SyncMyRide.com problems

[rogersmj]

Vent: SyncMyRide.com is a piece of crap. It may be one of the most frustrating web sites I've ever used. I know it works OK for some people -- it's worked OK for me too, occasionally. But often, it doesn't. Below is my most recent saga.

 

As if the constant MyFord Touch bugs I'm STILL experiencing weren't enough, they have to make it next to impossible to get updates.

• Attempted to download an update via SyncMyRide.com *on Chrome* on my Mac last month. It refuses, and tells me my browser is not supported, asking that I please use *Chrome* if I'm on a Mac. Um...
  
• Try my other Mac. Same result.
  
• Dig up my work Mac, boot directly into Windows 7 and (illegally) use it for personal activity -- updating my Ford. I start with FireFox on Windows (my default browser there), which ALSO fails even though SyncMyRide.com says it's supported. Eventually get the update downloaded using IE, but after performing the update I return to the computer to try and report the install -- and syncmyride.com crashes. I give up for the night.
  
• Fast forward one month-ish. There's a newer update out, apparently. I fire up a Windows 7/IE9 virtual machine on my home Mac (which I now keep just for stupid web sites like this) and attempt to use IE to report an install from my Ford, to make sure I get the right update. It says my browser is not supported. If I'm in Windows, it says, please use Chrome, Internet Explorer, or FireFox. Yeah...again, I *am* using one of the browsers on the list: IE. Argh.
  
• I decide to give Chrome on the Mac another go, vainly hoping they've fixed the issue in the past month. Instead of showing me the incompatible browser message when I attempt to confirm an update, it now just shows me an animated loading graphic. Forever.
  
• At this point, any normal consumer would have given up long ago. I decide to double-check that I have ActiveX enabled in IE (since I use that virtual machine pretty much...never), and -- almost out of curiosity -- click on the link on SyncMyRide.com's browser error message for "How do I enable ActiveX in my browser?" It returns me to the SyncMyRide.com landing page with no information about enabling ActiveX.
  
• I bang my head on my desk and consider just how much Ford apparently doesn't give a shit about its customers, because this web site has been misbehaving like this for at LEAST the 2 years I've owned this particular Ford.
  

What they're doing is kind of complicated, but it's not rocket science. With the right resources applied against it, this web site could have been fixed long ago. Instead, it's just different kinds of broken every time I go there. Yes, I have Java. Yes, on the Windows/IE side ActiveX is enabled. I don't have any funky firewall/security software installed on the Macs or Windows. These are pretty vanilla installs and the damn web site refuses to work consistently.

 

I am seriously at a loss for how to get updates for our car other than begging access to friends' computers (of which there is no guarantee the site will work there either) or taking it to the dealer every time.

 

Disclaimer: I'm a software engineer and, specifically, run a web product development team for a Fortune 500. I know more about how this stuff gets built than most people, and I gave it a really good shot before posting this rant. I don't necessarily like random bashing on forums, but I feel this is justified.

 

P.S. I know from an employee that works at Ford that until very recently (earlier this year, I think?) most employees were stuck with IE6 as their browser on work computers. IE6! Marketing teams had to get executive orders for third-party browser installs or use personal computers to do things like post on Facebook and Youtube, which don't work in IE6 anymore. I don't know how relevant this is to SyncMyRide.com, but if it's indicative of their corporate culture for adopting new technology then I can certainly see it having an impact in some way.

Edited November 21, 2012 by rogersmj

[rock7437]

Hi as a fellow mac user I can tell you that syncmyride works perfectly with safari v 6.0.2 for mac. There is a java control module that you have to install first (remember if you have Mountain Lion apple doesn't install java to your computer anymore so you have to download it from java.com yourself) once you have downloaded and installed java to your computer and you navigate to the site and click check for updates you will see a screen asking if you want to run the module.. select yes and all will be well.

 

Good Luck