I know I'm not the only one with this problem so I figured I would check and see if Mr Cui now lives in a cave and only utilizes fire for light and heat....

Over ONE DAMN YEAR AGO I sent him multiple Emails asking for a new key code for my Crome Pro. Still waiting. I'm at the point now where I want to just sell my old Compaq laptop that i have it installed on and go through someone that actually KNOWS what customer service is. Obviously Mr Cui really could not care less. I posted on PGMFI back when I was having issues and it seemed there were many others with the same issue.

I'd say right now, here is the recommendation that I have for ANYONE wanting to purchase CromePro:

1. DO NOT buy it from John Cui. Period. He does not care about you after you send him the money.
2. If you do want CromePro, buy it from someone else that you know you can trust. Make sure to ask them if they will send you a new key code if your laptop fails or if you simply get a new laptop. My laptop is trashed and super glued together and I have to still use it since John Cui gave me NO customer service.
3. Hell, just go with something completely different. No reason to support some guy that has no intentions on giving you service after the sale.

Sorry for the rant but this just seems to be getting out of hand. Anyone else know how to get a hold of this guy? I've tried Email and smoke signals and neither have worked.

 

Unfortunately it does not matter how many times this is posted or where. People keep buying it anyway.

I think he's gone underground like Osama did. You may see a video or post pop up now and then. Don't expect much for the time being.

 

Yes, you are right. Mine was purchased 4-5 years ago and I figured there would actually be some support. I was WRONG. Then, a couple years ago, I started seeing all kinds of people saying they were having problems with John. I didn't believe it until about 1 year ago when I needed help from him myself. I now see. Sad because there are other Crome resellers and it sounds like they actually DO take care of their customers. However, since mine was bought straight from John, I guess I'm screwed. Figured if I eliminated the middle man, things would go smooth. The opposite ended up being true......

 

Ya, it's a bad situation. Sorry man.

 

When will people learn to pay a little more & get a much better product ?

 

I'm actually thinking soon.

 

Hopefully :-)

 

it is unfortunate crome has been goin down the drain for the past few years with bugs not gettin fixed and the customer service or lack there of. its still a great product in my opinion. if you are going to buy it, get it through xenocron. but from the looks there wont be any updated versions coming out anytime soon. so you might be better off with another program.

 

Unfortunately, the answer to "when will people pay a little more and get a better product" is never. SOME people will spend the extra money. Unfortunately, many people that want their car tuned are not interested in spending hundreds for a system when they don't really need it. Crome is sufficient for about 80% of the people out there. I personally have a Hondata S300 system but I can count the times on one hand where someone has asked "Is there something better than Crome I could be using?".

What other product is currently on the market that holds a candle to Crome in the bang for the buck department? I'm talking about a software package that is capable of tuning unlimited vehicles WITHOUT an add on box or board. Something like Crome that all you have to do is socket the ECU and burn a chip. Let me know the other options available as I'd LOVE to look into something different. I don't mind spending a little more for a "budget tuning package" but it has to be within reason as the price would be passed on to the customer...

 

Crome wasn't meant to tune multiple vehicles unless you get the dealer license, he just has no form of security to limit it. So to answer your question, which other software is just as easy to steal extra licenses from without paying... none of course. That's probably one of the reasons he's not around anymore. He gets tons of people paying for the regular license and tuning everyone, essentially stealing from him. I think he tried to change that with Gold, but it didn't work.

Otherwise, in comparing two products in the way the license is actually meant to be used... eCtune is only $49 more and works with an Ostrich as well.

Both NepTune and eCtune have dealer packages to allow burning chips and tuning multiple cars. As far as what the customer pays for the license, neither of us are expensive, especially for the quality of what you get and the support behind it.

 

So are you telling me that the EULA for Crome states "you can only tune one car with this software unless you buy the dealer version"???? If so, I completely missed that part. Nowhere on his site does it state this, either.

Can you show me where it says that?

As for the same price packages you speak of, what makes them better? What is the pricing on an apples to apples software package?

 

All you need to know is this:

Wait for your license to come for Crome, finally get the software setup and then actually try your best to get a solid stable tune that will stay stable for more than a month. And once you are tired of all the work arounds and bugs in the software and "add-ins" then move on the the option below.

Use the same equipment you already have for your Crome setup ( Ostrich/Datalogger, Demon, Chip Burner, etc) and pay the fees stated above and get an extremely easy to setup, easy to tune, and stable product that stays stable for the life of the setup ( provided you do regular maintenance to the vehicle and have no leaks!) You will enjoy the process and convienence of the said products about 10 minutes after getting the car to run and start tuning becuase it is just that easy. The same cannot be said about Crome.

Learn how to use Crome and then switch so you will know exactly what everyone is trying to tell you and why.

 

The Crome licensing topic has been discussed plenty of times. I'm sure if you do a little searching you can find some topics.

There is no apples to apples when it comes to Crome. It falls short in every category except User Interface, which I will admit, is quite good.

