Who hates ilok?

[Summertime]

I personally like the whole idea of iLok, but policy of most vendors in case of loosing/breaking is humiliating to honest customers. We are buying software to use, not the iLok. Imagine that you've bought a house and received a single set of the keys. And in case you've lost those keys you have to leave this house. Would you go for such a deal? We are in this exact situation with iLok and it does not seem fair to me. We are by default suspected in a crime and are dealt with like a criminals stealing software. I don't think that this gives us good customer experience.
As for insurance, DigiTechSupport did not answer to the point that this advise is US centric. I live in Russia and just can't insure my iLok. I imagine reaction of our insurance company when I'll come to them and say that I want to insure this tiny piece of plastic for several thousands dollars. Just not possible here and I have to live on a vulcano, knowing that if I'll loose my iLok my work will just stop until I repurchase most of the licenses.

Anton

[ejwells]

Firstly, a BROKEN iLok is a non issue if you have Zero Downtime.
Losing an iLok? How would one lose an iLok? I mean, OK. I guess it COULD happen, but I've never heard about one single instance of this happening.
The comparison to losing house keys doesn't fly.
A better comparison (size aside) would be losing your car.

I guess a stolen iLok is a different issue. I have mine insured, so that's a non issue for me, but I could see how this might be an issue to someone unable to get insurance.

I personally LOVE iLok, and have nothing bad to say AT ALL about them.
The thread I read about the freezing of the guy's iLok account, while interesting reading, didn't make me second guess the iLok system for one second.

[DigiTechSupt]

If I have to rely on insurance what good is ZDT besides having 14 more days with my plugins?

That's what it's there for - those 14 days could mean a lot of income for a studio that relies on their plug-ins to be working.

I live in Russia and just can't insure my iLok.

Have you looked at the specific musician/studio policies available online? I definitely recall seeing 'worldwide coverage' available on at least a few of them. Whether they require you to live in the U.S. or not is in question, but I would have to imagine there are companies that would insure you, as they must be doing the same for travelling artists from Russia.

[DTheone]

Originally Posted by DigiTechSupt

That's what it's there for - those 14 days could mean a lot of income for a studio that relies on their plug-ins to be working.

Fair enough; I'll be re-newing my ZDT but i'm absolutely going to insist on my clients paying for an Ilok and renting plug-ins as opposed to me bringing my personal ILOK and risking any damage or loss/theft. I can gather a nice collection of Iloks this way and have them ready for any emergencies.

The ZDT worked like a charm for my home studio and definitely is worth the peace of mind for me.

[dendee]

I had no idea that in addition to dealing with i-loks policy about replacing the i-lok, I would have to pay digi for new licenses. Since 2003, I have purchased 3 protools systems. The 002, then the M-Box, then after upgrading to music production toolkit (the rig still didnt cut it) I bought HD3. Not that I read everything, but it certainly wasn't made clear to me, that losing your i-lok would be a major PITA. I've been tossing this thing into my briefcase like a $30 piece of plastic!

Someone said "how do you lose an i-lok?" It's very easy to do when you're travelling on the road. Packing and unpacking, in and out of hotel rooms on a daily basis...setting up your laptop rig for one day, then taking it all apart....sometimes with no sleep. The road is very tough. You can lose anything on the road..even your $5,000 Taylor.

Today, I found my i-lok, after looking for the last 3 weeks. Wouldnt you know...it was just yesterday that I called digi to order the replacement licenses for some of the plugs. They charged me $150. NO refunds allowed, even though this "found" i-lok presents no risk of abuse. AND, now Pace wants me to COURIER the disabled i-lok to them at my expense! Imagine that.

I actually have alot of respect for legitimate software..and I actually admire Digi for being able to control it. You know, if the rest of us musicians could be so clever enough to come up with something that resulted in more "paid for" mp3 files, there would actually be some "real jobs" in this field.

My 2 cents.

[ejwells]

Originally Posted by dendee

Someone said "how do you lose an i-lok?" It's very easy to do when you're travelling on the road. Packing and unpacking, in and out of hotel rooms on a daily basis...setting up your laptop rig for one day, then taking it all apart....sometimes with no sleep. The road is very tough. You can lose anything on the road..even your $5,000 Taylor.

Sorry, I do a bit of traveling myself. If my iLok is in it's protective box in my laptop case, it's pretty darned hard to "lose."
I've also been in the business for many, many years, and have never "lost" a guitar. I've had one stolen, but never lost one.

[klarok]

ejwells, again here is how we got lost of our ilok:

Quote:
When the ilok broke Digidesign did not replace any of the licenses on it. Not one. I am speaking of Virus, Echofarm, D2/D3, ReverbOne... That is only some of them. At that time these plugs were bundled with a TDM Mix System. That means in fact a lot of lost money . They asked us to send the iLok to Pace. Shure, we send it to PACE. What happened? On the way from Germany to USA the ilok simply got lost!!!!!
Pace wrote us that they received an empty envelope??? Is that possible?!!!! We can believe it or not. (By the way I do not believe it. You do not get empty envelopes. You either get or it gets lost as a whole.)

[ejwells]

Originally Posted by klarok

ejwells, again here is how we got lost of our ilok:

Quote:
When the ilok broke Digidesign did not replace any of the licenses on it. Not one. I am speaking of Virus, Echofarm, D2/D3, ReverbOne... That is only some of them. At that time these plugs were bundled with a TDM Mix System. That means in fact a lot of lost money . They asked us to send the iLok to Pace. Shure, we send it to PACE. What happened? On the way from Germany to USA the ilok simply got lost!!!!!
Pace wrote us that they received an empty envelope??? Is that possible?!!!! We can believe it or not. (By the way I do not believe it. You do not get empty envelopes. You either get or it gets lost as a whole.)

It's a sad story, and I certainly feel for you.
But...if I had to send a broken iLok to Pace, I'd make certain that it was insured for the replacement value of all the licenses.

[klarok]

Exactly ejwells. That is why I contribute to the discussion. Maybe my experience helps other users not just in evaluating support by our providers but also in taking conclusions for their daily business.

[ejwells]

And while I'm at it:

Someone earlier mentioned Waves, and their "terrible" iLok policy.

Their new TLC coverage is the most sensible policy in the entire plug in world. Bar none. Period.

They're the ONLY company where, for NO cost, your iLok licenses are safe against theft, damage, and loss. 100% safe.

Lose your iLok, it gets stolen? Your licenses are replaced instantly.

And even with THAT, I hear folks bitching that "I don't want to have to transfer new licenses onto my iLok every 3 months."

C'mon! What does it take? 5 minutes?

For me, being a Mercury owner, paying the paltry $200 a year WUP has it's advantages.