How is Poweramp's support so terrible?

[Ben R]

I bought the Pro version of their EQ app, which I'm honestly starting to regret.

After swapping from a Pixel 5 to a Pixel 6, I'm unable to restore my premium purchase.

I've emailed Poweramp support a number of times, and I keep getting responses from seemingly the world's most useless person, "Alex".

They asked for my order number, and I explained that I can't find my number anywhere. They then responded to me saying "sorry, I can't see your order number in your last email, please provide it".

For the past 4 days we've been going back and forth, with me TRYING DESPERATELY to get them to actually read my replies rather than just answering from a script they seemingly can't even read properly.

How hard is it to provide proper support to people?

[Ben R]

@andrewilley Well?

[andrewilley]

Was this a Google purchase or via the website?

Specific user-related queries can't be dealt with via the forums I'm afraid, there is no access to account systems here. But if you spoke to Alex the way you've started here, I'm not surprised if there's a communication problem... 

Andre
(three additional spam posts removed)

[andrewilley]

Oh, and have you read the Restore Purchase FAQ at

Andre

[Ben R]

Purchased via the Play Store.

No, my initial query wasn't phrased like this - I think I'm understandably rather fed up after having had my money taken to receive nothing, and having been given the runaround by your support for over a week.

Yes, I've tried the Restore Purchase FAQ.

How can I speak to someone more senior than "Alex"? They're either unable to or unwilling to do their job properly (their last 3 responses have been exactly the same, all copy and pasted).

Edited October 30, 2022 by Ben Robart

[Fitzian]

1 hour ago, Ben Robart said:

Purchased via the Play Store.

No, my initial query wasn't phrased like this - I think I'm understandably rather fed up after having had my money taken to receive nothing, and having been given the runaround by your support for over a week.

Yes, I've tried the Restore Purchase FAQ.

How can I speak to someone more senior than "Alex"? They're either unable to or unwilling to do their job properly (their last 3 responses have been exactly the same, all copy and pasted).

This is over a matter of less than $6.

For science, I bought Poweramp EQ app on Google Play. I've also purchased website license to Poweramp player and Google Play license to Poweramp player.

If I search in my email for "Poweramp order" every single one of my purchases (starting in 2017 thru today) for Poweramp related apps shows up in that list. Player website license, player GP license, player GP skins, and finally the full version unlock in-app-purchase done within the 30-day free trial EQ installed on Google Play. It's all there.

If you don't have access to that original email account where purchase receipt was sent, or they were deleted... how is that the support channel's responsibility.

I just upgraded from a Pixel 3A to Pixel 7 Pro, and I've got none of these issues (missing licenses, missing emails, etc).

Edited October 30, 2022 by Fitzian

[Ben R]

21 minutes ago, Fitzian said:

This is over a matter of less than $6.

For science, I bought Poweramp EQ app on Google Play. I've also purchased website license to Poweramp player and Google Play license to Poweramp player.

If I search in my email for "Poweramp order" every single one of my purchases (starting in 2017 thru today) for Poweramp related apps shows up in that list. Player website license, player GP license, player GP skins, and finally the full version unlock in-app-purchase done within the 30-day free trial EQ installed on Google Play. It's all there.

If you don't have access to that original email account where purchase receipt was sent, or they were deleted... how is that the support channel's responsibility.

I just upgraded from a Pixel 3A to Pixel 7 Pro, and I've got none of these issues (missing licenses, missing emails, etc).

I'm aware it's less than $6, but I'm not about to give money to a company for a second time if they can't be bothered even TRYING to help. If it's "just $6" then how about I drop you my PayPal and you cover the cost of their incompetence so I can have a working version of the app I bought? It's a matter of principle.

I do still have the original email account, but I don't keep old emails - but I know for a FACT that they can look it up based on my email address and just aren't bothering to.

My issue isn't with if they can't help - it's that they can't be bothered doing anything apart from sending me the same copy and pasted replies - I might as well be talking to a robot.

Edited October 30, 2022 by Ben Robart

[Fitzian]

36 minutes ago, Ben Robart said:

I'm aware it's less than $6, but I'm not about to give money to a company for a second time if they can't be bothered even TRYING to help. If it's "just $6" then how about I drop you my PayPal and you cover the cost of their incompetence so I can have a working version of the app I bought? It's a matter of principle.

I do still have the original email account, but I don't keep old emails - but I know for a FACT that they can look it up based on my email address and just aren't bothering to.

