Xenetech Engravers software glitches poor service don't buy products Baton Rouge Louisiana

 Hi Ryan, you mention that you would be willing to assist with that reprogramming of the software to make functional the engraving by colors options could you please help me I have this same challenge and was happy to read that you may have a solution for this issue. My email is diegoq007@gmail.com Thanks D

Ryan, I just read your report as well as the responses from interested individuals. I'd like to weigh in.

All I know about you or your original complaint is what I've read. I do know what it's like to deal with Xenetech. I purchased one of their first machines, and several more since then. I even dealt with the founder when he was improving on another company's work - long before he formed the company. He was a God-send to us Dahlgren owners back then.

I can say with a great deal of assurance that you are mistaken about this company. And I want anyone doing research on engraving equipment to know that what you are describing doesn't sound accurate.

Ryan - this company was formed because they knew the industry deserved better. Jay and his team created breakthrough after breakthrough, revolutionizing computerized engraving more than once. I'm dating myself, but when they created the industry's first visual application - with which you could see the job before pressing start - it was like the invention of the automobile. Not only did Xenetech owners benefit, but our customers did as well, because we finally had a logical way to focus on design quality. We all got better because of Xenetech.

Yes, over the years there was the occasional board that needed to be replaced or software version that needed to be patched. We all saw it as a small cost that was totally outweighed by the benefit of the company continually pressing the envelope with cutting-edge improvements that we put to work long before our competitors (without xenetechs) could catch up.

If they shut you down, I'm assuming you made yourself pretty hard to deal with. And reading the provocative style of your posts, it's not hard to believe.

Engraving buyers: take it from someone who purchased multiple systems - this is a first class company that cares about the industry and its customers. You will be happy choosing Xenetech.

Shawn
Cleveland, OH
Long-Time Customer

hi, i am currently looking for a current motherboard with a compatible isa slot for a long apu board, i was wondering what type of motherboard do you use use that works with this apu board? thanks! 

Hi, Everyone.

My, my. Such animosity. Let me start by saying that I am neutral as far as how good or bad Xenetech equipment is. All that I may say about this issue is that the customers whom I have, while being aware of a few glitches here and there, overall have had fairly good experiences with the Xenetech units. A few have tried to update their computers or OS software with negative experiences, but that's where I come in. Let me explain.

Although I cannot speak to the stability, utility or usefulness of Xenetech software or drivers, I do install them for customers on occasion, sometimes with a little help from Xenetech's customer service. I have always had courteous, knowledgeable employees who have helped me in the past, but that is just my experience. (A side note to those of you who are having terrible problems with the customer service personnel: remember, you will catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.)

In any case, and the only reason that I am posting is that, I will endeavor to try to help out a few of you with my comments. To begin, let me say that I own a computer company, Mac and PC Experts in Palm Desert, CA, and we have Xenetech users as customers. I do not know if my experience is typical, but all of the units with which I am familiar, both Xenetech and the computers that control them, are old.

I read quite a few comments about Xenetech customers' computers breaking down, probably with age-related issues. I have good news on that front. As I mentioned in the above paragraphs, I had some Xenetech users who tried to upgrade their systems past the Xenetech's limits. I have received more than a few frantic calls over the years.

Let me explain what I have done in the past, and what I will continue to do into the future. As for the comments about how the technology to run the Xenetechs is almost non-existent these days, let me allay your fears. I have a customer, as I am writing this post, who is waiting on me to finish rebuilding her computer-the one that controls her Xenetech. She has the full APU board in her computer, and I had no problem, with hers or any other customers' computer rebuilds, finding new parts, including motherboards, that are based on, and are fully compatible with the old technology.

For instance, the computer that I am upgrading right now (yes, I did say "upgrading," but only slightly, so as not to manufacture a "boat anchor" [the words that I use to describe a useless computer]) needed a new motherboard that would support the full ISA card. I had multiple options when I went to buy one from my suppliers. In fact, with all of the rebuilds that I have done for Xenetech customers, the prices have remained remarkably stable over the years, and NEW parts, as opposed to old ones from "pulls," are just as available now, and for quite reasonable prices, too, as they have ever been. There might be fewer suppliers, but with the number of suppliers who still stock this merchandise, there is not, nor will there be, a shortage of relatively inexpensive, new parts to keep these older computers chugging along like new for quite a while.

