In HN of all places, I would expect people to understand that it costs money to maintain a product for different systems.
And it wasn't even their fault, your laptop getting stolen is not on them [1]. There's a lot of bullshit with services (like Amazon not refunding you the difference on an order if the price goes down before your item arrives), but this doesn't seem like one of them.
Also, if you paid $70 for designer, then that kind of sucks because I almost always see it for 50% off. Case and point, it's $35 right now.
[1] I am trying to make a point that's purely technical, but I don't want to seem too callous - I am sorry your laptop got stolen, it sucks to lose something expensive that is very important, and has a lot of important data on it. And I know responses like mine are the last thing someone with anger wants to hear (I've been in that position), but I run my own business and I am also on the other side now where it's really hard to deal with situations like this.
> I would expect people to understand that it costs money to maintain a product for different systems.
Huh? What has that got to do with this case? They're already maintaining it on multiple systems and its not like aetherspawn would be able to use it on more than one system. It literally is no different to the Affinity devs whether aetherspawn is using the OS X or Windows version since they both cost the same amount (and the license was only three months old).
It just seems like they wanted another sale to allow access to a second platform, which would make sense if they retained access to the first.
I'm not sure what the right approach is here (certainly being rude about it isn't it, though!) but every time a company has given me leeway, I've always then went around telling everyone who would listen how great the company is. Seems like they did the opposite by alienating the customer instead. That doesn't seem like a good approach.
I think the point is that its a one and done transaction. You bought the software on platform X. 3 months in it might engender goodwill to swap it. But bought software deactivation isn't really a thing...
Now subscriptions. I notices my jetbrains stuff worked with the same license key when I switched it to linux. But I'm paying them yearly.
I'll totally agree there is no need to be rude. Though I imagine if you are in customer service for a while, its probably a natural defensive posture.
They're basically trying to make a sale, a windfall, from an existing customer's personal troubles. It's not a sale they would have made except for the guy needing to switch laptops. Frame it however you want, but that kind of thing makes people feel taken advantage of.
Yeah, that's my thought too. The fact that it is cheap makes me think they could have been more flexible, under the circumstances of someone who ran into some hardship.
But even if not, they could have simply said sorry, our policy is that we don't do this. aetherspawn said they were rude about it. There was no reason to be rude, they could have said no while still being empathic to the situation and being courteous. I don't know how rude they were or weren't, of course.
I might agree with the goodwill argument if it wasn't for the fact that Affinity apps are _so cheap_. When I wanted to give them more money for yet another free updated that added several features, I happily paid for the iOS version even though I didn't really need it.
Sorry but I think you’re wrong. If your customer accidentally spills their drink you give them a replacement for free. It’s not a requirement, it’s just the kind of decency that builds good will, especially when the marginal cost to you is very low. Same principle applies here, where the marginal cost is literally zero.
No its more like you bought a new car stereo that only works with bmw cars and then your car got stolen. Then you ask the stereo shop to give you a ford version for free because you cant afford to buy a bmw again. Its the wrong place to ask this and he is asking for a different product.
Its explicitly part of their biz model to charge for different platforms in liu of doing the subscription thing.
The marginal cost of the stereo is probably over a hundred dollars. The marginal cost of a drink and of a software license is zero. If your customer for some reason can’t use the previous license due to unforeseen circumstances, just give them a new one that they can use. If you lose your license key, most software vendors will give you a new one too.
> The margical cost of the stereo is probably over a hundred dollars
> just give them a new one that they can use
It always rubs me the wrong way when a customer decides what value something has to a business, assuming they know everything about the business' incomings and outgoings, assuming they know the size of the business, assuming that all businesses must operate the same way because some businesses have the flexibility to offer acts of goodwill.
It makes the assumption that all businesses, especially in software, are on equal footing. They very much aren't. Sorry, but the customer can't always be right — the business has its own bills to take care of, employees to pay, rights to licence, and lights to keep on; beyond what the customer paid for, it really doesn't have any further obligations. Good will is exactly that: good will.
The marginal cost of a software license is approximately zero. And selling an extra license due to a lost device is a windfall, from an already paying customer, that would not have occurred but for the lost device. People will interpret that intuitively as the business taking advantage of them.
In HN of all places, I would expect people to understand that it costs money to maintain a product for different systems.
And it wasn't even their fault, your laptop getting stolen is not on them [1]. There's a lot of bullshit with services (like Amazon not refunding you the difference on an order if the price goes down before your item arrives), but this doesn't seem like one of them.
Also, if you paid $70 for designer, then that kind of sucks because I almost always see it for 50% off. Case and point, it's $35 right now.
[1] I am trying to make a point that's purely technical, but I don't want to seem too callous - I am sorry your laptop got stolen, it sucks to lose something expensive that is very important, and has a lot of important data on it. And I know responses like mine are the last thing someone with anger wants to hear (I've been in that position), but I run my own business and I am also on the other side now where it's really hard to deal with situations like this.