Finale Forum

Finale provides no telephone, person-to-person support. I just talked to the folks at Avid-Sibekius and they do, indeed, provide live, person-to-person telephone support. This is a real problem, and I would be quick to point this out to anyone who is considering purchasing a new software program.
I am having a serious issue with my finale 2014-5. I allows me to almost complete a work, then it decides it won't let me save the program. To make matters worse, it doesn't allow me to at least extract the parts so I can attempt to save my work. Eventually the work disappears altogether, and this is costing me many hours of work, not to mention loss of income. Apparently this is a somewhat common problem, but the solutions to this problem from Finale are vague and difficult to follow. Sorry, I'm not a computer guru, so the language that I'm getting on the support page is munbo-jumbo to me. All I would ask is to be able to talk to a real person, but Finale has chosen to ignore this kind of interaction with it's customers.
My only choice now is to embark on a media, and social media campaign against the company that does not adequately back up its products.
Sorry Finale, but you've lost a customer and I'm going to do my best to see that you lose more.
Mike in Florida

vtrombone1 wrote:… … … … Sorry Finale, but you've lost a customer and I'm going to do my best to see that you lose more.
Mike in Florida

It's of limited use posting this here as Finale (Make Music) staff don't monitor this users' forum.

FWIW I have never had this problem with Finale and since 2001 have typeset many scores of my own both large (with three hours of music in several thousand bars for full orchestral and vocal forces) and small (two minutes for three of four instruments). There have certainly been problems and frustrations, but I've not yet lost anything.

In Windows, at least, issues with saving files can often be eliminated by creating a separate folder for the tmp files (not bak or asv files). Once the unique folder is created, point to that folder in Preferences. Then, often, with Finale CLOSED, clean out this folder, as old tmp file can cause confusion for Finale. If you have more than one version of Finale, have a separate folder for each version.

Zuill

Thanks Zuill, but why should we have to go to all of that trouble just to save our music? I save at least every three minutes when I'm writing, and I sure as heck don't need to go hunting, switching, creating folders.....whatever, just to save my work. My point here is that there is no telephone support from Finale, and that is wrong.....especially when their competitor(s) do offer such support.

vtrombone1 wrote:Thanks Zuill, but why should we have to go to all of that trouble just to save our music? I save at least every three minutes when I'm writing, and I sure as heck don't need to go hunting, switching, creating folders.....whatever, just to save my work. My point here is that there is no telephone support from Finale, and that is wrong.....especially when their competitor(s) do offer such support.

YOU are having a unique problem that apparently is not shared by the majority of Finale users.
If your reaction to a potential fix to your problem is "well why should I do that?" then just delete Finale and go use something else.
If you aren't willing to make the minimal effort to fix the problem, then your whining and gnashing of teeth isn't going to impress anyone.

As was pointed out, Finale does not monitor this forum, so you’re threatening the wrong people.

We’re sorry you are having problems that you are unwilling to work at, to solve. But if the lack of phone support means that much, enjoy Sibelius, Dorico, MuseScore, or wherever else your search for the perfect program takes you.

Klemm Music, the German distributor, used to sell Finale in English and has a good hotline with very nice and savvy people. I don't know whether they would speak English, but why not try it.

Harald

As has been pointed out, threats here won't accomplish anything, but if you can acquire some patience, we may be able to help you. It will likely cost less of your time than your social media campaign and I daresay will be more productive.

You'll need to provide some more detail as to what happens when you try to save. Do you get an error message?

vtrombone1 wrote:Thanks Zuill, but why should we have to go to all of that trouble just to save our music? I save at least every three minutes when I'm writing, and I sure as heck don't need to go hunting, switching, creating folders.....whatever, just to save my work. My point here is that there is no telephone support from Finale, and that is wrong.....especially when their competitor(s) do offer such support.

I've been using Finale for 22 years, and I have had some issues over the years. I generally find that solving my own problems is the best for me. That's why I suggested the tmp file solution, which even MM suggests can be of help.

I have heard that MM phone support was not that good, so I don't know why you think speaking to them on the phone will be of any help. You can submit an online support ticket. They sometimes are of help that way. Most of the time I report bugs through the online ticket submission. Some of them get fixed. Sometimes, due to my reporting, they at least post a knowledgebase article warning about the issue, which is of help to others.

