Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I've been using this app on my Kindle Fire HDX for about a year and I love it. Then came a recent upgrade. The upgrade came with an offer for an all inclusive VIP access in-app purchase. For $89 you could get access to ALL puzzle packs--about 200 of them--which works out to about .45 cents a puzzle package. And I think that also included all new puzzle packs in the future. Anyway, I thought that was a pretty awesome deal for a jigsaw puzzle fanatic. So I bought it. Then all the puzzle packs in the store said they were free (instead of listing a price as they did previous to my VIP purchase). So far, so good. Unfortunately, as soon as I selected a new puzzle and tapped the download button, the download FAILED! I tried a different puzzle pack. The download failed. Another pack, another failure. By this time I was understandably upset. Not only had I spent $89 and received NOTHING, but now I was totally unable to download any new puzzles, which meant I would no longer be able to use my favorite app. Once I had built the last previously downloaded puzzle, I'd have nothing new to work on. So in a panic, I checked the product page on Amazon and found the developer listed, XIMAD INC. Frantically I looked for a way to contact XIMAD. I found nothing, zip, squat, nada. So I contacted Amazon and explained the problem. They promised to contact the developer on my behalf and get the problem resolved, and call me back in the next two days. While I was waiting to hear back from Amazon, I downloaded the app onto a brand new Kindle Fire to see if it would work as a fresh installation. The app installed okay. I went to the puzzle store and noticed every puzzle was free, so my VIP access was in effect. I tried to download a puzzle. Zip, nada, nothing. Then I tried to restore my previous paid purchases. I had previously purchased 15 puzzle packs. They also would NOT download. I also checked my app each day to see if the developers had fixed it and it had miraculously started working right. Nope. Finally, after waiting 5 days to hear from Amazon (they promised to contact me in 2 days), I called them and asked about the current standing of my problem. Apparently, they had emailed XIMAD, but XIMAD hadn't bothered to give them the courtesy of a reply. We tried a couple of things, but nothing worked. So I asked the Amazon rep for a refund. They don't normally give refunds on apps, but given the situation, they authorized it. God Bless Amazon! However, this still left me with the problem of not being able to use my favorite app. So I had an idea. I discussed it with Amazon's rep and he walked me through it. Anyway, I deleted the app from my devices. Then I went to the Manage Your Content and Devices Page on Amazon. I went to the apps library and I deleted the app from the cloud. WARNING! If you do that you will lose ALL in-app purchases. Now, I'd previously purchased 15 puzzle packs. I knew I'd lose them, but I hoped that by deleting the app from Amazon, I could repurchase it in its basic format, without the VIP access applied, and then be able to once again purchase and download individually priced puzzle packs, thereby once again being able to use the app. Thankfully, it worked! So thumbs up for Amazon, but thumbs down for XIMAD. It really makes me mad that they would put out such an expensive "sale" and not test it to be sure it worked. As far as the basic app goes, without the VIP access, I'd rate it at 4 stars. I also recommend that when you first buy the app, you purchase the GOLD PACK for $4.99 from in-app purchasing. This gives you access to a couple more background colors and 3 big puzzle packs, but most importantly, it gives you the NO ADS version of the app. I hate ads in an app, and this will remove them. The Gold Pack is a real bargain, and it actually WORKS! PROS: When I first bought this app in 2013, it was a huge battery drain. But they've fixed that problem, so kudos for that. I also like the "snap" sound you get when a puzzle piece clicks in the right place. The background colors are essential to contrast against the puzzle you're building, although I can't always find a perfect option. I'd like to see some more choices, although they do already have a nice selection, some are too dark, and I'd like to see some more lighter choices. I like being able to buy more puzzle packs, delete them when I'm done, and re-download them again for free if I feel the urge to work on that package again. I like being able to turn off the annoying "elevator music" that comes with the app, while still keeping the sound effects. But, what I really like about this app, over several other jigsaw puzzle apps I've tried, is the tray at the edge of the screen. This is where your puzzle pieces sit when you're not applying them to the puzzle. You can easily scroll through your pieces in the tray, thus leaving your puzzle workspace free of clutter. I think the concept is great; it's so much nicer than cluttering puzzle pieces around the edges of your work as other puzzle apps do. CONS: While I truly like this app, it loses a star because the puzzle shapes never change. That is, they change at each of the different levels, but if you work the same level all the time, like I do (280 pieces), you will gradually notice that the same shape pieces go in the same identical location every time. I can now look at a piece and know, at the very least, in what quadrant of the puzzle it goes, and often I know the exact location. It doesn't really bother me, but I think some folks might want more of a challenge. One way to increase the challenge is to turn on the rotation feature. That will mess you up good. :-) However, I tried that early on when I bought the app in 2013, and I didn't like it. Yes, it rotated the pieces and made the puzzle more challenging. However, sometimes the whole darn puzzle frame would flip around. That annoyed me. I haven't tried the rotation feature in about a year, so they may have fixed that little annoyance. UPDATE 12/22/14: I just tried the rotation feature again, and they have fixed the problem that made the frame (the outer rim of puzzle pieces) flip around if you accidentally tapped it. Now the frame stays locked in place, and the rotation feature is actually very nice if you want a challenge. A brand new annoyance that came with the new upgrade is the request for a review that pops up when you use the app. I have to say no every time, and it's starting to bug me. I don't do reviews from within an app. As you can see, I like to write a comprehensive review. I'm certainly NOT going to try that hunt-and-peck style from the virtual keyboard on my Kindle Fire. If I want to leave a review, I go to the product page on Amazon, on my computer, where I have access to a real keyboard. I don't mind them asking once or twice for you to leave a review. But that should be it. After you've said no a couple of times, they should stop bugging you. I suppose I could probably get the review request to stop popping up by leaving a review from within the app, but for the reasons cited above, I don't want to, and I feel that I shouldn't have to. Maybe I could leave a really short review: "I like it fine." Hmmm, doesn't say much does it? :-) Well I hope you find this review useful, and if anyone discovers that the VIP access is actually working, I'd love it if you'd let me know. I'm gun shy now, and I won't try buying it again unless I have gold-plated assurances that it will work. Happy puzzle building!