ImageMixer3 customer support problem

joannakat · 05-16-2009, 02:41 AM

Hi everyone,

I recently purchased a Canon fs100 camcorder, and the user guide for the bundled software hangs and so is useless. There are also some problems with the software itself, but I think the worst problem is that the companies, both Canon and Pixela (they make ImageMixer) provide no customer support for this software.

I just sent the following email off to Canon, and if anyone else would like to do the same, I think it might be helpful. Feel free to copy my text, but please do sign your own name.

Best,
Joanna

To whom it may concern,
I have recently purchased a Canon fs100 camcorder. It seems to be a wonderful camera and I'm looking forward to working with it.

In today's marketplace, excellent customer service is often the deciding factor as to whether or not someone purchases a product. The Internet makes word of mouth the best advertisement possible. Tech support forums abound and when grass-roots help is the only recourse available, it does not speak well of a company.

The video software bundled with the Canon fs100 is a product created by a company called Pixela. The product is ImageMixer3. The user guide, which is a PDF provided on the installation disc, hangs when navigating from page to page so that it is rendered useless. Visiting the Pixela site is of no use--if you can even find the user guide download, the PDF has the exact same problem and so, it too is useless. Pixela offers absolutely NO online customer support so our only option is to call them using the phone. For out-of-country customers like myself, this is an expensive option and a damaging one for Canon.

According to the number of posts on tech-support forums about this, and other ImageMixer3 problems (A Google search for "ImageMixer3 problems" turns up 10 pages of hits.), I'm asking myself why a company such as Canon works with this bundled software instead of bundling software from a company that can at the very least provide a working PDF, and is willing and able to provide online customer support for their product.

I understand that often, there can be problems with software, and that it's not uncommon for a PDF to not work, especially when a product is new. What I find really unpleasant is the total lack of customer support for what should be a simply-solved problem. How will this affect my future decisions when considering whether to buy a Canon product? Immensely.

If you don't mind my making a suggestion--I believe that it's in Canon's best interest to contact the Pixela company and request either a working PDF of the ImageMixer3 user guide for the Canon fs100 camcorder, or the original files from which the PDF was made so that your documentation staff can create a working PDF. Once this is done, post this PDF on your support> download site. Believe me, this simple act will do much for customer stickiness in the long run. I know it will for me.

I thank you in advance for your attention to this matter, and hope to be able to download a working copy of the ImageMixer3 user guide in the very near future. I hope that you will let me know if and when this becomes available.

Sincerely,

Joanna Katzen

05-16-2009, 02:41 AM	#1 (permalink)
joannakat Registered User Join Date: May 2009 Posts: 11 OS: Windows XP home	ImageMixer3 customer support problem Hi everyone, I recently purchased a Canon fs100 camcorder, and the user guide for the bundled software hangs and so is useless. There are also some problems with the software itself, but I think the worst problem is that the companies, both Canon and Pixela (they make ImageMixer) provide no customer support for this software. I just sent the following email off to Canon, and if anyone else would like to do the same, I think it might be helpful. Feel free to copy my text, but please do sign your own name. Best, Joanna To whom it may concern, I have recently purchased a Canon fs100 camcorder. It seems to be a wonderful camera and I'm looking forward to working with it. In today's marketplace, excellent customer service is often the deciding factor as to whether or not someone purchases a product. The Internet makes word of mouth the best advertisement possible. Tech support forums abound and when grass-roots help is the only recourse available, it does not speak well of a company. The video software bundled with the Canon fs100 is a product created by a company called Pixela. The product is ImageMixer3. The user guide, which is a PDF provided on the installation disc, hangs when navigating from page to page so that it is rendered useless. Visiting the Pixela site is of no use--if you can even find the user guide download, the PDF has the exact same problem and so, it too is useless. Pixela offers absolutely NO online customer support so our only option is to call them using the phone. For out-of-country customers like myself, this is an expensive option and a damaging one for Canon. According to the number of posts on tech-support forums about this, and other ImageMixer3 problems (A Google search for "ImageMixer3 problems" turns up 10 pages of hits.), I'm asking myself why a company such as Canon works with this bundled software instead of bundling software from a company that can at the very least provide a working PDF, and is willing and able to provide online customer support for their product. I understand that often, there can be problems with software, and that it's not uncommon for a PDF to not work, especially when a product is new. What I find really unpleasant is the total lack of customer support for what should be a simply-solved problem. How will this affect my future decisions when considering whether to buy a Canon product? Immensely. If you don't mind my making a suggestion--I believe that it's in Canon's best interest to contact the Pixela company and request either a working PDF of the ImageMixer3 user guide for the Canon fs100 camcorder, or the original files from which the PDF was made so that your documentation staff can create a working PDF. Once this is done, post this PDF on your support> download site. Believe me, this simple act will do much for customer stickiness in the long run. I know it will for me. I thank you in advance for your attention to this matter, and hope to be able to download a working copy of the ImageMixer3 user guide in the very near future. I hope that you will let me know if and when this becomes available. Sincerely, Joanna Katzen