Bottom line: if Finale is that big of a hurdle for you to overcome, as others have suggested, you may want to abandon Finale for another program.

Zuill

vtrombone1 wrote:Finale provides no telephone, person-to-person support. I just talked to the folks at Avid-Sibekius and they do, indeed, provide live, person-to-person telephone support. This is a real problem, and I would be quick to point this out to anyone who is considering purchasing a new software program.

The number of software companies that provide telephone support is very small. MakeMusic is a small company in a niche market. Furthermore, remote diagnosis of problems is very difficult, as something visually obvious to an expert will go unnoticed if the caller doesn't mention it.

vtrombone1 wrote: it decides it won't let me save the program. To make matters worse, it doesn't allow me to at least extract the parts so I can attempt to save my work. Eventually the work disappears altogether,

You need to be more specific. What happens, what do you do, and what happens when you do it?
Secondly, you shouldn't need to extract parts. Linked Parts within the document are the way forward.

vtrombone1 wrote: Apparently this is a somewhat common problem,

Citation required.

vtrombone1 wrote: but the solutions to this problem from Finale are vague and difficult to follow. Sorry, I'm not a computer guru, so the language that I'm getting on the support page is munbo-jumbo to me.

What solutions have you been offered? Perhaps someone here could translate them into more concise instructions. However, there comes a point when technical terminology must be employed for accuracy, instead of vagueness.

One important question (technically, two questions, sue me): is this a purchased and paid for copy of Finale?
or is it the "demo" version?

I just read somewhere that there is a phone number that you can call between 9.00 am and 5.00 pm. I assume that time is applicable to their time zone, which is also the only time that they will answer emails. I would be calling from outside the States so it would be an expensive call I guess. The number is 9529379611 or if you you’re in the USA, 8662404041. They don’t help you work out how to use the software and only treat technical problems apparently.

This may be a Windows problem rather than a Finale problem. I've had similar in the past. Making a separate file for temp files and others fixed a lot in Windows 7-10. I've had no problems with Windows 11. There is another Finale problem that was similar, having to do with redrawing the screen. Finale support could not reproduce but, by clinical diagnosis, I figured out that several in a series of Windows updates would fix then break the problem; finally, one of the fixes stuck. Neither Microsoft nor Finale ever knew what was happening.

Different versions and sub-versions of Windows may be causing the trouble. Take the advice to create separate temporary directories.

Earlier (perhaps this will help some people), I had the problem of a printer failing for strange reasons. Three identical setups and only one failed. I did find a college with 8 identical computers and one failure. I tried Microsofts then ATT (the wifi network) then HP (the printer stuff) and finally, I found that McAfee's firewall would sometimes screw up printer timing. The fix was to eliminate McAfee (on my system; other people didn't have a problem with the same setup.)

I think the OP should immediately move to Dorico not Sibelius. Their online support in unparalleled. Where else can you communicate directly with the director and head programmer?

I will say that it's very understandable why there is a good deal of loyalty to Dorico given that Daniel S is so responsive. Back in the day, the Coda team was pretty responsive on various forums, and even many years ago, some folks from MM would be pretty well known to us beta testers and others on the forum because they did respond and were very helpful.

MakeMusic could benefit from stepping up its game here. While the OP was pretty vindictive, I can also understand some of the anger (even if this is probably more an OS issue than a Finale issue). Finale, as with any notation software, is complicated, and all of us have had our share of frustrations with Finale over the years. I have no doubt there are similar frustrations with Sibelius and even Dorico. Nothing is perfect. But customer support goes a long way towards user satisfaction...

(Note the O.P. posted in 2018.)

Yankele 004 wrote: ↑

Fri Mar 04, 2022 8:02 am

I just read somewhere that there is a phone number that you can call between 9.00 am and 5.00 pm.

MakeMusic discontinued direct phone support a few days after Finale 25 was released and has not brought it back—no doubt due to the sheer number of calls they received in the immediate aftermath.

Official support is obtained by going to this page and using the Submit a request link at the top of the page. The supported products are 26, 27 and PrintMusic 2014 for Windows only. There is a similar board for Feature Requests and Garritan Instruments that can be found through that link.

https://makemusic.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/ ... t_activity

For anything else, there is the Users board at the same link. MM monitors it but rarely posts. Likewise, few things are off the table and many there are knowledgeable about older versions and operating systems that are no longer supported.

