If pre-sales support is this bad...
Freemium user wanting to upgrade to paid edition.
Apparently macro functions are a paid feature according to their nag screen but weren't (they are now) listed on their paid edition comparison page.
Reached out to pre-sales support via website form.
Tried to get clarification about which paid edition was needed and got some template response (I can only assume because it was so obviously offtopic from my question).
They also said certain "advanced macro functions" require the pro edition but didn't point to any documentation about which ones.
I replied 4-5 times to their email explaining what was not clear and asking for clarification. No response. So their ticketing system is either broken or unattended.
Finally reached out again via contact form since that worked again the first time with the followup that had gone unanswered.
Got an even more useless reply than the first time (just about macro recorder...nothing to do with macrofunctions...requiring enterprise version).
So if this is pre-sales support when I'm trying to figure out how to give them money... just imagine how their post-sales support will be.
Supposedly the freemium version lets you use/try all paid features but you get a license nag screen every 30 days (according to their freemium page). However either the page is wrong or their app is quite buggy as the nag screen pops up tons of times per day using basic features (<10 phrases and a date macrofunction).
They have blocked archive.org from caching their pages via robots.txt so you also can't easily see how they are changing policies over time. Usually there isn't a good reason for this unless you have something to hide. So for instance I can't tell you when they added the Macrofunctions feature to their product comparison matrix.
Their website says they sell on quality instead of price...but my experience with them indicates this isn't the case. I'm someone happy to pay for good apps...because it is worth it. But the experience so far with the developer has been awful.
Currently looking into alternative text templating/insertion apps.
--- the reply here from phrase express is better than their like their pre-sales support in that I received a reply! However, just like their pre-sales support, they don't answer the question/issue. ---
pre-sales, a reply to web form does not answer question. zero responses to multiple followup emails. The original responses (looked like templates) didn't answer the question or make clear which version I needed to buy for the specific paid feature I was using. I replied in detail clarifying my question/confusion multiple times...but NEVER received any followup response. My question was never answered. I wasn't debating anything, just looking for clarification. Their blame-the-customer responses here tells you all you need to know about their support.
My review stands. I have all the unanswered emails in my gmail sent box.
The above review is a factual walkthrough of my experience with PhraseExpress pre-sales support in the 2 weeks after I first installed their app.
Reply from PhraseExpress
We regret any misunderstanding regarding our licensing model.
In short: PhraseExpress is free of charge for personal use as long as no paid features (listed in our shop) are used.
The freeware allows evaluation of all paid features. License notices appear only when paid features are used and list exactly which features require a license. Once those features are no longer used, or a license is purchased, the notices disappear.
As paid features were used without a license, license notices were shown. We responded to your inquiries to explain this and have not ignored or suppressed any messages. Please note that email delivery issues can occasionally occur due to technical or filtering reasons.
We’d also like to clarify a few points in the review:
• The version used does not display license notices every 30 days and does not do so when fewer than 10 phrases are used.
• We are not aware of any technical issues with the license system and welcome detailed reports at any time.
• Archives were removed from our website to ensure that only accurate and up-to-date information is presented, as older feature sets and licensing details may no longer apply.
