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Upgrade policy and increasing speed version number, How long do you think your free upgrade possibility will exist.
 
#1
0  
10 months ago i did purchase a license for theBat, at that time version 5.3.4.
The licence was valid untill 6.0.99
Seeing the speed in witch the updates came out, I was expecting that it would take some time to reach version 6.0.9

Until a month ago the version number changed suddenly from 5.4.8 to 5.8.
This while there were almost no changes.

After sending a mail to ritlabs I got an message from Iulia Buzmacova <julia@ritlabs.com>
stating the following :
Code
Since September 26th, the buyers of The Bat! version 5 licences will
get their licences also valid for version 6, i.e. through v6.xx up to
v7.0.99; however, these keys will not work for versions prior to 5.8
due to technical reasons.
However the upgrade policy on this site has not changed!!

http://www.ritlabs.com/en/products/thebat/upgrade_policy_v5.php

For me a little confusing so to say.
 
 
 
#2
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Hi

Today I received nice Christmas card from The Bat team:  "New version available for download"
Mostly bugfixes, but guess what -  I need to purchase new license as well.
Yes there is 30% discount, but I purchased it in 26th May 2013.
So 5 months after purchase I'm forced to purchase again - if I'd like to stay updated.
IMHO, purchasing license should grant us at least of 1 year of free updates.
With licensing tied version numbering approach, they could just speed up version numbering and ask for money again.
Which they did.

Not happy :evil:
Edited: Hrvoje Znaor - 19 December 2013 10:58:13
 
 
 
#3
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Hi

Update
I contacted them and they were kind and extended my license.
Now this is a real XMass gift :D

Thank you

Regards
and Merry Christmas or happy everything to everyone :{}
Edited: Hrvoje Znaor - 19 December 2013 11:57:58
 
 
 
#4
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But what's about most other cases like me which have bought some months before (licence also up to 6.0.99)?
If there is a major new version with a lot of bugs, it's very unfair to ALL customers to combine the bug fixing with costs. What a after-sales service...

In this case i have to stay with my latest 5.8.8 and look for other alternative solutions (i.e. Thunderbird, ...)!
 
 
 
#5
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I was happy The Bat! user for several years. I installed v6.0.x and was waiting for x64 bit version. As they wrote that it will be available in December. I waited, waited, installed v6.0.12. Right now they removed all mention of x64 bit version. Increased the version number, and put v6.1.2. I can't install it, because my licence is valid until v 6.0.99. So, no x64 bit version. And 6.1.2 is basically bugfix for 6.0.12, even if they mentioned two 'big' features TLS 1.1, SSS 3.0.

Very unhappy, I think I will, as Steffen, use 5.8.8 or Thunderbird.
 
 
 
#6
1.3451  
I am a long time Outlook user but decided to purchase The Bat Pro because of security features it offers. Purchased it on Aug. 15 2013 and just 3 months later new version 6 came out and I have to pay for upgrade again in order to use 64-bit software that will run natively on 64-bit OS? My original license is valid up to 6.0.99.

Very disappointed and frustrated.
 
 
 
#7
1.3451  
I'm in the same boat , I have had the a licence for just 8 months and now have to pay again, which is rather unfair, most software companies offer at least a year with their licences

I have asked the support if they will extend my licence but have had no reply yet

Fingers crossed as I do not want to stop using this program but paying twice in the space of one year is rather unfair
 
 
 
#8
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Speeding up the version numbers is what I expected.  SDince none of the bugs effect me, I'll stick with 6.0.x until I see an enhancement or fix that's worth while.  I'm waiting for hyperlinks in new messages gets back to the way it used to be (automatically populated) and the return of Workspace Themes.    Take away functionality and then charging you for it is not right.
 
 
 
#9
1.3451  
I got my reply from support,

I have to repay for a new licence if I want to use the latest version or stay with the old version

for them, 8 months is enough, I have rarely seen a company so inconsiderate concerning licences, and am unsure if I will upgrade as there is nothing to stop them going to version 7 in 6 months time and making us repay again
 
 
 
#10
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So it appears that my version will eventually "expire" unless I pay the ransom to keep it alive.
 
