before choosing AI, and the support in the forums was a major reason for choosing them.
If you're looking, I'd strongly recommend giving it a try.
Yes, InstallAware is a great product.
Unfortunately InstallAware's Michael Nesmith is indeed a douchebag of epic proportions. His posts on the InstallAware forums (and responses to any blog posts that do not fawn over InstallAware) are rude, insulting and inciteful. I have no doubt that Mike the UberDouche is in some sort of ownership capacity, since mere mortals would have been fired long ago.
The ability of InstallAware to gain any market share is constantly being thwarted by the company's condescending attitude and poor customer service!
I was willing to tolerate InstallAware employees' condescension and snottiness until they made this nightmarish blunder:
http://www.installaware.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5100&sid=889c4574f5bd905661949a656d31156f
Now it's off to WIX for me.
Obvious personality issues aside, I think the support page speaks volumes about this company.
http://www.installaware.com/support-contact-support.htm
I wouldn't part with a farthing to these folks.
It's rare to see so many folks lining up to complain about a company like this. The InstallAware folks must be truly nasty.
Thanks for the warning! We'll stay away from them!
Sorry, I know you said their lawyers didn't "get to you," but this apology still sounds coerced. I sure hope I'm wrong. Still, the near-consensus in feedback here and elsewhere speaks volumes about the disgraceful quality of InstallAware Software Corporation and its people. Thank you for helping me avoid sending a few thousand dollars their way.