This.

I find this kind of behaviour appalling, to say the least. Eric always replies kindly and seems like a nice enough guy but seriously, you either allow license transfers or you don't. Some half-transfer zombie deal, in which you will eventually get your software licensed is inconsiderate and puts me off from purchasing anything from Spectrasonics.

[edit] Just read the entire thread: I may get Omnisphere yet.

Was there any explanation as to WHY it took five weeks to complete this transfer?

One can only presume that so many people are transferring licences on a weekly basis that Spectrasonics can't cope. An explanation would be most welcome.

If sales have taken off over the last six months, then so have profits, or at the very least, turnover, and therefore more support people can be hired. How long does it take to do one transfer, in staff time? Five minutes? If not, there is a massive problem with the way they are done. If not, please enlighten us as to what exactly takes place, that takes so long, and costs $50 of staff time (I'm guess the support staff are not paid more than $20 an hour, so that's an average of two and a half hours to transfer ONE licence. Does anybody here believe that is the case?)

I'm sure lots of people here believe that is the case. Just not anybody who has run a business. You may have left out a few things like: rent, lights, heat, taxes, equipment, telephone, loss of opportunity in development focus, loss of opportunity in the marketplace for new sales - you know, little incidental things like that.

What a condescending post for a one poster!

The OP's transfer issues was a real problem. Eric, most graciously, admited such and said that his company is staffing up and looking at their process so that this is not the norm in the future. Why people around here think they have a right to "demand" further explanation or suggest that they are entitled to be enlightened as to the innerworkings of a dev's company is beyond me.

If I were Eric, I'd have an answer for you

Dan

You are only boring boy. Only boring.

I think most people do not realize how many expenses are involved in running even a small business. Plus paying one's self enough money to live on while trying to grow the business.

Thanks for enlightening me. Obviously a piece of software that brings in probably $400 per sale, means that Spectrasonics can't afford to hire staff to spend five minutes transferring a licence, at about $3 of staff time.

I see what you did there...
avoided actually addressing what I asked. How much does it cost in staff time. Support staff presumably aren't developers. If they are, words fail me. As for "Eric, most graciously, admitted such". You obviously had had really bad customer care throughout your life, if you think that Eric did anything special here. Something more special would be for the problem never to have occurred in the first place.

So, how many licence transfers do you think Spectrasonics deal with in the average month? Ten? One? Five? Five hundred? Come on.
Your fanboyism is pathetic.


Yes, how stupid of me. I didn't see the word "demand" in anything I wrote above, what are you talking about? Just more smoke and mirrors to cover up the less than perfect world of the Spectrasonics 'transfer' process.




Well argued.
So, how much do you think the average licence transfer costs Spectrasonics? Feel free to add in as many obviously irrelevant and already existing overheads such as, rent of premises, (have to do that anyway), telephone, (a pittance nowadays, and licence transfers should be conducted online anyway), heating, (have to do that anyway), etc.etc.
Then tell us how many they do per month, in your estimation - just give us a ballpark figure.

I realise that you won't actually discuss the FACTS because all you are interested in doing is denying reality here...

Increased sales = more support calls
BUT
Increased sales = more turnover.

Increase in turnover should be directly in proportion to increase in support calls.

Unless you have released buggy software (which Spectrasonics haven't).

Therefore whatever amount of new sales occur, increased turnover will always cover increased support costs.

Still, I'm sure there are yet other excuses you can come up with for the five week wait. What happened to all the e-mails the OP sent, which weren't answered? Where were they stored? Who read them and failed to reply, and failed to act on them? How is this allowed to happen in a big company like Spectrasonics?
Last edited by gabbygosling on Thu Jan 21, 2010 1:28 pm; edited 1 time in total

Ahhha! A point we can finally agree upon.


Dan

You're mixing two issues. One is what it costs to operate a business, the other is letting license transfers linger in admin limbo. Eric has already noted there's a problem with the latter. Your understanding of the former needs significant work. Sorry, but your numbers are simply way off. Without cost accounting you can't realize how much it costs to do seemingly simple things.

Yes, that would be it. It must cost $50 to transfer a licence. Enlighten me.
As for "Eric has already noted there's a problem" - too late in the day, it should never have happened in the first place, the OP isn't the only one to have experienced huge, unforgivable delays in licence transfers.

As for "your numbers are simply way off", please explain. How much are support staff paid, do you think? More than $20 an hour? How about $30 then, since you're interested in figures. How long does it take to transfer a licence, and how many transfer requests do you think Spectrasonics get per month, seeing as you can only sell their software once?

I don't expect you to actually discuss the facts, because you are only interested in covering up Spectrasonics' faults, at any cost.

How can a company not get a licence transferred in a couple of days at most?

You notice that no explanation has been given, because it would be too embarrassing if the truth were known, obviously.

ps I run my own business as well. I deal with support e-mails every day. They take me about two minutes each, to answer. Sometimes three or four minutes.

A previous poster said that NI didn't charge anything for licence transfers. Is their 'cost accounting' different than Spectrasonics'?

We all know the truth, Son......I mean, gabbygosling.