Serif Reviews

BEWARE of any purchases from Serif com

After purchasing many programs from Serif they now are discontinuing the products and was told they have stopped upgrading them because too many people call in for support as one of the reasons So BEWARE if you purchase any programs from them and they sell too many you too may not ever get any more upgrades after spending lots of time and on something that may disappear once they acquire a certain amount of people and get to many support calls

Technical Support ended on the phone

I have purchased Serif Web plus 6 7 8 and I carried on with what is a pretty shabby very unstable Web design product Why because they had a decent Tech department that did try and help albeit some very gruff and rude Techies sometime answered they did try and help The problem with Serif it drives along with themselves in mind and not the customer and they basically do not give a damn in the Errol Flynn style Take it or leave it is the name of the game I have just discovered that there is no longer a Tech department and that you speak to instead you log onto some website and eventually you get a garbled email which is impossible to understand Avoid this company like the plague I have now wasted several hundred pounds in man hours and software cost for nothing I am switching to Wordpress immediately How do Serif make money I think it is by mistake because they are a horrible Company

Company Name NOW AFFINITY

I have to give this company 1 star due to the REALLY poor customer experience I was rushed off the phone by the support staff indicating to me that there is a queue behind me and I didn t even get time for them to reset the download link to my software I had purchased over the years I had to ring back again and spoke to Steve who was really helpful and sorted my problems out however IM afraid I have to give one star due to the fact that it is an 0845 number so it would have cost me twice as much because the first support person I spoke basically was dismissive obtuse and unhelpful This being the case I would be careful purchasing their Affinity product if this is the after sales you can expect

I have bought various software from

I have bought various software from them and had no problems that is till I purchased the VHS TO DVD package after installing it I can get the picture ok but no sound and now on opening up the software it tells me my trial period is up and I must purchase the complete package I was under the impression that I had the complete package or is this a way of conning folks out of money

Insistent sales tactics

I started using Serif products over 10 years ago and although I enjoyed using them for the mostpart I found that they often underperformed in contradiction to their descriptions However I finally gave up on Serif when after buying a product with a 30 day Money back guarantee the rep I spoke to tried everything possible to refuse me and saying that I could use the money on another product NO THANK YOU But worse still was the fact that about every six weeks or so a sales rep would telephone me with the excuse of it being a courtesy call and then launch into hard sell tactics and when i said NO he d start saying things like But if you buy this etc and be very difficult to get him off the phone Lesson here Do NOT supply your telephone mobile number

BEWARE DO NOT BUY SERIF THEY HAVE

BEWARE DO NOT BUY SERIF THEY HAVE STOPPED MOVIE X6 FROM WORKING SCAMMERS

ONLY FOR THE AFFINITIVELY GIFTED

To begin with as much positivity as possible AFFINITY programmes are preferable to their major competitor in that they are purchased at very reasonable price rather than paying for periodic lease In the hands of anyone adept in their use judging by the fulsome praise on Facebook and other venues they are clearly powerful creative tools However from the viewpoint of a beginner expecting ease of use comarable to similar graphics adesign and editing applications Photo Designer and Publisher all suffer from the One Size Fits All Syndrome All three are available in either Windows or Apple Mac version All come with multiple Persona settings Each Persona has a vast array of tools settings and menus Many menus are hidden Dropdown from Dropdown format All come with bells and whistles And with bells and whistles on most such bells and whistles All three programmes have been repeatedly updated leading to changes in settings Thus anyone installing a programme for the first time or follwing an update is assumed to know intuitively how to navigate a virtual Hall of Mirrors labyrinth Affinity Photo and Affinity Designer both offer an optional accompanying hardcover Workbook Serif has evidently gone to great expense to produce these elegant publications Each opens with tens of pages of Welcome Designer 71pgs Photo 85pgs All doubtless factually irreproachable but totally lacking an iota of explanation Neither context nor application intelligible to any user lacking intuitive insight is offered Knowing what CAN be done is of very little use without finding out HOW to do it The Welcome pages are redolent with self-congratulory Buzzwords For example s amazing exciting powerful unique copius ideal dynamically comprehensive inspiration award-winning impressive wealth of global standard etc Who is Serif trying to convince True the Help tab does offer Tutorials However these are presented in seemingly random order There is little or no Where to go Next gradation from Entry Level to Grand Master The demonstrations are usually Apple Mac expositions and while the Windows version frequently performs the function in question somewhat differently no emphasis is placed on this Again tutors seem supremely confident of their ability to install their skills in the brain of tutees regardless of their level of prior experience They tend to move rapidly from point to point menu to frequently subsidiary dropdown menu as if to say Look I know how to do it I ve shown you I can do it now you can go and do it too Space does not permit examples of attempting to follow the Workbook instructions for Designer in particular Suffice it to say I dimly remember my 1990s introduction to Photoshop I was in a classroom The tutor introduced graded exersises demonstrating the scope and capability of that very complex software But with Affinity it seems that no such Entry Level Improver Expert graduated tuition was thought necessary What a pity Otherwise I might not have felt the impulse to write this very negative revue As it is I feel like a learner glider pilot whose Fairy Godmother with the all best intentions in the World has turned a pumpkin into a Jumbo Jet sat me in the pilot s seat and shouted You re CLEAR FOR TAKEOFF

TERRIBLE TECH SUPPORT

Terrible technical support Have used Serif software for years fortunately I ve never had to deal with technical support until now Asked if I could change the email address my account is registered to and received a blunt answer basically no using a few more words from an apparent tech support named I then explained that I do not have access to the email address anymore as the account has been removed domain changed and that I have just taken over this department to which I got a response of as suggested before afraid not Absolute joke of a technical support and I will be finding an reputable and friendlier company to spend my money with

Want you to pay twice

Purchased their software for Windows 10 but wanted to use it on a Windows 10S machine which requires downloading from the Microsoft Store Serif were uninterested and responded with a one line email saying there s nothing they are prepared to do