Who has let their subscription go?

[Anthony Rhodes]

Last October I noticed my boss decided not to update his subscription for C3D. I took notice but did not care because I get my help from places other than the subscription services. Today I got a phone call (I am the contact since I am the only user) telling me I had to resubscribe or I would be charged for not doing so. I politely told the lady that I do not make the financial decisions I just use the software. She then sent me an email that I sent on to the boss.

What is the deal? You get your choice pay for a subscription or pay fees that get higher every year with no subscription benifits? I do not see how that is legal. I did not buy everything in the first place so maybe there was some fine print that I did not have access to. Like I said I use the software not buy it. How is everyone else getting around this. I can not believe everyone pays a subscription. As I understand the bottom line is if we do not pay now they will just catch us up on the fees when we do decide to update. Sorry I do not mean to rant this just surprises me. I do not understand how a company can force you to use their services like this.

Thanks for reading,

[gandocadguy]

It's my understanding that if you do not have subscription you are not entitled to upgrade pricing. They'll make you pay for a full retail for a seat of the next release. I might be worng there. It's been awhile since i was on the admin/puchasing side of that deal.

Subscription though, I feel, is worthwhile. It allows you to keep upto date with the software for a fraction of the cost of buying them. If you're sure you are not going to upgrade next year or skip a release then maybe letting it lapse is something to look into.

[Anthony Rhodes]

What you say makes sense. That is not what the lady on the other end of the phone lead me to believe. As I re-read the email that was sent basically what will happen is we will have to continue to pay from where we left off. Even if we do not resubscribe for 2 years we will have to pay those fees from October 1st 2008.

Most of the email follows, I left out the senders name and contact info for obvious reasons.

Anthony,

This email is to inform you that your one seat of AutoCAD Civil 3D subscription is expired, and has been lapsedsince October 31st 2008. This means that you are no longer under active support and will not be receiving the 2010 upgrade when it is released in early spring 2009. Please keep in mind that Civil 3D is a subscription-only product, so it is necessary to renew each year to avoid retroactive fees, which increase each year that you don't renew.

All expired contracts lapsed past 45 days now go through ServiceSource. I have attached a document from Autodesk explaining my company and our role in your subscription renewal, as well as a list of the top reasons to remain on active subscription. I will be happy to renew your subscription and waive all late fees. Once you're renewed, you will remain with your reseller of record.

If you do wish to maintain your subscription contract, please contact me as soon as you receive this and I will send you a quote. If there is an alternate contact who is currently handling this account, please let me know.

Should you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me at any time.

Regards,

[gandocadguy]

Wow! That reads like a collection letter! I did not know C3D was subscription only software. Interesting.

I suppose it makes some sense to me that C3D would be a subscription required software as it is fairly new and complicated so you'd want all the updates and patches. However, to sent out a collections type letter seems a little extreme.

[Anthony Rhodes]

That was my thought. I do not see how they can force a person/ company to pay for a subscription wether you use it or not. I can understand how they can charge full price on the software for not having the subscription. I guess this stops people from updating the subscription just in time to update software at a discounted price. It is interesting none the less.

Catch you later,

[Ed Jobe]

I don't think that they are saying that you would have to pay the full price of subscription retroactively, but that there would be some penalty fees, which would presumably be less. I would get a clarification on the fee structure.

[rkmcswain]

It's my understanding that if you do not have subscription you are not entitled to upgrade pricing. They'll make you pay for a full retail for a seat of the next release.

There is really no "upgrade pricing"... You either pay now (subscription) or pay later... You might save a bit by staying on subscription over a period of time.

[david.zavislan]

That email you received was not from Autodesk, but from a company called Service Source. They only work on lapsed subscription contracts. They earn commissions for everyone that they can resign.

They are more aggressive than Autodesk or your VAR. That is why their notice looks like it is from a collection agency.

We were conctacted by them because our reseller forgot to add some of our licenses to our renewal last year. We were able to clear that problem up with our new reseller, and did not have to work with Service Source.

Instead of listening to our advice, talk with your reseller to find out what your options are.

[jpaulsen]

Civil 3D is a subscription-only product. This means you are required to keep it on subscription or relinquish your right to upgrades. This does not mean you can't use the software if you are not on subscription. If you purchased the C3D 2009 you can use it for the next 10 years if you want. You just won't get any support or upgrades. If you want to purchase a newer version you will pay full retail price which is somewhere around $6000. Subscription costs around $1000 per year per license.

You can let your subscription lapse for up to 3 years without losing your licensing right. However, if you want to put the license back on subscription you do have to pay all owed subscription fess plus a small additional fee (I think it's $150). So in this case, after 3 years, you would owe $3150 to upgrade one license. After three years you lose all rights.

It is only cost effective to cancel subscription if you don't plan on upgrading for 7 years. That is not the way I would want to run my business. However, with the tight economy it may make sense to postpone the subscription payments for 1-3 years until the economy picks up.

[sinc]

However, with the tight economy it may make sense to postpone the subscription payments for 1-3 years until the economy picks up.

I don't think Autodesk would echo those sentiments.