Summary: Do NOT Buy FranklinCovey PlanPlus
Comment: I have never written a review of a software product before. I felt compelled to write one about FranklinCovey's PlanPlus For Microsoft Outlook 2.0 because I hope to that it will dissuade people from wasting money on this product.
Until I bought this product, I had no beef with the company FranklinCovey. I have been using their paper planner for the last 6 years. I had hoped that PlanPlus would simplify my life by allowing me to use planning tools while in Outlook. In reality, I have had nothing but trouble with the nearly impossible installation, the buggy product, and the infuriating tech support.
It started when I tried to install the product on my laptop. I worked with their tech support online (they charge if you want to actually speak with someone). I went through quite a few tech support people, many of whom seemed to repeat the same mantra of "uninstall/reinstall" which I did countless times. I really had to push them to get them to help me. When they were stumped and they said they would research the issue and get back to me and of course they never did. Eventually I got someone online and I would not let them go until we resolved the installation problem. After 5 days of working at this, it was finally installed. To my horror, it slowed down outlook so significantly that I decided to uninstall it.
Around the same time I was dealing with problems with the install on my laptop, I was trying to also install this on my desktop PC. I worked with tech support for about 3 weeks off and on. Again, they were stumped. They kept repeating the phrase, "We will get back to you at the earliest." I never heard back from them. Now I wonder what they meant. Was it the earliest ice age? The earliest millenium? They kind of left it open for interpretation. It's been several months now and I have wasted so much time on this. I was never able to install the product, I kept getting an error message and the installation would stop.
I can't return the product because they don't accept returns on software if it has been opened. All I can do at this point is vow never to buy another FranklinCovey product again and encourage others to reconsider their plans to purchase this product. If you are a diehard Franklin Planner user, like I was, I would recommend that you stick with the paper planner - it's far less buggy and you won't have to deal with an indifferent tech support that will "get back to you at the earliest."
Customer Rating:
Summary: Perhaps 2.0 is better
Comment: I wouldn't risk it based on the reviews here. The first version ruined my Exchange profile - now I can't have tasks in Outlook -EVER. FC Support is worthless. So ironic that a company that puts so much emphasis on integrity and excellence put out such an incredibly shoddy product. I'm sorry - I can't trust a company that would release such an incredibly bad product.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Slow, Crashes, but nice idea...
Comment: I'd wait to buy this until they come out with version five or so. By then, the bugs might be gone. As it is now, I'm using Outlook 2002 on a Windows XP 3ghz machine with 1gb of RAM, and it takes me 34 seconds to load Outlook (time for the splash screen to go away). Occasionally it will tell me it had to disable PlanPlus on startup as well. The memory usage (if you leave it open all the time like I do) is high as well, although I don't notice it much, having such a leet box (translation: fast computer).
I do give them 2 stars instead of 1 because it's pretty. I decided to use it based on screenshots alone. Outlook 2002 on its own is really dull, especially after you've looked at it daily for years. The extras (like the Compass, Mission/Values, and Goals) are very similar to their planner kits' first few pages. So if you liked those, I'm sure you'll enjoy the extras on PlanPlus.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Nice interface, but really slow
Comment: I am running PlanPlus on a 10 month old Gateway 450 laptop. XP is my operating system. Accordingly, I think my computer, while not brand new, ought to be able to accomodate the general office tasks I ask it to perform.
Plun Plus has a nice interface-- I like having all the outlook features in front of me and it's relatively easy to use the FranklinCovey tools. That said, it takes forever to load Outlook now and probably every third time I open an email box, I get 90 seconds of the hourglass. The irony is stark: this tool that promises increased productivity has become a barrier to that objective. I wish I had paid attention to the 30-day try-out period, because I would have sent it back. Wish I had bought it on Amazon, too, because I would have payed considerably less.
Customer Rating:
Summary: PDA Sync issues abound
Comment: I'm probably like most of you in that I'm not so sure I want my life this documented, controlled, etc....as Mr. Covey does. Kinda creepy if you ask me. That being said, the tool is pretty useful if you have a boatload of stuff going on and you need to budget your time. My goal was to quit lugging around my laptop, my cell phone, and my planner everywhere I went. So I took the electronic plunge, bought a cell phone/PDA with wireless internet, and started syncing up with Outlook 2003. Now I'm down to my planner and my CellPhone/PDA. Next, eliminate the planner, so I install PlanPlus. Functionality: very good. Some tasks I entered immediately disappeared, but hey, I didn't read anything so coulda been my fault. However, much to my dismay, I find that when it syncs up with Outlook 2003 it hits some security issue, and a bunch of Outlook activity like Automated Send/Receive comes to a halt...a "semi-hang". A dialog box appears and you have to authorize access to something and then everything is fine. The problem with this is that it hangs my wireless sync when I'm out at a client site because I'm not at my desk to simply click on anything when I'm miles away from my office. (isn't this the point of a wireless sync?!?!?).
FranklinCovey, arrogant company they are, has taken the position that it is a problem with Outlook 2003 since their software works with previous versions of Outlook, and tech support are arrogant, ignorant, and intractable about the issue. They refuse to even engage in conversations like "well, it is now a FEATURE in Outlook that your software can't work with, so will you be addressing this soon in a fix?" Their answer has consistently been "no, because OUR software isn't broken, it's a problem with Outlook". Hmmm.....as if Microsoft will respond to FranklinCovey? But, it's worth it right now for all the other stuff it gives me, and I'm sure they will have to address this issue some day or they won't be sell any as Outlook 2003 and its successors become the norm. Hey! Even arrogant, obnoxious people get nice when they sit at home alone every night!