Please help

Submitted: Sunday, Mar 19, 2023 at 20:14
ThreadID: 145427 Views:2576 Replies:5 FollowUps:11
This Thread has been Archived
Please help: we've become aware of recent fake reviews on the app stores for the Traveller app and we can't seem to get anywhere with having them removed. We've given the reviewers the benefit of the doubt asking them to contact support but they dont. In fact we have no unresolved support issues and we are normally inundated by positive emails. Suspicious that this new activity only just occurs now that we're launching a great new update...????

So, here's hoping a little people power might work.

If youre a satisfied app user please go to the app stores and post a new review to get the truth out.

Thankyou.
David (DM) & Michelle (MM)
---------------------------------
Always working not enough travelling!

Lifetime Member
My Profile  My Blog  My Position  Send Message
Moderator

Back Expand Un-Read 3 Moderator

Reply By: Member -Pinko (NSW) - Monday, Mar 20, 2023 at 07:54

Monday, Mar 20, 2023 at 07:54
Done, but finding an unused nickname to allow the review to send is a bit of a challenge.
Living is a journey,it depends on where you go !
VKS 737 mobile 0049 selcall 0049

Member
My Profile  My Position  Send Message

AnswerID: 643095

Follow Up By: ExplorOz - David & Michelle - Monday, Mar 20, 2023 at 12:50

Monday, Mar 20, 2023 at 12:50
I've heard about this nickname option but have looked into it numerous times and again today. Seems that nicknames in your Google Account or Apple accounts are optional but can't be reused and have to be recreated for app time you want to post a review but often don't work and hasn't worked on Apple for years. That's all I can find on my research today. On my own devices I can't even see a nickname option so I can't really do any testing and have no idea about this as it is controlled at the user end in your own store account. There are tons of complaints about the app store nickname issue if you Google it but seems its optional and at best doesn't work. Can't you just post without it?
Michelle
David (DM) & Michelle (MM)
---------------------------------
Always working not enough travelling!

Lifetime Member
My Profile  My Blog  My Position  Send Message
Moderator

1
FollowupID: 922753

Follow Up By: Member -Pinko (NSW) - Monday, Mar 20, 2023 at 14:06

Monday, Mar 20, 2023 at 14:06
Never mind Michelle , I eventually invented a nickname that was accepable. All good .
Living is a journey,it depends on where you go !
VKS 737 mobile 0049 selcall 0049

Member
My Profile  My Position  Send Message

1
FollowupID: 922759

Reply By: Member - Core420 - Monday, Mar 20, 2023 at 12:34

Monday, Mar 20, 2023 at 12:34
There's this YouTube video with a negative review of EO and he's may have left a negative review on the Playstore as well.

https://youtu.be/DuZTj1_DrFE
AnswerID: 643098

Follow Up By: ExplorOz - David & Michelle - Monday, Mar 20, 2023 at 12:57

Monday, Mar 20, 2023 at 12:57
Hmmm yes ever since he was paid to promote Memory Maps (US company) he has been trying to discredit us... very unprofessional. I'm not going to waste my time watching his video if he's again discrediting us. In the past, he's had various operator error issues that he refuses to accept are his own doing and thinks he's above reading a User Manual, or contacting support.
David (DM) & Michelle (MM)
---------------------------------
Always working not enough travelling!

Lifetime Member
My Profile  My Blog  My Position  Send Message
Moderator

3
FollowupID: 922754

Follow Up By: Bazooka - Monday, Mar 20, 2023 at 16:44

Monday, Mar 20, 2023 at 16:44
Interesting because his early reviews were VERY positive:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-e39Ix4iZcw&ab_channel=AllOffroad4x4AdventuresTV

I see "micksalau" responded in Core's video link saying he's never had a problem running two apps on his Android Samsung 6 tablet. Nevertheless I think it's unwise to not take a peek at Stephan's video comment and see if it was something obvious or something you've already cleared up with other Apple users.
2
FollowupID: 922763

