PM license issue - very bad sales politics

[Brendan]

Hello,

I installed PM on 2 of my (and only used by me) laptops and 1 PC.

Now my activation is rejected.

Because I did sometimes install the OS new and another time a HDD died - thats fully normal, not even if you computer-addicted.

And now, the PM Support is seriously telling me something like "thats your problem, buy a new license" - thats a big misbehave!

I´m customer since 7 years and gave in the past valuable input for bugfixing/features. And now a salesman is telling me, that I cant use PM on this PC after reinstalling it again. I`am very unhappy and angry about this.  I payd a lot of money for PM and I want to use it!

Even microsoft does not bother me  ... I cant count how often I ve re-installed and re-activated windows 7..



Brendan

[Kirk Baker]

Oskar,

I have seen the email exchange between you and our sales representative.  Nowhere did she say you had to purchase another license.

She was telling you that you were over-activated: you are allowed three activations according to our license agreement and you had five already activated.  Our server denies any over-activation attempts to prevent the wholesale loss of our revenue.

She went through the deactivation process with you and you did deactivate a single computer but didn't get your activation count below three.

What has happened to these other systems or hard drives that you had PM previously installed on?  Are they inaccessible?  Have they been destroyed or damaged beyond use?

I understand that you're upset but making accusations that are untrue won't help things in any way.

-Kirk

[Brendan]

Hi Kirk,

yes of course you`re right, she didnt say that right now, but the meaning of that situation means exactly that.

Dont you install some OS and then reinstall or lost or damage the hdd for some times? You never think about to run a (not easy) de-register-operation (even you have the chance) for a special software. I dont know of any other software like this. Win7, for example, I can register as often I want (in normal use - after some times its only possible by telephone activation, but its possible). I am not sure about the rights, but maybe MS does that because they have to keep sure, that the user can use the software he paid for. Otherwise its like to "steal".






Brendan

[Kirk Baker]

I understand that your licensing issue was solved and that you did not have to purchase any new licenses.

I still disagree with your assertion that our sales rep was telling you otherwise.

-Kirk

[Brendan]

my issue is not solved, and I cant use a product I have paid for.
thats it.

I am looking forward what your sales rep. will telling me.

[Kirk Baker]

The sales rep has given you another activation slot.  Are you now able to get your system(s) activated?

-Kirk

[Brendan]

Hello Kirk,

yes now it works, thanks!

It was a long and hard way to get PM working again.


Greets

[pwp]

I'm about to do a fresh install of the OS on one of my PC's. Should I de-activate PM5 first? If so, what is the process to do this.
I'd like to take the correct steps to avoid a broken workflow as happened to the OP.

-PW

[Kirk Baker]

I'm about to do a fresh install of the OS on one of my PC's. Should I de-activate PM5 first? If so, what is the process to do this.
I'd like to take the correct steps to avoid a broken workflow as happened to the OP.

There is currently no deactivation capability built-into PM5.  The OP was over activated.  Unless you are already at your limits this shouldn't be a problem.  If you are denied, an email to sales@camerabits.com or a call to +1 503 547-2800 should solve the problem.  You'd follow a simple procedure (explained by the representative) and they would confirm that you have a free activation left.

-Kirk

[pwp]

Thank you kindly!

-PW

[ellisphotos]

I agree totally with this issue as I just bumped against it for having installed too many copies which included one on a demo machine to show my students at the Art Institute. I removed the program but didn't deactivate it thus it counts as one of the installs. This is just simply sloppy programming and counter to the industry. While I was a big promoter of Photo Mechanic now I'm not and feel they are just trying to squeeze more money from poor photographers. They should stick to the industry standard which is based on users not installs. Why in the world does it matter how many machines it is installed on as long as there is only one user at one time?

Richard

[Kirk Baker]

Richard,

I agree totally with this issue as I just bumped against it for having installed too many copies which included one on a demo machine to show my students at the Art Institute. I removed the program but didn't deactivate it thus it counts as one of the installs. This is just simply sloppy programming and counter to the industry. While I was a big promoter of Photo Mechanic now I'm not and feel they are just trying to squeeze more money from poor photographers. They should stick to the industry standard which is based on users not installs. Why in the world does it matter how many machines it is installed on as long as there is only one user at one time?