And the best news, as regards the cost of these rebuilds--and remember, I said that the prices have remained remarkably stable--is that the price to my customers, including labor, still hovers around $400.00 a unit for a complete rebuild. If you were expecting the cost to be higher, or the parts to be unavailable, then this might be music to your ears.

The fact is, if you have a reputable old salt, such as me, in your hometown or city, and one who knows his way around old and new technology, such as do I, then you should have no problem keeping your Xenetech running smoothly into the near future.

I guess what I am trying to say, besides the fact that no one need worry about the availability of the old technology and the ability to keep it running, is to support your local, independent computer company. Us old guys are smarter than some of the young guys think we are, plus we grew up cutting our teeth on the old technology. So who better to repair your systems than someone who is intimately knowledgeable about them? "No one," is the correct answer, in case you were not paying attention.

Okay, that is enough out of me. And to all of you long-time Xenetech customers, I wish you all the best. And if you were my customers, that is exactly what you would get, in my humble opinion...just saying. ;-)

Cheryl or should I say Cher Braga?

I understand you are simply trying to make Joe Xenetech and yourself look good. I appreciate the passion and hostility you have put forth in your insults towards me personally. Clearly you do not practice what you preach. Thanks for your kind words.

Jason,

Not to rain on your cute little parade, but my engraver had started to malfunction again. Just like usual Mr. Joe Braga thought If I updated to a new version of Xenetech it might solve the issue. Did it? Or course not. So no Jason I did not choose to update my version of Xenetech. This was yet another failed attempt by Joe Braga to fix another BUG. I like how Xenetech is on what version 7.xxx now? :) that's alot of patches.

We also experienced some power outages which resulted in a computer crash. Even though I own this machine and software I still have to contact Xenetech anytime I install this software on a computer. So again Jason I didn't choose to do this because I like the Xenetech product, I was forced to do so. Read my other post to Joe. We are in the business of making money not spending money.

Joe.

Thanks for your input. We are in the business of MAKING money not SPENDING money. It's a pretty simple concept. Do we hate this machine? You bet, it has never worked to it's full potential and your promises from day 1 both you and I know that, one of the reasons we are still overwhelmed with work in this recession is because we are frugal with our money and have simply dealt with all the BUGS and glitches on this machine. Xenetech software is inferior. Xenetech switched up to the viper technology because they realized they had an issue with the 32pin setup, then expexted existing customers to upgrade at a premium price. Joe if I owned Xenetech I would black list your from being a distributer. You should wright a book on excuses, because that's all you ever had for this machine. You are the first sales rep I have ever encountered that simply walked away from a sale. I don't blame you though I wouldn't want to answer all my lies on a daily basis either. You are also the only sales rep that I have ever seen advise a client to take a machine they purchased from you to another company that could retrofit the machine and eliminate Xenetech components. This company which you referred us to Joe is Q1 Engravers. I met with Fred and I asked him "What's the number one complaint you get about Xenetech" his respone was totally fitting "Joe Braga" So im not the only customer that has had to endure all BS you spew from your mouth.

Joe I also love how you can't man up and understand why we would be upset after purchasing a product from you that didn't and still does not work properly? You sit here and blatantly lie about us, saying we called, harassed, threatened etc... All of this is a LIE and simply an out for you. Anytime a company feels the need to tell me the owner is a MAN OF GOD raises big concers with me. That has nothing to do with business.

Here is the difference though Joe. You can only fabricate a lie and type it on this site. here is what I will do for you. Im going to make a cool YOUTUBE video. I will show how the Xenetech machine really operates. It will show how inaccurate it drill holes, I will be using my dial indicator to showcase this. I will also show how it's not possible to retain a start postition from a  "manual cutter set at start" etc... I at the end of the day will Have proof and you will only have your false words and promises.

Joe I have been able to get this machine to make me money for years. It's now come to the point where another person will be trained to run this machine and I cannot afford to higher a mechanical engineer to run a simple rotarty engraver table. This machine is in the process of being retired. Any luck finding another motherboard? But we both know that won't solve one of the current problems don't we. I will be sure to email you the link for the youtube video and update this thread here.

Joe the only people that have shed any posotive light to this thread are people like you who work for the company not real consumers like me.

