Renewal vs Reinstatement

[zygmunt]

My HD ExpertPlus Support and Upgrade plan is expiring mid June. I haven't been following any discussion about support plans recently. I just wanted to see if there is still a penalty for letting a support plan lapse. Does it still cost more to reinstate a plan than it would to renew it before it expires?

Within my account I can see a renewal price of £312, and online I can see a reinstatement cost of £640 + VAT. Can anyone confirm this is the case. Seems unbelievable that it would cost more than double if you let it expire...

I am in an annoying position where I bought a standalone HD license a few months before all of the HD features started showing up in PT vanilla. The only reason I keep the HD license is for the advanced automation features.

If I do let my plan expire, am I just stuck on the last version available in my account before the expiry date?

Thanks for any help!

[JoelG]

Yes, what you've said is pretty much the case. If you let your plan lapse, you're frozen at the last version released under your plan, and the cost is much higher to get reinstated then renewal.

Joel

[zygmunt]

Arghhh, I can't understand why AVID have set it up like this...pressuring people to stay current. The cost of reinstatement is more than 2x the renewal cost, so reinstatement only makes sense if you plan to leave it longer than that.

It's a trap!

[JoelG]

It's motivation to keep on a plan. Avid have to make it a better price to stay on, or no one would.

Joel

[zygmunt]

So what is the general consensus? Are people paying the renewal or letting it lapse?

[JoelG]

That I don't know, I haven't heard any statistics or numbers..

You'll have to weigh how important new features/bug fixes are to you and see if you feel it is worth it. If you're not on HD, $99/year isn't really that bad, personal opinion - I spend far more on far less :)

Joel

[zygmunt]

Yeh, to be honest I don't think I would be complaining at $99/ year to stay up to date. It's the HD tax that is the killer and is making it tempting to go back to vanilla and abandon the HD license I bought.

[sw rec]

My 2 cents worth...I have NO plans to renew my support plan. In 20 years + I have called tech support ONCE, and that was in the good old Digidesign days, for the 002 power supply harness issue, which they resolved via an overnight care package at their expense. Stories I've read on here seem to indicate that Avid support is a joke, and I don't feel like shelling out $399 for something I don't need. If I don't get the "point" updates, fine. The last one is causing more problems than it is creating new options anyway. So if I'm stuck at 12.4, that's okay. It works without a hiccup, and I sure won't pay money to make it worse.

[zygmunt]

So I left my plan to expire, and while it has actually expired, AVID seem to be giving me a grace period to get the subscription going again at the 'renewal' price as opposed to the 'reinstatement' price...

Seems like they really want my money haha. It's been almost two months!

They are trying to lure me in with that 12.5.2 update from 12.5.1.

Anyone else had this experience? Not sure what I will do yet.

[JoelG]

There is a 30 day grace period. I don't know of anything beyond that though.

Joel