ComplaintsforSimplify3D

• Initial Complaint

  12/20/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  The 3D community has been waiting for an update to the ********** software for years, finally it was released today. I been a customer of ********** from the beginning when I purchase my license and I was assured that I could upgrade at any time free of charge however, I just came to find out that they are not honoring the deal and they want to charge for the latest upgrade to v5. I did contact a while back ********** when I heard of this upgrade and I had an exchange of emails with them I wanted to attach the entire thread bud there is not enough space for it so I am attaching the email where they told me I would get upgrades at any time free of charge and uploading the entire thread as a supporting document. I hope you folks can help, thank you very much in advance. Hey JD, Glad to hear your teacher recommended the software. Maybe he would be kind enough to let you demo the software on his machine if you really need to see it first hand. We do not have a student discount at the moment, mostly because the software is already heavily discounted in our initial rollout phase. I don't know if you have been following all the upgrades and new features we have added to the software in the last few months, but we're quickly expanding the feature set far beyond the initial product that we offered. We decided to price the software at an introductory price to reward our early supporters and basically use it as a kickstarter for further development work. Thankfully, we have a great license policy so that all of our previous customers can upgrade to the latest features at any time, free of charge. Things will change once we move beyond our initial rollout, so now would be a great time to consider purchasing if you are interested in the software. I hope that provides a little background on us, and please don't hesitate to ask if you have any other questions --------------------- ******* ******* ********************** ********** ***

  Business response

  12/29/2022

  We want to thank *** ****** for being a user of ********** since his $140 purchase of Version 1.01 on Jan. 20, 2014, almost 8 years ago. Since his purchase, the software was updated many times (refer to release notes webpage for at least a dozen major updates: https://www.**********.com/products/**********-software/release-notes/). The current V5 upgrade is the first time ********** has offered a paid upgrade version.

  In the email referenced by *** ******, the company states that "customers can upgrade to the latest features at any time, free of charge. Things will change once we move beyond our initial rollout, so now would be a great time to consider purchasing if you are interested in the software."  Please refer to the latter part of the statement mentioning that "things will change once we move beyond our initial rollout." This "early rollout" was in 2014. *** ****** has used the software through many updates since 2014 without any upgrade charge.

  ********** has never advertised "free upgrades for life". Our stated policy was that customers would receive updates for 12 months following their purchase. This is the same policy we are honoring for the V5 upgrade.  Any customer who purchased the software less than 12 months ago will receive V5 for FREE.  For customers that have been using ********** for more than a year, there is a small upgrade fee required. However, the customer is not forced to upgrade. It is their option. They may continue using their V4 software without interruption.

  Again, we thank *** ****** for using our software since 2014 and hope that the upgrades in Version 5 will be worthy of his review.

   

  Customer response

  12/31/2022

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, reasons for rejection are included below.
  
  Regards,
  
  ** ******

   

  Folks let’s be on the level, ********** is posting a page with updates to the software like if it has been updated constantly over the years however, in truth the last update before v5 was v4.1.2 that was released in May 2019! That is a long time if you ask me.
  
  As ********** quoted …
  
  "customers can upgrade to the latest features at any time, free of charge. Things will change once we move beyond our initial rollout, so now would be a great time to consider purchasing if you are interested in the software."  Please refer to the latter part of the statement mentioning that "things will change once we move beyond our initial rollout." This "early rollout" was in 2014.”
  
  It seems to me this is getting twisted a bit, here is the entire paragraph in ********** email …
  
  “We decided to price the software at an introductory price to reward our early supporters and basically use it as a kickstarter for further development work.
  Thankfully, we have a great license policy so that all of our previous customers can upgrade to the latest features at any time, free of charge.
  Things will change once we move beyond our initial rollout, so now would be a great time to consider purchasing if you are interested in the software”
  
  It really disappoints, since as I understand it an anyone that reads it would come to the same conclusion as a costumer “upgrade to the latest features at any time, free of charge”. I hate to point it out but “any time” well… it means any time! But let me elaborate, this is the understanding behind those words, “if I do not buy now the price might be higher down the road.” Standard slogan to hook anyone to buy now.
  
  In closing to answer the questions that the BBB put forward …
  
       * Has the company addressed the issues of this dispute? No
       * If not, why? Explanation above.
       * If an offer of resolution was made, has the company fulfilled the proposed offer? ********** has not meet what they offer me “upgrade to the latest features at any time, free of charge”.
  
