(edit, Sept. 18, 2009: As expected SRS never cared to follow-up with me. Also, realized that SRS Audio Sandbox didn’t work perfectly before this error. Sound will loop indefinitely if you’re playing something for a few hours consecutively, like music or playing a game. Worse is that there’s no way to stop the sound unless you reset Windows. Muting or turning off SRS or the application playing the sound does nothing. I had this error, but never realized it was SRS. I thought it was my soundcard. I let Mike have my licensed copy of Sandbox since I can’t use it, but he’s decided to uninstall it because he also gets the looping issue while playing games)
Itâs lousy enough when Customer Service ignores you. Itâs even worse when they pretend to care, but actually donât.
And thatâs my saga with SRS Labs and their SRS Audio Sandbox plugin. The product itself, when it was working, was fantastic. I bought it about a year ago, and it could be used with any audio, whereas most other plugins will work just with specific software, like Winamp or Windows Media Player. Since I use VLC for video and Media Monkey for music, those pluglins were useless.
So, like I said, it was fantastic while it was working. It stopped working a couple of months ago. I have no idea why. After contacting SRS, I still donât know why but I also still have a non-working product, and Iâve wasted the money I used to purchase it. And that sucks.
After being ignored (âItâs even worse when they pretend to care, but actually donât.â), I have no other avenues to pursue, so I figured Iâd just write about it.
June 1st, 2009- From me, to the contact form on their website:
Product: SRS Audio Sandbox software
Operating System: Windows Vista
Product Version: 1.9.0.4
Sound Card: Soundmax Integrated Digital HD Audio
Message: A few days ago I downloaded 1.9.0.4 to upgrade over 1.9.0.1. Even though under the Sound applet in Control Panel, it shows SRS working (the application also says it is working without errors), there is no sound. I have checked to make sure the volume is up, the sound is not muted, but there is no sound whatsoever. Once I change the default sound back to the Soundmax, however, sound is there again. While SRS before worked with no problems, the new version doesn’t work at all. I also don’t have 1.9.0.1 anymore to reinstall. I have uninstalled the new version before reinstalling, tried resetting the system to make sure the audio drivers are in place- none of that works. Again, everything from the Vista standpoint is working- everything reports that sound is playing back, but it is not. If I switch to the default sound, everything works fine, but obviously SRS doesn’t work. What can I do?
June 3rd, 2009- From: Michael Gonzales [mailto:MichaelG@srslabs.com] to me
I believe itâs a compatibility issue with your HD sound card. And simply the plug-in probably wonât work with it. Your best bet is to uninstall the plug-in.
Kind Regards,
Michael
Right away, I thought, did he even read my request? It WAS working, for quite a long time, and then it didnât. Anyway, his reply is basically saying to me, we have no solution for you, thatâs your problem. Even though you are probably one of the few who paid for it instead of downloading a cracked version.
June 3rd, 2009- My response to Mr. Gonzales
Hi Michael,
I actually have purchased the SRS software, so Iâm definitely invested in finding a solution. Like I mentioned before, the SRS version I was using before ( I believe 1.9.0.1) was working for me fine, would you be able to send me the older version so I can retry it?
Thanks,
Michael
June 8th, 2009- After not hearing back from SRS for 5 days, I sent another e-mail to Mr. Gonzales. Before I was just asking to check out a previous version of the software to see if it would work. Since I didnât hear back, I actually had to go pirate it. Yeah, I pirated a version of the software I actually own.
Hi Michael,
Iâm e-mailing again to ask about support.
Would I be able to provide more information in order to help me fix this problem? Iâm using Vista Home Premium SP2 on a Lenovo Thinkpad T61P. Like I said, it was working fine until about a week ago, when it stopped working as soon as I installed the newest version. Windows seems to think it is working (they show audio levels going up and down) but there is no sound, but if I switch back to the default sound card, itâs fine again.
As I have mentioned before, I am a paid customer of SRS, so I am definitely alarmed if my purchase now is completely non-working, especially since I love the product.
Sincerely,
Michael
I still didnât hear a response after this, so I just gave up, and posted a random complaint on Twitter a little bit after this. To my surprise, SRS found me and responded on July 14th, 5 weeks later. Looks like using social media can help! I e-mailed the guy who had contacted me on Twitter.
July 15, 2009-Â I sent the below as well as all previous correspondence to Michael Farino <MichaelF@srslabs.com>
Hi Michael,
Since this last e-mail, I have reformatted and installed the Windows 7 Beta, and the issue still exists. I am still not sure why, and if itâs a hardware issue, I would think the soundcard would be dead completely, not just be a problem for SRS.
Thanks,
Michael
July 16, 2009- Michael Farino asks Michael Gonzales (btw, if you notice there are so many âMichaelâs, my name is Michael as well), the guy who ignored me before to help, and I get the following:
Hello,
What type of sound card are you currently running?
Kind Regards,
Mike
Nothing like people not even using your name when replying. Originally, I had already listed the sound card I am using in the original form, but what the hell, Iâll try to do my part to help.
