NI tech support re registration

If you've been through the NI registration maze, you may be darkly amused by this letter to NI.de Their earlier e-mail, notifying me that I'm not authorized to get updates for INTAKT (of course, as we know the CD-ROM version doesn't work) because of "multiple registrations" follows:

First, a cantankerous word from your customer:

About 10 days ago I blew the core drive on my PC and had my tech install a new one along with XP, programs and authorizations. So I guess that accounts for one (or maybe the second?) INTAKT authorization. Then somehow something (the directory? I'm not a tech) corrupted and the tech had to install everything all over again, the authorizations among them.

I have purchased and use REAKTOR, DYNAMO and, to the extent it works, INTAKT. So apparently I now have multiple registrations for all these. What is it you want me to do at this point? (This is a question; please answer it--that's another NI tech support characteristic--customer asks a question, eventually a reply comes and among other things, it never answers any of the questions asked) What do you mean "not completed?" (This is also a question; please answer it also)

If this means I don't have registered copies, can't get updates and everything's going to grind to a halt in 30 days I'm deeply pissed. I know you don't think this is your fault--it's probably another stupid user error in your view, since my experience with NI tech support is that nothing is ever your fault--but I will say that I have more problems with authorizations re Native Instruments than all the other 30-40 audio programs I use put together. This isn't just me, by the way. Every composer I talk to either a) won't use NI because of tech problems or b) uses it and bitches about tech problems. The software is interesting and I use some of it a lot. Tech support sucks, as does product reliability and the practice of putting out software that's full of bugs which finally are mostly resolved weeks or months later (or regarding MAC versions of the software, probably never)--and never with any acknowledgment of NI's responsibility for the problems.

If I ever got an update e-mail from NI that began "We've now got a version of _________that doesn't crash unpredictably. Sorry for the time you must have wasted. We hope the new version works better..." I would just collapse on the control-room floor in astonishment.

NI Instructional manuals are fiendishly inscrutable and usually incomplete and the famous on-screen help balloons work until you come to something labelled "Wlenkfo," or some other alphabet soup and when you click on that, guess what--no help balloon available.

You think this negative bitching is unfair, I'm sure. Well, I won't go back and revisit the authorization I lost for an early version of DYNAMO which I never did get back because you had no record that I'd ever bought it even though I bought it on-line directly from NI. After 2 years we got that partially straightened out by my driving down to NI, Los Angeles and showing them my original software CD and original Manual--although grudgingly on NI's part--as I recall they insisted on keeping the manual for god knows what reason--apparently so that I wouldn't pull a fast one at some future time and drive down and show them the manual again in order to con them out of more authorizations.

As I say, that's in the past. But then how about the recent release of INTAKT which immediately crashed, repeatedly crashed and kept on crashing while "tech support" kept explaining to me, irritation mounting, that it wasn't NI's problem, it was a bad driver in some other software and I just needed to reinstall the drivers, update the drivers, do something with the drivers--it's not NI's fault. Then after a week of this came the call from an NI tech interested to know if I was having the same problem he was having, namely that the moment INTAKT was told to use an M--audiophile card, INTAKT crashed. Well, yeah.... So he was working on this problem and (to be continued--before I went further with this problem my damn drive crashed). But anyway, I'm just ticked off and discouraged about all the cumulative problems with NI tech support). I'm pretty sure, by the way, that even if there is now an update with this INTAKT compability problem fixed I won't be able to access it anyway because of this authorization screw-up which, I'm quite confident, will take at least 4 e-mails and more than 2 weeks to get straight, if then.

Anyway, now I"m just ranting, where was I? Oh yes,

Regarding my supposed "multiple registrations with multiple system IDs for different hardware configurations"--I noticed earlier when I ran NI software on the MAC (finally gave that up, of course, because as most users know, NI software doesn't work very well on the MAC and PRO TOOLS and NI software just hate each other and crash ALL THE TIME), but, when I did, I noticed that every time something really bad happened and the NI product had to be re-registered it showed an entirely new "system ID" AND a new serial no. as well. Unless I'm missing some point here or hobbits jumped into the MAC case and installed a new motherboard, the system ID would remain the same would it not? Well, no not in the view of the NI software. The present "multiple systems" problem is no doubt just more of this, now migrated from the MAC to the PC. So when you say "you have registered multiple system ID,"s etc. it would be more accurate to say "Your Native Instruments software has created a new system ID and used that to register your software, thereby creating multiple registrations which, in a few days, will result in our sending you an e-mail telling you we haven't completed your registration. The e-mail, incidentally, will offer no solutions or tell you how to go about correcting the problem. It's usually all the customer's fault anyway." That would be a more accurate communication than the message I actually received from NI tech support.

I'm sure I've now gotten at least 2 different authorization e-mails for each of three NI products, REAKTOR, INTAKT, and DYNAMO, each one with different codes, system ID and serial nos. So know doubt quite soon now I'll be getting similar e-mails regarding REAKTOR and DYNAMO. Great.

You tell me what I now need to do.

One last thing: Usually NI. de doesn't bother to respond to messages the first time, or else responds a couple of weeks later because of staffing shortages "because of the holidays," or "before the holidays," or "after the holidays" or "because of summer vacations," or whatever the hell, so I'll just save this e-mail and keep sending it daily until I irritate someone enough to respond.

Thank you.

Patrick Gleeson

(PS to forum--a little update here; yes, I can't update INTAKT (not auhorized) and as of today I've sent a total of 7 daily copies of the above to NI.de tech support with--I'm shocked, shocked--no reply.)



>Dear customer,
>
>Your product registration for INTAKT has not been completed because You have registered multiple system-IDs for different hardware configurations.
>
>The user account is active, however the access rights regarding INTAKT have not yet been added to your account.
>

 

There is something therapeutic and perversely comforting about hearing someone express your exact feelings and experiences.

I feel your pain...

Nevs

 

I too feel your pain!! Just installed a new motherboard and I get the same error. I'm trying to install Absynth 2 and Kontakt.

 

I think I figured it out. I had to deactivate one of the two system-IDs on the website. Make sure you don't deactivate the system-ID that is displayed on your registration tool or it might never work on that computer again.

 

If I followed what you've said you can reset your authorizations:
you log-in, then go to manage authorizations, then you should be able to delete the previous one. Correct me if I'm wrong.
I had trouble with this too, I bought intakt on a second hand, and the seller lost his previous e-mail with his pass. He get them to cancel it in one week by sending them e-mail (so was I) every day.

 

NI Tech Support

Hello Patrick,

This is Dan from NI tech support. Could you please let me know which NI contact address you are writing to? You mention NI.de tech support.

I have done multiple searches for ANY support request regarding your problems (username: drpgleeson@......com) and I was not able to find anything recent. Other searches have shown that indeed you are still using this as your username.

The correct way is to fill out a support form which is located here:

http://www.nativeinstruments.de/index.php?suppform_us

Thanks,

Dan