I have been with CS Cart since it almost began and now I am getting so upset and frustrated with it that to stay in business I need to start looking at why would I continue to use this software.
Firstly if you ask support a question it will cost you…“How are you today” and the reply back will probably be “To find out how we are today will cost you $60” and that will probably be a week later.
I have put up with all their bugs for years especially the never working upgrader. I upgraded my 1.3.5 SP4 version to v2.0.8 site exactly as per their instructions and the site takes around 15 secs to load and about 8 secs per page…it even takes 3 secs to scroll to the bottom of the page.
Using the brickwork_dark_steel skin I only want to have 3 items in the top menu instead of 4 but it takes a scientist to do that. I wanted to add 8 product logos to the right of the top menu but again I have to engage a brain surgeon to do that. I tried the new “My Changes” addon but as usual there isn’t any clear instructions telling you what to do unless you accidentally find the “Docs” area of the CS Cart site. I wanted to have the Store Locations displayed as a page so I create one for it and it goes into the Information Block ok but when you click on the Company in the top menu and select it from the drop down the SEO screws up the address…again a scientist needed to stop that. I tried to create the “mini cart” block that we use to have but that wouldn’t update unless a user refreshed the page…I though upgrades increased functionality and features not take them away…and that goes for the Manufacturers drop down box…where is that brain surgeon and scientist again!!!
I am a fairly competent developer and have created award winning web sites but CS Cart has in my opinion gone completely overboard with CS Cart now and made it that you need to sit 4 years of university in a CS Cart degree course to have anything other then a shop that looks the same as every other CS Cart store.
The latest is that I had the standard install of 2.0.8 working with the default data. I then setup the shipping and locations and this is what happened:
and if you look at the blocks layout you will see that the blocks are there but nothing is showing NOT EVEN THE TOP MENU and what has that got to do with the shipping or locations setup:
Sorry for the rant but how much does a person have to take or put up with for just a couple more extra features (especially when they take some away as well)…incidentally I logged a help desk call about my frustration yesterday…no response yet but I guess in a weeks time I might get an answer of “it will cost you over 4 times the cost of the software that you paid to get support for a year” or “it will cost $100 for us to recommend a psychologist for you”. :mad:
Version 2.0.9 will have a new block type (HTML block) which you could use to build your logo table. You can play with it at labs.cs-cart.com/admin.php
You can specify what appears in your Top Menu in Design->Top Menu. You can do the same with Quick Links at Design->Quick Links. I am not sure how much easier this can be.
It appears that you have created Localizations (not to be confused with Locations). You need to assign localizations to your Top Menu, Quick Links, Shipping Methods, Payment Methods, Banners, products, categories, pages, etc - this is the price of increased flexibility. If you do not need to use Localizations, just remove them and things should go back to normal.
Well said. I have to agree with some of your points.
We push them for more add-ons and extras and this way we create problems for others. Let’s have the product stable first and doing 100% of what was designed for and then ask for more. What’s the point of having lots of add-ons where the documentation isn’t ready for them, some of them still struggle to work and our time is wasted on testing and sharing experience about how to fix the issue and so on.
I bought CS for my company, however, web shop still not ready. There’s always something in it. Too many glitches and time consuming issues… We have a simple and free shopping cart installed, which works great. It took me 2 days to install it, configure it and except for PayPal Pro, we were up and running before end of the week. So far, it brings monies with no tech issues.
The message is [again]: DO NOT BRING ANYTHING NEW UNTIL ALL PROBLEMS ARE FIXED. Take your time CS guys and test it, test it, test it, test it. Don’t make it like Peugeot cars - they look good and drive, but there’s no quality.
Thanks Mate…I do need Localizations however thanks to your post I can see that you have to go back to square one and check everything for the Localizations adjusting where necessary to bring the site back up.
Again I haven’t been able to find any documentation where it says “How To” implement Localizations.
I and probably a lot of others are just so frustrated with all this and it is our businesses that are being impacted not just a little forum site or something. The one main thing that most people will want to customize is the header and menu yet CS Cart have not provided an easy way to do this (unless you are a brain surgeon).
All the pain, suffering and frustration would be completely minimized if these forums were frequented more by people providing assistance especially from CS Cart people. The number of posts here that go unanswered shows potential customers that support is minimal.
Now going to have a drink (coffee) and start the day over again!
[quote name=‘Noman’]The message is [again]: DO NOT BRING ANYTHING NEW UNTIL ALL PROBLEMS ARE FIXED. Take your time CS guys and test it, test it, test it, test it. Don’t make it like Peugeot cars - they look good and drives, but there’s no quality.[/QUOTE]
Aside from the fact that NO software of any substance is bug-free, if CS-Cart stops adding features they will surely lose business - look at all the requests for features which other carts already have. I believe the choice between features and stability is somewhat dubious - they need to deliver both to remain competitive.
