IM So FRusTraTED!!!! Done with Avid

[Adupr]

So I purchase the Hd12 upgrade from Hd10 from sweet water. When I purchased I asked that it's ok that I not activate right away because I have sessions I want to finish before diving into the whole upgrade hell (OS, plugs, etc...). I got a good deal going through sweetwater so it all was fine.

I just received an email from sweet water on Feb 12th stating that my registration would be no good after Feb 15th. A THREE DAY NOTICE!!!! Really?

I couldn't do it because my kid was in hospital (and have paper work to prove) and had to attend to that first obviously.

So on Feb 16th I call Avid and talk to one of the registration guys. He says, "ohh your ok, that's just for m power and you can activate anytime". Ok all good.

Then I get an email that night which says ----

I would really like to apologize for the misinformation I provided. This means that all activation codes for upgrades including HD will be invalid if not activated after February 15 2016. Please return the product back to the dealer for refund.

The right label upgrade for Pro Tools HD should be "Pro Tools HD Upgrade Reinstatement Plan." Again, I apologize for the inconvenience.

So I need to return the product that I bought and told I could activate at anytime from both sweetwater and avid and spend a lot more for the exact same thing.

If this doesn't get fixed IM DONE with avid forever. I can see why so many are frustrated and I now feel the pain.

[DigiTechSupt]

I'm so sorry to hear about that. I'll look up your case and coordinate with management and see what can be done.

Best regards,
Tope

[Sugarnutz]

Doesn't a PT HD 12 asset include 10 & 11 also? If that's the case you could have upgraded your account the day you purchased it and continued to run HD 10 until you were finished with your projects. No need to blame Avid. SMH....

[Adupr]

What does it matter when I choose to activate? If I was told by avid and sweetwater that I can activate anytime I would like than what do you think I think. Probably that I don't need to rush to get it done.

There was NOTHiNG when I purchased that said I had a certain amount of time to activate.

Don't miss the point guys.

[Adupr]

Why did a bunch of post get deleted???

So it's been two days and I haven't heard a word from Avid after being told someone would call me.

[john1192]

sweetwater ships you new product and you return the old one in the same box .. Call Sweetwater again .. they are the seller .. this is on them to fix .. go right to the top .. the Chuck meister .. and no change in money to you at all ... my .02

if you have already resolved this then disregard ...

[DigiTechSupt]

Hello Adupr,

Posts that were off topic (or violated the Terms of Use) were removed.

John is correct, you'll need to work with Sweetwater to exchange/return this. Avid removed the Upgrade Plans from our store after 12/31, but allowed resellers to sell through their inventory. All of them should have included the 2/15 cutoff date in their ads to make customers aware of this (Avid clearly communicated this to them).

We're sorry for the inconvenience here and will pass your info on to the reseller so that they can work with you on this.

Best regards,
JC

[nigelpry]

Originally Posted by Adupr

What does it matter when I choose to activate? If I was told by avid and sweetwater that I can activate anytime I would like than what do you think I think. Probably that I don't need to rush to get it done.

There was NOTHiNG when I purchased that said I had a certain amount of time to activate.

Don't miss the point guys.

What does it matter when you choose to activate? .... Well, Avid did say a while back, several months ago at least, that a Feb 15th deadline would apply. I assume this is so people couldn't buy the upgrade in 2015 when it was cheaper, and then delay activating it until much later, when the new 2016 pricing is in place, while allowing a little bit of scope to delay.

Bearing in mind you get 12 months from the date of activation, not the date of purchase, people could buy upgrades while they were cheaper, and then wait until enough new features were released during 2016 (and even longer) before activating the upgrade, if no limit was applied. And they implemented a big penalty hike in the upgrade pricing for people who didn't buy the upgrade before the end of 2015. That plan/policy would have been seriously undermined if everyone could buy the upgrade in 2015 and wait as ling as they want before activating it.

It was down to your retailer to inform you of the activation date deadline, unless they can demonstrate that they weren't in fact informed of that by Avid, in which case responsibility would fall back onto Avid.

As for the advice that you return it to Sweetwater so they can send you a new product .... Of course the problem is that the new product will be significantly more expensive, so I hope you did actually get the old product successfully activated.

[Adupr]

I actually spoke with Avid and Sweetwater (on same phone call) last week. The Avid guy said I was right but could do nothing about it. I was pretty upset at him and still don't understand why I just can't get a new code (I never received a box but just an email with an activation code).

The sweetwater guy actually told the avid dude to stop and that he would handle taking care of me. When the avid guy got off the phone, the sweetwater guy said that he will take care of the issue but needed a day or two.

I believe sweetwater is going to do the right thing but I'm still waiting for a phone call or email back.

BTW You wrote that you seen Avid post that Feb15th deadline several months ago. I never seen anything like that. When I purchased in late december NO ONE told me nothing about a date and said I could activate at anytime. Once I made the purchase I wasn't looking around at Avid stuff anymore so if they did post somewhere, I never seen it. I should have got an email with at least a 30 day notice.

[nigelpry]

Well I've got my fingers crossed for you, I hope Sweetwater sorts it out.

It's one of my greatest frustrations .... All the hardware and software we buy, not just pro audio ... all the companies end up with our contact details, and yet communications are almost universally poor when it comes to stuff like this.

Avid definitely did make a statement on that deadline date, in response to a lot of people speculating towards the end of last year that maybe they could buy an upgrade before the end of the year and then just store it away for a year or two (or more) before activating it when they felt there was enough new stuff to justify it. Obviously that would be detrimental financially to Avid, so they stepped in and declared a deadline date.

But how would you know ..... You wouldn't, unless you keep an eye on everything that is said here in the DUC. And very few people have the time to read every thread.

It's not good enough, and lots of people get burned by not keeping themselves in the loop, through no fault of their own. Some companies can't even get their act together enough to notify you when an update is released, probably over 50% of the software I own is like that.

I make it a regular 1st Monday morning of the month routine to go through a list of websites checkng for software updates. Rarely do I find nothing. And yet they all have my email address as part of my registered details, so there is no excuse for not keeping paying customers informed.

Most of the time, if companies do you harm due to a policy that you couldn't readonably be expected to know about, they will see you right. But it can be a long hard slog sometimes to get there, and that's a shame.

It took me over two years to get a one of my Pro Tools student licenses sorted out after I was mis-sold one by an online retailer, who carried on advertising a free upgrade deal long after it had finished. If, at any time, I had given up, 'they' would have got away with it. But I kept at it, and, eventually my case was successfully resolved.