Vbulletin going down hill? No wonder!

[DavidThomson]

I just wanted to make my experience public.
I opted for vbulletin after trying the trial version but have been unable to install the vbulletin 5 software. My hosts support team were not able to make it work either and then vbulletin support were also unable.

Amazingly they said in their email that they had seen this problem before! I got the impression that it was quite common. Yet they will not issue a refund!

Potential users should be aware that this situation can occur. Although there will be no problem with the trial version, it is a roll of the dice whether your paid for full version will work at all.

This wouldn’t be a problem of vbulletin took responsibility for it, but they dont.
They will not refund once you have downloaded, even if, as in my case, their own support staff cant get it to work.

Having asked around since then, it seems clear that as the better developers moved to xenforo it wasnt just the coding that went downhill at vbulletin. If the companies problems are so deep that they will grab small cash in this way, rather than just giving a quick refund then it does not bode well for the future.

With a deteriorating platform, support staff unable to install the software and management that pay no heed to crm or protecting the integrity of their brand reputation, its no wonder they are widely reported to be going downhill, users would be well advised to steer clear!

 

[BirdOPrey5]

Sorry to hear it came to this. I am a VB Support Rep, would you mind telling me your ticket #, never hurts to have a second set of eyes look over the ticket.

 

[Digital Doctor]

DavidThomson

I'm concerned that Striving's takeover of the vBulletin subforum makes the important vB threads hard to find.

 

[ozzy47]

Hmmm, did you or they try and install vB3 or vB4 or only vB5? What host are you using?

 

[rudedog]

I find it more interesting that vB support cant get it working and by the sounds of it, seems to be a problem they know of. yet they will not give you a refund.

If BoP can't find the issue(s), maybe it's time to contact your CC company and have them issue a refund.

 

[BirdOPrey5]

There are no known issues that I would describe in this way. If a server is properly setup and meets the minimum criteria for installation there is no reason VB5 shouldn't install and work.

We have had customers who tell us things like they refuse to enable URL Rewriting or refuse to upgrade past PHP 5.3.x or have disabled vital PHP functions, and "demand" we make the software work for their servers, and in these cases we are unfortunately not able to satisfy the customer's expectations.

So I remain curious as to the issue here.

 

[Kevin]

refuse to enable URL Rewriting

Just curious... why would not turning on URL rewrites be an issue running vB5?

 

[BirdOPrey5]

Just curious... why would not turning on URL rewrites be an issue running vB5?

Because the software depends on it. Why- I have no idea. None of the files are in the directory you think they are.

 

[PacMan]

There are no known issues that I would describe in this way. If a server is properly setup and meets the minimum criteria for installation there is no reason VB5 shouldn't install and work.

We have had customers who tell us things like they refuse to enable URL Rewriting or refuse to upgrade past PHP 5.3.x or have disabled vital PHP functions, and "demand" we make the software work for their servers, and in these cases we are unfortunately not able to satisfy the customer's expectations.

So I remain curious as to the issue here.

Is there a VB5 "server test requirements" script to see if the product will actually run before buying it?

 

[BirdOPrey5]

Is there a VB5 "server test requirements" script to see if the product will actually run before buying it?

Yes.

https://www.vbulletin.com/download.php

It does not check URL Rewriting though, that you;d have to know from reading the system requirements.

 

[PacMan]

Yes.

https://www.vbulletin.com/download.php

It does not check URL Rewriting though, that you;d have to know from reading the system requirements.

Whats the point of having this script if it does not check ALL the requirements ?

 

[BirdOPrey5]

Whats the point of having this script if it does not check ALL the requirements ?

How are you going to check URL Rewriting rules when they vary so much from system to system? That would be a lot of additional complexity for little benefit of the customer. You simply tell the customer the requirement exists.

 

[DavidThomson]

There are no known issues that I would describe in this way. If a server is properly setup and meets the minimum criteria for installation there is no reason VB5 shouldn't install and work.

[...]

So I remain curious as to the issue here.

Nevertheless, it is an issue and it was described that way by vbulletin support. I was told it was a 'server configuration problem', the email named a couple of other support staff who had taken a look and said they had seen the problem before but no-one knew the fix.
I repeat. My webhost support staff couldnt figure it out. vbulletin support staff cant fix it. My conclusion is, I dont want it then!
The rest of your post ...

We have had customers who tell us things like they refuse to enable URL Rewriting or refuse to upgrade past PHP 5.3.x or have disabled vital PHP functions, and "demand" we make the software work for their servers, and in these cases we are unfortunately not able to satisfy the customer's expectations.

means exactly nothing to me.
It is no longer a tech problem, it is a customer relations problem.
I am not satisfied with the product. I have no confidence that, even if this problem was resolved, another wouldn't crop up at a time which would cost me members. I no longer want the product, I dont want to do business with you.
I want my money back.

This is not an extraordinary request. The refund should be a trivial matter that is quickly issued as it would be with ANY product.

 

[Alpha1]

If vbulletin would give refunds for faulty software it would have rained refund requests for 6 years already.
And if IB management would have cared about vbulletin reputation to any degree then a lot of things would have gone a lot different during those years.

 

[DavidThomson]

I find it more interesting that vB support cant get it working and by the sounds of it, seems to be a problem they know of. yet they will not give you a refund.

Exactly my point. Had I known in advance I would never have made a puchase with such an unethical company.

If BoP can't find the issue(s), maybe it's time to contact your CC company and have them issue a refund.

I hadnt thought of that. The consumer credit act should provide protection here.
I beleive that the statutory rights are that the software must be of satisfactory quality, fit for a particular purpose and as described by the seller.

The software is neither fit for purpose nor as described, if the description can be defined by the performance of the trial version.

Do you know of anyone who has successfully claimed their money back via their credit card company?

Thanks for the tip.

 

[DavidThomson]

If vbulletin would give refunds for faulty software it would have rained refund requests for 6 years already.

But their reputation would be much better, no?

 

[Alpha1]

Surely yes. But obviously that's not a concern to Internet Brands.

 

[DavidThomson]

Hmmm, did you or they try and install vB3 or vB4 or only vB5? What host are you using?

Just vb5. Tsohost.

I am done with these guys. I have now been warned off vbulletin regardless of older installs.
I am going straight to xenforo.

 

[Kevin]

How are you going to check URL Rewriting rules when they vary so much from system to system? That would be a lot of additional complexity for little benefit of the customer. You simply tell the customer the requirement exists.

That's exactly why it's bizarre that vB5 would require URL rewrites.

And it really wouldn't be of little benefit to the customer since it's a requirement. If you "simply tell" the customer that it is required then why bother with a test script at all then?

 

[BirdOPrey5]

The rest of your post ...
means exactly nothing to me.

That wasn't directed at you, just explaining the only times i have been involved with tickets where we can't resolve the issue it is generally something I described.

We're only seeing one side of the issue here, and I would like to see if I can help. I'm looking through recently closed tickets, I can't confirm who it belongs to by username here obviously, but I see one where the software was working for us connecting to the site over the internet here- but a customer was having trouble with local connection to their host. We saw a working site and the customer saw 404 file not found on the same link. I can't and won't release any site or personal info, but it's the only ticket I see that might have been inspiration for this thread.

If that is the case I would say the link works fine for me as well. If it is not working for you I would clear your browser's cache, many browsers cache error pages and even after the issue is resolved you still get a bad redirect or other error until the cache is cleared. If you're on Windows I would also check your hosts file. Is it possible you or someone added a hosts entry that is overriding the site being returned for the domain name in question? These are unusual occurrences but the usual issues have already been ruled out.