July 16, 2009- From Me, in response to Michael G.
Hi Mike,
I am using a SoundMAX Integrated Digital HD Audio, driver version 6.10.1.5510.
July 17, 2009- From Michael G
Hello,
Where did you make the purchase through our site or through paypal? Did you use your information or purchase it under someone elseâs name?
Kind Regards,
Michael
He still doesnât know my name. And he is doubting that I even paid for the software. Of course, I did make this support request 7 weeks ago. ButâŠ.Iâm willing to prove that I did pay the company.
July 17, 2009- From Me, I send the receipt of my purchase
Hi Michael,
Please see attached for my receipt.
July 27, 2009- 10 days go by and there is no response. This is where Iâm starting to get tired of this lets-pretend-we-care-but-ignore-him-until-he-stops-bothering-us tactic. I e-mail Michael F for some help with all the entire dialogue thus far.
Hi Michael,
I havenât heard anything back from Michael G. Can you assist?
Thanks,
Michael
July 28, 2009- Michael G responds,
Hello,
As I said before this is simply a compatibility issue with you HD sound card, there is no current solution or fix, and I apologize. You should uninstall the plug-in and your sound playback will return.
Kind Regards,
Michael
Now weâre back to to that June 3rd response again- we canât help. Period. Does he really know if my sound card doesnât support it? How come itâs not documented on the site? Wouldnât that be a lousy thing to do with your customers? Hey, letâs sell software that doesnât run with certain soundcards, but not even tell people that so they can buy it, and THEN find out. But wait, this software already worked with this sound card before, almost for a year. Hmmmm.
Also, whyâd he bother asking about my receipt- he didnât give me any support, he just ignored me further.
So, at this point, itâs like BS.
July 28, 2009- Me, to Michael G
Hi Michael,
As I mentioned before, SRS was working for me for nearly a year. I didnât change the sound card, the OS, or the laptop, so it doesnât seem conceivable that thereâs just now a compatibility issue.
I appreciate any help, but I donât feel like SRS is really interested in working with me to figure this out. With the answer youâre giving me, it feels more like Iâm being ignored and brushed aside rather than you truly know this is the issue.
-Michael
July 29, 2009- From Michael G
Hello Michael,
I apologize that you feel that way. Itâs just that usually in these particular situations, the problem is has to do with the HD sound cards. Could you please further explain how exactly it stopped working for you, it was hard to indentify what the problem exactly was in this thread. I can try to look into it further and see if we can identify any other problems or possible fixes, if not like I said the only remaining option that we have found for HD fixes is to uninstall. If thatâs the case Iâd be obliged to offer a full refund of course.
Kind Regards,
Michael
We are going around in circles at this point. I have run a Customer Service department before (not to brag, itâs just a fact), and I know how people normally ask for requests. Normally, you have people giving no information whatsoever about the issue, they just assume you can figure it out for them. I had at least tried to be open and very upfront with all the information I knew in the very first request, and even added additional info as I kept trying to find the solution. I was even willing to answer more questions about the issue. In his response, Michael G is just trying to put this issue back on me in a passive manner, yet he doesnât have a specific question about what (âCould you please further explain how exactlyâ) I wrote before, which implies that 1) he doesnât care 2) he didnât read it.
July 29, 2009- My final response:
Hi Michael,
Here was the original support request:
Message: A few days ago I downloaded 1.9.0.4 to upgrade over 1.9.0.1. Even though under the Sound applet in Control Panel, it shows SRS working (the application also says it is working without errors), there is no sound. I have checked to make sure the volume is up, the sound is not muted, but there is no sound whatsoever. Once I change the default sound back to the Soundmax, however, sound is there again. While SRS before worked with no problems, the new version doesn’t work at all. I also don’t have 1.9.0.1 anymore to reinstall. I have uninstalled the new version before reinstalling, tried resetting the system to make sure the audio drivers are in place- none of that works. Again, everything from the Vista standpoint is working- everything reports that sound is playing back, but it is not. If I switch to the default sound, everything works fine, but obviously SRS doesn’t work. What can I do?
As I said above, when I run SRS, it believes it is working. The sound meters go up normally, but there is no sound. Once I disable the software and switch it back to the sound card, everything is ok. I am not running any additional sound software. Also as I have mentioned before, before upgrading, SoundMax worked fine ever since I bought, 0 problems.
Since then, I have switched to Windows 7 Beta, build 7100, in hopes the error would be solved, but it has not. Under Windows 7, I am using SoundMAX Integrated Digital HD Audio driver version 6.10.1.5510 on a Lenovo T61P.
Please let me know how I can clarify this further for you.
Thanks,
Michael
Today is August 8th, 10 days after the last contact. No response. Iâm not going to even bother e-mailing back. I suppose SRS will be happy now, theyâve gotten me to drop it.
Iâm just going to post it on this blog and e-mail http://consumerist.com/, and if Iâm lucky and this is kind of a big deal, theyâll pick it up.
Tags:
customer service,
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Random,
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