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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Xilisoft: The first business I've considered reporting to the Better Business Bureau, August 26, 2009
This review is regarding my experience with Xilisoft as a business, and its DVD Ripper 5 *standard.* This is not a review of the platinum edition. I believe my experiences with Xilisofts' poor business ethics will help potential customers choose a better product.
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It's difficult to find a good DVD ripping program. The movie industry has thrown in every hurdle to make copying DVD's as inconvenient and as difficult as possible (despite its legality). That's why, when I was dissatisfied with the free DVD programs I found on the internet, I decided to pay Xilisoft for their application, with the assumption that their software would be reliable, and that their customer service would be helpful. I was *SORELY* mistaken. Not only did Xilisoft's DVD Ripper 5 not fully rip my DVD's, but I found their customer service deceptive and dishonest. I highly recommend for potential customers to invest in another business.
After ripping seven of my DVD's to my computer, I discovered that they ALL ended at 1 hour and 47 minutes. Initially, I thought I had screwed up program preferences, or I that the application had installed incorrectly. But, it hadn't. The application is DESIGNED to not fully rip DVD's, and Xilisoft fails to mention this on their website. For an entire week, I fought with Xilisoft to help me with what I perceived as a system "bug," but their assistance was useless, in essence telling me to "get used to it." Today, I finally got my money back.
Here's an abbreviated transcript of my email's with Xilisoft. Keep in mind that each Xilisoft reply represents one business day, and thus this interaction expands over the duration of a week:
Me: Xilisoft and Staff: I've been having trouble ripping the full length of movies. For the last four movies, your program doesn't finish ripping the ending of the movies (very frustrating). Is there any way to rip the full length of the my DVD's?
Xilisoft Support: Thank you for supporting Xilisoft! Could you tell me more about what product you're using?
Me: Thanks for your reply. I'm using Xilisoft DVD Ripper Standard 5.0.50 build-0814. I tried to reinstall your program, but I still can't get the full length of my movies. See screenshots.
Xilisoft: Thank you for supporting Xilisoft! Please enter the length of the movie in the advanced system preferences. You can enter "1:47:50" for one movie.
Me: Thanks for your help. I attempted to edit the duration of the rip in the advanced settings box, as you advised, and to my surprise, it continues to kill the rip at exactly 1 hour and 47 minutes into the film. So, setting the duration to 2:34:49, the feature-length of the movie "Gladiator," still produces a movie that's 1:47:24 long.
Xilisoft: Thank you for supporting Xilisoft! Would you please set the "start time" to rip the part that is behind 1:47:24 to have a try? Can you get an output?
Me: Thank you for your reply! I successfully ripped between 1:47:00 and the end of Gladiator, so yes: there is an output. What's the solution to this problem?
::First day passes without a reply::
Me: I continue to have problems getting a full-length movie. If we can't find a solution to this problem, I'll be asking for my money back. It's unreasonable for me to pay for your product, and not be able to burn movies beyond 1:45 minutes in length.
::Second day passes without reply::
Me: Should I take your silence as ignoring the problem?
::Third day passes without a reply::
Me: [frustrated] I understand that xilisoft's mission to create a stable program that rips DVD's is not an easy task, nor is it easy to make sure it works flawlessly on everyone's PC. But, at least reply to your customers and admit when you don't know how to solve a problem. I've shown patience waiting five days now, hoping for a solution to this problem; I ask that you show at least consideration to your paying customers by at least engaging in dialogue. If this is what I get for dishing out cash for your product, I would have done just as well filtering through BitTorrents.
Xilisoft: Thank you for supporting Xilisoft! We're really sorry for the delay because of the weekend. Do you mean that you can get two parts of the movie [Gladiator] and you can't get it as an whole file?
Me: Every single DVD I have attempted to rip with Xilisoft's DVD ripper 5 fails to rip to completion. [I include a list of the now seven failed movies, and their respective rip times].
I look forward to your advice on how to rip the full length of a DVD.
Xilisoft: Thank you for supporting Xilisoft! What about just ripping from the latter half of the movie? For example, if you enter "1:48:18" for start time, can you get the latter half ripped in this way? Thank you. -Jack.
Me: Thank you for your reply. Say I decide to see a movie my local movie theater, paying $30 [the cost of your DVD Ripper] for a ticket to see the movie "District 9," under the impression that I would enjoy the entire film. At 100 minutes into the movie, I get a tap on my shoulder from an usher, telling me I need to leave, and see the rest of the 12 minutes tomorrow, since my ticket does not "validate" me to see the entire move as a whole.
Would you be frustrated in this situation, Jack?
I wouldn't be, supposing that the box office openly and honestly notified me, "Before you buy this $30 ticket, sir, you should know that you won't be able to see the entire film." But, I would be furious if they didn't disclose to me that information, since it would be *dishonest and deceptive.*
In you reply, please show me where on your website it openly and honestly discloses that my $30 purchase will not allow me to rip the full length of my DVD.
Xilisoft sales representative: It is a pity our product didn't meet your needs. We have refunded your money for Order ID: ************, maybe it will take few days, please wait patiently. Please keep on supporting our products.
Paypal: Payment refunded from First International Shareware Holdings.
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Review of the business and its ethics: Deceitful
Review of customer support: Unhelpful
Review of the product: Practically useless, and wouldn't meet 99% of people's expectations.
Conclusion: Support another business.
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