[L98FIERO]

I've had issues getting my new copy of Design 2014 to activate properly. The only way is to copy and paste the activation key in each tome I start the program. I was told by one user to run the setup as administrator, what that did was change the problem from having to copy and paste the first time the program was started to having to copy and paste every time the program is started, not much of an improvement if you ask me.
And support has been great, well, not so much. After 2 days they gave me a 'form letter' response to reload the program, which I've done many times with no success and getting through by phone is an exercise in futility.
Alibre was great, phone support you could reach, quick email replies and answers that really worked but since they changed to Geomagic support is nearly non-existent. If I'd have known of the problems I'd have stayed with Alibre 2013, while it had it's own set of issues, at least it ran when opened and now the only support it seems, is from the user forums. The users are great and try to help but the corporation should be doing the support not UNPAD users. It seems that Design is a small insignificant part that doesn't deserve support and that 'THE CORPORATION' is only milking for profits, the users don't really matter.

[Alibre_Guy]

Hi L98FIERO,

My apologies for the problems you are having. Support for Geomagic Design (formerly Alibre) is a bit backed up for the past few weeks, but they'll be on track and back to normal very soon. There are more staff being added to the support team and the time it takes to get the new staff up to speed is taking time from our existing support team. It is unfortunate, but rest assured support will be back to normal (and better) very shortly! Please send me an email to [email protected] with your username and phone number. I will take a look into your issue myself to see if I can get your issue sorted out.

Cheers,
Alibre_Guy

[dmerrll]

I have used alibre since version 9. I use with AlibreCam concurrently, always. The Chat window was always one of the features I liked, most days there was an immediate response and solution. Something I had overlooked or forgotten, easily resolved within the chat without leaving program. That is now gone. I also liked going back to old support tickets to see solutions as they might apply before I call or chat with support. There is a big corporation now but to me the support and program was much more end user oriented. up until this point I would always choose 3 year renewal for support. I think now I will choose no year.
The spectre of another version as a result of my paying support is not very enticing. Nor is the level of response that I am finding with support. I know there is a transition but in my world I buy the new tires first and arrange to have them installed before I remove the ones I am driving on.
David

[Alibre_Guy]

Hi David,

I hear you. One thing I want to note is that while Alibre became part of a large corporation... the original team and vision still exists! There have been a couple of hiccups - transitioning to a new support system (same one that Geomagic uses) is indeed one of them. While it is a temporary pain for the support team and existing users, the new support system is quite a bit more robust. One example... the "Knowledge Base" has been quite useful for both customers and the support team. More time is needed to fully utilize the new support system and get the new support team up to speed. It will happen though! Please bear with the team in the meantime.

Cheers,
Alibre_Guy

[L98FIERO]

David, I agree with your analogy, I wouldn't dump this software and then go looking for another and THEN go through the learning process. Their model seems a little odd to say the least.
Alibre_guy, I'll have to take your word for it that things will get better but like I said on the Alibre forum, did everybody in support get fired? If a month ago support could handle the workload and this month they can't, either the newly released product is causing problems, too many people were fired or the support team has to service more products. In either case, somebody created a problem the users are having to deal with.
Earlier today I had Kyle from Alibre or Geomagic or whatever they are called today fix the problem by adding another key so now I have three. That in itself brings up another issue. With Alibre I had three keys, two weeks ago when these issues started one of the people in support reset them so none were activated. At the time I questioned her whether I still had three keys as I heard that the new buyers of the software will only have two, she assured me that I would still have three. So why did Kyle have to give me ANOTHER one so I have three? And why does it take a public ***** to get a response from them?
When I first bought Alibre I had Algor, they put out a new version and I lost Algor, now they put out Design 2014 and motion, which was marginal at best is replaced and guess what, the FEA and motion packages are an add-on that I will/would have to pay for. I thought I already paid for them once! Every time a new version comes out or the company is sold we either loose something we have paid for or we have to buy something to replace a product that no longer works.

[Alibre_Guy]

Hi L98FIERO,

I am glad the issue was resolved!

It was a coincidence that Kyle responded to you earlier today. In fact, I was waiting for your email to help you personally!

Support is a bit back logged, but they will be back to normal soon. Nobody was fired! You'll notice the same team responds to support requests as well as a few new persons. I am not sure about your specific case regarding the multiple license keys. If you wish, you are welcome to contact me and I will let you know what is going on.

You can find discussions related to Algor/FEA/Motion in the Alibre forums. I don't want to beat around a dead horse since this topic has been discussed quite extensively there

Cheers,
Alibre_Guy

[dmerrll]

Dear alibre_guy;
Based on your post I went to the Geomagic support knowledge base. I found very little of interest there yet. Not much in usage of the product and quite a few things, Hardware OS, incorrect, though I will have to check my XP installation as the DXdiag instructions were either for XP or Vista.I am using Win7PRo. I did find a message from Kyle that stated that the chat feature that was temporarily disabled (from Max) has been discontinued. It is suggested that, if anyone besides me wants it ,suggest it as a "New" feature.
By the way When Alibre used to crash (2013 and before) When I would reopen I would be prompted to recover the file I had open that was not saved. That is not happening now instead my files, after a crash, have the "N" attribute applied and they can no longer be saved. Curious.
David

[Alibre_Guy]

Hi David,

There still is much work that needs to be done to update the new support platform. Keep in mind that we are in the process of training new staff, adding more, and adjusting to a new support platform - it will take a bit of time to populate.

Checking on the problem you mentioned. I will send you an email with what I find!

Cheers,
Alibre_Guy