I’m sorry Ben but the new website sucks!!!
KJ_Old_Dog
| Posted in General Discussion on
I figured by now the bugs would have all been worked out. But NO! I have changed my password, again tonight. I clicked on the email re: router tear out and I still can’t access the video. Logged out, then back in. Nada! My unlimited membership is worth zilch!
I am a retired programmer. We tested, tested and retested. Somebody should be in big doodoo over this!
Ken
Replies
This is an oddly hostile thing to write. Gentle reminder that kindness doesn’t cost anything.
If the staff sees this, please know that your efforts aren’t going unappreciated. There’s really nothing else like this site, thank you all.
I didn't read his post as hostile at all, but rather, expressing his frustration. The smooth interaction others are having doesn't mean his problem isn't real or frustrating.
I've had zero problems.
Works fine for me too.
Can’t figure out what’s new but I works fine here.
Pretty sure it's the same website.
I’ve brought this issue up and that I’m constantly being asked to subscribe for unlimited as though the system is oblivious that I’m logged in. So why constantly ask me to subscribe/eat up UI at all times with a big yellow butting trying to get me to subscribe. You add the fact that we get a pop up advertisement with every single cotton picken click; it just makes navigating FW less enjoyable and begs the question as to why I pay money to be treated to not just the same number of advertisements as a free user, but many more because I have access to more, so they get to throw more pop up at me and I’m paying them to do it. Then you add the incessant ”subscribe” bit, it’s all really frustrating. I can genuinely understand the OP frustration because he’s already bombarded and disabused by pop ups/advertisements and then the website has been sketchy now for weeks. Heck it took this new company over two weeks to fix the train wreck that happened for those of us who receive both print and electronic versions of FW.. It was almost three weeks after the last issue release before I could download to my iPad. Some here may not like the OP’s tone, but this will all just continue unless those of us who finance FW don’t speak up and sometimes that requires doing so loudly.
I can appreciate your frustration with being subjected to ads. I have in place on my browser both an ad blocker (Ad Block Plus) and a tracking blocker (provided by my web security system - BitDefender). As I read this thread a total of 6 ads are being blocked and 18 - yes 18 -browsing trackers (4 advertising, 4 site analytics and 10 social media) are being blocked by these tools. But, this results in minimal popup ads plus my browsing history is at least a little more secure. I would suggest you may want to investigate adding similar add-ins - for me they work well.
Don’t subscribe then. Either the site is worth it to you or it isn’t. I find pop ups on every site I go to. If it becomes more trouble than the site is worth to me I don’t go there anymore. There’s so much to pick from on the internet. Find something better than FWW. The site is worth enough to me I ignore the other stuff.
All good here.
Hey Ken,
Have you reached out to me or to customer service? I have shared my email here dozens of times.
[email protected]
This reads snarky, Ben. You may not mean to, but your replies to people that are angry almost always come off as defensive and snarky. In this case, your response makes it seem like the customer is not doing something right. The right answer to something like this is:
"I'm sorry you're having issues, reach out to me at .... and we'll get things taken care of."
I'm sorry you read it that way Brian. I'm trying to be "matter of fact". I have dozens of apology emails over the last two weeks and dozens of forum comments as well. Our vendor is working through to get all of this stuff taken care of. There is little I can do, but we are working to get it taken care of. I am sorry this happening and trust me, I am beyond frustrated myself with all of these issues.
FYI, I had similar problems 3 weeks ago and called customer support. I was told this is a new and serious problem. My login wouldn't acknowledge my ultimate account. Customer support fixed me up, although I had to call in twice.
To a hammer everything looks like a nail.
I’ve had worst experiences elsewhere..
I’ll rely my login issue and how it was fixed. Simply, I couldn’t login or change/update my password after the new site was up. I phoned customer service and a nice American located the issue. A symbol was added to the front my username or email address when data was transferred for the new website. She didn’t know why. She deleted the symbol and I updated my password. ANS: Call CS.
I'll agree with the annoyance of always being asked to subscribe, despite being an unlimited member. I also get sent several emails a month telling me to subscribe, in addition to the unlimited member emails. seems odd to be on both mailing lists, but minor inconvenience. The website is of course fairly old school and clunky, but nonetheless I love the unlimited membership for access to the archives, decades of tips and of course the helpful forum. So long as I can revisit Michael Fortunes bandsaw drift articles every once in a while I am happy!
Sometimes there are log-in issues, but currently, all is good.
I have said it before in another thread tonight, and I will concur here too.
Whilst it's a first-world problem, it's annoying to be subscribed to Unlimited, yet constantly see "Click here to upgrade"
Email communications are poor - my card details needed updating, and I was offered such a suspicious looking link (it wanted to go to omeclk.com - not something I associate with Taunton or Fine Woodworking) in such a poorly designed email that my immediate reaction was to class it as spam and delete it. I did take some extra time and found out it *might* be legitimate, so I wrote to customer service to check (awaiting reply).
