*This is a note to the DXO management team because there really is no other way to get your attention.
Back on April 22, 2019, I purchased the Nik software bundle and integrated with my DXO Photolab 2 which was purchased about 2 months prior. My old computer died and decided to buy a new one. I also got tired of Adobe charging fees for “renting” their software which was the reason I stopped paying them. DXO PL2 seemed like a good alternative because it was a perpetual license and it updated their RAW converter seemingly on a regular basis. Purchasing a new camera and being a RAW shooter, I wanted a RAW editor that I didn’t have to subscribe to. It’s a very good solution. Finally, I was a prior Nik filter user even prior to the acquisition from Google. So I guess somewhere about 10-12 years. So, on June 22, I attended an online workshop where someone was demonstrating Nik version 2. I thought for sure I had V2, but I come to find out I do not. Being that my purchase was only 60 days old, I went to website to get the upgrade. No so fast! They wanted another $59 for the upgrade because my license was over 30 days old. I thought, that had to be a mistake, but that’s not the case. After contacting their support via a post on the website, I was told there was nothing they could do as this is their management’s policy. I then asked to send me one of their senior management’s contact information so that I could express my concerns directly. No response! So…this should be a caution to anyone who decides to purchase anything from DXO, don’t expect to be upgraded to another version if you purchased it over 30 days ago. It’s a real shame that something which is pretty much common practice in the software industry (upgrades within the first year of purchase) has ruined my experience dealing with DXO. As a side note, the difference between V1 and V2 is fairly minor which is all the more reason I’m so surprised they wouldn’t allow me to upgrade at no charge. BUYER BEWARE.
It should be obvious that people can’t work for nothing. Perpetual license and regular updates are two things that don’t make sense economically if used together.
Some limit has to be set, do you agree? If you set to it 60 days, people will complain if they have the software for 65 days and so on…
So what are you worrying about? Did your V1 stop working? Is it not doing what was promised at the time of buying?
I’m kind of tired reading all these complaints here. You made a decision to buy a software. It seems to do what you want it to do at the time of buying. Do you have any written statement about the updates to be guaranteed?
Just think about it: I still use PhotoLab 1, haven’t seen an update since months and I am still happy with it, even though version 2 is already available. This is the point of buying software instead of renting it.
Its the principal. Nobody is asking anyone to work for nothing. Has nothing to do with that. I’ve been in the SW business for over 20 years. Supplying minor updates during the first year is common practice. BTW, they have no stated policy updates are not offered within a defined period of time either, at least that I have seen. And sure, there needs to be limits, not saying that. I would have thought the upgrade policy would have been a bit more flexible. Only 30 days is extreme. The purpose of my message was to let people know who might be thinking about purchasing their software to now be aware of their upgrade policy. It was also to let their management know how their users feel about the current policy. It’s called customer feedback. If you don’t agree, that’s certainly your right to express yourself.
Believe it or not, DxO told most people the upgrade grace window was 7 days!
The business people at DxO are certainly not people people. They’ve alienated a huge amount of their most loyal users with this blatant cash grab from people who’ve already contributed to Nik and PhotoLab development multiple times