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As I am a fan of NextAction! and other task management applictions for BlackBerry as well as using emails a lot I was also synchronizing my BlackBerry Curve 8320 with my MacBook using PocketMac for BlackBerry.

While it was technically working I thought there might be better ways to synchronize my BlackBerry and even sync more data between the Mac and the BlackBerry. Who knows; self and workflow-imrpovement are always part of my life. So I was searching many forums and it seemed there was a better solution than the previously mentioned PocketMac for BlackBerry called Missing Sync for BlackBerry. Because I couldnxxx8217;t find a demo version xxx8230; I bought it!

To wrap the conclusion / experience up: DO NOT BUY MISSING SYNC!



And here comes why:

First of all it does not do anything better than PocketMac; Missing Sync does actually do a lot worse and some features it does not do at all. For example it is not able to synchronize the BlackBerryxxx8217;s data to the Macxxx8217;s data by overwriting all on my desktop with all data on my BlackBerry. This cannot be set up and therefor it does not work. It applies to all sorts of data like contacts, tasks, calendar events, and so on.

Secondly, it deleted all of my contacts in my MacBookxxx8217;s Address Book!

Thirdly, because of point 1 I cannot transfer the contacts on my BlackBerry (I got nearly all backuped in there) to my MacBook. So right now I am stuck with an empty address book on my Mac and a full address book on my BlackBerry.

Fourthly, the Notes synchronization never worked.

Fifthly, the calendar and task (in conjunction with Applexxx8217;s iCal) caused hundreds of conflicts.

Sixthly, the conflict handling is very poor. Once there is a conflict you can either choose the desktop or the mobile version of your data. It is not possible to merge data together. Letxxx8217;s say you have a contact with a landline phone number on your desktop and the same contact with his additional middle name and his mobile phone number on your BlackBerry. You have to exclusive choose one of those two. Guys, this is a basic feature of synchronization programs!

Seventhly, there were some more other minor issues which I want to skip here for now.

Well, so what is a calmed down and still angry customer who paid $39.95 for this crap doing? Right, writing a nice letter to the support dudes. Well, to make it a bit easier I just addresses one issue in there as I know that support people get overextended pretty quickly. So I wrote:

Hi,

My BlackBerry is full with contacts and I wanted to syncxxx8217; my BB with my Address Book on my Mac. First of all I didnxxx8217;t backup my address book on my mac before and those contacts are lost after the initial syncxxx8217; as MissingSync seemed to have them deleted. Well, my fault. Anyway, I thought I could get all of my contacts back into my Macxxx8217;s address book as I still have them on my BlackBerry. The Contacts sync in MissingSync runs fine shows a successful ending. However, the existing contacts on my BB do not appear in my Macxxx8217;s address book. If I create a new contact on my BB it is gonna be syncxxx8217;ed with my address book but none of the existing ones.

I tried the xxx8220;iSync History resetxxx8221; mentioned somewhere in your knowledge base here already. Didnxxx8217;t help

It would be great if you can help me out here. Also an option like xxx8220;Overwrite all Contacts from BB to Address Bookxxx8221; would be nice as an option in MissingSync.

Regards

The support answered quickly suggesting something like resetting sync history, deleting address book groups (I donxxx8217;t had any so I created some, deleted them again), backing up the address book data and importing it again to the Address Book, and so on. It is obvious that they tried to screw Apple instead of their own software.

Well, I did this for some days as I had the big target in mind to fully synchronize my BlackBerry with my Mac. I also wanted to get my f***** Address Book filled up again with all of my contacts! After several days I finally gave up. I started asking for a refund as the program was obviously not working as promised and I wrote:

Hi,

The program is not performing as expected. First, it deleted my whole contact database on my desktop. Now it will not copy all my contacts in my devicexxx8217;s address book to my desktop. The Calendar synchronization needs several attemps to be successful. Moreover, the Notes synchronization does not work at all and errors every single try.

This program is not useful at all. I deleted it from my Mac already. Please refund my money asap.

Order Number: MSS08-xxxxxxx

Best regards

This was denied! I donxxx8217;t understand how companies can do business if they distribute fraudulent and buggy software and then even deny to issue a refund. Just in case you are interested here is the following whole conversation:

Hello

We do apologize for the issues that you have been experiencing.We do have an xxx8220;All Sales are Finalxxx8221; policy, but can make an exception where there is an unresolvable support issue. However, we first need to review your specific situation before we can make that determination I would first recommend our technical support team to help you resolve these matters. If problem still persist we can talk about your other options that you may have.

Please let us know what type of errors you are seeing and a detailed description of the steps you have taken.

Please let me know if I can be of any further assistance to you. Have a great day.

Best regards,
Laxxx8217;Keith
Mark/Space Inc.
Sales Representative

I answered:

Hi,

thanks a lot for your quick answer.

I already worked with your tech support (case xxxxxx) but it did not solve my issue.

Best regards

He answered:

Hello

Thats for the info, Dave N. is one of our knowledgeable supports reps and I see that there was no response to his initial email you may want to let him know that you are still having issues and so he can advise you on next steps to resolve your issue.

Please let me know if I can be of any further assistance to you. Have a great day.

Best regards,

Laxxx8217;Keith
Mark/Space Inc.
Sales Representative

I answered:

Laxxx8217;Keith,

it just does not work and I donxxx8217;t want this product anymore. I donxxx8217;t have time to debug your software and send you reports. I deleted the program already and will never use it again.

Please issue a refund now or I need to initiate a credit card chargeback.

Finally this seemed to work and he went into my line. Of course, without any sign of him admitting that this is a problem of their software.

He answered:

Hello

To get the refund process started, please deauthorize your computer.

To do this, launch The Missing Sync and select xxx8220;Deauthorize computerxxx8221; from the main menu bar at the top of the screen. Allow it to connect to the Internet.

If you have already uninstalled The Missing Sync, you will need to re-install, in order to deauthorize.

Then, uninstall The Missing Sync:

/Applications/Missing Sync for BlackBerry/Uninstaller.app

Let me know when this has been completed.

Please let me know if I can be of any further assistance to you. Have a great day.

Best regards,

Laxxx8217;Keith
Mark/Space Inc.
Sales Representative

I have done this until now and are waiting for the refund. Hopefully, they really do what they promise. A credit card chargeback always a while but I would definitely go through with this as they had the impudence to not take credit for their faults.

Additional note: Sorry for the very negative view of this program and itxxx8217;s company. I know there are people out there who have made good experiences with them but I believe bad experiences must be spoken out as well. I hope this helps a bit to make your own view.

Content taken with permission from: Software / Support Review: Missing Sync for BlackBerry