Some of us hang out both places but I'm rarely here anymore. I'm just too busy these days.

Some folks have recently posted that they got phone support. I suspect that they started with the Submit a Request, as Mike H. Has suggested, and that tech support initiated the call, to get more details.

MikeHalloran wrote: ↑

Fri Mar 04, 2022 7:09 pm

Yankele 004 wrote: ↑

Fri Mar 04, 2022 8:02 am

I just read somewhere that there is a phone number that you can call between 9.00 am and 5.00 pm.

MakeMusic discontinued direct phone support a few days after Finale 25 was released and has not brought it back—no doubt due to the sheer number of calls they received in the immediate aftermath.

Not entirely accurate... that was a planned move.

SickBoy wrote: ↑

Sat Mar 05, 2022 8:01 pm

MikeHalloran wrote: ↑

Fri Mar 04, 2022 7:09 pm

Yankele 004 wrote: ↑

Fri Mar 04, 2022 8:02 am

I just read somewhere that there is a phone number that you can call between 9.00 am and 5.00 pm.

MakeMusic discontinued direct phone support a few days after Finale 25 was released and has not brought it back—no doubt due to the sheer number of calls they received in the immediate aftermath.

Not entirely accurate... that was a planned move.

Says you.

Entirely accurate says I. Not all the decision makers are in Colorado and that's all I have to add on the subject.

MikeHalloran wrote: ↑

Sat Mar 05, 2022 9:57 pm

SickBoy wrote: ↑

Sat Mar 05, 2022 8:01 pm

MikeHalloran wrote: ↑

Fri Mar 04, 2022 7:09 pm

MakeMusic discontinued direct phone support a few days after Finale 25 was released and has not brought it back—no doubt due to the sheer number of calls they received in the immediate aftermath.

Not entirely accurate... that was a planned move.

Says you.

Entirely accurate says I. Not all the decision makers are in Colorado and that's all I have to add on the subject.

Who's your source? Because mine is me...

SickBoy wrote: ↑

Sat Mar 05, 2022 11:20 pm

Who's your source? Because mine is me...

If you're a senior manager at MakeMusic, then tell us who you are. If not, then you have no credibility as a source.

The thing that amazes me is the thought these individuals have, that switching to Sibelius or Dorico or Musescore or whatever software you might think of will solve all your problems and issues. Believe me it won't. You may not have that particular issue but you will have issues nonetheless.

Some of us hang out both places but I'm rarely here anymore. I'm just too busy these days.

Second thing that amazes me. How some guys seem to be on these forums 24/7. They must have just nothing to do. I generally hit a couple I have great interest in around coffee time but then get to work. Don't have the time to sit forums all day.

Actually, I just type quickly.

ebiggs1 wrote: ↑

Sat Apr 02, 2022 7:15 pm

The thing that amazes me is the thought these individuals have, that switching to Sibelius or Dorico or Musescore or whatever software you might think of will solve all your problems and issues. Believe me it won't. You may not have that particular issue but you will have issues nonetheless.

Agreed. What boggles my mind is how some folks, some of whom were former Finale users and some who still are, would harangue me for still using Finale, claiming that “other notation software” would make notating my compositions light years better. I wouldn’t have to worry about arcane things like page layout, avoiding collisions, etc. because that new magical software is not ancient code like Finale. Now, if i were starting out today, in all honesty I’d probably be using that other software. But I’ve used Finale for about 30 years now and while it’s often a struggle, I’ve made it work, and there are still a few things (not many, but a few) that Finale either can do that that other product can’t, or at least can do some things better. Judging from the various issues I read about with that other software, it is no more a perfect product than Sibelius or Finale. Nothing is. Now, can MM be more engaged with its user base and also be more responsive? Yes for the first and maybe for the second. They do need to be more engaged with users. But they’re also pretty responsive to tech issues via the web site. They might not have a lead product manager who engages all the time on various forums, official and unofficial, but at least they are responsive.

Some of us hang out both places but I'm rarely here anymore. I'm just too busy these days.

Second thing that amazes me. How some guys seem to be on these forums 24/7. They must have just nothing to do. I generally hit a couple I have great interest in around coffee time but then get to work. Don't have the time to sit forums all day.

Same here. I have a day job that is more like a day/night job sometimes every day of the week, so I don’t get here as often as I might like. If I had the extra time, I’d use it to compose, honestly.