Unfair upgrade policy: Why offering free upgrades?

[wmercier]

Got an update for those of you, like me, who have been having problems installing the RVC5.1 upgrade. After several days of Support Msgs back and forth with no success, I receive a msg from Cheryl Wester with a new wrinkle. She informs me that since I was an earlier Suite purchaser I am obligated to pay an additional $9.95 if I want the upgrade. Later Suite purchasers receive the upgrade for free. Were this a fee across the board for everyone and made known in advance, then I could understand. My problem with this fee is Applian has selectively chosen earlier, loyal customers to gouge with this fee and given a free pass to later purchasers of the same $79 Suite. I was never notified that the RVC5.1 would require an additional payment and spent about 3 days trying to get the program installed. Big waste of my time including msgs back and forth to Support. To be honest, I feel that this is a rip off. I paid the same price for the Suite as later purchasers so why should I be assessed an additional $9.95 and they receive it for free? If it’s an upgrade that warrants an additional fee then everyone should be required to pay across the board. I’m curious as to how other Suite owners that are in my situation feel about Applian’s business practice of rewarding the later purchasers at the expense of gouging earlier, loyal purchasers? This may be Applians upgrade policy but for me it STINKS!

[wmercier]

What burns my A—is the fact that Applian is laying the charge on early purchasers of the Suite and giving a free pass to those who purchased the suite recently at the same price as me. I have no issue with a charge for a new or drastically reworked program that gives me value for my money as long as it’s spread across the board to all. Just because someone purchased recently shouldn’t give any priority to them over older loyal customers. Appliance’s Customer Loyalty STINKS. Any prospective purchasers should be aware that while they may win out in the short run, they will at some time in the future be the victim as all us older purchasers now are. With this underhanded business practice, I would definitely advise potential purchasers of Applian’s Suite to consider looking elsewhere.

[Tom Mayes]

Hi all,

We are not trying to gouge new customers versus old customers. Our policy since we introduced the Suite is to charge upgrade fees for either new programs in the Suite or existing programs that have been overhauled. This may include adding features that are "big" and have cost us human resources or royalty fees. We don't do this often, but when their is a large development cost to improve a program, we will share the cost with the user. The upgrade is always voluntary, and the cost is nominal. But, to the point about new versus old customers, an older customer has been using the programs for more than the 6 month free window. We are not penalizing that customer but acknowledging that that individual has had access to all of the programs for that entire time, while we are spending money to make improvements. We believe that this policy is as balanced as it can be. We have been maintaining this consistent posture for a long time - see our Upgrade and Update Policy here:
http://www.applian.com/support-upgrade_policy.php

We are a small company and do our best to develop and make available the best products on the market.

Regards,

Tom Mayes

[wmercier]

Applian’s charging policy and reasoning needs to be reconsidered by the company in my opinion. No question major overhauls, major addition of features or new programs does and should command compensation to the company. I have no argument with this. Applian states that this does not happen often but when it does Applian states that they share the cost with the user. NOT SO! They share the COST with SOME of the users. I may be missing something here but when this update came out, there was no hint that I recall of it being a paid, voluntary upgrade. Applian’s Upgrade Policy states that a message will go out prior to an Upgrade, informing of the Upgrade. I never received any notice. In fact, I had a number of exchanges with support over a 3 day period before Cheryl Wester pointed out, that to take advantage of this upgrade, I would have to pony up an additional $9.95. I don’t know about any of the other Suite owners but I never received any notice of this being a payment required Upgrade. If Applian offered this upgrade as an “Optional Buy” to everyone equally across the board, I would have no problem at all with this. My complaint and condemnation with Applian’s policy is that they reward newer Suite buyers with the free upgrade while penalizing the earlier purchasers by adding a charge on. Tom Mayes, in his above response notes that “an older customer has been using the programs for more than the 6 month free window”. I take exception to this statement. I PAID for this Suite as did others and nothing about it was free. Applian set the price and I paid it as did all others who purchased this Suite. Mr Mayes, you may state that this policy is balanced but I suggest you ask those of us who have to pay for the same upgrade program that recent Suite buyers receive for no additional cost. Were the program offered as an “Optional” purchase to all, then this would be reasonable. To charge only a select few that happen to be older loyal customers is an Insult! SHAME ON YOU APPLIAN FOR WHAT I FEEL ARE DISCREMENATORY BUSINESS PRACTICES ! ! ! Possibly it’s your position that you can gain favor with new potential customers by offering the latest upgrades at the same price as older customers paid for, while forcing the older customer to bear the burden of the shared cost. Applian appears to have a misguided sense of Customer Loyalty toward their older customers in my opinion. What say you Forum?

With my critical opinions and above statements I do want to say that I love your programs ! ! !

[Jimben]

Well I guess that answers my questions about the upgrade. I understand what Applian is saying, but when the Director Window says hay there is an upgrade for this you just go ahead and want to download it. However, it would have been nice to get some sort of information that this upgade will be a nominal cost for the upgrade and not have to submit tickets to tech support or have to go on this forum to find all this out here. Like most companies, it all comes down to COMMUNICATION or lack of.
I agreee with the above member wmercier, we did not get this for free, there was no FREE WINDOW.

