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Upgrade fee After < 6 Months

rickbrenner
It was a little shocking to hear from Capture One customer support (after waiting two or three days for an answer) that I have to pay all over again even though I've only owned their software for less than 6 months (Purchased last July). As a long long time Lightroom user (originally Aperture user and many predecessors), I decided to see what C1 does since I know some other pros who use it. But I never had time to deal with the learning curve so after 15 ininutes the first day, I've never even used it.

Most professional software companies give you free upgrades if there's a major release within a year, or maybe a nominal charge. Capture One said only if I bought it after October. 3 months.

Very customer unfriendly company. Says a lot to me about these guys before I even try their software.

Any thoughts from all of you who have dealt with them for years. Is everything about them, not about the customer?

Rick Brenner
Mamaroneck, NY
rickbrennerphotography.com
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Comments

6 comments

Date Votes
  • Ian Wilson
    Moderator
    Top Commenter
    But nobody is making you upgrade, are they? You can carry on using your existing version of the software. The trouble is, whenever one buys anything, there is always the danger that a newer version will appear soon. I don't use enough different types of software to be able to say whether it's true that "most professional software companies give you free upgrades if there's a major release within a year". With Capture One, for the last several years, there has been a new version (11, 12, 20) at about the end of November/beginning of December each year. Point updates (such as 12.0 to 12.1) have been free.

    Ian
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  • SFA
    Sorry Rick but I can't think of any commercial company that regularly provides free software upgrades for up to a year for new versions.

    Intermediate updates, sure, but not usually new versions unless in very early stages of development and with a large amount of backing available.

    In the photo market people reckon that Adobe probably provide software to about 90% of people in the market and most of those people may actually use parts of that supply from time to time. If you want to keep up to date these days you need a subscription. So you pay in advance for something you may never use ... but at least it's free at the point of release.

    There are other totally free options of course. Maybe one of those would be a suitable choice?

    Alternatively if one has to move to an application in the middle of a predictable development release cycle and the numbers may not appeal for the perpetual licence there is always the option to start off with a subscription and jump to the perpetual option at the next release point.

    I understand where you are coming from - we all like a bargain deal - but I really don't see any arguement about 6 months.

    6 Days would be frustrating.

    6 hours would really annoy me - but that would be my problem not the supplier's.


    Grant
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  • Emile Gregoire
    The model you’re referring to usually covers one year of everything (upgrades, updated, support) after which you’d have to pony up the same amount (possibly with a small discount) for another year of everything. Basically a subscription model with the added benefit of keeping it afterward, though without support or updates. C1 is not in that camp. You buy a version with all its .dot updates plus support. There’s something to be said for both but you can hardly blame the company for a pretty normal way of operating - Adobe used to work exactly the same before going subscription only. The fact that you only used it for 15 minutes makes me believe you should have better downloaded a trial version but that obviously is easy to say in hindsight.
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  • rickbrenner
    Thank you all for the replies. It sounds like all of you are in accord that their policy is reasonable. For me, it seems like I just bought it a few months ago and now, if I want the latest and greatest, I'd have to pay all over again. Even with the discounted upgrade price, it's essentially the same thing as I paid for the base.

    I do think it's reasonable to charge for upgrades but this one seemed steep to me.

    Thanks again,

    Rick
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  • Michael Umhofer
    https://support.captureone.com/hc/en-us/articles/360002398417-All-about-Capture-One-licenses-Upgrades-updates-and-activations-explained

    Hi Rick,

    Next year, wait for the Black Friday sale. I downloaded and trialled C1 12 in July but held off purchase until late November knowing they would have a discounted price by googling previous versions release habits and reading through the Phase One/Capture One user forums. I got a deal that included a free pre-order of C1 20 Pro.

    I remember way back when I purchased Adobe CS2 for a whopping $750 on CD. Although in the years leading up to CC, I still used this version, installed and re-installed on different computers. I got a good fair amount of use out of it and still have it installed on an older MBP. C1 12 is just as powerful as C1 20, in my opinion. Can't say much about their customer support though. 🤭
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  • colin white

    I too am frustrated by Cap1's upgrade policy and the high price they charge for a minor performance upgrade.  It is still too slow to use as a serious editing package, so I guess I will follow the advice of others and simply go elsewhere.  A pity because Cap1 has some useful features, but is just too expensive and too slow to be worth the money they charge.  I purchased V20 in Sept.

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