It's that time of year and Parallels wants to take the opportunity to stand up and say some very, very important thank yous.
Let me start by explaining that recently there has been some media pick-up focusing on selective comments in our forums from some unhappy customers following the launch of Parallels Desktop 4.0 for Mac. To date, over 100,000 copies of the new version have been downloaded - thank you to everyone who has supported us. It's disappointing to see that some people aren't having that great of an experience, and we are working hard to try to address the issues. Huge thanks to anyone who has provided feedback or is working with the support or development teams. While we hope our customers will only have a positive experience, any critical feedback enables us to identify and work on areas for improvement. I hope we have already solved the problems you were experiencing and you are now having a good experience with version 4, but to anyone still experiencing problems, we apologize and thank you for your patience while we help to solve any issues you may have.
A question that I have been asked a few times is whether we properly tested Parallels Desktop 4.0 for Mac. We did. In fact it was extensively tested internally to begin with and then externally by several thousand users over a period of months, and before it was released to the market it was put through its paces in a battery of acceptance tests. Big thanks also to the beta testers. Unfortunately there are literally millions upon millions of permutations of computing environments, and as such, some users are experiencing problems we didn't encounter in the testing stage. We take this very seriously and are completely focused on addressing any issues reported, which is why we have already issues an update for version 4. This has addressed many of the issues we are hearing about, but we are continuing to work with any customers that are experiencing further problems to address them as quickly as possible, and to refine the product to ensure other users do not experience the same problems.
Despite this, there are still some very unhappy people in our forums at the moment. The complaints are being investigated at the top level of the company, with our CEO personally committed to solving user issues. That said, there are also numerous threads from customers expressing what a positive experience they are having; though Parallels' forums were created to enable people to ask questions or flag issues or make recommendations to other users, so by definition they will be largely populated by people talking about problems. We very much appreciate all our customer feedback: good or bad, we thank you and we take it all very seriously. To this end, and unlike our competitors in this space, we offer free email support at all times, and have made our telephone support free for anyone encountering problems with getting started with or upgrading to Parallels Desktop 4.0 for Mac. We sincerely hope that you will take advantage of these resources to inform us of any issues that you may have. Parallels proudly stands behind its products and we want to be able to effectively ensure that you have the best user experience with our products. All emails are currently being answered within 24 hours. For full information on our support options, pleas click here.
We recognize people are busy though, so for customers who would rather not pursue the support path and find a resolution to the problem, a full refund is available for up to 30 days after purchase from our website, or up to 90 days after purchase of a boxed copy. For a refund, please click here.
For any other inquiries relating to this matter, you can contact me directly.
Time to get the turkey in the oven. From everyone at Parallels we offer you many thanks and wish you Happy Holidays!