However, people also need to be willing to accept change. If you are satisfied with a previous version there is absolutely no reason to upgrade (especially if you are averse to change).
I do agree that they need to spend some serious effort improving the documentation. It appears that a number of the OP’s problems were self-induced by using the Localization feature which is clearly not documented well enough.
[quote name=‘ibaker’]Again I haven’t been able to find any documentation where it says “How To” implement Localizations.[/QUOTE]
There is no question that the documentation needs serious work. They make no effort to demonstrate usage so that people can understand the relationships between various parts of the cart.
[QUOTE]All the pain, suffering and frustration would be completely minimized if these forums were frequented more by people providing assistance especially from CS Cart people. The number of posts here that go unanswered shows potential customers that support is minimal.[/QUOTE]
I would say this forum is very helpful - many of us go out of our way to attempt helping others. I do notice that people are understandably impatient for a response.
It’s ironic to me that someone (based on reviewing your posts) who is complaining about forum support has gotten much more from these forums than he has offered. Why have you made no attempt to answer “The number of posts here that go unanswered”?
Bob, nothing against you mate and some others that do a fantastic job with the limited time that you have to help others however I am saying that if CS Cart contributed here to support their product it would make your job easier and portray to prospective new customers that there is a lot of support for the product and they stand behind it.
The first things that I would do when evaluating a product is have a look at support. Take vBulletin for example…if you were looking for forum software you just couldn’t go past the number and frequency of posts that are made in their forums and that also includes posts from vBulletin staff showing that they are supporting their product.
I would love to be able to assist people here but to do that I would need to be at a level where I don’t need to make posts of help myself…doesn’t that make sense especially that these forums are now 90% 2.0.8 and I have posted about my frustrations on 2.0.8
Actually, just remembered back in the days before 2.0.8 I even phoned up Jesse to step him through how to create a zero shipping charge in v1.? One can only help with the knowledge that one has!
Actually, just remembered back in the days before 2.0.8 I even phoned up Jesse to step him through how to create a zero shipping charge in v1.? One can only help with the knowledge that one has![/quote]
That I do remember, I’ve since moved to Florida (USA) so I’m not exactly local enough to call otherwise I would have
[quote name=‘JesseLeeStringer’]That I do remember, I’ve since moved to Florida (USA) so I’m not exactly local enough to call otherwise I would have :)[/QUOTE]
Jesse are you on a walkabout in Florida? maybe I’ll come down their and hang out on the beach, who else is in? we can all complain about cs-cart together…
I can only wholeheartedly agree to your post while CS Cart is great feature wise it is so damm un-intuitive and a absolute nightmare to set up and i say that after doing shopping carts for 10 years now.
How you can have a bulk edit feature to assign products and categories to Localizations if you have such a complicated system is beyond me.
the thought of setting up a new cs cart send shivers down my spine
Just found out that “product options” CANNOT be price modified per group level… How F-King stupid is that?!? The whole cart is based on idea of group levels… How could they not include product options with ability to price them differently…
[quote name=‘TexasGuy’]Just found out that “product options” CANNOT be price modified per group level… How F-King stupid is that?!? The whole cart is based on idea of group levels… How could they not include product options with ability to price them differently…[/QUOTE]
[quote name=‘Noman’]Well said. I have to agree with some of your points.
We push them for more add-ons and extras and this way we create problems for others. Let’s have the product stable first and doing 100% of what was designed for and then ask for more. What’s the point of having lots of add-ons where the documentation isn’t ready for them, some of them still struggle to work and our time is wasted on testing and sharing experience about how to fix the issue and so on.
I bought CS for my company, however, web shop still not ready. There’s always something in it. Too many glitches and time consuming issues… We have a simple and free shopping cart installed, which works great. It took me 2 days to install it, configure it and except for PayPal Pro, we were up and running before end of the week. So far, it brings monies with no tech issues.
The message is [again]: DO NOT BRING ANYTHING NEW UNTIL ALL PROBLEMS ARE FIXED. Take your time CS guys and test it, test it, test it, test it. Don’t make it like Peugeot cars - they look good and drive, but there’s no quality.[/QUOTE]
man, I have a brand new peugeot 207, engine made by BMW/mini and Mitsubishi race gear box, and design by peugeot! I love my car, cs-cart is slowly starting to piss me off,
don’t me wrong, its great, but FULL of bugs, I have 4 licenses, in each shop I have a different problem!
latest screw up is when I turn on SEO my site is only visible on MAC FIREFOX, and when I try to view the site in Internet Explorer on a PC it is all screwed up!