  

  Business response

  01/30/2023

  It has taken us quite some time to collect information to dispute the following complaint, because the customer purchased the software in 2014, about 9 years ago.
  Complaint ID: ********
  Date Filed: 12/20/2022
  
  Even though the complaint was closed by the Cincinnati BBB, we are providing some additional information to show that there were multiple methods of customer communication since 2014 to inform customers that updates would require a fee starting with the launch of Version 5.
  Communication about a paid upgrade started almost 3 years ago. See attached 1-30-19 newsletter stating Version 5 would be a paid upgrade. In addition to the newsletter to every customer, this information was also communicated for 2+ years throughout numerous webpages and FAQs.
  From the Simplify3D EULA: "Simplify3D is under no obligation, whatsoever, to provide patches, bug fixes or other updates to the Software.”
  
  We do not dispute that the customer was an early customer in 2014. We were glad that we were able to provide this customer with FREE software updates for 8 years, which is unheard of in the software industry. 
  
  Now, with a customer base almost 10 years strong, we recognize that small fees for software updates are the best way for Simplify3D to continue providing technical updates and customer support. The first upgrade fee was implemented with the launch of Version 5 in December 2022. The customer is under no obligation to upgrade and may continue to use the previous version of the software.
  
  - - - - - -
  Jann W****

  Customer response

  01/30/2023

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, reasons for rejection are included below.
  
  Regards,
  
  ** ******
  

• Initial Complaint

  02/14/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  They won't give a clear answer if I can share sliced files with others ... Such a simple question....maybe there is nobody left working in the company....no phone number to call. I sliced specifically in certain way and have files ready from many years and wanted to share.....there are up to date slicers that are free, would just take time to figure them out....

  Business response

  02/15/2022

  We have responded numerous times to this End User who asked a question about sharing code from our software with other users. We are not able to interpret the exact conditions of any particular software user or their environment, but we did show the End User where to locate sections of the software EULA that relate to their situation and question.  It is possible that the customer does not like the terms of the Software EULA, which cannot be changed or interpreted for each user.

• Initial Complaint

  11/04/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I purchased Simplify3D in January 2020 after wanting a professional grade solution to drive our 3D printers. I selected Simplify3D as they clearly state "Latest and Greatest Updates – your license includes 1 year of free upgrades so that you can stay up-to-date with the latest improvements" on their website: https://www.simplify3d.com/buy-now/ 10 months into the year, so far, we haven't received any form of upgrade to the software; no bug fixes, no new features, etc. I reached out to Simplify3D to ask why no upgrades have been made available and if they were going to redress this as I felt we were mis-sold the solution. Their reply was quite vague, informing us we had "over the air" updates along with other new printer profiles as being one of the upgrades (these are configuration options within the software; not actual bug fixes or new features). The current version of the software 4.1.2 hasn't been updated in over 2 years (4.1.2 being released April 2019 as can be referenced here: https://forum.simplify3d.com/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=13070) I asked for a list of upgrades they claimed we had received - ignoring printer profiles (aka. settings), not once, but twice. Their response was again vague by listing improvements to things such as "cloud infrastructure" which has no bearing on version 4.1.2 as it runs offline, without an internet connection quite happily for months (apart from wanting to do an occasional check with their licensing servers) and avoided providing us with a definitive list of upgrades to the actual software that we supposedly received. I feel their advertising is of questionable morality, duping people into making a purchase by stating they will receive free upgrades for a year (clearly their software hasn't been upgraded since April 2019); I believe this statement should be removed from their website and affected customers provided with a fair and reasonable full explanation as to why this hasn't happened.

  Business response

  11/05/2021

  We've emailed with this customer 5 times since their purchase in January 2021.  The customer is unhappy with updates to the software. We continued to provide over-the-air software updates to settings and components used by the software. The customer told us that if they were not satisfied with our response regarding updates, that they would write to the BBB.

  Customer response

  11/05/2021

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, reasons for rejection are included below:

  Again, Simplify3D has failed to provide a list of upgrades; What components?  What has actually been updated/added/fixed?  A canned response of "We continued to provide over-the-air software updates to settings and components used by the software." isn't providing information.
  

  I did indeed inform them that I would open a complaint with the BBB; but not until I had asked numerous times for a list of what has been updated (again, printer profiles do not count - these are configurable settings and some are not available publicly, you have to ask for them specifically) and they failed to do so.

  So again, I ask Simplify3D: What components?  What has actually been updated/added/fixed? What has changed since the release of 4.1.2 in April 2019?

  Regards,
  
  ****** *******
  

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