"Inactive - Expired"

[CaptainBlue]

I am concerned that according to the customer log-in area, one of my licences - an "owned" one - is apparently "Inactive - Expired".

Surely an owned licence is neither inactive nor expired if the forum is active?

I know that my annual purchase of support may have expired - though I'm not sure that is the case - but surely the licence isn't?

I've also seen posts that suggest that inactive/expired licences can still be patched but that's not an option when I click through to download: I am only offered v3.8.2 which is the last version I installed.

[MattyAsia]

You don't get updates unless it's a security update if your account isn't active, active reflects the support payment as you mentioned, which can't be paid anymore, so if you want updates, you need to upgrade to vB 4

[feldon23]

You will need to buy a full vB4 license to download 3.8.3, 3.8.4, or any patches beyond that point. So $195 just to stay active with your vB3.8 license. Even if you have no interest in vB4, to keep your 3.8 up-to-date you will have to buy vB4. It's really a bad situation to be in and why many of us are considering other options.

[CaptainBlue]

You don't get updates unless it's a security update if your account isn't active, active reflects the support payment as you mentioned, which can't be paid anymore, so if you want updates, you need to upgrade to vB 4

Well I'm on 3.8.2 and I assumed some of the updates and patches were "security updates", but I can't download any updates at all.


You will need to buy a full vB4 license to download 3.8.3, 3.8.4, or any patches beyond that point. So $195 just to stay active with your vB3.8 license. Even if you have no interest in vB4, to keep your 3.8 up-to-date you will have to buy vB4. It's really a bad situation to be in and why many of us are considering other options.

I bet. I doubt that 3.8.x development is likely to continue when vB4 is released and as it's not been released yet and as upgrade pricing hasn't been revealed either, we're at a bit of an impasse! Certainly I would find it difficult to justify paying out money for vB4 sight unseen and with the likelihood that our CMS front end and chat room won't work on vB4 anyway.

OT: I don't like the multiquote on vB4 either!

[slinky]

You will need to buy a full vB4 license to download 3.8.3, 3.8.4, or any patches beyond that point. So $195 just to stay active with your vB3.8 license. Even if you have no interest in vB4, to keep your 3.8 up-to-date you will have to buy vB4. It's really a bad situation to be in and why many of us are considering other options.

And this seems to be the official response - I have tried to get one for weeks but this, by default, is the only option. If you had a version prior to the current, then you had no adequate prior notice that you were going to have trouble. The ones who caused this issue and haven't remedied it is vBulletin itself.

Perhaps this is the entire reason for the supposed record sales that vBulletin keeps sending out in press releases.

[Dismounted]

If you had a version prior to the current, then you had no adequate prior notice that you were going to have trouble.
http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/showthread.php?315681-Some-answers-to-important-licensing-questions

[slinky]

http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/showthread.php?315681-Some-answers-to-important-licensing-questions

Thanks - I read it but we didn't have any notice and long time customers like me were blind sided. It's not even the money to me so much as it is the whole point of fair and honest dealing.

1) So is Ray saying that he intended to punish every long time vBulletin owner whose maintenance just happened to expire and didn't renew in time? The upgrade offer is only extended to customers with "active" maintenance? Why not offer it as well to customers with "inactive" maintenance plus the $40 cost of maintenance? And after all the ruckus the gratuitous offer ended up being was upgrade fee + maintenance fee + additional (punishment?) fee.

2) I couldn't even find any of Ray's posts talking about keeping maintenance current. And why wasn't a notice about keeping maintenance current emailed to every customer just like the pre-sale? Is it now required that in addition to my work day I have to sit down and read every single post on the vBulletin customer forums before the Wall Street Journal to make sure I get the gossip about my pricing options?

3) We've had a relationship as customers for 8-9 years and the terms were always the same. How can anyone in good faith change the policy at midnight and not inform us what we needed to do in order not to be charged more than we were expecting? That's a blind side hit. I just can't fathom a good explanation for it other than an apology and doing the right thing - offering the presale terms to customers with inactive maintenance + $40 and refunding anyone who paid more than that.

[Steve Machol]

I suggest that you fill out a support ticket with your complaints and questions and direct the ticket to Ray. They are not going to be answered to your satisfaction on these forums and simply posting the same comments in as many threads as you can is not productive. Thank you.

[slinky]

I suggest that you fill out a support ticket with your complaints and questions and direct the ticket to Ray. They are not going to be answered to your satisfaction on these forums and simply posting the same comments in as many threads as you can is not productive. Thank you.

Thank your for a response Steve. I've only responded to issues in threads with the exception of one I created to receive an answer... and waited. While I was hoping the question could simply be answered here in the open by someone official, I appreciate finally at least an acknowledgement and where to begin.