We lost 1 week of sales due to this problem because we use macs and on mac it works, on PC the whole site got screwed…wierd… anyways since we use macs, we only discovered it after people started calling us telling us the site doesnt work. we were convinced it was an issue of the customer, until 25 people called!!
[quote name=‘ghsc’]man, I have a brand new peugeot 207, engine made by BMW/mini and Mitsubishi race gear box, and design by peugeot! I love my car, cs-cart is slowly starting to piss me off,[/QUOTE]
Yeah, you’re right. After so many years they realized they are unable to make engines and gear boxes. I remember when I had a brand new 306, I liked the seats. Nothing else. I sold it after 3 months and went Japanese.
The cart - isn’t perfect, but which one for 280$ is? I’m happy to pay 2000$ if you can point me into the right direction where to get a cart from, without any bugs, glitches and upgrade issues after I customize my cart.
BTW, we have 6k of products, 15k categories on a small VPS with 2.4GHz, 512MB and SATA HDD. It works great.
[quote name=‘ibaker’]“it will cost $100 for us to recommend a psychologist for you”. :mad:[/QUOTE]
I think you should jump at the offer. It is a hard work to match a psychologist to a client for a working long treatment that can take years. $100 seems very inexpensive when you can throw away $250 per session only to discover in 5 sessions that you and your psychologist don’t really click. Thus, a mere $100 sounds reasonable and may save you a lot later to get better.
Come back soon and don’t bite your new psychologist, take all the drugs that are prescribed.
I know this isn’t really going to help, but just my 2 cents worth.
I have been A CS user since the 1st version was realeased way back around 2006, paid a mere $90 for it got 5 licenses now!
I am still using 1.3.5 (latest before 2.0.x i think) and I love it, so many great features and almost flawless!
I have however refused to upgrade so far, mainly as my “what’s in 2.0 that i need” list is very short, but the administration panel in my view is absolutely 100% disgustingly horrible to look at and use. Why such a drastic change?
Also I’ve modified my theme so much now that it would be pain in the ass to change it. [url]http://bit.ly/d7vVNO[/url] <–my site for anyone who is interested.
As for support, I do think things have changed a little bit. Between 2006 and 2008I found that the support was very good, always very courteous, well detailed responses and a pleasure to deal with, even with the timezone difference, I still got a reply within 24hours. I do find though that although response are quick they are not as forthcoming as they used to be, but I guess thats what happens when a compnay grows as fast a CS has over the years, I still think its very reasonable and the cost is acceptable for what it offers. You have to remember that support for extras or customisation/ non standard changes etc will cost money wherever you go, but if the issue is a bug for fault that is THEIR fault It should be free.
I hope people don’t lose faith in CS as over the years I still haven’t found better for not only the money for the features etc. I just think they may have slightly lost their way and need to get back on track!
It’s the best solution you can buy for that price, that’s 100% sure.
with php scripts I have used X-cart, ubercart, magento, and various other carts. I must say cs-cart is better than magento OnLY if the bugs start disapearing.
I have a big budget and I could go for Magento Professional or Enterprise license…but honestly, I would prefer to spend my money with the guys from CS-CART, rather have them work out all the bugs for the huge amount u need to pay for magento every year.
with ASP I have used Product Cart, which is really good (the last time I used it was 2006, and back then it was really good). no bugs, works fine, the only problem is it runs best on a Windows Server! and its not that secure.
and then one more thing to mention is CS-CART customer support, if you pay for it, its great! They have always helped me solving problems and always really quickly.
I think I have spent more money on customer support than on my cs-cart licenses alone, its been worth it since we’ve turned over more than 500k a year with cs-cart…if cs-cart had no bugs, we would have turned over double!
Am wondering myself. I’m using the free trial, have found a bug (generates a 404 page inside the admin instead of bringing up the list it’s supposed to) and wonder why Cs-Cart bothered to send me a help desk login and password when their own help desk page says they have no intention of helping me?? (“Please note that your support is over.”)
(1) Don’t waste my time giving me a support login when you won’t be supplying any support, and
(2) It seems awfully counter-productive to not provide tech support for your own bug when someone is taking your cart for a test-drive, doesn’t it?
Posting this here hoping an admin can at least answer the above, since y’all won’t be fixing the bug I found.
Yeah updates can be a pain, Ive lost my “Manufacturers drop down box” also, its now just a long list and the previous mod wont bring it back.
I still think this should be included as a standard feature, but then I guess we all have things we think should be included and its impossible to please everyone
