response from don starr

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loumaag

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All right, not to become overly pushy, but in fact this thread (in its present state) has nothing to do with scanner programming or control, it in fact has everything to do with people complaining about Don's lack of response, which has nothing to do with software.

For that reason, I am moving this out of the Software forum; my first inclination was to put it in the RR Tavern, but I realized that was just a knee jerk reaction, so it is now being moved to the General Scanning forum.
 

dougjgray

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cuda440 said:
thanks for all the feedback, I guess it is just not my friend!

we've been talking about this post, and just confirms the frustration.

I keep watching and maybe there will be a resolutuion.

does Don ever follow the discussions?

Maybe Don should post a response?-people, believe or not, can accept the truth.

You could install win97 on your computer for another 30 day trial and atleast get you freind up and running until you get the key
 

mikea7531

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It's a shame that no one is getting any reponses from him - he creates fantastic software for the Radio Shack scanners. I certainly hope that he is ok.
 

michaelo

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Don Starr(WIN97 S/W)

I wasn't blaming him for my shortcomings in preserving my data. What I was *****ing about was his non-response to a request for help. I would've accepted at least a note saying "We don't do that at StarrSoft". What I got was NOTHING and thats just plain rude not to mention a poor way of doing business.

AZScanner said:
Oh brother.

I've come to the conclusion that people would rather blame software vendors for their troubles than take some basic, simple precautions against data loss. Is it Don's fault that you didn't back up your data or print out the registration info? To say you don't recommend his products because he didn't drop everything to chase down your serial number is ridiculous. Why don't you write your own scanner software and then deal with just a fraction of the bullsh!t complaints, scammers trying to score free reg keys and morons who couldn't operate a toaster oven, let alone a computer... then you'll have a right to complain about someone not emailing you back a reg key that you lost all on your own by not taking 2 seconds to click "Print". Good lord....

I should get back into writing scanner software. I miss all the abuse, bashing, pissing, moaning, lying and overall general stupid crap I used to deal with daily.

Heh. Not.

-AZ
 

AZScanner

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I still say people are making a mountain out of a molehill.

Let's hear it - who are all the paying customers that didn't receive a reg key? I would think this forum would be flooded with replies based on the amount of squawking that's been going on for days now - yet another poster asked for the same thing and all I've heard so far is:

{crickets chirping}

I'll concede that he should have found a way to answer his email by now, and I find it odd that he hasn't. But I think the claims of people being "ripped off" are exaggerated and generally unfounded. I could be wrong though, so I'm asking for proof. If anyone has mailed in a check for a reg key and the check has cleared but NO reg key came back, let's hear it. If that's the case then there's cause for concern, but I seriously doubt Don would do such a thing.

-AZ
 

kikito

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loumaag said:
For those of you who have lost your key, look in the mirror, that is the person who is responsible, no one else. You paid your money, you got your license, it was up to you to safe guard it.
Lou,

I understand what you're saying and agree to a certain degree. I can also see and understand both sides of the argument here.

However, you cannot always blame the "customer" for losing their registration info. There's many reasons someone can lose theirs. Here's one or two examples that are beyond the customer's control; what if you get home from work and your house flooded or burned down? You could've had a copy of the info in a file cabinet and a cd and on your computer and who knows where else and you still could've lose them ALL in a situation like that. I recently lost my own registration after all this years and I too email Don almost 2 months ago without response yet. I ended up buying a new license for Win96 in the meanwhile....

I never thought I'd said this, but at this time, the length of time with lack of communication from Don has become unacceptable. I still believe he makes great software and I still will recommend his software to everyone. So hopefully whatever problems he might be having, it will get resolved in the near future.
 

loumaag

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kikito said:
you cannot always blame the "customer" for losing their registration info.
Jose,

Sure I can...you provided an excellent example of exactly what bolsters my argument. Forget that the software license is not a tangible thing for a moment, but something solid (like the key should have been printed out). If your driver's license was lost in the fire/flood/theft/etc., I am willing to bet you would pony up for the replacement, or is Alaska so generous that they would give you the duplicate license for nothing? Your example is what insurance is all about. Sorry, I am afraid I am still unconvinced.

[soap_box]
I guess something that not everyone understands is that even to Don, scanning is a hobby. His software was given away free when he didn't have to sign agreements with GRE/RS to get the data to allow him to write the software. But writing software for the GRE scanners is not his day job, it is something that grew out of his hobby and if the constant harping about his lack of response to irresponsible people drives him away from producing new software the only people that it hurts is all of us in the scanning community.
[/soap_box]
 

kikito

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loumaag said:
Forget that the software license is not a tangible thing for a moment, but something solid (like the key should have been printed out).
And like my example above, in case of fire or flooding, even if you printed the key 10 times and put it in 10 different places, you still lost it. But I'll leave that example alone since is not that common of a thing to happen....

If your driver's license was lost in the fire/flood/theft/etc., I am willing to bet you would pony up for the replacement, or is Alaska so generous that they would give you the duplicate license for nothing? Your example is what insurance is all about. Sorry, I am afraid I am still unconvinced.
Yes, I have to pay again for a new license, just like I mentioned above, I also payed again recently for ANOTHER Win96 registration. But I still wouldn't mind also getting my old registration key again so I can use both that I paid for.

