Is there a new policy or staff shortages at BFG customer service, does anyone know.

A couple of times I have been immediately offered a free game rather than an attempt at troubleshooting. Then it is rather a long time before anyone gets back to me after I've confirmed I would like to try to get the game to play.

At first I thought this was just over the Christmas period but it happened again this week. The game is Mystery Trackers 4 Aces and I was about two thirds thru' the game when it refused to save my progress. I can't face re-playing in case it happens again but I really would like to finish it.

What is the likelihood of BFG being able to find a fix for this particular issue do you think or should I just get back to them and accept a coupon for another game. This particular fault I haven't come across before.

Would appreciate advice.

Have you seen this on BF's website, where it offers advice about when a game is not saving your progress:

Games not saving

I'm guessing here, but I imagine that this is the advice (at least in part) that you would receive if you were to write to them about your problem. If this doesn't fix the problem, or BF has no additional suggestions, then I would request a coupon code for a different game.

Yes I saw that and tried that Marian. Unfortunately the steps to take do not quite match the menu's on my Win 7. I got to the right place and tried setting the game to play as administrator but the game wouldn't play at all then. I unpicked the steps and got the game back but still at the point where it hasn't saved the progress and I'm at the beginning. However the game does know who I am.

I'd sent BFG a Dr Felix when I first contacted them so I guess I'll wait to see what they say. But they are taking rather a long time.

Oh I do wish these casual games had a few proper save points. I'm sure it would save BFG a great deal of money if we could go back to a save or get a game save from someone. Many of these casual games are huge, quite as large as ordinary adventure games and the forums are bursting with technical faults that could probably be worked around if a game save was available.

We shouldn't have to keep replaying or uninstalling and reinstalling. It has become the norm and we all accept it. Customer acceptance gives no incentive for game makers to address the problem. Is there a technical reason why it is difficult to provide a save game facility in casual games? I would have thought BFG would have enough clout to bring pressure to bear on game developers to bring this about. But maybe not.

meryl, it isn't BFG whose responsible for the erratic workings of a game. It's the developer. If the game isn't extensively tested before being released, problems like you encountered are going to be passed to the consumer. IMHO, a game should be written so it saves games periodically, and give the user the option to set that interval, and a manual save game option.

I would also like to see a link given to the developer's site. I would like to see this in case I encounter program problems which should be reported. Going back to the store in order to solve a product problem is of no use. They only sold the product, not create it.

BFG has made some changes recently - doing away with Live Chat and closing down their help center in Ireland. I suspect it's indeed easier and more cost effective to issue a coupon code than to spend a lot of time trying to solve problems or have users waiting for long periods of time for answers. This isn't meant as a criticism. BFG offers so much in the way of variety of games at reasonable prices. Cost of doing business sometimes means changing the way things are done. Having said that, I'm sure that if a game garners a lot of technical problem game forum posts and e-mails, BFG will work with the developer to solve the problem. Sometimes though, a game is just too troublesome and not worth the time and effort needed to fix it. And sometimes the technical issue only effects a small number of users. Again, in such cases it makes sense to simply offer a coupon code. JMO

ETA: re: game save - It's been my experience that most of the time when I've done an install/reinstall my progress has automatically been saved and I can continue where I left off. As far as contacting developers, I don't see that this is necessary with games downloaded from BFG. BFG works with the developers when it's obvious that there's an inherent glitch in a game as reported in the forums or via e-mail. Of course, it's a different story if you buy games elsewhere on CD.

I think your commentary is quite reasonable, Sparkle.

I am sorry about your problem, Meryl. I would be disappointed, too.

I know this isn't BFG's fault. I have nothing but admiration for the way they do business. I agree with you Homer that game saves should be built in and a link to the developer's website is a good idea.

It seems to me that BFG has spent a lot of time and money firefighting problems that really are the developers' responsibility. My point is that many of these problems could be got around by a built in game save system and I'm surprised that BFG hasn't put pressure on the developers to do just this.

Interested to hear about the savings to customer service being initiated, Sparkle. I expect it is easier just to issue a coupon code.

And when all's said and done - if my biggest disappointment this week is not getting to finish a game - then I'm not doing too badly in life's scheme of things!

Just want to make clear Meryl that I have no inside info on how BFG does business. The closing of the customer service center in Ireland is public knowledge. I'm just making an assumption regarding why customer service would issue coupon codes in some cases rather than spend time going back and forth with a tech problem that may not be fixable when resources have been downsized.

well understood Sparkle.

(I'll have to learn how to do those jolly wavy things that Marian puts in her posts)

love Meryl

meryl, you can either type in the code for the graemlins or select it from the list. Go to Full Reply - select the smiley face above the comment box and click on the smily you want. If you hover your cursor over the one you like you will see a way to manually type it in next time if you like without having to go to the full reply box.

Ana

A technical issue may only effect only a small number of users, but those same users are going to have a bad tasted in their mouths because of the problem. And this may in turn lead to those same people being extremely vocal to other users concerning that particular company.

We may all have seen the difference between companies who go to the wall for their customers, and those who only point to the wall. A satisfied customer may tell five others of their experiences. While a dissatisfied customer will tell many more. IMHO, it's better to replace the entire unit because of a missing screw, then to make excuses why nothing can be done to fix the problem.

Got it! .....hopefully....

Thank you Ana.

You got it meryl!

Nice to see the happy dance, Meryl.