 
 
#11
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Quote
Robert ONeill wrote:
So it appears that my version will eventually "expire" unless I pay the ransom to keep it alive.
Yep looks like that, it's a shame,e specially as I bet the latest version still has bugs to be ironed out
 
 
 
#12
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I feel that Ritlabs should update their standard policy and honor an extension of license if the major version upgrade happen within 3 months of original purchase.

Personally, I think asking Ritlabs to provide it for free 8 months (as Brookes Trevor did) after the purchase is too much, but what probably they should do is to offer an additional discount that should be greater than standard discount they give to everybody for upgrades from old version. This way  the person purchased new license 6 months ago will get better upgrade price than a person who got a license 3 years ago and willing to upgrade.
 
 
 
#13
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A couple thoughts.

1. I wrote and asked after having downloaded the update as I typically would,
only to find I need to purchase a upgrade.  
No, I did not read the page as I never had in the past,
I simply click on the download button and move on with my life.

2. The only way to resolve this is for me to uninstall the product and revert
back to the last version for my license, or purchase the update.  
This is what ticks me off, is having to uninstall and lose my settings and start from scratch.  
Plus I think the discount should be greater.

I personally have no plans to do either.
I purchased eM Client with lifetime updates at a discount through
Cloudswave for about the price of the upgrade.

I have no issue with paying for upgrades,
but I do think the update service in the program should warn the user a new license will be required, and I also think upgrades should be discounted at 50% not 30% for people that clearly are supporting the program.
Edited: MB MB - 29 December 2013 18:56:34
 
 
 
#14
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Quote
MB MB wrote:

A few thoughts.

1. @Beginner In your first post you wanted updates for a year, now that you have your free update, you post you believe 8 months is too much to ask.  Please be consistent.

2. I wrote and asked after having downloaded the update as I typically would, only to find I need to purchase a upgrade.  No, I did not read the page as I never had in the past, I simply click on the download button and move on with my life.

3. The only way to resolve this is for me to uninstall the product and revert back to the last version for my license, or purchase the update.  This is what ticks me off, is having to uninstall and lose my settings and start from scratch.  Plus I think the discount should be greater.

I personally have no plans to do either.  I purchased eM Client with lifetime updates at a discount through Cloudswave for about the price of the upgrade.

I have no issue with paying for upgrades, but I do think the update service in the program should warn the user a new license will be required, and I also think upgrades should be discounted at 50% not 30% for people that clearly are supporting the program.

You can backup the settings and restore them later after you re-install the product, can't you?

I agree there are alternative email clients that are better priced (like the eM client that is $40 with lifetime updates) but The Bat offers some features nobody else has.
Edited: zzzz - 29 December 2013 21:28:41
 
 
 
#15
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zzzz, a couple things.  I edited my post as I thought wrong about the person(s) posting about upgrade time frames.

Yes, I agree The Bat!  offers more in various areas, however it is rather frustrating to have people feeling forced to upgrade (like yourself as posted above).

Even if I purchase The Bat! in the future I still have an email client that I can use for life without having to concern myself with future upgrade costs.

I will personally wait for The Bat! to go on sale on a site such as bits du jour for the 50% off I think the present upgrade should cost.

I really like The Bat! but I really dislike the form of the upgrade procedure.
 
 
 
#16
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I too am surprised by the number of releases and can see that if I want to update from v6 it will be under a year based on the recent update schedule.

I bought The Bat Pro in August 2013 for $49 and then Dec 19 I had to buy the update for $42. It was my fault for assuming that the new version warning didn't apply to me as I had just recently bought the program and my fault for paying for the update when I realized the update wasn't a free one.  However, I will be more careful and selective in the future.
 
