My Eleven Rack came with PT LE 8

[texasdave]

You gotta go hit that store up again. Get THE manager involved. Find out when he's there and go discuss it with him. You only bought the unit because the salesman told you that you'd be eligible for the PT10 upgrade. You would have never bought it had you thought otherwise, and relied on his expertise in making the decision. You assumed (possibly at the saleman's direction?) that registering the software would get you where you needed to be, so of course you registered it... State your case clearly and keep pushing on them to make it right... "Store Policy" is just that; if they value their own reputation and your business, they should be trying to do "SOMETHING to make it right and they can override their own "policy" if they so choose.


NOW, the CAVEAT EMPTOR:

Like it or not, we all have to do our homework, especially with "Free upgrades" and "Rebates" and anything to do with software. Sadly, taking the salesman at his word is generally not enough. Is this store an authorized Avid dealer?

[Benoni]

Originally Posted by PeeTee

Store isn't accepting returns since I registered the product.

So, anybody want to buy a brand new Eleven Rack from me for cheap? I'd be willing to cut my losses short since the upgrade from LE 8 to 10 is $500.

Well you havent really lost anything. You don't have to use PT10. PT LE8 will work just fine. Unless of course you were buying an 11R in order to get PT10.

Why not ask the store for an upgrade card since they mislead you.

If they still won't do anything, then you may just have to eat it and chalk it up as a life lesson - don't trust anyone - verify things on your own.

You could keep the 11R, shell out another $100 and get the ERXP and just stick to PT8 LE and wait for next year or so when PT11 comes out and maybe there will be a cheaper upgrade path.

PT10 is nice, but IMO not worth a $500 upgrade fee being that its still a 32 bit app. I'm holding out for PT11 once it is a 64 bit app.

[acmost]

Originally Posted by PeeTee

I just purchased Eleven Rack and it came with PT LE 8. Sales guy said that I'm eligible for a free upgrade to Pro Tools 10.

No way, don't let it slide...if sales guy told you that...the store has to make it right.

That would be my opinion...don't let up.

[richpjr]

Yuk - can you trying appealing to Avid with what happened? Perhaps they'll bend their policy.

[Benoni]

Originally Posted by richpjr

Yuk - can you trying appealing to Avid with what happened? Perhaps they'll bend their policy.

Well its not Avids problem. If Avid was to 'bend' their policy and start giving away the ERXP and PT10 to people who buy the old bundle packaged with LE8 that would cause more problems then it would alleviate.

The responsibility lies solely with the purchaser and the dealer. If dealers know that Avid will bail them out when they sell old bundles, where will it stop? They will be selling 002's and Mbox 2's, both of which are discontinued, and telling people they can get PT10 for free or an upgrade to a new interface for free.

If Avid was to bend now, then what about the other guys who bought the PT8 bundle with the 11R just a few weeks before PT10 was released, its a can of worms either way.

Best thing to do is personally go to the store, find the exact salesperson who told you that PT10 was included, request the manager or owner, and try to resolve the issue. If they will not, let them know you will have to post negative reviews of their store on every website you visit and on all of the Consumer Review websites.

[sorcerer27]

Unfortunately, I'm sure they'll state that the store isn't responsible for a salesman's inaccurate statements. So I'll reiterate what's been said here. You need to research these things on your own, especially before believing a salesman! I sure as hell would visit that salesman and give him some major grief about the inaccurate information he gave you. Hate to say it, but more then likely, you're going to have to eat it!

[acmost]

Originally Posted by sorcerer27

Unfortunately, I'm sure they'll state that the store isn't responsible for a salesman's inaccurate statements. So I'll reiterate what's been said here. You need to research these things on your own, especially before believing a salesman! I sure as hell would visit that salesman and give him some major grief about the inaccurate information he gave you. Hate to say it, but more then likely, you're going to have to eat it!

I'm thinking positive here...find the sales guy & manager. If they don't compensate you somehow...insist that they refund you the money so you can buy it from some place that sells it with 9 & you can get the upgrade.

sounds easy anyway. :) good luck.

[zedhed]

It hasn't been established whether or not the dealer was a 'Registered Avid Dealer'.

