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Upgrade Policy


prmills

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A recent Accordance convert claims to have purchased Accordance 2 - 3 weeks before the new version 8 was released, but was told he could not get a free update. He claims to have been told, "Tough luck." He claims that he "might" get $10 off the upgrade "if" the company chooses to honor the coupon.

 

Something doesn't sound right about this user's information. I told him I simply didn't believe he wouldn't receive an automatic and free upgrade. He is spreading the report among people I had hoped to convince to change to Accordance. I don't believe that what he says is true. I told him that I have always found Oak Tree responsive and reasonable to work with. He seems very unhappy with the policy. I told him I would write you and find out what the policy is. I told him that an unfair policy would cost a company more in lost customer loyalty then it would gain. If that is the policy it would only be fair if it was clearly spelled out and warnings given that another update is only days away.

 

So, what is the upgrade policy? Is it really such that a brand new purchaser would have to "buy" an upgrade? If a new version was released the next day? next week? next month? What is the policy so that I can combat rumor with the truth and with facts?

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Wow, you seem to be assuming the worst about our policies, when we think we bend over backwards to be fair to everyone.

 

On the one hand if we gave everyone free upgrades we would go out of business. There is a story of one successful computer company (hardware) in the early days of PCs which announced an upcoming major new release and went bankrupt before they released it since everyone stopped buying the old one.

 

With my British sense of fair play I am usually accused of making the upgrades too complicated, but I will try to explain what we did this time (which is pretty typical).

 

First we discounted all our primary collections from April 1 until version 8 was released. At that point they went back to usual price but included version 8 at no extra charge. These CDs were also on sale last December.

 

Then we offered a $10 discount off the download to anyone who bought version 7 this year, and we will also have a $20 coupon towards Library and Scholar's upgrades when they are available (soon). The new packages (with greatly increased contents) will also be slightly more expensive.

 

I did a series of calculations which demonstrated that since last November and through to this month, anyone who ends up with a specific new Library or Scholar's package pays just a little more for each extra period of usage. Yes, it would have been cheaper to wait, but then he/she wouldn't have had the use of the software for that period. If you buy a suit in a store this week, and find it on sale next week, will the store give you a refund?

 

As for your friend, it is not clear where he bought the software, nor who told him that we might not honor the $10 discount. If he first bought from us we certainly will. If we can be sure of the time he bought from a reseller, we also will honor it. Sadly, not everyone is honest, and we do need to protect our business. Anyone who called recently and asked about an upcoming version should have been told the truth, as long as we had made the detailed decisions, which wasn't until very recently.

 

We are always happy to review anyone's purchases and see where we can offer a discount or a coupon, or any other savings. I personally recommended to several people, particularly those overseas, to wait to upgrade to the new packages. None of our staff pressure people into spending more. We only charge the difference when upgrading from one level to another of the same "track" so people are not penalized for starting small. There is also a three month grace period during which you can get full credit for an individual unlock, for example, that is now included in the package you are purchasing.

 

Your friend should call or email us, and we will see what we can do. He should ask us directly about our policy rather than concluding that it is unfair. Please ask him to contact us directly. Our sales manager will go to (almost) any lengths to keep the customer happy.

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Absolutely the fair kind of policy I expected. I did not assume the worst. I assumed he was incorrect.

 

This gives me the ammunition I knew I would get.

 

Thank you.

 

Phil

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