Bad customer service with USMLE-Rx

[kaige333]

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Hey everyone, wondering what your opinion and experience is on the user-friendliness of the USMLE-Rx Flash Facts?

Specifically, has anyone had the problem of not being able to delete an empty note that was made by mistake? Basically, if you make a note that has content in it, you can click on it afterwards, then a red trash can icon would show up with which you can delete the note. However if you create an empty note by mistake (ie. clicking "OK" without actually having written anything in the blank space), the empty note won't show up on the Note column but the note counter (the one with the pencil image at the upper left hand corner) would increase by one. Yet if you want to dial back the counter (if you are a little OCD like me and want to rectify the mistake), there'd be no way to do it because you can only find the delete/trash can button within a note. It is not the biggest deal since it doesn't really interfere with progressing and studying, but it's distracting and makes the product not very polished IMHO.

I also had the fortune to interact with the customer service which was lukewarm at best (you can't talk to anyone over the phone but can only write a msg on the website). The rep wasn't very helpful and at the beginning he wasn't really "listening" (over email). He finally got it after I wrote about the same problem in various ways like three or four times. He at first didn't acknowledge that was a bug, basically said nothing he could do, didn't seem to have any initiative in letting his superior or tech team know, and he suggested that I deleted all the progress I made so far and start all over again.

Hope you all have better luck than I do, any help, feedback, and comments would be greatly appreciate.

 

[Tajima]

I've had the same problem.

I wanted to re-do some used questions but when I tried to make a new test with 44 questions, the test would give a random number such as 17, 1, 5 etc of questions. Customer service was unhelpful.

 

[kaige333]

I've had the same problem.

I wanted to re-do some used questions but when I tried to make a new test with 44 questions, the test would give a random number such as 17, 1, 5 etc of questions. Customer service was unhelpful.

I see, sorry to hear that. I haven't tried to do what you did, but I'll let you know if I figure something out. Meanwhile, I'll keep bugging the support to work on the issues and hope they have some solutions and improvements soon.

Let's let more people know the product's buggy and customer support not helpful. I think that might just be the best way to compel these people to improve their user experience.

 

[Focused1]

Wait till you use Kaplan Qbank or Becker..

I bought a Kaplan Qbank subscription when I was preparing for my step 1.. I had finished 70% or so and one day all of a sudden I couldn't login ..finally when I managed to login all my progress was lost and it looked like I had a brand new subscription.. no progress whatsoever..
I asked the reps and they said that its a system flaw and they cat do anything about it.. so i was left with like 10 days and having to redo it all.. obviously i couldn't finish and so i extended my qbank for a month... at the middle of the second month.. the same f*cking thing happened again..
This time i just decided to take screenshots of the entire qbank and do it offline.. so now i have like 5000 screenshots (around 2-3 per question) in my computer.

I actually had a better experience with Rx than Kaplan.. though i clearly recollect the notes issue you are facing.

In Becker I made tests..finished em and then couldn't open them to review them. I asked customer care and they offered a new subscription or extension on the current one.. total b.s. ..
(this happened in like 5 tests.. so that was around 200 questions)

As far as UI goes:

UW > Rx = FC = Osmosis > Becker > Kaplan

I used all of the above and went through around 20 K questions total..

For Kaplan, i would go to the extent of saying.. if you get a bootlegged recent version of their QBank.. get that.. their systems suck and customer care made me hold for 30 mins on an international call that costed me like $20 just to call em...

 

[Tajima]

I was going to completely ignore Kaplan. I don't even know what Becker is but it doesn't sound promising. Are there anything in either of those banks that are worth spending time on them for?

I've been using Rx, FA, MMMRS, Goljan to fill in some blanks, and Costanzo or Katzung for tough concepts that aren't well-explained in FA.

For neuro I broke into my class notes. Neuro kinda sucks in FA IMO.

 

[kaige333]

I was going to completely ignore Kaplan. I don't even know what Becker is but it doesn't sound promising. Are there anything in either of those banks that are worth spending time on them for?

I've been using Rx, FA, MMMRS, Goljan to fill in some blanks, and Costanzo or Katzung for tough concepts that aren't well-explained in FA.

For neuro I broke into my class notes. Neuro kinda sucks in FA IMO.

Would you mind if I pick your brain about resources while we are at it?

For patho have you ever tried Robbins? I am reading the 9th edition and like it. Any opinion on how Goljan might be better than any other textbooks?

What's your personal take on CMMRS? I've heard FA is enough from some people. Specifically do you think CMMRS help you make more sense of the seemingly random facts to each microbe? Thanks!

 

[Tajima]

I have a very old edition of CMMRS and its pretty good as an initial read-through. I would read a topic, like all gram positives, and then go through the corresponding bugs in FA. Some things have changed since it was released (like bacterial names etc) but the crux of it corresponds to FA pretty well. FA is still the gold standard for prep.

I love Robbins but its too big to use as a primary source. Its helpful for clarifying unclear bullet points in FA.

Goljan is excellent because it covers path, physio and micro in a very integrated way. Because of that it is a TON of information and can be hard to digest. However Goljan also has some pathophysiologic explanations for things that I couldn't find anywhere else, including Robbins (which either means it is super low-yield or Goljan is excellent). Low-yield or not, I find knowing the details makes it easier for me to piece together things without relying 100% on rote memorization.

 

[mymembernames]

Worse customer service by far.

 

[surfguy84]

Does anyone know how to best utilize study stream? I'd like to use Flash Facts like I do anki; just doing one organ system at a time until I am comfortable enough to add another system. Though I'd like to continue doing all cards via the spaced repetition system they have. Do you know how often cards will re-appear if I mark them red or yellow?