Feedback regarding renewals.

[Malcolm M]

Hello,

I recently went to download my paid copy of Invision Power Board, and lo and be hold I am not able to because I have to renew my license. Wait what?? 

I paid $200 for the Invision Community Suite.. ok, and forums, then additionally I paid another $100 for pages, another $150 for downloads and blogs and some renewals. In total that is $450+!!!! If I do not pay for a renewal you should not refuse access to License URL or download section. Now, I'm not saying he I should always have access to newest updates, No. What I'm saying is that anything previous to the point I stopped paying should be available to me. 

 

P.s IPB4 fan boys/girls go away.

[Day_]

4 hours ago, DeezSkittles said:

P.s IPB4 fan boys/girls go away.

[Lindy]

I am sorry for your frustration. As this is the way the system has always worked, we would welcome the opportunity for feedback on how we could make it clearer in terms of what happens upon license expiration, so you have the opportunity to archive your download and/or make any last minute changes. 

We want you to renew based on the inherent value in continued development of the software, new features, services such as spam mitigation, support, etc.; it is not our intent to force you to renew under duress and it's most disheartening that you feel otherwise. 

When you purchase an initial license, the software is indeed yours to use under the terms of the EULA and SoS. The terms dictate that you may use the software as-is, at time of expiration, indefinitely. Unfortunately, as you've noted, reinstallation and downloads do require an active license. 

There are a few reasons we don't provide downloads of previous releases. Beyond the security and liability implications of providing known-vulnerable software for download, it is also logistically difficult to do so. When you click download in the client area, your download is actually dynamically generated real-time from our release repository. We do not actually maintain downloadable archives (in fact, even internally, sometimes a staff member will need to get an old version from another staff member quickly) and because of the endless app configurations, it's not particularly feasible to do so without a major overhaul to our client systems, our development process, how we use git, etc. Your installed version is recorded as 4.3. Even if you had an active license, we no longer maintain 4.3 in our release repository and there's no way to download it. 

We don't take away what you've paid for; We simply do not maintain a readily-usable archive of old releases and again, that is the case even if you renew and have an active license and for the aforementioned reasons, it's not something we would be particularly interested in changing. As I said, however, if there's an opportunity to make that clearer, we would absolutely welcome the feedback. 

Once again, I'm very sorry for your frustration and disappointment. 

 

[Malcolm M]

23 hours ago, Lindy said:

When you purchase an initial license, the software is indeed yours to use under the terms of the EULA and SoS. The terms dictate that you may use the software as-is, at time of expiration, indefinitely. Unfortunately, as you've noted, reinstallation and downloads do require an active license. 

This isn't really right.. We should have access to whatever version that we last paid. Good to know that I wasted money.

[Lindy]

30 minutes ago, DeezSkittles said:

This isn't really right.. We should have access to whatever version that we last paid. Good to know that I wasted money.

Some companies charge per major upgrade. Some charge a monthly subscription fee. Some charge an up-front license fee and then periodic renewals. We've opted to do the latter. This means you're not paying per version; when you renew, you'll have access to the current versions for as long as your license is active. Because we don't sell on a per-version basis and we typically only support the current major release series, we do not maintain a previous version archive this is true whether you have an active or expired license. 

I can certainly understand why it might be handy to have access to the last version that was available at time of license expiration and we appreciate your feedback, but this isn't likely we will accommodate, unfortunately. As previously mentioned, I will explore ways we can improve upon clarifying expectations in pending expiration emails so folks such as yourself can be sure to download software for archive purposes and make any last minute license changes before the license becomes inactive. 

I'm sorry you feel you've wasted your money and hope you change your mind in the future. If so, we will be waiting. 🙂 Thanks for your business.

[jair101]

@Lindy - maybe you can sent an extra email when the expiration time is approaching, one explicitly reminding to download what you have currently access to. Similar complaints have been occurring forever and while your explanation is logical, it doesn't really help as it is post-factum. 

[Lindy]

51 minutes ago, jair101 said:

@Lindy - maybe you can sent an extra email when the expiration time is approaching, one explicitly reminding to download what you have currently access to. Similar complaints have been occurring forever and while your explanation is logical, it doesn't really help as it is post-factum. 

Yes. 

Quote

As previously mentioned, I will explore ways we can improve upon clarifying expectations in pending expiration emails so folks such as yourself can be sure to download software for archive purposes and make any last minute license changes before the license becomes inactive. 

 

[Optic14]

Although you do get the invoice reminder a week before it expires, an extra informational email would be helpful indeed.

[steve00]

 

On 6/15/2019 at 6:46 AM, DeezSkittles said:

Hello,

I recently went to download my paid copy of Invision Power Board, and lo and be hold I am not able to because I have to renew my license. Wait what?? 

I paid $200 for the Invision Community Suite.. ok, and forums, then additionally I paid another $100 for pages, another $150 for downloads and blogs and some renewals. In total that is $450+!!!! If I do not pay for a renewal you should not refuse access to License URL or download section. Now, I'm not saying he I should always have access to newest updates, No. What I'm saying is that anything previous to the point I stopped paying should be available to me. 

 

P.s IPB4 fan boys/girls go away.

So what happened to your original download from when you installed ?

If you keep them safe then you can always go back to them at later date

I have still got versions downloaded from v1.1 days (never tried to use them again as likely no longer work with the new versions of php etc)

 

[Malcolm M]

6 hours ago, steve00 said:

So what happened to your original download from when you installed ?

New computer, I didn't think about that I wouldn't have my files that I paid for.

But I'll keep this in mind. Definitely not going to pay another $80 to get the software back that I paid over $450+ for.

6 hours ago, Optic14 said:

Although you do get the invoice reminder a week before it expires, an extra informational email would be helpful indeed.

Yeah but the point is I spent over $450+, that should entitle anyone with the amount to have at least access to a download?

 

13 hours ago, Lindy said:

I'm sorry you feel you've wasted your money and hope you change your mind in the future. If so, we will be waiting. 🙂 Thanks for your business.

And nope you lost business. 

[tonyv]

3 hours ago, DeezSkittles said:

... I didn't think about that ...

And there it is.

[Day_]

I’m not on commission when I say this, but I wouldn’t be purchasing software with the intention of not paying the renewal fees and looking at it as a one time purchase.

It’s not just new features and bug fixes you’re getting, but important security updates and the support for when things go upside down. 

Each to their own I guess, but as an administrator of a website which is holding peoples personal data, I feel responsible to ensure my site is running the most up to date and secure software. 

$80 over 6 months is $0.44 a day, that’s like 1/4 of a cup of coffee, we’re not talking of I need to sell the house to pay for this numbers.

Worth factoring these costs in with the monthly server fees and asking yourself can I afford to do this before purchasing, if not there is free options available.

Apologies if this sounds fanboyish, actually I don’t apologise for sharing my opinion. Don’t agree, that’s perfectly fine, as I say each to their own.