   I have read the comments you have made, and listened to the the rebutals.  Everything you say that will not work for you, is because you are not seeing the fact that Xenetech Upgrades are a response to the PC Eniviroment or you just not listening.  Is the PC you purchased a decade ago even able to be upgraded or should it be thrown away? The Folks at Xenetech have been there for you even when you have yelled and cursed at them.  They finally black balled you when you used langauge that only a person harboring great bias against a race of people and sub-culture would use.  If you dislike Xenetech so much, why is it you cannot part with your 2550 after all these years?  Is it because you use it daily and are dependant on it?  We, that are assocated with Xenetech product line, whether distributor or one of the thousands of clients hope that you find the peace you need before you actually hurt someone. 

But we also challenge the webmaster of this site to post a rebuttal correctly so when someone views this on a search egine they can easily view the rebuttals as well.  As to this site I beileve has been a great help to the Xenetech name helping to get it out to general public.

 2-day Signs it was fun...

Ryan,

I am in the market for a new laser and googled Xenetech and though they might have changed their ways until I saw the Rip-off report and read it. Your experience is very similar to mine years ago. I bought one of the first computerized engravers Xenetech made. It had alot of problems. They switched out boards and power supplies with no resolution of the problems. One example -Near the end (~75% complete) of a plaque with colums of names, the engraver would RETURN HOME CUTTER DOWN for no reason and ruin the plate. Customer no service did not believe it and blamed it on me. After the same problem you had Ryan they would not return calls and tried to sell me upgraded customer service. Ben was involved and basically said it was not on their radar to fix the problem. I told them I would let others know of this crappy atitude and customer service. I felt like we got suckered into believing their lies about how great they are and how they'll always be there to help/service any problems, but once they got my money sorry your on your own. DO NOT BUY from Xenetech! Don't drink the Kool-Aid!

Ryan

Might I suggest that you sell your engraver so that people like us who happen to have great service with this REPUTABLE COMPANY don't have to listen to you wine?

Maybe it's not Xenetech at all......maybe it's you and the fact that you might be not so mechanically inclined.

My father has a Xenetech 12X25 with a long APU Board.  Ben suggested the same thing to me.  I purchased an older computer but with a faster Pentium Processor and my Xenetech Engraver runs great!  Ben and the rest of the crew have done everything to help out.  I was told ahead of time that a faster Pentium may not work or be compatible, but what could I lose.  I was also told that it may freeze up.  I am not a computer guru, but I purchased an older computer with an ISA Slot, put everything in with a larger hard drive and it works fine.....

My father who is 76 years old runs this engraver every day!!!!  Without it he would be lost.  Let me tell you, it has been 6 years and the computer is STILL RUNNING WITH THE OLD ISA SLOT and long APY Card.!!!

Xenetech doesn't force anyone anything.  Maybe you should think about how you treat people.  Let alone, maybe Xenetech shouldn't even answer your calls!!  You are so hell bent on trashing them.....why should they give you support.  Maybe you are just not happy in your personal life so you need to take it out on everyone else, because you don't know how to fix things let alone run a Xenetech Engraver.

As I said, Xenetech gave me instructions, I put my Father's long APU Board in the older computer with a faster pentium and it runs fine.  Xenetech doesn't leave customers without working systems.............BUT XENETECH DOES MAKE SYSTEMS FOR WORKING CUSTOMERS.......maybe you need a job as opposed to your current one of wining!!!!

Cheryl

Don't expect people to help you when you have already trashed them.  Let alone, if you warranty is gone....they really don't need to help you.  So when you treat a vendor like crap.......you deserve crap in return.  The way you treat Xenetech and the constant and nasty comments you make about them......IF THEY WERE OR ARE SUCH A BAD COMPANY IN YOUR EYES WHY DO YOU CALL THEM FOR HELP.......Hmmm seems to me you're only mad at them when you cannot get your own way....

I almost forgot about the PCI card slot problem. Man I about died when I read the "bugs" comment. Trust me if you are even considering purchasing any type of engraver be it a rotary or laser avoid this company. There are too many companies manufacturing "Non-Propriatary" machines. Any company that makes you pay for a driver to simply use a program that was coded better than their own software should give you a red flag instantly.

If you have ever used a program such as CorelDraw of Engravelab you will absolutely hate the Xenetech software. I think a monkey must have coded the program.

