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Post by Ela on Jul 30, 2024 22:47:27 GMT
You might need to re-enter your existing address on your account before ordering. Mine has "reset" to a generic non-address as follows: Address line 1 London State Postcode United Kingdom (And Hi there! Good to see a familiar name drop by! ) Hello! I checked on my address page and yeah it had done that, so I re-entered and saved my correct address. Went back to my basket and tried again to proceed with the order, getting the same message. So i have no idea what is going wrong. Work in progress. Shoot them an email. And hi, welcome back.
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aztec
Chancellery Guard
Likes: 2,862
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Post by aztec on Jul 30, 2024 22:58:03 GMT
Hello! I checked on my address page and yeah it had done that, so I re-entered and saved my correct address. Went back to my basket and tried again to proceed with the order, getting the same message. So i have no idea what is going wrong. Work in progress. Shoot them an email. And hi, welcome back. I'll give it a few days to settle in, and if this continues then yeah I'll send an email (though I've never sent a customer complaint email before and know next to nothing about software engineering/computers so not even sure what I'd write) I probably won't be a regular visitor like I used to be (tbh I've rarely had the time/inclination to listen to BF in recent months, though I still follow certain ranges...I don't even watch the TV Doctor Who anymore) though I do check the forum a few times a week just to keep up with BF news (the Jodie Whittaker news was a very pleasant surprise), very glad the forum is still going after all these years though, and pleased to see many usernames I remember from years past still active.
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lidar2
Castellan
You know, now that you mention it, I actually do rather like Attack of the Cybermen ...
Likes: 6,013
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Post by lidar2 on Jul 30, 2024 23:07:57 GMT
I am not an IT person who knows a lot about these things, but I have worked at companies which sold via their website and I remember being at meetings where a new website was discussed - the talk was of having the offline version first, testing it to death and then letting it go live. It seems like BF have gone straight to live without first testing it - a pretty basic (and avoidable) error.
It looks like they have tried to launch a new version of their underlying database (what releases you have bought) at the same time as a new version of their customer interface (their website). Surely it would have been easier to break this down into 2 separate exercises and do them one at a time. But, as I say, I am not an IT person, so what would I know?
Having said that, I'm happy to wait and give them a few days to sort it out before I start panicking and/or getting angry about it. I still have faith they will resolve it with a bit of time.
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Post by jacobz40 on Jul 30, 2024 23:09:53 GMT
Have popped back onto the website, it is running much more smoothly. No error pages, but there's a handful of things that don't seem to be purchasable in one format or another. Hoping for further stabilization to come!
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Post by enofa on Jul 30, 2024 23:22:54 GMT
I am not an IT person who knows a lot about these things, but I have worked at companies which sold via their website and I remember being at meetings where a new website was discussed - the talk was of having the offline version first, testing it to death and then letting it go live. It seems like BF have gone straight to live without first testing it - a pretty basic (and avoidable) error. Back in the day, whenever I made an update to a website I ran, I always uploaded it to a separate directory and checked every single link to make sure there were no errors. And that was just when I was doing hand coded html, nothing that could go wrong to this degree. I can’t believe they would have actually tested this out, gone to the dashboard, seen all the purchases in a completely random order spread over 100+ pages, downloaded them to find the file names are just a bunch of random numbers, opened it up to see both the mp3 and m4a are in there and thought “yup, that’s an improvement on the old version!” Including both formats in the download is not only bad for people with low bandwidth or speeds, but also bad for BF. It’s effectively doubling the amount of data being downloaded from their servers, which they will have to pay for. As with literally everything else on this new site, it’s streamlining at the cost of usability. I know we often have a slightly cynical view of the company, especially with a perceived downturn in quality in recent years, some bad website experiences in the past, and the general cynicism that usually comes with long time fandom, so people were wary of this change. But I think it’s fair to say this goes so far beyond that. I genuinely believe this is the most incompetent website upgrade I’ve ever seen. Or at least since MySpace totally rebranded in the early 2010s.
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Post by enofa on Jul 31, 2024 0:17:06 GMT
I just dropped them an email with every issues I’ve encountered so far, written politely but explaining in no uncertain terms that the new version of the site is more difficult to navigate, less visually accessible and several useful features have been removed. I pointed out that not being able filter and organise your purchases is almost unheard of in 2024. I did also acknowledge the small number of improvements, and made it clear that I was offering this all in the form of constructive criticism rather than mere complaining, as I would really like the site to be good.
I honestly implore everybody to do the same. No anger, just an explanation of why you’re disappointed. The more feedback they receive, the more they have to go on with improvements.
Amusingly, the auto reply email lists numerous improvements they are citing for the new site, all of which are true except “more intuitive site navigation”. Do they really believe that 20 seconds clicking through pages and scrolling through menus is more intuitive than half a second hovering over a menu than clicking? Or that grabbing both file formats as a randomly numbered zip file, only found on page 27 of a seemingly randomly organised set or purchases is more intuitive than selecting your preferred format from a single page listed in release order with no sorting and filtering options? Honestly, that sentence has angered me more than the website itself!
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Post by noneofyourbusiness on Jul 31, 2024 2:05:52 GMT
I definitely plan to write them. It looks more awkward and less attractive, the items in each series are no longer in chronological order, and the Doctor Who ranges aren't automatically separated by series like anyone doing a search would obviously want because otherwise there would be too many items. The ugly look of the website could actually put me off of Big Finish.
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Post by sherlock on Jul 31, 2024 7:54:23 GMT
Did a precursory inventory on my commute and it seems every order since the end of April has gone awol. Maybe the data migration will resolve over next few days, but somehow I suspect I’ll be emailing first thing on the 6th.