My issue isn't with if they can't help - it's that they can't be bothered doing anything apart from sending me the same copy and pasted replies - I might as well be talking to a robot.

(From above link)

Dev: there is no any automatic (or semiautomatic) means to migrate from one payment system (e.g. Google Play) to another. We can't even see list of our customers, see their accounts, etc. - as this is all private info and it is not shared by Google.

What you know FOR A FACT is not the case.

[andrewilley]

If we can get this back on course, @Ben Robart please could you explain you problem here in detail and without the attitude. I assume you are using the same Google account with which you made the original purchase, then  installing the app again on the new device and following the 'Already Purchased?' link. What happens at that point, could you provide a screenshot maybe? 

Andre

[Ben R]

2 minutes ago, Fitzian said:

(From above link)

Dev: there is no any automatic (or semiautomatic) means to migrate from one payment system (e.g. Google Play) to another. We can't even see list of our customers, see their accounts, etc. - as this is all private info and it is not shared by Google.

What you know FOR A FACT is not the case.

Well no, it is; I ran into a similar issue a few months ago with a different app (who mercifully had support staff who actually bothered doing their jobs), and they were able to look up my email address in a matter of minutes to find and assist with my purchase.

[Ben R]

3 minutes ago, andrewilley said:

If we can get this back on course, @Ben Robart please could you explain you problem here in detail and without the attitude. I assume you are using the same Google account with which you made the original purchase, then  installing the app again on the new device and following the 'Already Purchased?' link. What happens at that point, could you provide a screenshot maybe? 

Andre

It just says "Failed to restore purchase" at the bottom of the screen, even though I only have the one Google account.

We've already established that you (allegedly) don't have access to any info on your end, so trying to assist here seems futile. The purpose of my thread was to draw attention to the fact that this "Alex" person has sent me the exact same response, three messages in a row, despite me explaining to them multiple times that I've already answered the question they're asking - why is someone who cares this little (i.e. they don't even bother reading the responses they're sent) employed by you? At that point you might as well just resort to using a bot to respond to people, no?

Edited October 30, 2022 by Ben Robart

[andrewilley]

3 minutes ago, Ben Robart said:

We've already established that you (allegedly) don't have access to any info on your end

So I'm a liar too?! I think this has gone far enough, I'm going to suspend this until the working week.

Andre

[Ben R]

5 minutes ago, andrewilley said:

So I'm a liar too?! I think this has gone far enough, I'm going to suspend this until the working week.

Andre

I'm just quoting what you said back to you - frankly "suspending it until the working week" isn't worth the paper it's written on. In my week of trying to communicate with Poweramp it seems like no one does any actual work, and you all just enjoy making sarcastic comments while passing the buck.

If there's any way to contact someone worth their salt I'm all ears; it's long overdue.

Edited October 30, 2022 by Ben Robart

[ScarletNeko]

I bought Poweramp eons ago and changed phones a few times over these years, some times quite brutally (as in getting control of my account back after my main phone display shattered, but it was still powered on and reporting back as working)

I never, even once, had to bother with anything, not only on Poweramp but on other apps too

It was always a case of just installing the app again and it was already working... If you bought it from Google play, it should just work. If it doesn't then there's something iffy on Google's side.

If I were you I would go pester google instead, though you kind of dug your own grave by deleting the purchase confirmation email... "Yeah sure I bought this but I got rid of any proof", that's kinda weird

[andrewilley]

8 minutes ago, ScarletNeko said:

If I were you I would go pester google instead, though you kind of dug your own grave by deleting the purchase confirmation email... 

From the Google side of things, the info should be in https://play.google.com/store/account/orderhistory. However I'm not 100% certain of whether that applies to in-app purchases (which is the case for the PA-EQ) or just direct app purchases in the Play Store. I think it should show both.

Goodness, I've been a licenced Poweramp user for a while now! It's the first Android app I ever bought, and it installed flawlessly on every phone I've had since then:

Andre

[Ben R]

4 minutes ago, andrewilley said:

From the Google side of things, the info should be in https://play.google.com/store/account/orderhistory. However I'm not 100% certain of whether that applies to in-app purchases (which is the case for the PA-EQ) or just direct app purchases in the Play Store. I think it should show both.

Goodness, I've been a licenced Poweramp user for a while now! It's the first Android app I ever bought, and it installed flawlessly on every phone I've had since then:

Andre

Firstly, apologies for my anger earlier - it's just incredibly frustrating receiving the same response from someone three times in a row, when they're clearly not bothering to read what I'm saying.

