Acronis Customer loyalty and Support

I purchased Acronis TrueImage Home v9 on Aug 30th, On Oct 17th they released version v10.

I contacted them to ask wether I would be entitled to a free upgrade and it turns out, from a Live support session, that you only get an upgrade within the first 30 days of the new product.

Is it right that this upgrade period should be so short and more importantly shouldn't there be advance warning of an impending new version when you make the purchase only 47 days before the release?

Is this deceitful attitude really where we are today?

I`ve supported this product through versions 7,8 and 9 and feel very upset by this issue.

I have contacted Support@acronis who have sent an autoresponse telling me not to ask again. That was 3 days ago... How long are you supposed to wait? (30 days ;o) ?)

 

It is their policy. The basis for this is that there has to be a cut off point somewhere. If you don't do that you are then into the complexities of a sliding scale of upgrade costs based upon how long ago you bought the previous version. I think this would be a mistake to do this. I don't see any problem with a fixed cut off period in itself.

Possibly, but on balance I don't think so. The real problem is not that v10 has been released. The problem is that they have abruptly stopped supporting v9. Those of us with V9 paid for the features in v9 which were advertised at the time. We did not pay for the features in V10 - therefore I personally would not expect an upgrade to V10 at all. I would however expect v9 to be supported for a reasonable period of time, and to have all known bugs removed (there are at least four well known ones discussed in this forum).

I think it is simply the fact that release dates are not known in advance. This makes planning difficult.

However, whatever the real facts are, my own perception from the support offered in this forum (by Acronis) is that Acronis are indifferent to exploiting and pissing off their customer base.

F.

 

I agree that Acronis should take more care with their customer base, particularly those who have supported the program through several versions. Although there obviously needs to be a cut-off point, 30 days seems a little short particularly as other (check out the General Announcements) Imaging programs seem to have a much better policy for their users.

 

That's exactly what I am thinking too, because Acronis did not even bother to take 1 minute of their time to give a answer in the other thread. (now closed)

"Will there be more update to TI9 Home?"

 

Although we all have our own personal view of Microsoft products and policies it would benefit all (produces and consumers) if software manufacturers followed the general principles that Microsoft employ with respect to software releases and support for legacy versions. Just like the "IBM i86" hardware platform and the "Window" OS platform determine a common base on which all developers can build, so too a voluntary adherance by software manufacturers to an "upgrade and legacy support" ethic would simplify the marketplace for everyone.

The key points that Microsoft use with their products are:-

• Advance notice to the market that a new version is in development
• Extensive Beta testing by a wide section of users
• A well publicised release date (often missed but at least well-known!)
• Free product updates for the life-cycle of the product
• A clearly defined and clearly communicated support period for older versions

If other softwear manufactures followed this model, determining their own periods, then there would be a sense of fairness and a lack of resentment in the marketplace.

Long-standing supporters of Acronis know that they are fuzzy-brained when it comes to the management of their development and support criteria. That does not detract from the product but neither does it engender loyalty.

There is an overwhelming sense that should an really top-notch competitor appear in this marketspace that the Acronis faithful would defect in their droves.....

 

My feelings exactly.
And since important threads have been closed and posts referring to those threads seem to disappear, I no longer feel the need to waste my time responding to questions. Why bother if my replies will up and vanish.

 

I guess I don't see the 30 limit as necessarily too short, although it is a differentiator that a customer should use in making a purchase decision.

Speaking as a multiple license TI customer, like many of you, what is rather disconcerting is the release of TI version 10 without, in my personal estimation, adequate stabilization of TI version 9 or any appreciable lifetime for TI9 on the market as a fully stabilized build.

Blue

 

I have had many of my problems resolved by the suggestions, instructions, etc... you folks have posted in response to our pleas.

Thanks for all the help you have given me and the many people who posted their problems or questions.

Please don't give up the ship.

Phil B.

 

Money, money, that's the only thing to explain Acronis decision. But I just hope that this time customer will not "jump" on ATI 10. As for me, they will not get my money this time.

 

I suppose they do it because seemingly intelligent people are prepared to justify thier cause for them.

We are talking about a HOME version here. not some elaborate corporate version that`s proping up the western economy.

I doubt the average HOME user would even use this product every 30 days, let alone worry wether they are going to sneak out a new version in between

 

I started with the later versions of TI 8, so most of the problems had been worked out. I went through all the fixing with the various builds of TI9. I only use TI to do image backups. I see ver TI10 as mostly bloat. Since TI9.03677 does all I want I don’t intend to upgrade to TI10.

If they ever fix the image backup to DVD I may consider it, as in addition to regular backups to an external HDD I like to do monthly backups to DVD.

This new version every approximately 12 months of software is really getting out of hand. The question before you buy the new upgrade is; does the upgrade do anything new that is useful to you? In my case the answer for TI 10, as well as, some other software is NO!

