There was an air of disdain after a software user revealed how quick thinking saved him almost $3,000 on a needed renewal license.
In a viral Reddit post posted on the r/MaliciousCompliance forum, Redditor u/StatisticianEast7730 (otherwise known as the original poster, or OP) said he was staring at the barrel of a huge bill until his decision to to buy significant new dividends.
Entitled “License renewal is more expensive than a new one? Alright, I’ll uninstall my old software,” the Publish has received more than 8,000 upvotes since September 30.
“I have a software license that I purchased last year. The license [was] for a year,” OP began. “A few days ago I purchased a new license but I kept getting emails that my license was about to expire.”
Continuing to explain that they were able to reach the software publisher’s customer service, the original poster stated that they had exposed their enigma and specified that they had already purchased a new license for the coming year.
The original poster also stated that they were unfortunately informed that their new license, which cost $1,099, would not work and that they would have to purchase the $2,899 renewal license or uninstall the software.
So that’s what they did.
Despite customer service complaints about the length of the uninstallation process, OP deleted the software from his computer, only to reinstall it immediately afterwards, with his new license.
“Two hours later [customer service] Installed my new software and license because I have horrible 3 Mbps internet,” OP wrote.
“They just plugged in the activation code on my old software to renew it, but no, renewals require a renewal license which costs more than double,” OP added. “I don’t pay extra.”
Where hardware components are tangible and where the average consumer can touch, feel and hold a piece of hardware, the world of software is entirely different.
And where some users have grown accustomed to purchasing a disc containing specific software and installing it on their likely outdated personal computer, advancements over the past two decades have created a more streamlined process.
“There was a time when you bought a CD, put it in your computer, and that was it. You loaded some software and you were done,” said Christopher Mohr, acting president of the Software and Information Industry Association. . Newsweek. “Now the software is a service.”
Technological advancements, along with the increase in the number of consumers possessing certain technologies, have also made it easier to evolve. Although software has always been licensed, the ability to download it at home without having to purchase a physical product, such as a CD, makes it easier for consumers to access the newest and most improved versions of software. they know and appreciate.
“There are a lot of upsides to that,” Mohr said. “One is adding new features. The other is consumer protection, in the sense that you get security upgrades and bug fixes.”
Protection, however, is often expensive, and on forums dedicated to software companies like Norton and Quicken, consumers have complained about high renewal costs, as well as the snowball effect created by renewing licenses year after year. year.
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Throughout the comments section of the viral Reddit post, many Redditors made similar complaints, largely siding with the original poster.
“Service companies do this a lot,” wrote Redditor u/Excidiar. “They’re putting up little nuisances in hopes of being able to charge more to anyone who doesn’t want to walk through them.”
“For $1800 I would spend all week with their tech installing new ones,” added Redditor u/PlasticMix8573. “What a stupid rate plan. Obviously [they] don’t value repeat customers.”
“2 hours to save $1,800?” Redditor u/DreadPirateLink chimed in. “Damn good use of time.”
In the main comment of the post, which received over 3,000 upvotes, Redditor u/zephen_just_zephen warned the original post that while their workaround worked this time, it might not be the next.
“If I were in this situation, I would definitely consider if I could wean myself off their software over the next year or so that would be the prudent course of action,” they wrote. “Because next year they might not be so accommodating.”
Newsweek contacted u/StatisticianEast7730 for comment. We were unable to verify the details of the case.