Another forum user in another thread actually pointed out the way to update this through the site here... why on earth an email was sent with a dodgy looking link when it could be done here I have no idea. Designers need to take into account the fact that people double check everything in an email nowadays because there are so many scams around.
In terms of the overall site design here at Fine Woodworking, yes, things have improved. The Guides are great, but the menu system at the top of the page needs serious revision - exposing part of the menu, and leaving the rest of the content "hidden" behind another menu is not good design. Group it together in one place or the other, but don't make a user "hunt and peck" to try and find stuff.
And for the love of everything reasonable, if one is logged in on the site, get rid of the stupid "Subscribe" button - surely it can't be *that* hard (if user is logged in, do not display this page element).
Agreed. Ongoing nuisance because I am continually wanting to confirm whether or not I am still logged in
I don't know if it is just me, but the "remember me" option does not remember me very long. A few days or a couple of weeks.
I assume Taunton licenses their web technology from others, and all Ben can do is forward info up (or down) the chain. I suggest we let customer support deal with these things.
Sure, the website is too often clunky, fickle and irritating --but it's my favorite website and I don't make a woodworking move without it. Like my kids, I love it despite its flaws, and so cheer more than complain.
Well said.
I had issues updating my password last week, and it was frustrating, but "that's a was" and I am grateful for this website.
I had problem too. After waiting 20 minutes, I finally got someone. First call was not enough, took several more calls. Before I could get content, after the change I had to paid more money. I have been been a subscriber for 30 year. Not sure if I am going renew.
While we're at it, check your bank statements! I had a monthly $9.95 membership and was just charged $59.95 on my card without any warning. After talking to a Customer Service rep, they informed that they have gotten rid of the monthly charge and are now only doing annual. Did we get emails/notices about that? If so, I never saw it.
Terrible business practices. I've just cancelled my subscription.
Brian, I’m sorry that happened. The Customer service rep is misinformed. You’ll be getting a refund of the $59.95. There was an error with the vendor and they mistakenly charged some people. An email should be going out soon
$9.95/month, but annually $59.95, math is not someone's strong suit. Even if they meant semi-annual they took $.25 extra. Good thing you checked your statement, not everyone does.
“[Deleted]”
Same problem here. I think I've bought three three-month trial memberships under three different email addresses and I now have one that actually works. I'm sure I'll play heck cancelling the other two.
I've never seen anything so messed up.
I lost the ability to log in about a month ago and just got it back today. I called multiple times and the customer service staff was friendly and tried to help each time, but something was wrong that they couldn’t fix. This morning something was different and I was given a password that actually worked, and warned not to try changing it for a few days. So it seems some progress is being made fixing the issues.
The first rep I spoke to commented how nice the FWW subscribers were despite all the issues.
Want to add to the objections about the constant pop-ups and other interruptions urging us subscribers to subscribe. Yes, it’s annoying but also feels hugely inconsistent for what most of us think of- and pay for - the FWW ‘brand’. It’s like a local merchant who never remembers your face or name- pretty easy to ask yourself ‘why bother if this is how they take my business for granted?’ It can’t be hard for the website to save us subscribers from being harangued at every page click.
Hey Ben
You and FWW are doing an excellent job.
You definitely took the high road when responding to many of these post.
There may have been some issues but I am unaware of anyone that is perfect.
Unfortunately you are responsible for Operator Errors and the recipient of criticism from superior human beings.
History has proven those who strongly criticize others typically don't do anything for fear of the same criticism that they express.
If people are unhappy with the website they should act respectably and end their membership.
The website ain’t perfect. Get over it.
John
Nobody said the website is perfect.
Close your account.
Of course no one said the website is perfect…
I apologize if I was overly direct. I actually agree that the FWW site could be better. I’ve encountered some of the same issues, and some of them used to bother me. But I don’t think they warrant telling Ben that the website sucks or complaining about a few extra clicks to cancel pop-ups or offers to subscribe. In the grand scheme, it isn’t that big of a deal. The good of FWW far outweighs the imperfect. FWW remains an invaluable resource and I very much appreciate what it’s staff are contributing to the woodworking community.
Wow, you guys are nice. You’re not currently having an issue, but it’s obvious by the number of posts here that many are and are expressing their frustration with, by all accounts, numerous problems with the site and their subscriptions, and your response is nothing’s perfect, get over it, close your account. Yikes. I’m not personally having a problem, but I’d be doing the same thing if I was. History has proven (see how silly that sounds?) that when enough people express their frustration in a public way things tend to get fixed.