Follow Up By: ExplorOz - David & Michelle - Monday, Mar 20, 2023 at 17:25

Monday, Mar 20, 2023 at 17:25
We haven't looked at the video but we know he had a white screen issue one day when he opened the app and if he'd done either of these 2 things immediately it would have fixed it, even if offline in the middle of nowhere. It was not a critical bug. As he says in the comments (which I have read today) that it "fixed itself" 2 days later. At the time the fix was simply:-

1. close the app and reopen OR
2. turn off the Wifi connection

This bug was isolated to iOS devices only and only when the device had the setting on to allow a Wifi connection over hotspot but then if you'd gone offline and shut the app, the next time you opened the app AND was still offline, the white screen would appear but step 1 (close the app and reopen) would reset it.

Whilst not ideal, most people should know that weird stuff always happens on any app/on any device and the first thing to do is always just quickly shut your app and restart. People do it all the time instinctively.

This bug occurred out of the blue a few weeks ago and was due to an iOS update that hadn't been an issue in the app previously. As soon as we knew, we wrote the fix and that has been put into the v8 new release already. You will note this fix is mentioned in the release notes for v8.
Michelle

David (DM) & Michelle (MM)
---------------------------------
Always working not enough travelling!

Lifetime Member
My Profile  My Blog  My Position  Send Message
Moderator

1
FollowupID: 922765

Follow Up By: Bazooka - Monday, Mar 20, 2023 at 19:09

Monday, Mar 20, 2023 at 19:09
I'm certain Stephan's 47K subscribers and viewers (5K already) would appreciate that info Michelle.

One thing most of us appreciate - "karens" and serial pests aside - is "service with a smile" and businesses going out of their way to resolve individual complaints (whether IO, user induced or trivial). I'd guess the vast majority on EO would say you do that as a matter of course, but non-subscribers won't appreciate that.

Reading your reply I suspect he had a valid point given where he was, even if it was ill-directed and knee-jerk in the washup. He does have a responsibility to be upfront with viewers but also to be fair to suppliers. That said, it's youtube - hugely variable content quality and professionalism.

Good opportunity for some PR and goodwill generation I reckon. Possibly more than you'll get from app store reviews?
3
FollowupID: 922767

Follow Up By: Member - Stefan F2 - Wednesday, Mar 22, 2023 at 09:30

Wednesday, Mar 22, 2023 at 09:30
I just wanted to share a single message regarding this thread with you.

As a result of my reviews, I get contacted by many people who have issues with EOT. The only false information is posted by Michelle here because, as stated in the video, I restarted the app, I restarted the iPad, and I also switched wifi on and off multiple times. Furthermore, this is the second time this has happened in the past three months, and I am not the only one experiencing this.

I share my experience with everything I test and review as it is good or bad; that’s part of unbiased reviews. 

My initial experience with EOT (2 years ago) was quite positive hence the positive video at the time. However my experience over the past year was different so I have an obligation to let my viewers know if my experiences and opinion change. ?I have documented many, many EOT issues over the past 16 months and only mention a fraction in my videos so far.

Of course, this is only my experience and may not apply to everyone but given I use EOT on 4 different Apple devices it’s sure not a device issue.

Suggesting I leave fake reviews is outlandish and defamatory.


To clarify, I have never received a penny from Memory Maps for advertising their app. Last year they hired me as a consultant (I worked in web development and usability for many years) to help improve Memory Maps For All, which has many new features and improvements derived from my work. My experience with MM spans over ten years as it was the first navigation app I used and I purchased Maps for.

Explore Oz by the way did something similar and paid me to do one of their video tutorials but that is a different story.

There is nothing wrong with posting factual information here, but I will not tolerate defamation and lies. Michelle, as the owner of Explore Oz, I'm sure you understand your responsibilities and liabilities regarding Defamation in Australia.

Don't watch my videos if you only want to see positive reviews where everything stays the same even if my documented experience changes. I keep my update honest and unbiased like with any other product I test and report about.