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Post by Ela on Jul 31, 2024 7:57:06 GMT
There are so many issues with the new site that could be better.
When you download something now instead of the zip file having a designation such as "mr-release number -release name" you get a string of numbers with no name of what you downloaded unless you open the zip file. For exampel "978-1-78178-179-1". I'm sure this coding has some meaning to BF staff but it is meaningless to me.
When you search for a release on your dashboard, it gives only the title, no release number, no year.
Same for when you search for a release on the website.
They no longer include information about any bonus content that comes with the release on the release page. You just have to wait till you buy it, download it, and open the zip file.
One good thing: When you search, the filters give you the option to "hide purchases" (assuming they have the correct information about what you own, and I'm not making that assumption right now). So that's a way to see what you don't have.
But I wish they'd let you search from oldest to newest. Right now, the search only seems to give you newest to oldest, so you have to endlessly scroll to get to the oldest release in the DW Monthly Range, as an example.
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Post by Ela on Jul 31, 2024 8:01:12 GMT
I've haven't done an exhaustive search of what I'm supposed to own, but when I searched for one thing I indadvertantly didn't download from the old site, it came up missing. It's a freebie, and after several tries I was able to put it in my cart and make it to the checkout page, but when I tried to check out, the purchased page never loaded and after a while I gave up.
I've started a list of what's missing. I guess I'll have to inventory everything I should have from the beginning.
Also, so far the search doesn't seem any better than the old site. It still comes up empty if you don't have exactly the correct title letter for letter.
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Post by vivdunstan on Jul 31, 2024 8:05:45 GMT
When you download something now instead of the zip file having a designation such as "mr-release number -release name" you get a string of numbers with no name of what you downloaded unless you open the zip file. For exampel "978-1-78178-179-1". I'm sure this coding has some meaning to BF staff but it is meaningless to me. It’s the ISBN number, so the book identifying number of the release. If you Google for 9781781781791 it finds the Lost Stories Mission to Magnus. I agree it is not helpful to the downloading customer.
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Post by Ela on Jul 31, 2024 8:11:17 GMT
When you download something now instead of the zip file having a designation such as "mr-release number -release name" you get a string of numbers with no name of what you downloaded unless you open the zip file. For exampel "978-1-78178-179-1". I'm sure this coding has some meaning to BF staff but it is meaningless to me. It’s the ISBN number, so the book identifying number of the release. If you Google for 9781781781791 it finds the Lost Stories Mission to Magnus. I agree it is not helpful to the downloading customer. Well, okay, at least I can find it by googling. Didn't occur to me that it's the ISBN number, but that makes sense. But right now I have a bunch of files on my desk top with the ISBN numbers that mean nothing to me. And I'm not googling all of them. As soon as I open them and figure out what they are, I'm ditching the audiobook format, as I only listen via mp3, renaming the file according to the old system (cause that's how I catalog my releases), and recompressing the resultant file for transfer to a backup drive (or two).
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Post by sherlock on Jul 31, 2024 8:11:28 GMT
Had a look at the socials to see if any updates have been made. Seems they intend to restore the “you’ve got this” feature:
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Post by eric009 on Jul 31, 2024 8:12:09 GMT
i just sorted my order with big finish PLZ remebber the staff there are using a new system too so be kind to them as they learning too
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Post by Ela on Jul 31, 2024 8:16:04 GMT
Had a look at the socials to see if any updates have been made. Seems they intend to restore the “you’ve got this” feature: Well, that's good news. It would also be great if they include more information on items listed on the dashboard page (like release year, number, and any bonus content). And allowed more than 5 releases per page. And let you hide items that are not downloadable, like free previews that are apparently no longer downloadable (and which I had hidden on the old incarnation of the site).
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Post by Ela on Jul 31, 2024 8:18:28 GMT
i just sorted my order with big finish PLZ remebber the staff there are using a new system too so be kind to them as they learning too
I sympathize, but it feels like they should have done a lot more testing before they launched. New websites always have glitches, but this just feels like an awful lot of glitches that could have been fixed before launch. In any case, I'm going to wait till the dust settles before bothering the staff with anything. Nothing urgent I need taken care of right now.
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Post by Ela on Jul 31, 2024 8:22:01 GMT
I've haven't done an exhaustive search of what I'm supposed to own, but when I searched for one thing I indadvertantly didn't download from the old site, it came up missing. It's a freebie, and after several tries I was able to put it in my cart and make it to the checkout page, but when I tried to check out, the purchased page never loaded and after a while I gave up. Well, I just check my list of purchases and apparently the "purchase" of the freebie went through even though I never saw a confirmation screen. Now it's probably going to turn up in my account twice, once everything gets straightened out.
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Post by Ela on Jul 31, 2024 8:44:33 GMT
Oh, good grief. I just noticed that my list of orders only goes up to 2019.
With the exception of the freebie I just "repurchased".
That ain't right.
I am so glad I saved my list of orders from the old site. Wish I had also saved my number of releases information.
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Post by timleschild on Jul 31, 2024 8:57:48 GMT
I never knew this website existed! wearebigfinish.com/When doing a google search the regular big finish website doesn't come up in the search results! Just the wearebigfinish one! Is that just me?
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Post by timleschild on Jul 31, 2024 8:59:11 GMT
i just sorted my order with big finish PLZ remebber the staff there are using a new system too so be kind to them as they learning too
I sympathize, but it feels like they should have done a lot more testing before they launched. New websites always have glitches, but this just feels like an awful lot of glitches that could have been fixed before launch. In any case, I'm going to wait till the dust settles before bothering the staff with anything. Nothing urgent I need taken care of right now. Yes I would have preferred them to be offline for longer to sort things out before the launch of the new site.
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