If you wait several/many seconds, your "new" login will take hold and the site will come up as normal. Unfortunately, for some reason the website still indicates that you still need to change your login, even though if you did it per the instructions, it still continues to do so, even when it works. Also with the new outfit your password needs to be in all capitals and numerals only, NO special characters even though the website previously said otherwise. Frustrating yes, but the site is still wonderful when you get pass this technical glitch that should not have happened.
So, not “user error”, good to know, and good tips.
There is nothing wrong with communicating you are having issues with the web site.....It should be done respectably.
Just another silly statement
“[Deleted]”
Customer service is wrong in that regard. They're getting straightened out. The charge was an error and will be refunded as soon as they figure out who was charged incorrectly. There will be an email going out soon in that regard. I'm very sorry this happened and we appreciate your patience. We too are running out of patience right now.
There are 3 levels of subscription: physical magazine only, digital magazine only, and a combined for both digital version of the magazine and the physical magazine and that package also includes the full blown web access to anything and everything from Fine Woodworking. As you add an extra element price goes up for each additional element. Yes there is a digital only magazine option. I personally opted for the entire package.
Although on the day of the changeover things failed completely, I have not noticed any problems since.
FWW Unlimited is good value for money and the website is a great resource.
I'm hoping for some new video workshops now that COVID is not a thing...
I too am frustrated with the site. I pay money but then am never quite sure what kind of account I have, and the web site doesn't know either. Love the content, have been frustrated with the site.
Wow! I did not mean to stir up such a hornet's nest. Really.
The tone of my post was indeed hostile as I was very frustrated. I should know better to take a breath before posting. I knew FWW was having difficulties with their new vendor. I assumed (yes, I know what that means) that after several weeks, the issues would be solved. Obviously, I was wrong.
Ben, I am sending you an email today. An earlier post mentioned a special character had been added to the username. That is a common error in data conversions, so I'll check my account information.
Again, let me apologize. I'm just an old dog who gets frustrated when something that was working so well and so helpful suddenly chokes.
Also, I should not have said the website sucks - only the login. The website is fine.
I would like to know the specs for the profile image. The one I had does not seem to work any longer. File size, format, what ever.
Thanks
I was just told that there is a new profile update in the works. Sounds like this will be fixed soon.
This thread has now been running for ten days. The OP has, to his credit, apologized for using an over-generalized title for a more specific concern.
But the title remains somehow as a catch-all for a variety of complaints about customer service and website issues.
I use the FW website every day and certainly see that it has some shortcomings. But on balance, it meets my needs for access and information and well worth the price and the minor hassles (I’m looking at you “search function.”)
Ben deserves our gratitude for being our champion in matters that are outside his control. I would suggest that we consider putting this thread to bed and start fresh.
Russ
Hear! Hear!
I didn't even notice. I clicked on in my menu bar and I was right there as if I had always been logged in.
Now if they would get a decent forum platform……
Last week I could view anything and today, nothing. Logged out then back in, still can’t view anything I was able to view last week. I went to my account page to see what level membership I had and there was nothing there to tell me. Please help!!
I have also lost my membership and ability to view videos or read magazines on-line. I have had an unlimited membership for decades. At this stage, I have managed to add a new password, but the details on my account are all incorrect, and they cannot be altered. I have sent an email to CS, but am not confident of any response.
Regards from Perth
Derek
Well, further to my comment above, I emailed customer service - I am pretty sure my membership should have been renewed by now, and auto-renew won't stay on, and I have no way of checking whether the new card information I have input was actually registered or not.
I realise many will jump down on these comments as has been done in the thread to date, but this is not the way a professional organisation runs a customer service section of a website - there are glaring problems that even the most rudimentary testing should pick up and resolve.
Does anyone have a rough guide for the time-frame involved in replies from customer service please?
EDIT: I have just discovered that I am correct, my membership has lapsed, and like Derek and bowlanr above, I no longer have access to any content above the "free" level on the site. One wonders how on earth this is possible, having tried my very best about a week or two ago to both update my credit card, and turn Auto Renew "on".
As I’ve said earlier in this now long thread, I think it’s perfectly reasonable to bring your issue here to the forum (in spite of the rude comments to shut up and suck it up) when you’re not getting any satisfaction, or even a reply, from customer service. Good luck.
That is EXACTLY my issue as well.
Love the content, but man is it difficult to access. Anyway to get a simple “log in” button on the top right? Seems to be a fairly universal spot and easy to find. Judging by the amount of comments it seems there certainly must be an issue with functionality and need for the website to be more intuitive. Regardless of the websites hiccups I think I can speak for everyone here and say that we do love and appreciate the content and all of the work that goes into it. We just wish there was an easier way to access it.
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