6 Replies Latest reply: Apr 27, 2011 12:08 AM by Mylenium RSS

    Poor policy for upgrading to CS 5.5

    FredC17 Community Member

      On February 11, I upgraded from CS4 Design Premium to CS5 Design Premium for $599.00 (ouch!). Since I was in the middle of a major project using CS4, I have not yet used CS 5.

       

      On April 11, Anne-MarieC (the goddess of InDesign) suggested that users who had recently upgraded check for a free upgrade. I followed the link to the Adobe site and seemed to meet all the criteria. Yesterday, my request was denied: "we regret to inform you that you are not eligible for it because your original purchase does not qualify with the post-announce upgrade eligibility period."

       

      I called Customer Support to find out what the post-announce upgrade eligibility period is, since I could find it nowhere on Adobe's web site. Customer support informed me that the cut-off date is March 11. Having "checked other resources" (i.e., talked to his supervisor), he also reiterated that a free upgrade was "impossible," something akin to a law of the universe.

       

      If I had not upgraded on February 11, I could now upgrade from CS 4 to CS 5.5 for $649.00. By upgrading 28 days before the arbitrary March 11 cut-off date, I have to pay in two increments, $599.00 and $399.00, for a total of $998.00, that is, $349.00 more for having upgraded slightly earlier.

       

      Is this any way to treat loyal users who have been upgrading regularly since the first version of CS? I belong to the Bay Area InDesign Users Group and plan to raise this at the next meeting as forcefully as I can. I believe that Adobe is gouging its most loyal customers.

       

      Does anyone agree, or have any suggestions?

       

      Fred

        • 1. Re: Poor policy for upgrading to CS 5.5
          Mylenium CommunityMVP

          Yes it's annoying, but what can you do? There has to be a line somewhere and there will always be people just coming up a few days short. You know, my mom was born 24days "too late" to qualify for early old age retirement here in Germany - now she has to work as a teacher until she's 65 and not just 63 or if she should decide not to put up for 2 more years with pesky kids, take cuts on her pension. Guess how aggravated she was/ is in the matter... So for what it's worth - while I understand your frustration, I don't exactly share your sentiment. Adobe is, after all, free to decide upon grace periods, pricing etc. as long as they comply with consumer laws on a more general level and that is just that. I also don't think there is too much reason to complain about Adobe's upgrade policy - compared to other software vendors, they are rather generous and forgiving. I could cite enough examples from forced annual upgrades in 3D programs to trivial things as being stuck with specific outdated versions of scanner and printer if you are not under some maintenance contract, but suffice it to say being able to upgrade from 3 versions back or getting a lower price for a one version jump in that light seems less of a big deal to me. We've had years of spending thousands of Euros for literally nothing new in return on some of the stuff I mentioned...

           

          Mylenium

          • 2. Re: Poor policy for upgrading to CS 5.5
            BobLevine CommunityMVP

            I for one do not agree. There's nothing arbitrary about that date. It is one month before the announcement of CS5.5. If they give you a free upgrade then the person who bought CS5 three months before is going to start screaming. I know it's frustrating it's been Adobe's policy for a long time and if you had done any investigating prior to your CS5 purchase you would have found this: http://indesignsecrets.com/is-creative-suite-5-5-coming-soon.php

             

            I'll repeat the same suggestion I've made over and over again. If you need the software upgrade the minute that it's available. That way you never have to worry about this happening again.

             

            Bob

            • 3. Re: Poor policy for upgrading to CS 5.5
              FredC17 Community Member

               

              Bob, I find your reasoning to be entirely specious. According to you, if I "had done any investigating prior to my CS5 purchase", I would have found a *rumor* on Feb 2 that a 5.5 version *might* be appearing soon. There was no official warning by Adobe, let alone a pricing announcement. If there had been, I certainly would not have upgraded on February 11, but waited until after the March 11 date. Even the 30-day "grace period" is not that well known. As a very knowledgeable person (Anne-Marie) told me today: "I've heard (anecdotally), that it is 30 days." Even now, Adobe does not list the 30-day cut-off date on the official application for a free upgrade (http://adobe.ly/fVIPcH). I wonder why?

               

               

               

              Apparently you feel that paying $998 to upgrade from CS4—>CS5—>CS5.5 is just fine if done before March 11, whereas knowing that I could have gone straight from CS4—>CS5.5 for $649 after March 11 should simply be "frustrating". Tertium non datur.

               

               

               

              I for one do not agree.

               

               

               

              The marketing people at Adobe may not lose a lot of sleep if such prices drive long-time users like me away. Although, to be fair, they note in their rejection of my free upgrade request: "We know how frustrating and inconvenient this may be for you".

               

              To borrow a few of your kind words of advice, Bob, I guess that if I cannot afford the upgrade now, I will "never have to worry about this happening again."

               

               

               

              Fred

               

               

               

              BTW, this does not even address another "frustration": the $600 upgrade I paid on Feb 11 for CS4—>CS5 should have included AcrobatX, but that's another story.

              • 4. Re: Poor policy for upgrading to CS 5.5
                BobLevine CommunityMVP

                You asks for opinions. I gave you mine.

                 

                And you can call those CS5.5 reports rumors if you want, but it wouldn't have taken long to figure out they were totally dead on.

                 

                Also, if you want to call Anne Marie knowedgeable (and you most certainly should) you should know that InDesign Secrets is her baby along with David Blatner. Do you really think they'd post a "rumor" that wasn't going to turn out to be true? You can't have it have both ways.

                 

                Like I said, I know it's frustrating, but I'm just the messenger.

                 

                Bob

                • 5. Re: Poor policy for upgrading to CS 5.5
                  Mylenium CommunityMVP

                  There was no official warning by Adobe, let alone a pricing announcement.

                   

                  There never is. It's no different with other software vendors - you go to bed in the evening and *wham*, the next day the internets are flooded with announcements. It's the nature of the beast. You can only trust your gut feeling and kinda extrapolate based on previous release cycles. I for instance, can be reasonably sure that Maxon will release a new version of Cinema 4D some time in August/ September, because they have done so in the past years, but I can't be 100% certain. All I can do is have the money ready for upgrades and keep a keen eye on things like tradeshows that usually serve as some indication or place for announcements. Also understand that people "in the know" never will say anything as they are under NDA as much as they might want to warn you...

                   

                  Mylenium

                  • 6. Re: Poor policy for upgrading to CS 5.5
                    Mylenium CommunityMVP

                    BTW, this does not even address another "frustration": the $600 upgrade I paid on Feb 11 for CS4—>CS5 should have included AcrobatX, but that's another story.

                     

                    I think you're wrong about that. There was never an upgrade to CS5 that included Acrobat X as far as I know. Only in CS5.5 is Acrobat X starting to be included....

                     

                    Mylenium