Anyone interested in a used 25x52 unit I have sitting in out shop collecting dust????

xenetech also forces you to pay for an upgrade when they can not get their existing hardware to function with new operating systems and faster hardware.

we have a xenetech table with what is referred to as the "long apu card" installed in our PC, these cards were sold to us in the 90's and we use them to communicate with our engravers. The PCs will ALWAYS fail, they will need to be replaced about every 4 years depending on use, this is not xenetech's problem as they are not responsible for your pc. when we last had a PC go down it was quite some work to find a newer PC with an "ISA" (the older style PC card type) slot capable of supporting the "long apu card". once everything was installed and configured, the APU card would not communicate with the PC. we were informed by xenetech that the "long apu card" was not compatible with PC processors faster then 1.6GHz. you will find that it is impossible to have a new computer running their APU card, we have spent hundreds of hours testing and wasting our own money to find this out.

i was informed that they do not intend on fixing this. they do not carry the PCI cards anymore (because of some technical disaster on their part) that were the follow up to the "long apu card".

they gave us two options:

1. go to some sort of "used computer" store to find a computer that does work (keep in mind this only buys you a short time, since it is a used computer)
2. upgrade for $4000+ to their newer system.

BEWARE of a company that is willing to leave existing customers without a working system, this is not what i consider a quality company. oh, and the software has more bugs than south america.

Anyone want to asnwer the questions?

Why does the Xenetech Global rotary driver not include "Engrave by Color"?

Why does Xenetech crash when you try to export a file out?(I.E. 25.5x table multiplate size 2x3 full page) I made the system crash right in front of your partner in Vegas Joe. He had no answer. Again stright from Ben at Xenetech "that's on our wish list we will not fix it for you" That's CUSTOMER SERVICE cheryl?

When sending a job to the engraver Via Cadlink using the "manual set at start option" The machine drills straight through the substrate and adown into the table? WTF is that. That driver is worthless. Simply eliminating xenetech products has been the best decision ever made.

I also really liked the Half a** proto-type braille drill tool at the sign expo. Especially when your competitors right down the way had a fully functionl working setup.

Sales rep of the year if you ask me. Couldn't get a laser to work right so you walked out of the deal? Best decision ever made Kern Lasers smokes that crappy unit we almost bought.


Joe did you ever figure out why the proximety sensor does not work correct. You saw it drill inaccurate braille dots in my office even measured the holes yourself with a micrometer. You mentioned you had another client with the same problem and you would square it away. What happened?

Basically after reading everything and your gross comments about Xenetech, it appears that the individual at fault here is in fact yourself. If you truly are such a SMART person and KNOW EVERYTHING........than why didn't you ASK these questions BEFORE your purchase?

Don't blame other people for your own mistakes. In General, most consumers understand that before you buy, ask questions or look it up. In your case, you claim to be able to pinpoint so many mistakes AFTER your purchase......but you never asked the right questions BEFORE you purchased. Hmmmmmm, not such a SMART cookie after all!!!

I however am NOT a Sales Rep and can give many, many references from reputable companies that are thrilled with their Xenetech Engraving Machines, even the earlier ones. You send in this report because you made a mistake and didn't ask questions...............so it appears that because of your lack of knowledge in running the software, you blame everyone but yourself. I wasn't tutored nor shown by a Sales Rep on how to run the software. I run the equipment and make beautiful Police Plaques. THAT'S THE EASE OF XENETECH SOFTWARE FOLKS!!!!

Consumers out there, let this example of this individual show you to ask many questions before purchasing and tell them what you want to make with the equipment. Xenetech will answer any question you have and they back it, always have.

You sir, however, I must admit, come across as a whiner, complainer and overall not as smart as you try to make everyone think you are in your complaint. If you knew so much about Xenetech software, you would have asked these questions prior to, known the answer before the design engineer....and could have won the Nobel Prize for being the Smartest Psychic on the face of this earth. I agree with Joe B., in that maybe your problem is that you DON'T KNOW how to run the software or maybe even the Xenetech.

Maybe you should sell the Xenetech............How Much???

Cheryl S.

Ray,

I must object to you running criticism of Xenetech. First let me say, I do not live in Louisiana. I have known Ben Rosenstein for almost 20 years. I have worked with him in other corporations.

I also have a Xenetech 12X25 Router. I purchased it in 1991. I have never had a problem getting in touch with Ben. If he doesn't call right away....that's your problem for sitting on your "Laurels" doing nothing productive.

This company has always bent over backwards in repairing an older version Xenetech. THAT'S CUSTOMER SERVICE!!! Even though this model Xenetech is not on the market and is over ten years old, Ben Rosenstein has the knowledge, compassion and faith to get it running every time.

