Buy 12 Upgrade Plan now, activate next year?

[TAMBOR]

Originally Posted by bad jitter

Avid is quite clear saying that that purchase date and activation date are two completely separate actions and that the one year support plan is valid for one year from the activation date. I believe the upgrade / support plan will be the exactly same product next year just with a higher price. I also believe that Avid has no means to know when the support plan code is bought from the dealer, they can only know when it's activated.

That said, I may be wrong and hope Avid will chime in.

What do you get when you buy the plan from a dealer? A license code? A card with the code?

[mlange]

Card with a code

[hatepop]

So what about people that purchased the HD plan, but only got an activation code through e-mail (not on a physical card)?

Everyones concern seems to be: If I don't activate before 31 Dec, will anything go wrong in the future?

[nigelpry]

Originally Posted by TAMBOR

It was in the lower right hand corner of my account page. It said there was no default iLok linked.

A little OT, but be aware that Avid REQUIRES your iLok account to be linked to your Avid account in certain circumstances.

I have two different iLok accounts but only one Avid account. Certain products are linked to one iLok account and the rest to another. I've had to link one iLok account, then get Jeffro to unlink it manually, as there is no unlink option from your Avid account, so I can then link the other iLok account.

And then get Jeffro to unlink that, because I do not like this linking concept. It allows Avid to place a license in your iLok account that AUTOMATICALLY replaces an existing license .... an attempt at making the surrendering process more simple no doubt.

But you have no opportunity to intervene ... when you run iLok License Manager the license surrender and replacement process takes place without any intervention, you have no opportunity to stop it, defer it, nothing. It just happens.

Imagine the day that Avid decides to no longer include a PT10 license in the bundle when you buy an upgrade .... are you ready to risk losing access to PT10, and having to fight with support to justify why you actually still need it?

I've had this automated surrender/replacement process happen on three occasions already ... two were slightly special circumstances cases, replacing PT10/11/12 Student license bundles with 10/11/12/Pro Tools 2016 license bundles to ensure I actually got my four years of free upgrades.

But the last time was a simple Eleven to Eleven II upgrade purchase via the Avid Store. It insisted on my iLok account being linked from inside my Avid Account, and then automatically did the surrender/replacement process inside iLok License Manager when I ran it.

This linking allows Avid, if they wanted, to automatically replace licenses in your iLok account. And if, like me, you have more than one iLok account, you have to be careful, because you could purchase an upgrade and have it automatically sent to the wrong iLok account.

Several of us complained that we weren't keen on this in a thread in the Licensing section of the DUC, and particularly that there should be a mechanism for us to unlink from within our Avid accounts, but not many people picked up on it.

Jeffro has been very good at unlinking my iLok account for me, multiple times, after posting in that thread that I want it to happen, but that's not an efficient way of working. We should be able to unlink it ourselves.

Again, sorry for going a little OT, but it does have some relevance to this thread.

[ManhtnProjct]

I'm wondering the same question.

I recently picked up an Apollo Quad that included a free Fast Track Solo with PT Express and an Avid Annual Upgrade and Support Plan.

They said that this will upgrade the Express license to full PT 10/11 and 12 licenses.

I already own a license for full PT 10/11.

I want to know:
If I hold off activation on this Avid Annual Upgrade and Support Plan till next year, will I be able to get updates from that point on?

If I hold off activation on this Avid Annual Upgrade and Support Plan till next year, Will I lose the update all together?

Thanks.

[seanbil]

Originally Posted by bad jitter

I believe the upgrade / support plan will be the exactly same product next year just with a higher price.

The answer to this is what solves the entire riddle. If true, then Avid needs to immediately recall all of the unsold 2015 Upgrade+Support activation codes floating out there. If false, then Avid need not do anything. My bet is on the latter because it's the only way that the 2015 codes don't undermine their plans for an imposed penalty. So while I agree that the 2015 activation codes will continue to work well into the future, my guess is that they'll likely lose two-thirds of their original purchasing power after this year. This is the only way for unsold 2015 HD upgrade activation codes to keep steady at $599 until they run out.

Originally Posted by bad jitter

I also believe that Avid has no means to know when the support plan code is bought from the dealer, they can only know when it's activated.

Exactly! It doesn't really matter if Avid knows when you purchased your code because activation is what determines whether or not you've begun your Support Plan! The act of purchasing the code means nothing by itself. And that there is probably where all the confusion lies, because Support Plan licensing is so different from traditional software sales. The moment that you activate your Support Plan is what is crucial under the new system. In other words, time is of the essence -- for you and Avid!

For a little background of why Avid even needed deadlines is because they have to spread the cost of subscription services over the term of your plan. While they may see an inflow of cash from your purchase of an activation code, that alone doesn't allow them to begin income recognition. They can only do so when they start providing you something, which in this case is a service for software upgrades. Contrast that to the traditional licensing system where income was recognized at point-of-sale. And this is some of the reason why Avid is so crazed with deadlines and why there is even a need for penalties.

