Add-on update/support length and automatic recurring payments

[ogirginc]

Hi,
Firstly, wanted to say I am not sure if this the place to write this review of the Modern Statistics and sorry if it had to be somewhere else.

Secondly, yesterday I bought *******'s Modern Statistics and had a small problem but after I contacted developer, been told that they will fix it in the next update. Until here that's pretty good customer service. Also, after I uploaded the add-on, I loved it! It is pretty amazing and works like a 'magic'!

"So, what is the problem?" you guys say, right? Here it is; being greedy! As you can see the price is written $30 but actually that's not the case. I am not sure if you guys agree with me but when I pay for an add-on, I assume that amount covers updates/support for at least a year unless it is written like this:

$30 only covers updates/support for 6 months​

As you can guess, it wasn't written, at least at the time of purchase. And I am aware that I should have been more careful but still thinking that; this no different than trying to screwing customers...

As a result, I think there should be some kind of a standard when it comes to pricing. What happens next time when a customer finds out his newly purchased add-on is $70 but "hey did we tell you; it only covers updates/support for a week?"!

(Moral of the story: Always double check the pricing policy when you buy an add-on but if you are buying one from ******* check it at least 3 times!!!)

 

[drastic]

ah man. i was just gonna buy one of their add-ons. updates have to be minimum of a year, or better - lifetime.

i can bring more customers to people no problem too!

 

[ogirginc]

ah man. i was just gonna buy one of their add-ons. updates have to be minimum of a year, or better - lifetime.

i can bring more customers to people no problem too!

I wish they were lifetime but that might not be fair to be developers. I think it should be at least a year!

 

[HWS]

I have no problem with only 6 months support. If I buy from other coders sometimes only 1 month support is included.

What I had a problem with is that the add-on silently transfers a lot of information about the local XenForo installation and the server to ******* when the installation starts.

Also ******* does a PayPal revolving charge authorization which charges the full amount every 6 months automatically if you do not manually cancel it.

Customers should be made aware of those issues BEFORE buying, which is not the case currently.

 

[drastic]

what??

I don't want any info transferred. That's weird. I don't want to be bothered with cancelling a subscription either.

I do need a system that lets my users trade in their points for prizes tho.

Anyone use the credit system?

 

[Liam W]

The callback would help prevent piracy.

I had one in two of my paid addons, but removed it when my server changed and didn't update the callback

Anyhow, I'm sure even if this thread is allowed its in the wrong place...

 

[drastic]

but what happens if their server ever goes down, does that prevent something from working on your end?

 

[ogirginc]

Also ******* does a PayPal revolving charge authorization which charges the full amount every 6 months automatically if you do not manually cancel it.

That's how I released!

I don't want any info transferred. That's weird. I don't want to be bothered with cancelling a subscription either.

Agreed!

Anyhow, I'm sure even if this thread is allowed its in the wrong place...

Why it shouldn't be allowed?

 

[Jeremy]

Discussions on the price of add-ons is not permitted. If you disagree with the price, you shouldn't buy the add-on. Developers have the right to price their add-ons as they see fit.

 

[Mike]

First, if it's a specific issue relating to an add-on, you should likely contact the author, post in that add-on's thread, in mention it as part of your review (if serious enoguh and provided you meet the other requirements).

I have moved this to a more appropriate forum. Based on your original post, I've renamed the thread as well -- it seems to be a generic discussion of expectations. It's certainly worth bringing @******* in though for their thoughts on the example given. I should note that I see a clear "Duration" listed next to the price on their site, but I couldn't comment on whether I would have noticed it without the context of this thread.

 

[ogirginc]

Discussions on the price of add-ons is not permitted. If you disagree with the price, you shouldn't buy the add-on. Developers have the right to price their add-ons as they see fit.

Hi Jeremy,
My discussion was not about the price but @******* not being clear about the terms&conditions of the product. They should have wrote the support/update time in resource page. Also they don't even mention the price is recurring! I am sorry but if a developer doesn't mention (or make it clear) these things they are obviously don't want you to know about it. These are the tactics from 90's TV commercials...

(PS: I am not saying $30 is cheap or expansive for 6 months.)

 

[HWS]

The callback would help prevent piracy.

I had one in two of my paid addons, but removed it when my server changed and didn't update the callback

Anyhow, I'm sure even if this thread is allowed its in the wrong place...

There is absolutely no problem with a callback for licensing purposes. But ******* transfers a lot of information to his server which is completely unnecessary for checking the license. Like the whole $_[SERVER] and the whole S_[POST] arrays. Both can contain a lot of private information, especially if you install it at a test server with php debugging activated.

 

[ogirginc]

There is absolutely no problem with a callback for licensing purposes. But ******* transfers a lot of information to his server which is completely unnecessary for checking the license. Like the whole $_[SERVER] and the whole S_[POST] arrays. Both can contain a lot of private information, especially if you install it at a test server with php debugging activated.

Yet another very important thing that they don't mention in resource page!

 

[Liam W]

There is absolutely no problem with a callback for licensing purposes. But ******* transfers a lot of information to his server which is completely unnecessary for checking the license. Like the whole $_[SERVER] and the whole S_[POST] arrays. Both can contain a lot of private information, especially if you install it at a test server with php debugging activated.

That is quite excessive - I can't see why that would really be needed personally, although it would give enough data to check the server being used.

Still too much... Especially if it isn't mentioned.

Liam

 

[ogirginc]

I have been talking with @******* and what I am told is:

"Because XFRM doesn't provide field to enter package or price range, Therefore we can't place our package to..
Just update on our site, because customers always go to our site to make purchasing."

So, it a progress but I still think problem leis there without solution...

EDIT: After I read Xen Media Gallery add-on's description, which is; "Once purchased you will have access to 12 months technical support and upgrades and they will be accessible from the same link, above. Additional 12 months support and upgrades can be purchased for only £15 GBP." I am convinced @******* is just giving excuses so you can trick more customers.

 

[ogirginc]

By the way I want to say thanks a lot to @Chris D for being honest & clear with the Xen Media Gallery

 

[drastic]

@******* I would probably be a paid customer by now, but 6 months access to updates is pretty lame.

Then to top it off, if I want the credit system to do certain things, then I have to buy two more addons for the first addon. After 6 months I've already spent more than the cost of a full xf license.

Be more suitable for a lot more customers if your upgrades were available for a year and were better priced.

 

[Brivium]

@******* I would probably be a paid customer by now, but 6 months access to updates is pretty lame.

Then to top it off, if I want the credit system to do certain things, then I have to buy two more addons for the first addon. After 6 months I've already spent more than the cost of a full xf license.

Be more suitable for a lot more customers if your upgrades were available for a year and were better priced.

You can select Standard Lifetime for lifetime support & download.

Regards,

 

[Syndol]

My add-ons all have free lifetime support.
It might be a good idea to have an additional field for paid resources, here on XenForo, to indicate whether an add-on has limited (X months) or lifetime support.
The same way a we can now indicate whether it has visible branding.

 

[Liam W]

My add-ons all have free lifetime support.
It might be a good idea to have an additional field for paid resources, here on XenForo, to indicate whether an add-on has limited (X months) or lifetime support.
The same way a we can now indicate whether it has visible branding.

'Support Length and Renewal Cost' would be ideal...