Xenetech is not about the money......they are in fact about the consumer. They will try every angle to assure the equipment is running. They are cost conscious, effective and personable.

Ben is always there when I needed him and my parents have always called upon him for help as well. I have never NOT known Ben Rosenstein, or for that matter ANY employee of Xenetech to never return a call.

Maybe it's YOU who isn't trying hard enough and maybe it's you sitting there whining and waiting for someone else to do the work for you. You know, people don't jump at the snap of a finger just because "You" think you are better than anyone else.

Next time have a little compassion. I have been in business for 15 years. I have always treated my customers with respect and they treat me the same. If I ever had a customer like you.........I would drop you like a "Hot Rock". Patience is of virtue.....of which you have none!

In my eyes, it's not the company you are complaining about.........it's the fact you couldn't demand someone to satisfy your crybaby attitude in two seconds flat.

For all of you people out there...Xenetech in 20 years has never failed me and multiple other business associates who have the old and newer equipment. They are always there when you need them. Ben Rosenstein has many, many years in the engraving industry, stemming back to Rowmark(R) Material and knowing every nitch about engraving software. He can take a Dahlgren Wizard apart like legos. You want experience......that's the type of experience that comes with Xenetech. You can't get that anywhere else!

Regards
Cheryl

Yes I am a Sales Rep. for Xenetech, But I also run a Signage and Engraving Operation, and that was the place I was talking from. But to answer your statement. You where on 2550 with Standard old electronics; Those units required a driver to run from other softwares, This is a fact of capitalism, Companies will charge for development, Even though Xenetech has given upgrades for free for Years only charging for sale modules, like the one your talking about.
The New gear does not require that module. We dealt with your company for many years, and from my side I ever really had any problems until I lost a half lung and Hostpitalized , at that piont I realized that you were in the habit of cursing at the customer support people at Xenetech. This became so bad on your part, that you became only the 3rd company since 1984 that Xenetech choose not to deal with. Lastly, the Tradeshow that you are talking about we sold 9 of those machines, and one you said was not functioning correctly, that one on the floor was any ready sold at the piont you came by. We at Xenetech have tried to be professional to your company, a company that we no longer wish to do busines with.(again only the 3rd company in 21 Years Plus) But there always to another side to any story. The wierd thing is your still using the Xenetech software, Why? if it so bad. In closing -please- continue to shout out your complains, 2 clients that you complained, to purchased units in your area just last week. You keep this up I may have to put on commission... We are a good and strong company, number 1 in North America last year, we hope you have better luck with whatever Engraving operation you choose, just try not to curse at them....Joe

Yes I am a Sales Rep. for Xenetech, But I also run a Signage and Engraving Operation, and that was the place I was talking from. But to answer your statement. You where on 2550 with Standard old electronics; Those units required a driver to run from other softwares, This is a fact of capitalism, Companies will charge for development, Even though Xenetech has given upgrades for free for Years only charging for sale modules, like the one your talking about.
The New gear does not require that module. We dealt with your company for many years, and from my side I ever really had any problems until I lost a half lung and Hostpitalized , at that piont I realized that you were in the habit of cursing at the customer support people at Xenetech. This became so bad on your part, that you became only the 3rd company since 1984 that Xenetech choose not to deal with. Lastly, the Tradeshow that you are talking about we sold 9 of those machines, and one you said was not functioning correctly, that one on the floor was any ready sold at the piont you came by. We at Xenetech have tried to be professional to your company, a company that we no longer wish to do busines with.(again only the 3rd company in 21 Years Plus) But there always to another side to any story. The wierd thing is your still using the Xenetech software, Why? if it so bad. In closing -please- continue to shout out your complains, 2 clients that you complained, to purchased units in your area just last week. You keep this up I may have to put on commission... We are a good and strong company, number 1 in North America last year, we hope you have better luck with whatever Engraving operation you choose, just try not to curse at them....Joe