[jeffro]

As you likely already know, the deadline to get on an Upgrade Plan at current pricing is 12/31/2015. Customers should redeem their product by 12/31/2015 (or as soon as possible after purchase) since the redemption programs for current (2015) Upgrade Plans will not be kept active long term.

As far as some of the other questions in this thread...

Originally Posted by BScout

Trying to find out if this is possible. Or, if bought through a dealer before the end of the year and it doesn't arrive in time to activate by (I guess) 11:59pm Dec 31 (what timezone -- PST or EST?), what happens with the activation code.

There will be enough of a grace period if the code doesn't reach you by midnight on 12/31 or you have some other problem delaying your activation. If you are having trouble activating I would recommend contacting CS for assistance before January ends.

Originally Posted by mlange

Yes - Avid please clarify: date of activation on Avid website, or physical purchase date from vendor.

Activation in your Avid account. See http://avid.force.com/pkb/articles/f...censing-FAQ#15

Originally Posted by hatepop

If I buy the annual plan, can I wait (lets say) 6 months before activating?

No, the current Upgrade Plan redemption programs will not be maintained that long.

Originally Posted by ghostwriter

I was told the one year support plan starts from the time you purchase the upgrade...
Here is the response I received from Avid:
"The One year support plan will start from the day that you successfully purchase the product. So even if you didn't download the file from your account. You will still get support."

They are either incorrect or using "successfully purchase" to include activation (note that they pointed out that downloading is not a factor). I'll follow up with the team in case there's someone not on the same page here.

Originally Posted by TAMBOR

What do you get when you buy the plan from a dealer? A license code? A card with the code?

Upgrade Plans are typically done electronically (download only), so you would get a Redemption Code when you purchase.

[hatepop]

Thanks Jeffro.
Well that does it people, buy & activate before Dec 31 in all scenario's.

[DanielR]

Originally Posted by hatepop

Well that does it people, buy & activate before Dec 31 in all scenario's.

Well, not in Germany as far as I can see. Over here, the Activation Card I've purchased this month from a reseller, law considers being a "voucher". With AVID clearly stating publicly in multiple places that the year of upgrades start with activation, not with purchase, and given that there is absolutely no deadline published (and legally only relevant: was published at time of purchase) how long activation can happen after purchase of the "voucher", German law allows full three calendar years after purchase to redeem the voucher at purchaser's discretion, to the full value of what was the service promise sold. So for me, I will legally have the right to claim (start) the purchased service (one year of free updates) until end of 2018.

Discussions with AVID "registration support" yielded the unhelpful response of

"You can activate the upgrade in the next 3 years, but it's not sure if the code will still be valid or not.".

The indication of "in the next 3 years" seems to indicate AVID registration support is aware of German law regarding those activation codes. The second half of the sentence is weird. AVID certainly knows how long activation codes are/will be technically valid. In fact, they are not in the legal position to invalidate mine until 2019. I've asked for escalation to get their policy publicly documented to remove all the confusion.

BTW, my motivation is that I have PT11 (non-HD) now and don't really need PT12+ right now. With the upgrade plan, a seldom mentioned and advertised fact is that you'll get "free" 7 day installation support. So I don't want to activate today while not installing PT12, so if I run into trouble when I'm actually doing it (probably as soon as the amount of bugs reported here goes a bit down to more comfortable levels), I can get the installation support I've paid for.

[hatepop]

Originally Posted by DanielR

Well, not in Germany as far as I can see. Over here, the Activation Card I've purchased this month from a reseller, law considers being a "voucher". With AVID clearly stating publicly in multiple places that the year of upgrades start with activation, not with purchase, and given that there is absolutely no deadline published (and legally only relevant: was published at time of purchase) how long activation can happen after purchase of the "voucher", German law allows full three calendar years after purchase to redeem the voucher at purchaser's discretion, to the full value of what was the service promise sold. So for me, I will legally have the right to claim (start) the purchased service (one year of free updates) until end of 2018...

So all the countries have different voucher expiry dates. Didn't think of that.
I've had a look for the UK and as far as I can see, the law seems to state to "check the expiry date and the terms and conditions" - dam. I should have expected it I guess, the government never takes the people's side. Did I miss something here?

Originally Posted by DanielR

"You can activate the upgrade in the next 3 years, but it's not sure if the code will still be valid or not.".

Dude, you better read this again, it basically says, you have 3 years to "activate" as long as the voucher does not "expire".

So in 2 years time (lets say) you might end up trying to activate a voucher that has "expired". You can "activate" it, but it won't be worth anything.
That's how I'm reading it. It's not clear.