Whmcs underhanded business practice

[compositor]

Isn't there some kind of reminder system in place?

[brian!]

Isn't there some kind of reminder system in place?

WHMCS would send you a renewal invoice 5 days before expiry.

 

also, you can log into whmcs.com at any time and see when it expires.

[twhiting9275]

Reminder system or not, that isn't the point here.

A person pays for software, they are entitled to download said software, which they've already paid for.

They shouldn't have to continually pay for software in order to download it.

That's just underhanded, and yes, a *

[Kian]

Nah, "*" is an exaggeration

 

Please, let me try to explain what I think about this question. WHMCS sell their software using the same licensing system that I use and probably this is also valid in your case. Their licensing system is simple: no active license? No download, bye. Now I am trying to put myself in their shoes. I sell modules that need to be renewed yearly for support and updates. It's the same exact scenario described in this thread. When a client of mine with an expired license asks me the download link, currently I have to waste a lot of time for him. Basically he should have no support from me but I am forced to do the following things manually:

 

1. First of all I am already wasting time by simply reading and answering to his ticket
   
2. I have to check his profile to determine what is going on. In fact most of the times they do not mention that they have an expired license or they contact me from unknown emails. At this point I wasted 2-10 more minutes just to get all information
   
3. Now I have to check what is the exact expiration date of his license, open my changelog and find what is the latest version that he's allowed to download according this date. Meanwhile, 3 minutes have passed
   
4. You can't download older versions of my modules so I have to find them in secondary places, zip everything and attach the requested version to the ticket with a brief message
   

Conclusion? I wasted not less than 5 minutes but there's something more! Sometimes they start asking me questions about the module. What should I do now? Explain that they have no access to support or answer to their questions. In both cases I am wasting more time, cool. Other times they ask me to give them also older versions of the module because with the version I gave them they broke everything because they forgot to read changelogs. Guess what? Get ready for tons of tickets, additional support requests, hate and bad reviews.

 

Yes, I could change the way licensing system works so that it automatically allows you to download all version covered by the expired license but frankly I don't want to invest time in this. Now imagine when you have not one but tens of requests like these every single day. It's a nightmare.

 

Then I recall a practice that is widely used in Germany. I had servers in many providers in Germany and they closed my accounts as soon as I stopped being their client. It means that I can no longer login to download invoices. I don't see many people complaining about it. It's your responsibility to do something about it and I think that the same logic also applies to this question.

 

I know that it's awkward and unhandy but I am a simple man:

 

Q: Is this part of their rules?

A: Yes

Q: Got it, I'll sort myself out. I have all 4.x, 5.x, 6.x on my computer and backups. Problem solved

 

Anyway I do agree with you, it sucks but it's not a "*" for sure

Edited October 1, 2016 by Kian

[twhiting9275]

Nah, "*" is an exaggeration

No, that's exactly what this is, a *.

 

Proper download management is your responsibility. If you can't keep your versions local, that's on you

You don't have to actually do anything if this is done properly. User logs in, checks licenses, downloads. Simple, painless, NO work for you at all.

Now, if they actually require support, that's a different issue altogether, and yes, licenses should be required. An actual effort is required there on your behalf.

 

The fact is, again, that this is a *. It's the textbook definition of *

a dishonest scheme; a fraud:

 

Again, the industry standard is very, very simple here.

When a customer pays for an item, it is on the business to deliver said item until it is physically impossible for said item to not be delivered any more (ie: the business is no longer in business).

 

I can go back and download vBulletin 3.8.6, to this day, despite license expiring 6 years ago. Would I ? No, but if I so chose I could

I can go back and download an incredibly old version of Secure CRT. Same thing

I can go through XenForo, same thing.

EVERY piece of software I've paid for over the past 20+ years I've done business with, the exact same thing here. Some of these licenses haven't been renewed in decades

 

The only reason WHMCS does this is to pad their own account, nothing more. That is the textbook definition of '*'.

 

Now, again, would I use this older software? No. Absolutely not. There are too many inconsistencies, too much of a possibility of problem. However, it is, as a paid license owner, my right, to download this software.

[Kian]

However, it is, as a paid license owner, my right, to download this software.

I don't want to sound arrogant but all rights not expressly granted in their terms of service are reserved. Since I can't find any paragraph about the download-right on their TOS, it's obvious to me that we can't claim this right for us. I don't know if this decision is intentional or if there are technical reasons like the ones I described above, but that's how it is. If this is a business practice for sure they will face the consequences, whether good or bad, of their decision. Who knows? Probably WHMCS will go out of the buiness in next few months because of this and I will become the number one in this industry

 

Seriously, I've always known that support license must be active at the time I want to download WHMCS. Similarly I also know that some of my partners charge me late fees if I miss a payment, others deactivate my licenses or turn off my servers without any notice. Still others legally "steal" your domain names if you miss a renewal. We can discuss on how horrible all these business practice are, spread information and maybe change something but I wouldn't call this practice "*".