I will not entertain a discussion here so this is my last reply to this post.
1
FollowupID: 922771

Follow Up By: Bazooka - Wednesday, Mar 22, 2023 at 11:41

Wednesday, Mar 22, 2023 at 11:41
Seems mostly fair to me Stefan, apart from the comment about what steps you took in the high country when EOT went down. It may be purely coincidental but after seeing your video and reading Michelle's comment it seemed to me a reasonable assumption that EOT may have come back to life after David's iOS fix - something out of the hands of any developer (3 months on I'm still waiting on myCoolman to provide a fix for my loss of bluetooth connection to my fridge, something which "coincidentally" happened after an app "upgrade"). If you didn't communicate with EO to get to the bottom of that problem then imo you're doing your viewers - including me - a disservice.
1
FollowupID: 922774

Follow Up By: Member - Stefan F2 - Wednesday, Mar 22, 2023 at 12:32

Wednesday, Mar 22, 2023 at 12:32
@Bazooka

Hm, Michelle is not even watching my video comment, yet making assumptions and false statements is not encouraging. Especially as I did reach out to David via my phone and FB Messenger and clearly communicated to David that I had restarted the iPad. I was told I needed to use the Help Desk system, which was too much effort on the phone with little reception and only a few minutes time before continuing.

I can't tell you what the issue was besides, it's the second time now. The iPad has no sim card and was not connected for the rest of the trip, so why EOT came back after two days no idea at all.

In saying that, I have many, many more issues documented and in the past, have given a lot of my time providing "free" testing and bug reporting (which is little appreciated) for EOT, but to be honest, I don't have the time for it. EOT needs to hire some dedicated QA before software releases and not rely on users.

I mean in the version 8.0.2 release yesterday you can't purchase maps in the app as it times out nor did any new map download work without several restarts

The move to ban any community support via the FB Group is also a clear move to not have issues out in the open, which is not the right way in my book.

The attitude to label me as someone who does not have a clue and it's all user errors and yet not even watching the issues is very concerning and shows there is no interest in actually solving issues and improving.

Michelle's assumption that any negative feedback must be fake shows quite a warped sense of reality.

Anyway that's just my opinion



4
FollowupID: 922775

Follow Up By: Bazooka - Wednesday, Mar 22, 2023 at 13:14

Wednesday, Mar 22, 2023 at 13:14
Thanks for clarifying Stefan.
2
FollowupID: 922776

Reply By: Member - LeighW - Monday, Mar 20, 2023 at 22:53

Monday, Mar 20, 2023 at 22:53
David & Michelle

Well to be fare he did have an issue as was shown in the video. The fact that your not even interested in viewing the video to see his side is a concern as it implies were not interested as we can do no wrong and the customer is an idiot which he may well be but doesn't hurt checking to be sure.

I have just through an exercise of a person informing me he was having trouble with a Paypal transaction on my website. Not likely I thought as many other transaction were going through ok and no changes have been made to the website for months so probably operator error. Anyway did some testing and found out when using the exact info he supplied the transaction was indeed failing. Turns out Paypal have changed how one part of the transaction is handled without telling anyone about it and when he tried to use a coupon code I supplied it caused the Paypal transaction to error. Interestingly a couple of days before I was trying to purchase something from the petbarn website that was a buy 2 and get 20% off and was getting the same error. I contacted them at the time and they fobbed me off with the attitude the customer is an idiot!

What you wrote about all software has issues at times and most just turn it off and on again or reset is a bit of a cop out these days. Yes there is lots of buggy software around but there shouldn't be, as to many use their customers as their quality control. Others release buggy software knowing it has issue but are more interested in revenue and others simply don't want to go to the expense or put the time in to properly test and debug it. I have written software that I thought was bug free as have many others then given it to skilled test teams and no issues found. It is amazing how quickly non skilled persons doing things no would have ever consider can break software thought to have been bullet proof.

Simple fact is if you release buggy software then you just have to grin and bear the negative feedback and try and placate customer rather than ask for others to help you cover it up as it gives a poor impression.

If you put out a good product word of mouth will sell it, I believe most users of you software are happy with it. I have been using it along with other mapping software for years now and haven't had any issues with it. Anyone buying it off playstore etc have most likely gone there specifically to buy it after being told about it and won't look at feedback anyway. Someone wrote once a happy customer generates five new sales a unhappy customer looses you many more.

