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Movie Collector 5 released

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TucknDar:
Aaaaaaahhhhh, that felt freakin' great!!   :-[ >:D

Carol Haynes:
LOL

cthorpe:
I just sent Collectorz a lengthy message regarding this issue.  I have asked them to clearly lay out their new licensing model, including how future upgrades of all products will be handled.  I have also asked for them to honor the lifetime license for all users who purchased their products prior to their announced changes to their license terms.  I pointed out, as did Carol, that they are proudly displaying reviews and testimonials on their site that state they have a lifetime license, and as such should abide by that.  If they don't want to be held to it, they shouldn't be using those reviews as promotional materials.  Finally, I asked that they make an effort to refund all users who were charged in error for the upgrade.  I stated that it is not acceptable to expect users to learn from their forum that they are entitled to a refund.

Carl

Darwin:
I'm glad you got that off your chest and found it therapeutic, tuckndar... I've been known to rant a bit myself  :redface:

Anyway, I haven't posted on the collectorz.com forum, but did submit a support form request and sent a private e-mail message, in both of which I echoed Carol's sentiments above. I received the same reply as well:

MP> ...a policy change such as this is fine if it applies to
MP> new purchasers AND comes after a clear statement indicating that the
MP> policy is changing.

You may be right about that; we had not really considered people who had already purchased a product before the policy change and would buy another one afterwards without realizing the change.
--- End quote ---

I don't know what to think about the fact that they are offering to provide free upgrades to MC 5 to people who take the time to write in - I don't own it and am wondering WTF is going to happen WRT PhotoCollector, mp3Collector and MusicCollector when the time comes. I bought all three under the assumption (clearly fuelled by my past experience with BookCollector Pro and the fact that no statement was evident indicating that the licensing model had changed, etc.) that I was in fact purchasing a lifetime licence for each. It's unclear whether their willingness to provide free upgrades applies to this upgrade to MovieCollector or to their whole range. Time will tell, I guess. On a related note, in the collectorz forum a comment is directed at Carol, which essentially states that the company can't understand why she is being so adamant - Excuse me? If I buy a car on the understanding that it has a three cylinder engine and will get 60 mpg (and in fact all of the literature in the dealership and the owner's manual states this as well) and the first time it needs gas and oil I find out that it's got a 12 cylinder engine that gets 8 mpg, I'd have a right to complain and to demand redress. I don't see this situation as being all that different.

I absolutely understand and respect that collectorz.com needs to generate revenue so that it can pay its employees and pay for rent, utilities, etc. but I cannot understand why, given that they've got my e-mail address on file from my purchase of FOUR of their titles AND they've got a comprehensive website that INCLUDES a fourm that collectorz.com employess are frequent posters on, it wasn't possible for them to get the word out to their existing user base to avoid this kind of situation?! How difficult is ito e-mail your user base, or put a great big banner at the top of every page on your website, or make an announcement on the forums, or state it prominently in a newsletter? As someone noted in the MovieCollector user forum, it's primarily the principle of the thing... I loathed statements like that when I was in Muddle Management - every decision I ever made, or that I had to pass on to the unwashed masses, er, employees working under for me was invariably met with at least one howl of protest and a resort to the principle argument. Glad I'm not in that position any more and can invoke it all I want. La, la-la, la-la, la  :P

Darwin:
Carl - you posted while I was smashing out the note above. Thank you for taking the time to do that; the more messages they receive like that, the more likely it is that they will feel compelled to take action (positive, one hopes!).

On a related note - has anyone actually seen an announcement about the change in licensing policy? I ask only because AFAICT, there hasn't been one. Just an evolving shitstorm on the collectorz forum over the paid upgrade to MovieCollector 5. But other than that, nothing. I assume that we can expect an immimnent, and prominent, banner to appear on the website along with a news release and general announcement on the forum. Should have happened BEFORE November 2006, though...

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