Aaron,

I apologize for the delay. However, please note that this issue is the result of your account having expired. The rules we have set up with our client interactions stipulate specifically that clients with an expired account will be unable to install or reinstall the Land F/X software:

https://www.landfx.com/kb/admin-issues/licensing-issues/item/1052-support-expired.html


We have clients all around the world, and we regularly reset Support IDs and provide scheduled tech support sessions with our paying clients after hours. We would be happy to work with you as well if you would like to get your account up to date.

If you would like to call us at +1-805-541-1003 or pay online, we will gladly assist you with your installation!

Thank you,

Aaron,

Please provide me with your contact at the consumer commission, I will be happy to clarify the situation with them.

The license we sell is indeed perpetual -- it will continue working on your computer indefinitely. What you are requesting is Reinstallation Support. And we do not offer that for free, infinitely into the future. This is covered by our modest renewal, which you have been informed about multiple times. In said correspondence, it does state that the renewal covers *unlimited* reinstallations. This is just a part of the service that we provide.

Should you wish to pay the renewal, you will gain the benefits of this support, as well as the numerous new features and content we continue to add to the software.

I would be happy to refund you, however it has been over a year since you purchased, so there is no prorated amount left to refund.

I certainly don't think this merits threats of legal action, nor accusing us of illegal business practices.

--J

The website is https://www.accc.gov.au/contact-us/contact-the-accc

Nowhere am I asking for reinstallation support. I am asking that you remove the block you have on reinstallation outside of the subscription period.
In direct contrast to your statement, there is no way that my paid version of the software will work on my computer without renewing subscription, which is essentially entrapment.

I have existing projects based on whatever version of your plugin was out at the time. I do not require updates or technical support, I just reinstalled Windows and have to reinstall software as well. You are holding this plugin to ransom, without the necessary forewarning in your terms and conditions (or aggressive marketing), and are costing me money each day.

Unless you are able to prove that you have provided sufficient information on subscription terms prior to purchase, these costs will be passed on to you.

Aaron,

Unless I am able to prove to you? What sort of language is that? Will you ever, actually be satisfied? Tell me, do you treat all relationships this way, or do you reserve this combative and insulting behavior just for myself and everyone in our company? And note particularly, as you are referring to communications prior to purchase, I am referring to your repeated insulting and derogatory behavior in said communications.

Your software that you previously installed, would have continued to work indefinitely. Had you backed up your LandFX folder, we could get you up and running, with everything exactly as you remember it -- for free. But that is not what you want. What you want, is to install the latest version, and then have assistance in getting your previous projects imported into it. That is reinstallation support. And we are happy to provide that, for a ridiculously modest fee of $250, which also happens to cover *unlimited* technical support for an entire year, unlimited reinstallations during that period, access to our vast content libraries, and updates to the software.

But, since you clearly do not want to pay that modest fee, for that incredible service level, all because you did not follow our recommended steps to back up your LandFX folder, we are at this juncture.

So you pretty much leave me with only one other option, especially as you are threatening litigation -- I will refund to you every penny that you have paid us, $995 AUD, and revoke your license. With your money returned, you will have no legal recourse, and we can part ways. Is this acceptable to you?

--J

Sticking to the relevant points:

- I do have local backups up to 2016-05-24.
- I am not able to access these backups because your policy is that I cannot even install Land F/X without a subscription.
- I do not want the latest version. I want the latest version within my subscription period.
- I do not require cloud support or any technical support.
- I do not want to have one-off free support for the current reinstallation only to encounter this problem next time I update AutoCAD.
- While the refund is an acceptable offer, I have a better solution:

IF reinstall attempt
check subscription version
IF subscription < installer
present incompatibility dialogue 'your subscription only works up to version X.X. go to http://www.etc.com to get suitable version.'
IF user opens land fx AND internet connection available
IF user subscription still valid THEN provide typical update procedure
ELSE turn off updates and cloud backups and present promo dialogue 'this is what you could be getting...'

This solution allows your customers to keep using your plugin (instead of a competitors'), and allows you to keep your money. It's also how everyone else does it.
If you are moving to a subscription-based software-as-a-service, you need to update all marketing to reflect this. At present, you are selling a product, with a year's worth of service included. The product should remain fully functional even after the service period is over.

If you can achieve this update in under a week, I would be happy to stick with my purchase.
Otherwise I will accept your offer for a refund.

Thank you.

Dear lord man, how about just contacting us for support, instead of just demanding things?

If you have backups, we can get you up and running.

All you need to do is to restore the backup of your LandFX folder.
Then, you'll need to manually install MySQL by following these steps:
https://www.landfx.com/kb/installation/item/517-manual-64-bit-server-installation.html

At that point, you can manually load the Workstation by following these steps:
https://www.landfx.com/kb/installation/item/518-manual-64-bit-workstation-installation.html

Lastly, restore any project backups and preferences by following these steps:
https://www.landfx.com/index.php/docs/admin/project-management/item/1535-backup-or-restore.html#restore

As for your programming advice, don't quit your day job just yet.

--J

Is this not the support section?

The rules we have set up with our client interactions stipulate specifically that clients with an expired account will be unable to install or reinstall the Land F/X software

I take integrity seriously Jeremy. I don't refer to my offers as 'modest'. I don't immediately get defensive and take my customers on journeys through my narcissistic appraisal of my work. What you have achieved today is wasted both our times in refusing to communicate a solution that you knew existed. To summarise customer service on this page, your staff do not understand your software to the extent required and are misinforming customers, you prefer to extract another $250 per year from your customers for something that is essentially free, and you are rude to the customers who question anything.

Finally, remember when you enquired about my programming (among other) skills, but ultimately couldn't afford me? Remember our discussion on how you couldn't achieve something as simple as osnaps because you are programming in the AutoCAD equivalent of HTML? You really should be more careful how you represent yourself and your company on your own web page.

Thank you for the solution. I don't expect that you will hear from me again.

How did I miss this one...