Complaining about an unhappy customer is a lose lose situation, as written above you would be far better off trying to placate the person concerned or at least getting on the forum and acknowledging you had problem with your software which was rectified as soon as you became aware of the issue.

Lifetime Member
My Profile  Send Message

AnswerID: 643107

Follow Up By: Member - Boobook - Tuesday, Mar 21, 2023 at 08:45

Tuesday, Mar 21, 2023 at 08:45
I agree, I tried to get EO working for many years and gave up because I lost so many track logs. It was on about 4 or 5 units and very upsetting. Every time the phone was blamed.

That is exactly what the reviewer in question expereinced. Same same problem.

To my knowledge, despite acusations that he was paid by Memory Map, he claims to have only been a beta tester. Same as EO by the sound of it. My expereince is exactly the same as that reviewer, both the positive of Memory Map and with EO topo.

Maybe the reviews are simply true. I never left a Google play review, and never got paid to use MM but my review would also say my experience was awful with EO topo and I would never trust it again.

I think you need to look inwards, not blaming and acusing others.

I can leave an honest review but I think it is best that I stay silent in a review on Google Play .

2
FollowupID: 922768

Reply By: Member - Stefan F2 - Wednesday, Mar 22, 2023 at 09:28

Wednesday, Mar 22, 2023 at 09:28
My name is Stefan Fischer and I shared my EOT experience and created the "negative review" I just wanted to share a single message regarding this thread with you.

As a result of my reviews, I get contacted by many people who have issues with EOT. The only false information is posted by Michelle here because, as stated in the video, I restarted the app, I restarted the iPad, and I also switched wifi on and off multiple times. Furthermore, this is the second time this has happened in the past three months, and I am not the only one experiencing this.

I share my experience with everything I test and review, whether good or bad; that’s part of unbiased reviews. 

My initial experience with EOT (2 years ago) was quite positive hence the positive video at the time. However, my experience over the past year was different so I have an obligation to let my viewers know if my experiences and opinion change. I have documented many, many EOT issues over the past 16 months and only mention a fraction in my videos so far.

Of course, this is only my experience and may not apply to everyone, but given I use EOT on 4 different Apple devices, it’s sure not a device issue.

Suggesting I leave fake reviews is outlandish and defamatory.


To clarify, I have never received a penny from Memory Maps for advertising their app. Last year they hired me as a consultant (I worked in web development and usability for many years) to help improve Memory Maps For All, which has many new features and improvements derived from my work. My experience with MM spans over ten years as it was the first navigation app I used, and I purchased Maps for.

Explor Oz by the way, did something similar and paid me to do one of their video tutorials, but that is a different story.

There is nothing wrong with posting factual information here, but I will not tolerate defamation and lies. Michelle, as the owner of Explore Oz, I'm sure you understand your responsibilities and liabilities regarding Defamation in Australia.

Don't watch my videos if you only want to see positive reviews where everything stays the same, even if my documented experience changes. I keep my update honest and unbiased, like with any other product I test and report about.

I will not entertain a discussion here, so this is my last reply to this post.
AnswerID: 643121

Reply By: maurice b - Wednesday, Mar 22, 2023 at 11:17

Wednesday, Mar 22, 2023 at 11:17
I have very similar issues on 2 High end Samsung Devices, the screen was stuck on the ExplorOz emblem both time on trips ,rendering the app useless. I didnt think it was a requirement to contact the help deck as there Facebook page gives a quicker response by other members that experienced the same issues. I would not rely on E.T as your main navigator for remote trip after my experience. To say E.T has the best maps is not actually true as the ability to swap maps on the fly in the Oziexplorer platforms gives far more options from the stored library. I was disappointed that my post on there FB group page was deleted the minute i posted it however i see the ExplorOz Forum is now almost totally about people asking questions about there app . Personally Oziexplorer is my preferred app its old but reliable. I would also assume many Oziexplorer users would like to see the 2023 EoTopo Map set return in Ozf4 format for Ozi users .
AnswerID: 643127

Sponsored Links