I have many other computer, PDA and radio software that when you lose your key, they'll be glad to send it to you again after you provide all the pertinent info. So as a suggestion, Don might start thinking of some sort of automated service to respond to lost keys just like the automated new registration process already in place.

About your "soap box" commentary, I feel the same most of the time and I rarely lose registrations, licenses, keys, etc. I have a drawer full of receipts, print-outs and licenses of stuff that I bought in the past 10 years BUT this one time I lost it, it happens, I don't know how else to put it.

Please keep in mind that mainly what I'm trying to point out and agree with others is that Don has been out of communication for a long time in the past few months, and it's becoming a cause for concern, not only about his software business but his personal well-being....
 

loumaag

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kikito said:
Please keep in mind that mainly what I'm trying to point out and agree with others is that Don has been out of communication for a long time in the past few months, and it's becoming a cause for concern, not only about his software business but his personal well-being....
And in this, you and I are in 100% agreement. Having checked with several other people in the scanning community, it seems that no one is having much luck in getting Don in a dialog.
 

AZScanner

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kikito said:
So as a suggestion, Don might start thinking of some sort of automated service to respond to lost keys just like the automated new registration process already in place.

Two problems with that:

1. Don reportedly has no computer right now, Makes it kinda difficult to make website changes and develop an automatic regkey reminder thing

2. How will it work? I thought about this as well - the easiest way would be to have it simply reissue the key via email to the email address on file. But what if the customer has changed email addresses since then? What if the customer lost the password to that email account? So to avoid that, you create a page that the customer enters their email address and their name or address or etc. and out comes a reg key - all well and good but if I know that Joe Smith who lives at 123 Smith Lane in Smithsville OK is a registered Win96 user, I can log into the key generator site and feed it all that identifying info and boom - I get Joe's reg key. So now I have to figure a way around that.... see where this is headed? It soon becomes more trouble than it's worth.

If I was Don I'd just lose the option altogether. If you lose your key, then tough - you pay for a new one. Problem solved, and if people know that up front then they will take more precauton against losing it.

kikito said:
Please keep in mind that mainly what I'm trying to point out and agree with others is that Don has been out of communication for a long time in the past few months, and it's becoming a cause for concern, not only about his software business but his personal well-being....

I totally agree here. It's not like Don to just abandon everyone like this. Hope we hear from him soon and that all is well.

-AZ
 

williams63

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Cuda: I emailed Don a simple question 7 months ago...no reply , so I REG'd the damn software myself!

cuda440 said:
how do we resolve this?

this is not an attack on anyone, but just trying to get a problem resolved.

does anyone have a suggestion other than wait for donn?

waiting for donn is getting old and long without a hint of a solution.

???????????????? again only frustrated!!!!!!!!!!!
 

flyingwolf

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williams63 said:
Cuda: I emailed Don a simple question 7 months ago...no reply , so I REG'd the damn software myself!

Did you really just admin to cracking the program on a national message baord, smart move there.
Does the term "Dee dee dee" ring a bell to you.
 

Grog

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As for people who say that they lost they key, and it's possable to lost everything in a house fire, I have my solution........

As soon as I recieved my key, I did a screen grab and e-mailed it to a few of my yahoo addresses. That way It's stored offsite, and I can get it from any online connection.

Simple :)

434543.JPG
 
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loumaag

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An excellent suggestion Grog, one I think you mentioned before, but certainly bears repeating.
 

kikito

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You guys are still counting on perfect people on a perfect world. :roll:

Yes, there's many good simple solutions to ensure that you don't lose your registration but you still not considering the human factor of imperfection. $**t happens and that's that. I still can't recall of any of the dozens of programs I've bought or registered or the many website logins that I have that don't offer a way to recover your key or password to access the service or product you payed for.

I don't agree with anybody claiming "rip-off" or bashing Don for not responding in a timely manner but some of you are taking it to the other extreme of so-called "personal responsibility".

I still think Don needs to eventually setup a more reliable way to recover the key, period. It's called customer service and nowadays, more than ever, it'll make or break a business. Just like most of you, I'll back Don till the end but let's be realistic about this.
 

n4voxgill

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there still has not been a single person that reports they personally sent don a check and it was cashed, and they did not receive the key.

i only recall two people saying that someone else sent money and in one of the cases the check was never cashed. this particular person posted several time on multiple sites.

i question if anyone is really out any money. this may well be a case of reporting hearsay over and over.
 

buckwheat

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What ?? I sent Donn a Money Order back in July! According to the bank the Order was cashed in Early August! I have had no reply from Donn on several of my email address that he was given!
 

n4voxgill

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well you are the only person to say I did not get the key after he got the money. I hope that don will now respond to you.

from now on when I tell someone to get WIN96 I will warn them to use paypal only, and if they can't then don't order it.
 

DLee337

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don no reply

I have also tried to get don by email. multible times. still no answer.
 
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