Ridiculous upgrade policy 2010 to 2011
As a first time (and depending on response, last-time) buyer of Acronis products, I am appalled at the poor and misleading treatment of purchasers. I bought 2 licenses for Acronis Home Backup and Plus Pack 2010 two and half weeks ago. Today I received an email informing me that the 2011 versions are available, and offering me a "discounted" upgrade price to upgrade. Basically I'm being asked to pay again for the products I bought two weeks ago! At no time was I made aware that a major new version was about to be released. If I had known this, I would have waited the two weeks and bought the 2011 versions. I know of no software company that does not offer complimentary upgrades to purchasers who've bought a product generally in the 30 days preceeding a new major release. If Acronis' policy is to basically not advise potential purchasers of an impending major update, take their money, and then ask to take it again two weeks later, it will most certainly affect my future decisions, comments on, and opinion of your company. I hope I'm wrong, and I await your response. Thank you.
See my reply to Katherine - assuming the policy is the same as last year, as Bob states you are eligible for an upgrade - send your purchase details to Sales and they will email you a 2011 serial number.
Upgrade Scam Alert! Version 10 to Version 11
They say that we can't get new serial numbers between 10 and 11 unless we paid full price.
http://kb.acronis.com/content/13555
Hmmm... Let's hear it for unethical practices....
I bought mine a week ago, and got the email saying that I could upgrade for just $40 (with the plus pack). I just paid $40, so that would make my "special offer" go up to $80 in just a week!
I can buy it straight from the site for $50, with $30 more for the plus pack....
The same $80! Imagine that!
Can't you just see the nice marketing department thinking, "See how we can shaft the poor dumb customers into paying full price while pretending that they'll be getting a good deal!"
"Aha! A sale that isn't really a sale! Aren't customers dumb?"
It looks like the marketing department has displaced the ethics department, thinking they can squeeze out a little more money. But why would someone want to buy from a company that claims to be protecting us at the same time it uses the same sleazy sales tactics used by those wonderful "Anti-virus Viruses" that pop up and try to get you to buy their protection or they'll cripple your computer. "We want money. We don't care about the customers."
I teach a unit on sleazy advertising policies to college students, and I'll add Acronis to it, and I think I'll do a YouTube Video teaching people how different Acronis is than, for instance, Adobe, that upgraded our $5000 contract automatically from CS3 to CS4 just because we had recently bought the older version.
I'll see if I can get my money back - after a week - and just get an older version on E-Bay. If they can't be ethical, why spend the money on them? There's plenty of competition for greedy marketing departments.
A nice YouTube teaching video that's seen by only a few thousand people should make the point!
Treat people right and they'll come running to your door. Be a sleaze, and you'll lose a lot more money than you gained by assuming that your customers are fools!
Fire the marketing people and hire a few ethical ones!
I could not agree more. I too bought 2010 recently (3 weeks ago) without there being any suggestion that a new version was imminent. And then, suddenly, an email arrives telling me that I can pay more for an updated version. I registered my product on the understanding that this would entitle me to software updates (the wording is still there for purchasers of 2011) and this has provided me with precisely nothing. I am staggered that Acronis can make this statement with (as it transpired) no intention whatsoever of keeping to it.
If I see a car (or any other product) being offered at a discounted price because the model is being replaced then I can decide whether to accept that offer or to wait and pay a bit more for the new model. I can make a reasonable decision because I am in possession of all the facts. This is fair and honest trading. Apparently this is not the way that Acronis sees things - they like to charge their customers once (assuring them of upgrades that they will not get) at a discounted price, and then charge them again for an unannounced upgrade so that the 'discount' is wiped out. By not upgrading I will have the satisfaction of knowing that I am not quite as gullible as they think that their customers are! And from all accounts the new version is not worth having unless it is used on Windows 7 (but didn't they say that 2010 was Windows 7 compatible as well?)!
Edward,
The free updates (new builds) are for the current version, not for new versions unless you've purchased within 30 days of the new version release.
It isn't of much help to you, but the new releases (versions) tend to be between September and November. The trick is to watch out for the beta testing announcement, then you know that a new version is in the offing.
However, I agree that Acronis need to be more careful with their wording and revisit their policies.
>... Adobe, that upgraded our $5000 contract automatically from CS3 to CS4 just because we had recently bought the older version.
How is that different from 1 year of AAP included with all corporate products such as ABR workstation ($74)? Does Adobe offers similar free upgrade for photoshop elements?
I just bought 2010 on Sunday, 8/22/10 .... I get an email on the 24th saying gee .... we just came out with a new release. You get the privilage of buying it for $10. That is obsurd ... two companies I know for a fact (Garmin and iGuidance) that allow a 30 day grace period. I have taken advantage of both and speak from practical experience. This is just wrong. Not to mention the link included in my email to purchase has been down for two days, oh and there is no direct email and no phone number and my daughter (who this is for) leaves for college tomorrow. Is Acronis one guy in his basement running this company? If you want to be treated like a real company, act like one. Give your customers some options.
Peter,
Did you purchase the full version or the upgrade?
As posted by others and the KB article referenced, if you paid full price for the full version you will be eligible for a copy of 2011.
$10? That's not too bad.
In my case - a week later, I would get to pay $40 for the True Image 11 and Plus Pack, just what I paid for the Version 10 a few days before - which has never been used.
In the last update, from 9 to 10, they did have a 30 day free upgrade, but evidently the greedy marketing department took over on this one, and thought up this beautiful scam to snooker people who wouldn't normally pay $80 for the program into paying it anyway, in two payments, a week apart. If enough people complain here and put it on Amazon comments, and maybe on YouTube, maybe they'll lose enough money so that they'll see that treating customers with respect might be a better business proposition than being outright greedy.
I don't understand....
We paid $5000 for a site license for CS3. They sent the license and disks, and then upgraded it to CS4 because we had just bought it less than a month before. They're ethical....
It's not the same as last year. This year we have to have paid "full price," even though most of the "full price"profit went to the store. They made 100% on the download from their site, even with their "sale," but they use that as a dodge to fake their customers into buying the old one and then trying to get another $40 a week later. Unethical....
Yeah, $10 isn't bad but it should be free. There has to be some grace period that's longer than 24hrs .... and what's with their stupid site being down. Even if I was willing to pay the $10, I can't get it and in my case get it installed and configured before my daughter goes to school.
Acronis ...hint .... college kids go back to school starting the middle of August, that's a huge market. Get your act together before than.
Hello all!
Thank you for your comments and for being sincere in your feedback.
I completely share your concern and understand how frustrating the Upgrade policy can seem. Be sure that I have just forwarded your comment to the Management team, and they will be definitely taken under consideration.
I'd like to add that you're opinion and questions regarding Acronis True Image Home 2011 upgrade policy is very important for us. We would like to have all this information stored in one place - it will allow us to address your concerns in a timely manner. So we would appreciate if you could refer with all your concerns and feedback to the Main Upgrade Discussion Thread.
Should you need anything else or have any further questions - feel free to contact us at your earliest convenience, we will be happy to help you!
Thank you!