MOVAVI,avoid this company like the plague

[Darwin]

Mouser wrote:

BUT if  version 4 costs $100
and version 5 costs $200
and the upgrade costs $150

Sadly, mouser's worst case scenario has been seen in the wild, but it is uncommon. I have mixed feelings about a developer announcing that a new version of an app is about to be released. It depends on their upgrade policy. If they have a 90 day upgrade guarantee, then there's no need for this kind of disclaimer. If they have an iron clad policy of all major releases requiring payment regardless of when the end-user bought the license (some developers that target enterprise clients don't even provide free point release updates - ESRI ArcGIS comes to mind - 9.1 to 9.2 is a paid update unless you've purchased a plan and this is on amodular package that's $1500 for the base - many of the modules are $1500 OR MORE!) , then I think from a moral perspective they should give prospective purchasers a warning. This makes sense from a support perspective as well. Surely it's easier/desireable to have as many clients as possible on the latest version, no? Anyway, while I invoke the word "moral" above, I don't think that there is any obligation that developers do this...

EDIT: added quote from mouser

[tslim]

Please share my condolence:

From me on 21 May 2006
------------------------
I have just bought 2 product licenses from you on 19 April
2006 (last month):

1.TMPGEnc MPEG Editor ver 1.3.2.98
2.TMPGEnc 3.0 XPress

Now less than 1 month from my purchase, you have TMPGEnc
MPEG Editor 2.0 up, am I entitle to a free update from
TMPGEnc MPEG Editor 1 to 2?

The support answer on 24 May 2006
-----------------------------------
Hello Lim,

Thank you for your email.  Unfortunately, there are no free updates from
TMPGEnc MPEG Editor.  It is quite unfortunate about the timing, although we
had made an announcement that MPEG Editor 2.0 was coming.  There is a user
discount for all of our existing users which you can utilize.
We apologize for this inconvenience.

Thank you once again for your email, and please feel free to contact us
again if you have any additional questions.


TMPG Inc.
 (Kenny S.)
 Support Section


Note:
-----
After I receive the reply, I revisit thier site and notice the "announcement that MPEG Editor 2.0 was coming", though I don't recall seeing that at the time I try to purchase.

My reply
--------
It is not just a matter of unfortunate timing, as a customer, I am badly
impressed by your practice.

I have purchased lot of software online and I know the common practice of
how software vendor gives free upgrade/update to registered user. Yours is
the worst I ever come across!

I am really regret that I bought your products (what the f...k, I even buy 2
products in 1 day), I should have gone for VideoRedo Plus!

You are losing me as a potential customer for your other products or future
upgrades, I suggest you forward my request to someone (if any) who has the
authority to reconsider my request.

With anger,
tslim


Note:
-----
I spent USD 86.00 for the 2 products and only get 1 time free minor update from 1 of the product, that ends my free upgrade period.

I couldn't help but really want to trash this TMPGEnc company as hard as I can...

[cthorpe]

Unfortunately, it is becoming more and more common for vendors to not provide free major updates.  Before making any purchase, I recommend that you look for information on the site or contact the vendor regarding their upgrade policy.  Even some of the most highly recommended products on DC do not offer free major updates.

Carl

[Deozaan]

Sorry for reviving this old thing, but when when I was reading this thread it led me here, and when I read this thread in its entirety, I couldn't help but notice the discussion about Vista's update policy.

OK you place an order for cheaper XP on Monday at 23.59 - do you expect MS to cough up Vista at 00:00 Tuesday ?

-Carol Haynes (January 31, 2007, 05:25 AM)

The funny thing is that just today I was customizing a Lenovo laptop and they actually charged something like $40 more to "downgrade" from Vista Business Edition to XP.

[Darwin]

S

The funny thing is that just today I was customizing a Lenovo laptop and they actually charged something like $40 more to "downgrade" from Vista Business Edition to XP.

-Deozaan (August 19, 2008, 11:54 PM)

Staples/Business Depot was charging $90 to do this in Canada until recently (the signs are gone from their computer section, so don't know if they've given it up or not...)! Of course, that represents a 3rd party tech going in and doing this for you (and you have to provide XP on top of that, of course)...!