 

John has lots of people backing up his product even tho he did them dirty plenty of times. That because his product is the only software that street tuners like me could make money out of from your average joe. I'll love to go with Ectune but i can't even get a dealers license with out a dyno.. and i have to pay each time i get a .cal file converted to .bin, that will hurt my pocket badly. the fact that crome pro is meant for only one car, but you can still burn as many .bins as you like is what has crome selling like crazy. john had the change to fix this long time ago but he didn't, why? because that is why he is selling so many copies. ectune don't sell a 3rd of what crome does, people rather take a change of getting ripped off.

 

http://www.tunewithcrome.com/licenses/cromepro.html

quotes

Derivative Work” means a work based upon a Work or upon the Work and other pre-existing works, such as material Tuned or Edited with the Software.

You may use the Software to Tune or Edit for Non-Commercial and Personal use.
You may not sell, rent, lease, or sublicense the Software or any Derivative Work


I don't think he changed it because well.... what could he do? Crome free is already out there and as long as you just never connected your computer that has pro on it to the internet ( or just block it with an anti virus program) or updated software you could still rape his system.

 

If people stop tuning crome then those cheap people that won't pay for decent software will be forced to buy it and you won't have to tune crome anymore. I am so shocked that some people complain about having to pay the small fee for neptune or ectune. Its still much cheaper than any other decent efi solutions for other car makes. Honda people are just cheap. Save yourself the headaches of dealing with a buggy non supported software and make the switch to something better.

 

Thanks cbus. I knew it was out there somewhere.

 

Wow. I feel so good about reading this thread because I was going to get Chrome Pro today...

 

To neptune: Come out with a package that don't require all your proprietary hardware...

To eCtune:stop being so selective on the people who could get an eCtune dealer license(only the "Elite" can). a minimum car quota and having a dyno to get the license?? Come on...

I'll love to have eCtune.. i'll drop crome on a heart beat for it... but that why my neighbor in East BumbleF#Ck John gets crazy cake even tho he is so irresponsible. He has people like feens coming back to back to get rape in the butt by him. people trying to find out which cave he is under to buy his software... That kind of tells you something

 

Why should they make it easy?

To me it's obvious why ectune/neptune/hondata do what they do.They care about their reputation. Ebay turbo manifolds have a habit of cracking,but they still probably sell more honda manifolds per week then full race. Doesn't really mean anything.Does it?

Have you ever seen an "ectune/hondata/neptune" blew up my car thread? Probably not.Have you seen a crome thread like that before? Probably. Everyone knows it's not the software and it's the tuners abilities to work around the software and the problems. I have seen huge numbers on crome.Yea it has it's issues and bugs and anything on other software that take 2 minutes takes twice as long on it but,it still does the job.


When you give stuff to people who have no idea how to use it that sorta stuff happens.I am not saying you are one of those people.

 

im currently a crome user. i have been wanting to change to neptune for a good minute but dont have the funds right now. i am not switching to neptune because it is better or its more realible. crome has never failed me. i want it because of the customer service. it is just great the creator is an every forum helping people out. to me crome has been very stable my friend has a completly stock ls vtec on ebay turbo kit 12 psi made 375 at whitfield racing in upland california has lasted 2 years still running. it just pisses me off when i hear stupid **** like crome is unstable etc 100% of the people complaining about crome dont even have a dyno or dyno experience if they mess up their own car its on them not the program

 

I agree with monster but
Im switching from crome pro to neptune because its not supported by the demon. U know how compulsive us americans are to have the newest latest technology!! But no I have had issues with connecting to the real-time datalogging everyonce in awhile. Just gives me piece of mind when I can have a product that's actually backed by the people who make it.

 

Actually, got an email from John this week and he is working on adding support for the Demon...

John gets a bad rep, and yes...his customer service skills lack, but my question to everyone bitching is when did he actually promise that he would be there when your laptop crashed, or you ran over it with your car, or when it flew out the window when your customer had to run from the cops...and on and on.

There are SIMPLE ways to back up your laptop if you have to reformat...and why do some many people have to reformat every month?

John NEVER promised that Crome would continue this long...he developed Crome in COLLEGE, when time was ample and things like this were interesting to him. He now has a full time job, he is part owner in a company and OBVIOUSLY his priorities have changed, drastically...

Frankly, I am surprised John lasted this long...he has lasted LONGER, than any of the other Freeware types...Ghettodyne...GONE, Uberdata...GONE, TurboEdit....GONE, Freelog...GONE (basically), ECU Control...GONE. Why? Because these people all moved on to different things in their lives...

I tuned (4) different engine management systems this week, Monday...eCtune, Tuesday...TurboEdit, Wednesday...KPRO, Thusday...eCtune, Friday...Crome and guess what, every car came out GREAT!

If you are mad at the software, move on...like its creator did. Neptune/eCtune/Hondata are all great...and yes they cost a touch more, but that extra bit of the money in the developers pocket will hopefully keep their sights set on CONTINUALLY improving their software and our experience as a tuner.

 

And by the way, John is in NJ...not a cave

 

Crome is not all bad, but you do get what you pay for. If you are tired of the bugs and license problems try something different. The main problem is that most will spend thousands on an engine but will not get off $400 or more to tune what they built. I have moved on to Neptune and love it, very stable and better than the best customer support.