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Thread: Subscription Renewal Issues!

  1. #1
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    Unhappy Subscription Renewal Issues!

    Hi! Just wanted to post this so anyone else that ever comes into this situation can cover themselves. Because of the Recession here in Western Canada a lot of companies including myself have suffered imensse financial strains. I was not able to come up the the $2200.00 to renew my subscription. I tried desparately to figure a way to borrow but no luck. Now I am stuck with my 2015 seat which is the worst version of Autocad that I have ever used. Extremely buggy, slow and crashing. I have tried repairing checking graphics compatability but no change. All of my purchased add-on software is on my previous ver of 2014. I have spent close to $20,000.00 buying and maintaning my subscription for meany years now.
    After talking with Autodesk they have told me that I will never be able to use any other version of my software again and that I have to deal with this buggy version! I am shocked beyond words and have lost all respect for Autodesk. It seems criminal that they could get away with something like this. Thankfully my Solidworks company has given me time to come up with the money for subscription and actually knocking off $1000.00 for the year to help me because of these difficult times. So if anyone else out there is considering reliquishing there perpetual licencse please be aware!
    Sincerely!
    Paul Rymal
    Procom Design/Drafting

  2. #2
    Certified AUGI Addict cadtag's Avatar
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    Default Re: Subscription Renewal Issues!

    Autodesk management has totally embraced two words -- "rental" and "cloud". If your previous 'maintenance subscription' has lapsed, it can no longer be renewed as they no longer sell the license. What you can do, and what they want you to do, is rent a license (by the month, year, quarter, etc) to run the most recent version of the software. Your old 2015 seats are still perfectly legal, and can be run forever, or as long as you can keep a Win7 machine running along.

    Possibly the only benefit to the new approach in a recession situation is that you can reduce the number of seats you are paying for to match the staff you have retained, instead of the maximum number you had at your peak.

    & depending on the type of drafting you do, you may find that a DWG compatible like BricsCAD or Graebert's Ares Commander is perfectly suitable for your work. Or not.... Feel free to test drive the alternatives, and if they work for you, feel free to snailmail Autodesk and tell them you are purchasing a perpeptual licens from their competitors. Rental is fine, but should not be the only option.

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    Administrator rkmcswain's Avatar
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    Default Re: Subscription Renewal Issues!

    Quote Originally Posted by Cosmic Traveller View Post
    ..... It seems criminal that they could get away with something like this.
    I don't know about Canada, but in the US, it's a free market.
    Nobody is making anyone buy/rent/license or otherwise use any Autodesk products.
    You are free to quit using it and quit paying them and use a competitive product.

    Moving on to your actual CAD issues, do you have any specific CAD issues you want to fix?
    "Slow, buggy, and crashing" is too general to address.
    AutoCAD 2015 is no better or worse than any other version out there IMO. It has it's share of issues, just like every other version.
    Do you have all of the service packs, hotfixes, etc. installed?
    Are you running it on a machine that exceeds the "minimum" PC specs by about 1.5X?
    Updated graphics card drivers installed?
    R.K. McSwain | CAD Panacea |

  4. #4
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    Default Re: Subscription Renewal Issues!

    I dont think you get! I have paid over $13,000.00 for my seat and have maintained my subscription from Autodesk for over 10 years! When you do the math your looking at over $25,000.00 for drafting software. All of my add-ons on for 2014! 2015 is buggy as simple as that! I've explained that any command ie: move, copy, rotate etc. causes the software to "hang"! Ive done my research out there and I'm not the only one here with this problem. Simple solution. Keep your 2015 software and let me use and older ver. that works better. Not complicated! Autodesk refuses to help me. Good customer relations uh! I've learned a hard uncomfortable lesson with these people and am glad I will not ever have to deal with them again. By the way just FYI. I was over do on my subscription with Solidworks and they not only let it slide but they gave me a $1000.00 discount on my software. They understand how hard it has been for some of us out here in Western Canada with the recession. Good to know there are people out there who still care!
    Paul

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    Certified AUGI Addict cadtag's Avatar
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    Default Re: Subscription Renewal Issues!

    worrying about money you spent in the past is is called the sunk cost fallacy. It doesn't matter _today_ how much you spent 5 years ago for something. What matter is the money you made using it. Either it was a profit center, or not.

    2015 is buggy.... Well, _ALL_ software is buggy. (See 'the Software Conspiracy" by Mark Mimasi for a good explanation for how and why.) But frankly I have no real problems running 2015, and prefer it to 2016 or 2017. I don't see any obnoxious lags, so my guess (and that's all it is since I'm not in Western Canada to trouble shoot on-site) is that the other stuff on your machine is part and parcel of the issues with Acad. Graphics, RAM, drive, network, drivers, OS, virus scanner, etc etc etc. The desktop PC is a hellaciously complex system, and it's almost miraculous that anything runs at all. It's not like the vendors doe any testing in real world conditions, with multiple applications and all of the potential combinations that users come up with.

    Heck, if your add-ons were updated for 2015, maybe those issues would go away...

    Venting is fine, but if you're unhappy with Autodesk's strategic direction (and the limited concern that a multi-billion dollar organization inherently has with a single seat that can't be seen on their annual reports) then your recourse is to vote with your wallet. You've already looked at Solidworks -- take a look at BricsCAD also. If it does what you need, save the money and spend less for a permanent seat than the maintenance subscription renewal. Or if you need 'official' AutoCAD for some reason - contracts maybe - Do the monthly rental for new seats, and keep your 2015 as a permanent basis.

    Volkswagon has certainly not gone out of their way to take care of their diesel customer, and those people not only spent more, but got less and lost more. Why should a software vendor be any different? Have you ever dealt with Oracle or Adobe? Trust me, they are less fun than autodesk.

  6. #6
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    Default Re: Subscription Renewal Issues!

    Thanks for the feedback! It does nothing to resolve my situation, but I respect your opinion.
    All the best!
    Paul

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    Administrator rkmcswain's Avatar
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    Default Re: Subscription Renewal Issues!

    I agree with @cadtag on all points.

    We don't care if you vent here, and if that helps - by all means go ahead.

    But I can assure you that nobody from Autodesk is going to read this and initiate a policy change.
    As @cadtag says, the only "voice" that Autodesk (and many other major companies for that matter) listens to is the financial one (the stockholders)
    When the sales drop off, and the shareholders start to make noise, _then_ you'll see some changes.

    In the meantime, Autodesk has built an awesome business model over the years and it's working quite nicely for them.

    Dassault likely gave you the discount on Solidworks because they don't want to lose customers. Different business model than Autodesk.

    Best of luck to you.
    Last edited by rkmcswain; 2016-04-05 at 08:50 PM. Reason: fix spelling mistake
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  8. #8
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    Default Re: Subscription Renewal Issues!

    Thanks! I'm sure things will work out in the end. Just a little trying in these times!

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