Quote by lottoboy on 08-07-2008, 20:10:
One suggestion: Could you invite a person to take the Customer Service
such as answering so many questions from members everyday by you only? If so, you can focus on the improvement of Filters in EL with all your might.
that would be really nice but expert lotto is just our evening hobby. our living comes from our day-time jobs and we certainly cannot afford an extra person dedicated to customer support.
As old-timers and active contributors may deduce from recent threads/posts, I am not particularly computer literate. I rely on software as a tool — a means to an end. I am not capable of nor interested in software that requires technical expertise to get it running, and keep it running. For me, I purchase software to do a job; it is enough to learn how to operate a program; time consumed by finding and fixing conflicts is time not spent using the software for intended purpose(s).
I began my search for a suitable lottery software program after getting burned twice, big-time. EL was recommended by a poster on another forum; and without doubt, I am very happy he did.
The first programs purchased with hard earned money were long on advertisement, fantastic claims, and guarantees.... Of course, there were the testimonials, shareware website reviews, seals and stamps of approval, guarantees, and assurances on OS compatibilities. Horse pucky.
I had been looking for a program that would allow me to concentrate on lottery games - not on spending days learning Excel, or how to download, install, and keep the applications patched together. Unfortunately, that is exactly what happened; my best description of the experience is, a lesson in mediocrity and fraud.
After getting the big picture and expressing disbelief that one particular lottery software vendor could be approachable and responsive to customer service queries — a nice guy — regarding a lousy product. A lottery professional acquaintance emailed, advising as follows:
“It's very hard for me to know what's in people's hearts. When I know what they are selling is a scam or is not what they are saying it is, then I know what they are doing. Why wouldn't someone taking your money be as nice and polite as possible for as long as the money keeps coming in and write you off quick when you catch on?
“
There are people who set out to write a lottery program for themselves and when it doesn't work decide to recover their losses by selling it.
“There are people who set out to write a lottery program for themselves and it works somewhat, here and there, now and then, so they decide to sell it. Maybe a customer will suggest a way to make it work.
“There are people who set out to write a lottery program for the single purpose of making quick money off suckers.
“There are people who started out to write a lottery program for suckers and when it kept selling became interested in customer relations.
“And so on. In my opinion [name omitted] lies about what the program is and how well it does. When sales are down he claims a win. This is not a real win for money by him or a customer. No, it is a win on paper he finds by running the program again and again with a routine or macro until it hits or he simply fakes the result, who's gonna know? Can't be duplicated as it is a weighted random number picker, a rip off….â€
It is my opinion, when it comes to business, the first rule is: either you’re in, or not.
In a world where customer instant gratification is norm, the fledgling independent businessman (gender not implied) is faced with making decisions, setting priorities — business practice standards. Ideally, it is not unreasonable for customer expectations to include that out-of-the box, the program properly installs, downloads, and functions without issues — without a hidden vendor philosophy like, “My problems are your problems.â€
I have met decent people along the way…
not all has been disheartening. Eventually, three lottery programs were highly recommended: ExpertLotto, LotWin, and Gail Howard. Currently, I am running EL and LotWin — both are excellent. I intend to buy Gail Howard, and after a time with each and all, I will begin writing about the experience.
Stan and Team are outstanding because they give the customer direct inside access to R&D… Most software companies keep their authors/designers/engineers far away from customers. More recently, I have noticed that companies are beginning to recognize the value of feedback; but usually, comments and recommendations are filtered thru customer support who are in fact, actually subcontractors — much is lost in translation. Reading thru forum threads and posts, Stan and Team provide outstanding support — surprisingly attentive to details — all out in the open giving other users information essential to keeping EL tuned-up.
I certainly do not speak for everyone, but if it would help the newbie, I am more than willing to join other users and pay a reasonable periodic license assessment toward hiring a customer service tech. I wasn’t aware that EL was an “evening hobby,†could have fooled me — remarkable achievement! I really like ExpertLotto — believe in it — EL is logically designed…. Help and Tips are well written and easy to understand. It would be well worth a bit extra to help those who haven’t been living with EL long enough to, get it yet.
Regarding 5: The only recommendation that I offer at this time is adding an Intro to Help > Intro advising, “Words mean things. Please read the Help Section and Homepage information before contacting Customer Service. Thank you.â€
PS: Can anyone give me the Homepage link to plugins? I have downloaded Joe’s, but haven’t been able to relocate the others. Thx.