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(Notice also how the 50% off the upgrade went entirely off the table... Cute.)
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Thanks. :)
Oh, it got better... They mis-quoted me Ultra instead of Ultimate Suite. Quoted support ticket:
*****
Dear Mark,
Thank you for writing back.
I sincerely apologize for any inconvenience we have caused you.
In regards to your concern, I would like to inform you that if you try to upgrade the software from PowerDirector 11/12 Ultimate Suite then the price will be $ 194.99 and the actual cost of the software as a full version is $ 249.99 including the taxes.
*****
To which I responded:
*****
That is outrageous, considering there is only a $75 difference in price between the 12 and 13 versions of PowerDirector Ultimate Suite. You just made things worse, not better.
Tellya what... I'm done buying from you until and unless -maybe- 14 is better than 13. Everything I'm seeing from experienced PD users in the forums says this upgrade is horrible anyway, and 12 is the place to stay. I'm surely not getting bent over for the upgrade, especially if it's a bad upgrade.
You people have burned through your entire supply of customer goodwill up-front, though, with your horrible business practises.
Yes, I'm holding onto v12. No refund will be necessary. But you'll be lucky if I ever deal with your company again unless you change your practises to be more transparent about upgrade timing and pricing. You made a -horrible- first impression.
*****
That's it. They're done until -maybe- 14, if ever. Companies burn me, they generall don't get a second chance. Everything I read last night in the PD13 forum says that it's not worth upgrading to anyway, new features notwithstanding. Might be fine after a few months to kick the tyres, but I was not inspired by someone saying the beta test program seems to have been completely abandoned. Sounds like Serif all over again: Horrible upgrade bait-and-switch if you purchased on the cusp of an upgrade, horrible internal product testing, and abysmal customer service. Heck, CyberLink's people couldn't even quote the correct product upgrade without being corrected twice and forced to look at what I -actually- purchased, despite the fact I said it outright -and- gave them my order number.
No, they're done. I'll hang onto 12, and they're done. I'll move to a reliable vendor, unless the unthinkable happens and they get their act together in the next year.
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It's the practise. I had issues with Serif doing this. You'd get something...one day I literally had them spring the new product on me the next day. No hint of anything coming, just *poof*, new version, pay up. I have kicked Serif to the curb after about six years of being a loyal customer over their policies.
It just feels remarkably like a bait-and-switch. If they'd had something on their site saying, "You can still buy it at this price, but the new version will be released 'x' date, at a higher price point," I'd have zero issues with it. I just was led to believe I was buying the latest and greatest, got a decent deal, and then *boom*, "Surprise!" -Not- a good way of doing business.
Ironically, if they'd had something up to that effect, I'd probably have waited and bought 13 at the full product price, same tier. At this point, I'm pretty ticked at their lack of forthright business practises, and am indeed considering waiting until 14 - if I ever upgrade. Because they just used all their goodwill in one shot if they pull the trigger on something like that.
There should be a moratorium on even selling a product for 30 days before a new version is released...by any company. A moratorium, or full disclosure of pending release - pick one. But this is just something I feel is shady, no matter which company does it. It's an absolutely horrible way to build customer loyalty for anyone who unknowingly buys in right on the cusp of a release. And no, you shouldn't have to bend over seven ways from Sunday to research it and see what they've done before. I had this issue with Native Instruments...we won't even get into the full story, but it -will- cost that company substantially in customer loyalty now, because I will sink money into other companies' products far before I have to upgrade my bundle in another 1-2 years to hit the upgrade pricing.
I will actually willingly pay a company more if they're up-front, if I really want something. But sneaking it in the back door like that, without a decent grandfather period? Nope. I start getting pretty touchy, pretty fast.
It's not even the money, entirely. It's largely the principle. Sure, I want to say money like any sane person. But largely it's the principle of getting burned by questionable practises, versus a company's willingness to make it right.
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Unacceptable, and useless.
I paid $175 for PD 12 Ultimate Suite. The new price is $250. That's $75 more. Upgrade normally is $150, and they're offering me a whopping 50% off of that. Which comes to...wait for it...$75. Which means that I'm being told that they'll screw me for the full difference in price -right- after I hopped onto the bandwagon.
Which is a giant, flying middle finger towards their brand new customer, since that is a $0 savings either way I go.
Seriously...13 days, no warning of pending new release that I could have taken into account. They should make this right and at least cut the $75 difference in price in half. If it were even outside a month, okay, I'd get it. But inside two weeks? Oh, HELL no.
I've a good mind to take this straight to social media and let the wolves have them.
This is one majorly ticked off customer. The last company that made this mistake with me lost $400/upgrade, because I won't deal with them any longer.
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How is CyberLink about being cool with updating you in a grandfathered way if you purchased within 'x' window before the most recent launch. I -literally- purchased PowerDirector 12 Ultimate Suite 13 days ago, -zero- signs of a pending update in any sales literature I saw, and now I find out 13 has been launched.
I have a support ticket in, but I'm curious what kind of response I could expect. Some companies (Serif, Native Instruments) are complete jerks about it. Others (TechSmith springs to mind) are quite cool about being reasonable.
Anyone have any experience with this with CyberLink and can tell me what I'm likely in for?
Thanks!
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