IMHO, if it is a registered dealer then Avid ought to be standing by what the customer was told and reprimanding/withdrawing the dealer from there list. After all, being a registered dealer is supposed to impart some sense of security and integrity to the consumer that they can buy from this person with confidence. Otherwise whats the point of having registered dealers?

If it was bought from a non registered dealer then that's another story.

The upside is that just because PT8 is 'dated' software, it is still very much usable with the 11R. Frankly, unless you absolutely need the extra features that PT10 offers there is no need to have it anyway. Look on the PT10 discussion thread, it's full of bugs like every other version ever released. The message I'm giving is don't get too hung up on the software, the 11R is a great piece of kit!

[richpjr]

Originally Posted by Benoni

Well its not Avids problem. If Avid was to 'bend' their policy and start giving away the ERXP and PT10 to people who buy the old bundle packaged with LE8 that would cause more problems then it would alleviate.

The responsibility lies solely with the purchaser and the dealer. If dealers know that Avid will bail them out when they sell old bundles, where will it stop? They will be selling 002's and Mbox 2's, both of which are discontinued, and telling people they can get PT10 for free or an upgrade to a new interface for free.

If Avid was to bend now, then what about the other guys who bought the PT8 bundle with the 11R just a few weeks before PT10 was released, its a can of worms either way.

Best thing to do is personally go to the store, find the exact salesperson who told you that PT10 was included, request the manager or owner, and try to resolve the issue. If they will not, let them know you will have to post negative reviews of their store on every website you visit and on all of the Consumer Review websites.

Plenty of companies give free upgrades to customers buying products with old versions if a new version has been released in the meantime. It costs them virtually nothing to do and creates good will. Now, if the store doesn't take it back and Avid does nothing, the OP is going to have tremendous ill will towards them and no company should want that from their customers.

I think that since the product was opened, installed and registered, it's going to be virtually impossible for the seller to take it back.

[Benoni]

Originally Posted by richpjr

Plenty of companies give free upgrades to customers buying products with old versions if a new version has been released in the meantime. It costs them virtually nothing to do and creates good will.

Thats true, and Avid is one of them. If you buy a bundle with PT9 Avid gives you a free upgrade to PT10.

But if you buy a bundle (any bundle, not just 11R) with LE6, LE7, LE8, then no upgrade because there are many sellers out there still selling the old bundle and for much less. It would not be a good idea to offer free upgrades for every bundle no matter how old. Then there would be no reason to buy a new bundle for more, just buy an old bundle for $500 and get the same thing everyone else gets when they spend $1000. Buy a deactivated Mbox 2 micro for $99 and get PT10 for free. That would not be a profitable business model.

And it costs them more than you think. There is more to it behind the scenes. It takes people to offer the upgrade, it take people to setup the crossgrade method, it takes people to make sure the servers work and all the codes are correct. Its not a simple as saying well the software is made so no more money has to go into upgrade process, there are still millions in R&D to recoup.

Your point about "good will" is very true, and I have made it myself in other thread several times, but this is really not Avid's problem. Avid clearly stated the terms to receive an upgrade, I don't see how its Avids responsibility if a Sales Person does not know how to read.

Just as if you were to make a product, and it gets placed in Wal-Mart, and one of the sales people says that your product comes with free upgrades for life, but your terms clearly state free upgrades for 2 years. That is not your fault in any way, but the re-sellers.


Would Avid get some good will for just giving PT10 to some of the unlucky people who bought older bundles, sure - as long as they did it quietly. If word got out that Avid was 'rewarding' people who bought old bundles then there would be many many unhappy people who upgraded for $299, or $500, or who bought the boxed version for $599 when they could have purchased an old 11R bundle for $50 more and got PT10 for free.

It sucks for the OP, and I hope the Store he bought it from will make good on their word. As Zedhed said, if they are an Authorized Avid Dealer, then Avid 'may' be able to help you directly. Or at least deactivate the PTLE Software and authorize the return to your dealer for a replacement.

I do hope it works out for the OP, the 11R is a great piece of gear even without the latest version of Pro Tools.