Another thing that bothers me while we are on this rant, normally once I purchase software for my computer I am used to using it on at least 2 of my PERSONAL computers. I really do not like the idea I have to buy it again just to use it in a second PERSONAL computer. It is NOT used for business just my personal enjoyment. I know this will not change anything at Appilian but I am sure there are many who may have the same concern.

[DADEO]

I'm thinking this could be (the window) because say you just bought this a week or so ago and now here comes an upgrade. If it's a major upgrade and you just purchased (within the window) I could see the reason for getting it free. You would be p.o.ed if you just bought (within window) and then got hit again for the upgrade and another $9.95. Just a thought.

[wmercier]

With all due respect to both the new as well as older Suite purchasers. We all paid the purchase price and got a good set of programs. No argument there. If Applian comes up with a major upgrade that will benefit us all then why should I, as an older Suite purchaser be singled out to pay while the newer purchaser gets a free ride? If we all pay equally then in the end we’re both getting the same benefit at the same price. I don’t dispute that Applian is entitled to compensation for their upgrade efforts and expense. I just say that it’s fair game for all to pay the same as all will benefit the same from the upgraded product. My point is this. If it’s a program or upgrade that warrants payment then it should be offered on a level playing field. Everyone pays. Those that don’t want to pay the price don’t get the program be they new or older Suite purchasers. Why should a later Suite purchaser be given preferential treatment to receive 5.1 for free while I’m assessed an additional $9.95 for it or relagated to staying with 4.2?

[Jeff Lenney]

With all due respect to both the new as well as older Suite purchasers. We all paid the purchase price and got a good set of programs. No argument there. If Applian comes up with a major upgrade that will benefit us all then why should I, as an older Suite purchaser be singled out to pay while the newer purchaser gets a free ride? If we all pay equally then in the end we’re both getting the same benefit at the same price. I don’t dispute that Applian is entitled to compensation for their upgrade efforts and expense. I just say that it’s fair game for all to pay the same as all will benefit the same from the upgraded product. My point is this. If it’s a program or upgrade that warrants payment then it should be offered on a level playing field. Everyone pays. Those that don’t want to pay the price don’t get the program be they new or older Suite purchasers. Why should a later Suite purchaser be given preferential treatment to receive 5.1 for free while I’m assessed an additional $9.95 for it or relagated to staying with 4.2?

Nobody is getting 'preferred treatment'. Those with new purchases are able to get a refund for up to 30 days if they are not satisfied with our software. After that, they could purchase the latest version. As a courtesy, we spare them the hassle of processing the refund/re-purchase in order to get the upgraded version as it was most likely in the FINAL stages of development when they made their purchase, and often simply waiting a few days would have given them the LATEST version. Keep in mind, we only charge UPGRADE fee's every year or so and only when A-LOT of work and new development has been put into our software. I've been working on Replay Video Capture since it was put out 3-4 years ago, and I can count on one hand how many paid upgrades i've seen for it.

[wmercier]

Nobody is getting 'preferred treatment'. Those with new purchases are able to get a refund for up to 30 days if they are not satisfied with our software. After that, they could purchase the latest version. As a courtesy, we spare them the hassle of processing the refund/re-purchase in order to get the upgraded version as it was most likely in the FINAL stages of development when they made their purchase, and often simply waiting a few days would have given them the LATEST version. Keep in mind, we only charge UPGRADE fee's every year or so and only when A-LOT of work and new development has been put into our software. I've been working on Replay Video Capture since it was put out 3-4 years ago, and I can count on one hand how many paid upgrades i've seen for it.

Jeff Lenney. Maybe no one is getting preferred treatment in your mind but the new Suite purchaser is getting the program FREE while I’m being asked to pay for a product that Applian tells me is an Optional purchase. If both I and the new Suite purchaser ultimately own the exact same Suite Software Versions, then I ultimately have a total cost of $88.95 invested while the New Suite owner is in for $79. This sure smells of preferential treatment to me. If you want to make it fair then leave 4.2 in place and offer 5.1 to all across the board as an optional fee purchase. That would level the playing field for all customers and give Applian the compensation it rightfully deserves. The fact that these upgrades only come up every year or so does not lessen the impact or principal. $9.95 for a vastly improved program is well within reason for a product that Applian says is an Optional purchase. My only gripe is that ultimately everyone should own the Suites latest upgrades at the same total cost. Currently this is not the case.

I may be wrong on this point. Applian and the Forum can enlighten me on this but according to Applians Upgrade Policy a Message was to be sent to all, of the pending Upgrade as well as cost. I never received any notification message as per Applians Upgrade Policy. In fact I had a number of exchanges with support over a 3 day period before Cheryl Wester pointed out, that to take advantage of this upgrade, I would have to pay an additional $9.95 which leads me to believe that not only was a pending Upgrade message per Applian Policy not sent, but that even Applian Support Personnel were unaware of the Upgrade cost early on.

[alexthunder]

I'm thinking this could be (the window) because say you just bought this a week or so ago and now here comes an upgrade. If it's a major upgrade and you just purchased (within the window) I could see the reason for getting it free. You would be p.o.ed if you just bought (within window) and then got hit again for the upgrade and another $9.95. Just a thought.

It would be so frustrating to buy something and then upgrade it within the first month. Great policy, Applian!