That's where I've checked, and for one reason or another it doesn't show in there - which is what I informed Alex of, but they just keep directing me back to the same page and not offering any help outside of that scope...

[andrewilley]

@Ben Robart Sounds like something amiss on the Google side then. Do you recall when you purchased it, the stand-alone EQ has only been available to buy for about a year and a half now. Presumably it's still showing as licenced on your old Pixel 5, what does the Settings=>About Poweramp Equaliser screen show if you boot up the old device? And does it show as a Google purchase or a website purchase? To restore a Google purchase, you should normally be using the app as downloaded from the Play Store (although there have been some alterations in the requirements recently, so that may have changed)

Andre

[Ben R]

6 minutes ago, andrewilley said:

@Ben Robart Sounds like something amiss on the Google side then. Do you recall when you purchased it, the stand-alone EQ has only been available to buy for about a year and a half now. Presumably it's still showing as licenced on your old Pixel 5, what does the Settings=>About Poweramp Equaliser screen show if you boot up the old device? And does it show as a Google purchase or a website purchase? To restore a Google purchase, you should normally be using the app as downloaded from the Play Store (although there have been some alterations in the requirements recently, so that may have changed)

Andre

It was when I got my Pixel 5, so just under a year ago (December 2021) - unfortunately I can't check on it as I was forced to get the 6 after it was water-damaged and doesn't turn on.

I've also contacted Google, but no response received from them since June either.

[ScarletNeko]

I just checked my account history on google play and yep it is there, the Poweramp equalizer I got early last year, the skins I got over time and of course Poweramp all the way down, it was my very first purchase years and years ago

If your purchase is not showing on your google play purchase history, then it really looks like its something related to google... Are you sure you bought it using your main account? Maybe some other account was logged in and you didn't noticed?

Edited October 30, 2022 by ScarletNeko
Correction: I got PEQ early last year, not early this year

[andrewilley]

And you are sure this was a Google purchase, not a website-hosted purchase? Both methods are done through the same 'Buy Premium' option in Settings=>About Poweramp Equaliser. Is it worth checking your payment card account for around that time? Is use PayPal for the Play Store, and my app purchase amounts show in there.

Andre

[Ben R]

7 minutes ago, andrewilley said:

And you are sure this was a Google purchase, not a website-hosted purchase? Both methods are done through the same 'Buy Premium' option in Settings=>About Poweramp Equaliser. Is it worth checking your payment card account for around that time? Is use PayPal for the Play Store, and my app purchase amounts show in there.

Andre

I'm 100% certain it was through Google Play, yep - I don't use other purchase options whenever Play is an option.

16 minutes ago, ScarletNeko said:

I just checked my account history on google play and yep it is there, the Poweramp equalizer I got early last year, the skins I got over time and of course Poweramp all the way down, it was my very first purchase years and years ago

If your purchase is not showing on your google play purchase history, then it really looks like its something related to google... Are you sure you bought it using your main account? Maybe some other account was logged in and you didn't noticed?

I only have the one Google account, so I'm 100% sure

[andrewilley]

@Ben Robart And does this show on your bank/payment card account as a Google purchase from that time period? My PayPal account shows my Play Store purchases for example (although not what was purchased).

But if it's not there in your Google account, there's probably not much PA Support can do about it - as I understand it, Google do not give out the email address or other details of purchasers to the app developers anyway.

Andre

[Ben R]

7 minutes ago, andrewilley said:

@Ben Robart And does this show on your bank/payment card account as a Google purchase from that time period? My PayPal account shows my Play Store purchases for example (although not what was purchased).

But if it's not there in your Google account, there's probably not much PA Support can do about it - as I understand it, Google do not give out the email address or other details of purchasers to the app developers anyway.

Andre

It was purchased with Play Store credit, so nothing in there sadly, no.

I understand you're probably limited in what you can do via the forums, but I really don't think it's unreasonable to want to speak to someone more senior than whoever's in charge of email support, because they're really not doing their due diligence here.

[Fitzian]

Not trying to antagonize or debunk, here. I don't know what happens if you make a Play store purchase with solely credits. But this weather app purchased with PayPal and credits together combined shows up under Play Store -> User Icon -> Payments & Subscriptions -> Budget & History.

 

[andrewilley]

@Fitzian Yes, that's the mobile app version of the link I posted yesterday. According to @Ben Robart , the purchase from December 2021 is no longer displayed in there. This is what makes me think this is a Google issue not a PA one.

Andre