Terrible tech support fromt Topaz Labs

[mdijb]

Topaz Adjust is a very useful plugin but it has stopped working and crashes every time I open it.  I submitted a ticket to tech support with supporting documentation but have had no response from them in 3 days.  Of course, no phone suppost is offered.

This lack of response is just terrible and unacceptable.  Beware of using there products.

ANyone else having a similar experience

MDIJB

[brianrybolt]

Yes, Topaz is VERY slow in getting back to me on more than one accession but when they do, their support is usually correct and to the point.  I do wish they'd learn about telephones and their use but we live in different times and their business model (which I don't agree with) reflects this.

I don't agree with your statement about 'beware of their products' though.  I particularly use Clarity and it's great.

[Bart_van_der_Wolf]

Topaz Adjust is a very useful plugin but it has stopped working and crashes every time I open it.

Hi,

Every time? Even after reinstalling in their recommended way (uninstall, reboot, new install)?
I noticed that in December a lot of the plugins were updated, Adjust was updated on November 21st. Do you use those updated versions?

I submitted a ticket to tech support with supporting documentation but have had no response from them in 3 days.  Of course, no phone suppost is offered.

While they are indeed not always the fastest to respond (mostly over a weekend), you could receive a response any moment (3 days is long indeed) if it has not already landed in a SPAM folder.

This lack of response is just terrible and unacceptable.  Beware of using there products.

ANyone else having a similar experience

Not really, not the fastest but they resolved the issue I had (with the above reinstallation suggestion). Sometimes there might be a conflict with Operating System updates, which might take multiple users with similar reports, and some time to resolve.

Cheers,
Bart

[mdijb]

What is so frustrating is that the software was running smoothly and for no reason stopped.  No changes in anything prior to crashing--out of the blue

MDIJB

[Bart_van_der_Wolf]

What is so frustrating is that the software was running smoothly and for no reason stopped.  No changes in anything prior to crashing--out of the blue

Windows or Mac? Any updates? Virusscanner? Defragmentation while using the plugin? Automatic backups in the background?

Many things could cause issues, unfortunately. The quest is for the cause, so it could be addressed/improved.
You can also ask on their forums, maybe someone else found something useful to do or avoid?

Cheers,
Bart

[Ad_Astra]

My experience with Topaz support has been good. Only had one issue needing their help with the B&W plugin that would not install. They fixed the installer and released an update the same day I reported the issue.

If you are running Windows are there any error messages in the event log at the same time?

Did Creative Cloud update Photoshop recently?

[lhodaniel]

My problem with Topaz is their disjointed, every-plugin-with-its-own-serial-number setup. I didn't get all the plugins at once, so now I have "Bundle of 10", Bundle of 14", and several individual serial numbers. It's a major pain in the ass when updating or installing into a different host. To add insult to injury, the plugins seem to lose their serial numbers at the drop of a hat. The Photoshop CC update last week did it. It is also harder to keep up with updates than it should be. I like the tools. But, I am almost to the point of uninstalling them because of their licensing chaos.

Lloyd

[mdijb]

IT  has now been 6 days with not response to my ticket submision

SHAME ON TOPAZ LABS.

MDIJB

[hogloff]

IT  has now been 6 days with not response to my ticket submision

SHAME ON TOPAZ LABS.

MDIJB

Small shops skimp on customer support...it does not directly bring in any revenue...sucks dollars out the door.

[rdonson]

When I first got some Topaz plugins a year or so ago I was upset that they deleted some of the EXIF data from the source file.  That ticked me off.  I wrote up a support request and NEVER got a response either. 

The morale of the story is that if you like what the plug-ins do they you're in good shape until something in the environment makes them fail.

I find MacPhun much more responsive.

[Bart_van_der_Wolf]

IT  has now been 6 days with not response to my ticket submision

SHAME ON TOPAZ LABS.

MDIJB

Well, there has obviously something gone wrong. Only complaining about it here doesn't help either.

I'd raise a new ticket (and mention the other ticket number to avoid confusion), just in case the first one never arrived, and add a topic to the technical support forum, just to make sure your message got across to begin with.

I also assume that you've checked your own SPAM box? I assume you tried reinstalling the latest version in the above-suggested manner? How does it crash (or does it just not open)? Any error codes? I assume you searched their knowledge-base? Did you remove the link in the Photoshop plugins folder (which has changed) before reinstalling? That shouldn't cause a crash, just not opening I assume, but with Adobe one never knows.

Cheers,
Bart


P.S. I assume you have read the latest release notes for Adjust version 5.2 (in case there is something related mentioned)

[earlybird]

I have been following this thread and I have coincidentally heard that Topaz has updated many of the products I use.

This morning I launched Photoshop CS6 in Win7 Pro x64 and opened Topaz Adjust, Topaz Clarity, Topaz DeNoise 6, and Topaz Detail. I ran each plugins "Menu>Check for Updates" function and each dialog reported that I have the latest version: "No Updates Available".

Then I looked at the "Menu>About" dialog and casually noted the version number I am running. These versions appeared, by date display, to be between 1 and 6 years old.

Then I went to the Topaz Labs webpage: https://www.topazlabs.com/downloads and see that each and every one of my Topaz Products actually has a recent update available.

Furthermore, I can not easily find any change log info to learn if there is any practical benefit for me to update my installs.


I have had excellent service and experiences using my Topaz Lab products but the upgrade process seems unnecessarily mysterious.

[mdijb]

Yes, I did the removal and reinstall as suggested.  After more exploring I saw that the crashes occured when using 1 or 2 presets that I created.  After deleting these presets, the crashes seemed to have stopped.

MDIJB

[Bart_van_der_Wolf]

I have been following this thread and I have coincidentally heard that Topaz has updated many of the products I use.

This morning I launched Photoshop CS6 in Win7 Pro x64 and opened Topaz Adjust, Topaz Clarity, Topaz DeNoise 6, and Topaz Detail. I ran each plugins "Menu>Check for Updates" function and each dialog reported that I have the latest version: "No Updates Available".

Then I looked at the "Menu>About" dialog and casually noted the version number I am running. These versions appeared, by date display, to be between 1 and 6 years old.

Then I went to the Topaz Labs webpage: https://www.topazlabs.com/downloads and see that each and every one of my Topaz Products actually has a recent update available.

Yes, that happens, and that's why they seem to be overhauling that mechanism. They have added dates to the download page to reduce some of the guessing, and they are adding more info about updates to the "Help Center" (e.g. currently specific announcements about Simplify and Adjust and  Product Updates). I've also read that not all updated plugins have a new version number, but that is also changing. Apparently, most changes have to do with High DPI display support, some minor repositioning of controls, and a larger and longer term project of change in the installation location/folder. Newer plugin versions may also be callable directly from Lightroom instead of requiring the free "Fusion
Express" as host for the plugin.

Furthermore, I can not easily find any change log info to learn if there is any practical benefit for me to update my installs.

I have had excellent service and experiences using my Topaz Lab products but the upgrade process seems unnecessarily mysterious.

Yes, but from the look of it, it is changing. Also, their Community Forums are an alternative for seeking help before submitting a Support Ticket.

Cheers,
Bart

[Bart_van_der_Wolf]

Yes, I did the removal and reinstall as suggested.  After more exploring I saw that the crashes occured when using 1 or 2 presets that I created.  After deleting these presets, the crashes seemed to have stopped.

Ah, good news, you can now get some work done again. I've also experienced such preset induced issues, and indeed removing them did solve it. The fact that it happens is a bug, so it's still useful to report such issues if we want to get them resolved.

Cheers,
Bart