 

Which is why it would be nice to have v9 totally ironed out. As my next move will probably be to the workstation version, I would like to have some of the bugs in v9 that affect me (and others), ironed out before I consider upgrading to either T10 or Workstation.


Colin

 

Many programs are updated on approximately an annual basis, including ATI. Someone once suggeted that you should get free upgrades for a year. That would be swell, free upgrades for life. Although I reckon they'd have to change their initial pricing to stay in business. ;-)

sh

 

Well it's humble pie time for me!!

Acronis support has very kindly provided me with an upgade to Ver10.

The long standing relationship will continue....

 

Well done Graydog7 - no need to over-indulge on humble pie, you only received what many will perceive a fair deal.

In terms of the bigger picture Acronis still need to subscribe to the industry standard when it comes to version releases and support namely:

• Advance notice to the user-base that a new version is in development
• Beta testing by a carefully selected user group
• A well publicised release date
• Free product updates for the life-cycle of the product
• A clearly defined and clearly communicated life-cycle policy that is generally within what most reasonable users would consider "fair policy"

 

I've been lost in this PC biz since 1984 and, frankly, I wouldn't say that the Microsoft release methodology and upgrade path is the ideal, nor is it the "industry standard." There is no industry standard. And even less Q/A. Microsoft sucks; everyone knows it. Unfortunately they still build software that is still interesting and kind of new, or at least it's deja-vu all over again.

I do not begrudge a much smaller firm, such as Acronis, releasing a new version of their mainstay software every year, even if the release is buggy and hardly worth the $49 or whatever upgrade fee from the earlier version. I'm sure there's some point to the upgrade, but I don't really care, as long as the upgrade price is reasonable and people respond to a question or two throughout the year without me being put on hold for the same amount of time. These smaller firms do need to exist, too. I remember those golden, Augustan days of yore when each new version of a particular software package was wrapped in rainbows that made you feel like this one finally was going to bring peace on earth, nirvana, or at least one worthwhile feature and a couple of bug fixes. Well instead you start to feel like you're in one of those Esher prints, where people are walking down the stairs but actually going up, and the software you just purchased sucks, and you have no one to blame except yourself for being stupid enough to buying it. Luckily we now have these Blogs, or whatever they're called, so we can barf on other unsuspecting fools. But I digress. Or perhaps I should?

There are a lot of smaller software outfits that pretend to be Microsoft: they all copy whatever Microsoft does, and Microsoft in turn copies bits and pieces of their good ideas and before you know it snuffs them. And so we have the House of Tudor all over again: stuff that works but only every other generation. Ah, the Software Cycle of Life...

But hey, this PC software biz has really only been around for a little over 20 years now, and compared to the auto industry, the drug industry, all those steel mills, railroads, and airline industries we used to have, our telephone system (ha), OJ's fertile imagination, and of course our government and our marvelous legal system -- it ain't too bad. This software stuff is cheaper than online porn and even more satisfying most of the time, and most companies are pretty decent: you have a reasonable gripe, most own up and offer to fix it or give you some recompensense. The older industries mentioned above? Right.

 

oisin,

Whatever your profession is, if writing isn't part of it, it should be....

 

It's only because I've been waiting for over a week to have someone answer my little prob.

 

oisin:

>>
this PC software biz has really only been around for a little over 20 years now
<<

And to think that back in the 70's, the hardware "gurus" (Apple et al) thought that hardware was the thing and that software should be given away! -- and who was it that **strongly** disagreed?

Bill Gates.

Regards,
Chuck Billow

 

I forgot about that one!

 

I purchased True image Home 9 3 weeks before version 10 came out and they still don't honor the 30 day policy. I've contacted their support several times and they say I will get instructions in the mail. That was over a month ago so I guess I've been brushed off. If so it will be the last acronis product I will ever buy!

 

Have you checked your email spam trap? It is possible the email from Acronis has been filtered out.

Xpilot

 

Sorry to hear this but in my case I received my upgrade serial number within 48 hours of my request.

Try contacting them again and as Xpilot has stated make sure their response has not been filtered out.

 

Same problem as well. I even talked to the live support. Haven't gotten anything yet. I will bump this thread until I get a response.

 

I just purchased True Image 9.0 two days ago for $49.95 at Fry's and today while registering it I find "Version 10.0 is available for $49.95". What a rippoff! Guess I should have done my homework online before purchasing True Image 9.0.
Also it doesn't work worth a crap. I got the latest download now called True Image Home version. My DVD drive now works but I've only been able to restore one image from a DVD. All of my harddrive stored images say "corrupted image" when I try to restore them.
This product reminds me of Pinnacle Studio 8 I once purchased that didn't work as advertised. They kelp releasing new versions for 8 and then 9 came out and now 10. THEY NEVER FIXED 8, THEY JUST RELEASED A NEW VERSION SO PEOPLE WOULD BUY IT HOPING IT WOULD WORK.