Time for a Reboot?

[silverbullett]

I am new here but, I have been around the block enough times to know a few things. What has happened at HP Tuners over the last few weeks is not good practice. Here is what I have seen in the past few weeks:
Sudden out of stock notice for the MPVI Pro interface with no restocking date.
Unannounced shutdown of website for several hours during main business hours.
Unannounced appearance of new website showing a new interface product with limited information on features ,pricing and backward compatibility information.
Customers accounts have become invalid, without notification.
Tune repository has become inaccessible, without notification

The only reason that i know any of this is through trial and error and by scanning random forum posts. I just purchased my interface and am already starting to regret it. I feel like I have been sucked into a vortex.
I know enough to appreciate that a new product rollout can be very tricky. Your users are sophisticated enough to not demand immediate perfection. But HPT can do better than this.
I suggest that HPT start with an apology and create a thread that logs the status of the new website functionality for users to be kept up to date. This will also provide HPT with rapid access to useful feedback. I hope this helps to get things back on track quickly.

[Keith@HPTuners]

It's not the end of the world.

We're aware of the issues and are working to resolve them. Well continue to make progress, just as we have for the past 14 years.

[calgarylsswapper]

It's not the end of the world.

We're aware of the issues and are working to resolve them. Well continue to make progress, just as we have for the past 14 years.

Keith, wouldn't it have been prudent to send an email to all registered owners of the interface alerting us about the up coming changes. Would have been simple to do and not result in your customers blindly searching for stuff that was there before.

Thanks Rick

[Keith@HPTuners]

There are pros and cons, believe me... It's something that's been discussed internally quite a bit.

We do have some plans to help alleviate some of the recent pains.

We will continue to make mistakes. We will continue to learn.

Believe me though, all of us at HPT are committed to delivering great products and great service. We're constantly striving to improve.

Please be patient with us as we resolve these issues as they pop up.

[ssikora1973]

With these abrupt and un-announced changes, the job of guys like Bill, and Keith who face the customers in the public forum just got exponentially harder. I agree on sending a mass email ( Or even a sticky on the forum or a message pinned to everyone's customer account that the changes will be taking place.) to at least warn people who have purchased a 5 to 600 dollar product of changes that will impact them in a negative way such as the tune repository for folks who operate a tuning business that now have to wing it if they need to tune a customer's car that they are likely charging several hundred dollars for did not get cut over ( Even though it is totally possible to do. I work in IT for a living doing that very thing which is migrating data. It can be done seamlessly and with little impact to end users.) Take me for instance, I am not a professional tuner, but I do quite a bit of it on my own vehicles and a side job or two. I wanted to get an updated copy of the 3.7 beta since it is said to be updated frequently and was greeted with this new site where I had the inconvenience of having to dig for my software key and interface serial number. Now imagine if I was running a shop and had to get three tunes done and needed to load the software on a backup laptop and then had to spend a couple hours trying to figure out what is going on and why my account along with everyone else's did not get migrated which again I know for a fact it is very possible to do. I also noticed from scanning threads that several people also posted their displeasure ( As to be expected.) and simply had their threads closed. This is also bad form and not a real good way of trying to sell the upgrades to the new interface. I know there is a real bad taste in my mouth, imagine what the folks who do it for a living are feeling? Bad form HPT, real bad form.

[Bill@HPTuners]

Take me for instance, I am not a professional tuner, but I do quite a bit of it on my own vehicles and a side job or two. I wanted to get an updated copy of the 3.7 beta since it is said to be updated frequently and was greeted with this new site where I had the inconvenience of having to dig for my software key and interface serial number.

You don't even need to be a customer in order to download the beta software on the new website https://www.hptuners.com/downloads/