 
 
#17
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I too don't feel very happy about this. I upgraded in June. When 6.0 when out I tried updating it but it didn't worked out well. See post http://www.ritlabs.com/en/forums/messages/forum4/topic11348/message38522/#message38522 . Since then I was waiting for the 6.0 64 bits which never came out its beta phase.
I don't mind paying for updates but not 2x per year therefore I'll stick to my 5.8 for the time being.
Jean-Luc
www.corobori.com
 
 
 
#18
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You know the kicker is current users are charged $41.99 for the upgrade, while new users can prchase The Bat Pro for $45.00 anytime they chose; 24/7 without ever having supported the developer in any way.

I honestly think 50% off should be the standard for an upgrade policy, not 30%.

I would have considered it at $29.99 for an upgrade but not $41.99.

I do wish the developers would hear their user base.
 
 
 
#19
2.5405  
I am not nearly so worried about a few bucks, as in placing my trust in an email client that is suddenly incredibly unstable.

I upgraded to V6.x as well, but I have been experiencing many problems.
- Repeated exceptions/restarts that do not show up in the log file.  These continued after reversion to V5.
- V6.1 does not even work with my ISP (TLS negotiation broken by changes for that release).

Now we are at V6.2 - just flipping through the 2nd digit at a frightening rate, with no real attempts at fixing the problems being created by what appears to be frequent change with incomplete testing.  

Couple that with suddenly bad support.  I've been using TheBat for a long time, and was happy.  I would report problems, and they would get fixed.  Not with V6.  I now get the impression that whoever is doing follow up is not very qualified - I reported a third issue with the WEB SITE, and was told to upgrade to V6.1.8 - an ABSOLUTELY unforgivable boilerplate response that indicates a total lack of understanding of an incredibly straight forward issue (Russian text for the title on what is supposed to be the English web page).

From my point of view, the long-term customer relationship is being abused.  I've got over 400.000 messages in my mail database, and I have renewed my Aid4Mail license in case it keeps going downhill and I am FORCED to abandon ship.
 
 
 
#20
1.1954  
I've been checking out "eM CLient" which has a built in converter/importer for The Bat!...
 
 
 
#21
2.5405  
Same here with that license. But i did get an answer about the "Why" - i buy in 06/2013 (OK 05.30.2013) and now it over. I wrote two mails to the support and receive no answer. Ignored (and i write no fuckoff mail)
Stay in the desert with a version that got dozen of bugs. Ritlabs counts up and did not bring a latest, not bugfree, version for the users who are below here counters.

Its sad, but after ~8 years with that upgrade policy im out. But i guess "the leader of email client software" dosent care that. One of "millions of customer",.  
 
 
 
#22
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After years of paying for the Pro version all I see is the programme getting buggier with every release. Now I'm supposed to hand over money again for v.6 that might or might not have the exact same bugs that v.5 had.

The way new 'versions' are released is clearly aimed at making as much money as possible. I'm aware that RitLabs won't feel a change in gravity when I take my hard-earned to the competition.

Nevertheless I'm done with what has become subscription-ware.
 
 
 
#23
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What other clients are out there? EM Client has poor spam filtering, and I receive a lot of spam.  Suggestions?
 
 
 
#24
1.3451  
There are many email clients, but almost all of them are crap. Em Client has good filtering system, may be even better than The Bat (which has strange UNFIXED problem when number of conditions is greater than screen height) but of course you should made your own filters (which isn't so difficult). Anyway - eM client is not so flexible - only top posting is allowed, no automatic attachment extraction (detach) after receiving etc.

But I agree that The Bat updates are only for money. New 6 version has much slower GUI (and I see no pull-down menus proper - they're white on light grey background for me and no possiblity to customize that colours), editor is the same crappy editor as in previous version, all problems are unfixed, sending big attachment is still slow as hell (not like other email clients), HTML editor is still a joke, configuration is pain and has no search/copy functions built-in etc.

Of course The Bat is not very bad, I just don't understand why version 6 is worse than 5 (and slower), why they change method of displaying menus, why there are no visible improvements (who cares about multilanguage GUI?) etc. That is why I don't want to buy this program and still testing (now version 6, before - version 5).

Come on guys! There is just few email clients on the market and all of them are bad, so The Bat may be better if you made some revolution, not just increase version number!
 
 
 
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