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Business Profile

Computer Hardware

Simplify3D

This business is NOT BBB Accredited.

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Complaints

Customer Complaints Summary

  • 1 complaint in the last 3 years.
  • 0 complaints closed in the last 12 months.

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The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. 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.

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  • Initial Complaint

    Date:12/20/2022

    Type:Product Issues
    Status:
    Answered
    Resolved:
    The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
    Unresolved:
    The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
    Answered:
    The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
    Unanswered:
    The business failed to respond to the dispute.
    Unpursuable:
    BBB is unable to locate the business.
    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

    Date: 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 Answer

    Date: 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

    Date: 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 Answer

    Date: 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,

    ** ******

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