Yes I am a Sales Rep. for Xenetech, But I also run a Signage and Engraving Operation, and that was the place I was talking from. But to answer your statement. You where on 2550 with Standard old electronics; Those units required a driver to run from other softwares, This is a fact of capitalism, Companies will charge for development, Even though Xenetech has given upgrades for free for Years only charging for sale modules, like the one your talking about.
The New gear does not require that module. We dealt with your company for many years, and from my side I ever really had any problems until I lost a half lung and Hostpitalized , at that piont I realized that you were in the habit of cursing at the customer support people at Xenetech. This became so bad on your part, that you became only the 3rd company since 1984 that Xenetech choose not to deal with. Lastly, the Tradeshow that you are talking about we sold 9 of those machines, and one you said was not functioning correctly, that one on the floor was any ready sold at the piont you came by. We at Xenetech have tried to be professional to your company, a company that we no longer wish to do busines with.(again only the 3rd company in 21 Years Plus) But there always to another side to any story. The wierd thing is your still using the Xenetech software, Why? if it so bad. In closing -please- continue to shout out your complains, 2 clients that you complained, to purchased units in your area just last week. You keep this up I may have to put on commission... We are a good and strong company, number 1 in North America last year, we hope you have better luck with whatever Engraving operation you choose, just try not to curse at them....Joe

To Joe B.

Not to suprised to see you glorify a company that YOU WORK FOR as a sales rep. Why is is that you omitted this information from your little post?

Just to let the consumers know if you would like to use an alternate software program Xenetech will require you to purchase a special driver. This is something else they will fail to tell you upfront. There a countless machines on the market that will allow you to output a job to the machine with a standard print driver no special 250 dollar driver needed.

This driver is called the Xenetech Rotary Driver. In my case it was purchased to be used in conjunction with engravelab made by Cadlink. A very well known software developer.

Here is where it gets good. I will try to explain this scenario the best I can. Let's say I want to create a name plate 4"x8" with 2 lines of .75" text and the first line will say ABC and the applique I wish to cut will have the thickness of 1/32 now the second line shall say 123 and the applique thickness is 1/16. Ok great the first line is green and the second line is red. In the Xenetech software you engrave by color. This allows you to set the machine up to engrave a multitude of colors at once or you have the option to engrave by one color only. So let's now look at where we will encounter some problems. If I were to output this job to the engraver via Xentech software I could choose to engrave the first line which has an applique thickness of 1/32 I would do this by choosing the green to be engraved first and only engrave the green line. You see I would have to set the depth of the engraver bit for 1/32 if the machine was to engrave the red or second line after the first line it would only engrave 1/32 into a 1/16 peice of applique.

Pretty much pointless.Basically I would engrave all my green lines. Then I would engrave all my red lines. 2 adjustments no problem. Here is the kicker after purchasing this driver if you output that same exact job to your engraver using corel or cadlink or flexi the most important option was not programmed into this global driver. You cannot choose what colors get engraved. The machine will engrave the entire plate! WTF is the point of buying this driver if you cannot engrave by color? Is that not one of your biggest selling points? The driver is basically a mini xenetech program. It will pop up a control window that has all the settings as the Xentech software except it's missing the ENGRAVE BY COLOR settings. Trust this is a major issue.

This was brought to the companies attention and they simply stated they would put that on "their wish list of things to fix" What a joke. The easiest way to avoid countless other problems is to avaid Xenetech all together.

A perfect example of how this ompany operates was when I was at the Annual Sign cConvention in SD Xenetech had a display booth set-up. They were trying to sell a Automatic Braille raster tool. This machine was still a freaking proto-type the guy running the machine had excuses left and right. Meanwhile after cruising the Isles low and behold there is one of their competitors and guess what his machine had? Ding Ding Ding a fully functional automatic braille machine that worked perfectly.

I no longer use any xentech products and I also no longer have a headache.

I have owned Xenetech's for 10 year plus and had nothing but a great response to my issues, even though I have had very few. I own a Xenetech Laser, and 1313XOT, a 2525XOt and 2550XOT. The problems you had must have been short lived on the software as I do a lot of ADA and never ran into that one. I run my units from Xenetech's XGW software, CorelDraw and FlexiEngrave. The controler can run from any software that outputs, HPGL or G-code. So if the XGW software is to advanced for your needs, use something else, it is easy setup. I have 9 trophy, sign and industrial shops that are friends that use the Xenetech Systems and would not change for anything. If there is a minor conflict with a single person there, they do have 17 individuals that are trained in customer service, 3 of which do nothing but. Though your thoughts are vaild to your experience with this company; I thought you should know that the mass majority of Xenetech customers have had great success with the Xenetech product line.
From reading your comments I feel a greater knowledge of the XGW software may be the answer or change to another software like FlexiEngrave may be the ticket. But it does sound like you use the XGW as your main software, either way... Good luck Joe B