UPDATE: The developers for WorldMate Live have released an update which now allows many of the locked-out users to gain access to their travel schedules.  If you were one of the unlucky blackberry users who were locked out with the upgrade, make sure you uninstall the broken application, reset your blackberry, and go to http://get.wmlive.com to download the updated version.  This new version will allow the previously locked-out users to login.

Thank you to the developers of WorldMate for fixing this issue.  I just wish there had been some communication about the issue.

This was going to be a review/recommendation for anyone who has a blackberry or windows mobile smartphone to go right now and pick up the WorldMate Live application, but something happened during the writing of this post.

This is the way it is supposed to work… if it worked at all.

A few days ago, I received a nice little email from the WorldMate Live crew about the brand new version which had some new features like hotel bookings and a few other updates.  And since I was leaving on an extending trip to different parts of Asia, I thought this would be a perfect opportunity to test out this new version.

Now I do have to say that up until this point, WorldMate Live has been a great program and I would have recommended this to everyone.  And now here comes the enormous BUT…..

But, after I upgraded the program and followed the instructions to reboot the blackberry, I attempted to sign-in to my Gold account (the paid version of the account), and the program decided to hang up and freeze.  And I was left staring at a screen that said “Please Wait…”

So I waited…
and waited….
and waited some more!

I thought maybe something had gone wrong with the download and the upgrade.  So I uninstalled the program and then rebooted.  I proceeded to download a fresh copy of the application on my blackberry and followed the installation instructions and then rebooted again.  Same problem, unable to sign into the account.

All the settings were correct.  I even followed some suggestions of going into the Blackberry’s options and choosing to “Allow” on all three of the application’s permissions.  Still no luck.

I decided it was time to contact WorldMate Live about this issue.  One of the reasons I paid the $99.95 for the application was the customer support that was stated was part of the Gold Plan.  I went to their website and read that I needed to go through their FAQs before submitting a support request.  So, I followed their wishes and actually read through every single FAQ they had on that site.  None of them answered my question.

So, I submitted a technical support request.  They don’t offer an email address, or a phone number, or a physical address to write.  You must fill out an online support request.  This didn’t bother me….UNTIL they didn’t respond.  I haven’t even gotten an email saying they were working on the issue or that they had received my support request.

The next day, I requested a link to the OLD version of WorldMate Live because I was leaving in a few days on my extended trip.  No response to that support request either.

So, I’m now stuck without a functioning application, out $100, and now I need to go enter all my trip details into another program or printout before my trip.  Until WorldMate Live realizes how important customer service is to paying customers, I can NEVER recommend this application to anyone.

If anyone has any ideas that I haven’t tried.  Or they know of the link to an older download version of WorldMate Live, please let me know.

Until then, all I can do is wait and hope that WorldMate Live grows up and learns the power of RESPONDING TO SUPPORT REQUESTS.