More > Media Center 17
Seriously? I *just purchased this software and now I'm being asked to upgrade!?
Misterboy:
Dear JRiver,
I just received an email indicating that I have a limited time offer to upgrade Media Center to a version 17 license at the low-low price of $18.98 if I act now! What an incredibly great deal considering I just shelled out $40 for what I thought was the latest version of the software!
But wait... it's okay because *if* I purchased your software on or after October 1st, I'll have received a current license for Media Center 17. There's only one small problem... I stupidly bought your software 3 days earlier on the 28th of September. Oops.
I'm not an ignorant buyer. I was aware a month ago that there was talk of a MC 17 beta. BUT, I was equally aware that buying a license meant automatic updates, so that I felt secure I would always be running the most up-to-date version of your software. This frequent automatic updating is one of your selling points.
So, I did the conscientious thing and I looked around for a release date for MC 17. I figured I'd make sure I wasn't shooting myself in the foot by buying your software just before a big new release. Well, I couldn't find a release date. I assume it wouldn't come out for a while, and moreover, I assumed I would be treated well. I had been using your free trial, and the 30 days were up, so I thought, "what the heck, this software is great, the company seems well-intentioned, I'll just buy it".
I'm pissed off.
I'm really pissed off.
How would you feel if you just convinced yourself to spend $40 on something, with a feeling that your $40 investment would keep you up-to-date for maybe a year or so. Then, a *month* later, you get an email telling you that if you act now you can have the latest version of the software for a mere $19 more. I mean, I paid the fracking credit card bill yesterday for crying out loud.
Furthermore, I have searched and searched and I can't find a phone number or direct email to your sales department. So instead of being able to handle this in a more civilized manner, I'm forced to guess what section of the forums I should use to contact you, in a very public way. So now I have the warm feeling of a bunch of very savvy Media Center users thinking to themselves, "Idiotic idiot should have waited", and the distinct lack of knowledge of whether or not a JRiver employee will actually even see this. I'm new to this community and this is how I'm starting out. Hi everyone! ;D
I know I probably just fell in between the cracks - unfortunate set of circumstances and all that - but it still feels like a big ol' slap in the face.
-Dan
lise:
Hey Dan,
Long time user here.
JRiver works a bit differently than other typical software upgrades.
What I mean is that rather than keep the next upgrade limited to staff testing for a year they open it up to the public almost immediately for testing. I don't know when 17 will actually be fully released, but in my experience it will be pretty close to the date that v18 beta comes out ;)
This probably doesn't help with your being pissed, but I just wanted to offer an explanation of how JRiver tends to work. It's actually part of what makes them so good, when you think about it, in that they publicly test for almost a year, "officially release" when it's very good, and almost immediately start testing with new features for about another year, etc. What I'm getting at in a roundabout kind of way is that v17 will not be offically released for a good number of months, so if you don't want to test the 'new' version, wait until it's released to get it.
justsomeguy:
I completely agree with the point lise made.
I usually upgrade to the newest publicly released betas within the first couple weeks of it being released so this doesn't bother me obviously. However I can understand the frustration someone, as a new user who isn't familiar with the way jriver does releases and upgrades, might have if they bought the software 2 days before the cut off period. If it was me and I got to come to the forum everyday and see all the new features and fixes I'm missing out on because of 2 days, I might be a little annoyed too.
I had thought about this before and maybe it has been discussed and dismissed already as an alternative but, what if the licensing scheme was changed to more of a subscription type thing. Say I purchase the software today, I then get free updates to any version releases for 1 year. After that year I have 1 week to renew my license for another year at a discounted price. This way it doesn't matter when I purchase the software and someone like Misterboy wouldn't feel pissed.
pcstockton:
--- Quote from: justsomeguy on November 03, 2011, 02:56:48 pm ---
I had thought about this before and maybe it has been discussed and dismissed already as an alternative but, what if the licensing scheme was changed to more of a subscription type thing. Say I purchase the software today, I then get free updates to any version releases for 1 year. After that year I have 1 week to renew my license for another year at a discounted price. This way it doesn't matter when I purchase the software and someone like Misterboy wouldn't feel pissed.
--- End quote ---
What about those of us who are more than happy with MC16 and dont see any needed features in MC17? I need to renew anyway?? This would be acceptable if the monthly subscription was say...$3? Dont see it happening. Also, to Dan, are you sure you really want/need 17? Why not simply wait for 18?
justsomeguy:
After your 1 year subscription was up the software wouldn't stop working. You could continue to use the one you have but updates would be disabled.
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