We are replacing our registration system to allow users to both activate and deactivate their systems so this won't be a problem in the future.  We're definitely not out to gouge anyone by forcing them to purchase licenses they don't need.

I am curious how a user-based system would work without abuse of the system?  If, for instance, the application asked you to sign in with a password to allow use, what would keep a dishonest user (not saying you are in that category in any way at all) from sharing his password with others?  To prevent this, such a system would require an always "on" internet connection so that a server could keep track of logins.  That would be counter to the needs of many users who don't always have an internet connection.

Machine-based licensing is the only choice if an internet connection isn't always available.

If you're having trouble activating one of your systems (and I guarantee that running a demo won't ever count against your activation count) then contact our sales folks and they'll help you perform a manual deactivation of one (or more) of your unused systems and you won't need to purchase another license.

-Kirk

[Luiz Muzzi]

Richard,

I agree totally with this issue as I just bumped against it for having installed too many copies which included one on a demo machine to show my students at the Art Institute. I removed the program but didn't deactivate it thus it counts as one of the installs. This is just simply sloppy programming and counter to the industry. While I was a big promoter of Photo Mechanic now I'm not and feel they are just trying to squeeze more money from poor photographers. They should stick to the industry standard which is based on users not installs. Why in the world does it matter how many machines it is installed on as long as there is only one user at one time?

We are replacing our registration system to allow users to both activate and deactivate their systems so this won't be a problem in the future.  We're definitely not out to gouge anyone by forcing them to purchase licenses they don't need.

I am curious how a user-based system would work without abuse of the system?  If, for instance, the application asked you to sign in with a password to allow use, what would keep a dishonest user (not saying you are in that category in any way at all) from sharing his password with others?  To prevent this, such a system would require an always "on" internet connection so that a server could keep track of logins.  That would be counter to the needs of many users who don't always have an internet connection.

Machine-based licensing is the only choice if an internet connection isn't always available.

If you're having trouble activating one of your systems (and I guarantee that running a demo won't ever count against your activation count) then contact our sales folks and they'll help you perform a manual deactivation of one (or more) of your unused systems and you won't need to purchase another license.

-Kirk

Hi, Kirk
I myself don't always have an internet connection and I love to be able to use PM in these situations.
Regards,

-Luiz Muzzi

[nick.lagalle]

I agree totally with this issue as I just bumped against it for having installed too many copies which included one on a demo machine to show my students at the Art Institute. I removed the program but didn't deactivate it thus it counts as one of the installs. This is just simply sloppy programming and counter to the industry. While I was a big promoter of Photo Mechanic now I'm not and feel they are just trying to squeeze more money from poor photographers. They should stick to the industry standard which is based on users not installs. Why in the world does it matter how many machines it is installed on as long as there is only one user at one time?

Richard

If it could be installed on multiple machines then it would be well open to pirate software. Although we had some issues activating ours (corporate network environment), we got past that and have no issues with the set up. Smaller companies need tighter restrictions to prevent pirating. I am supportive of this as it keeps the product development going.

[Franz Dur]

Three days ago the same happened to me: I bought a new PC, installed PM5 and when I tried to activate I was told I had already 3 seats on a one seat license!! In France (yes I am a frog) a seat is where you put your butts on, but Jamie Brown explained it all to me

I investigated my old PCs and found I had in fact 4 installations, one on a sub notebook, installed just "to see if it worked" (it din't, too slow on a a too small screen, never used it) and three on the old desktop: the one I used, an old build I kept because it was able to write to the RW2 raw files, and one I suppose originating from a new HD installation.

I contacted CamaraBits sales, was told to uninstall. Which I did, from the notebook and the desktop, then was told a new slot was open for me. So I tried to activate PM on the new PC: didn't work. I was not happy at all because I had really ditched everything. But was saved by Bob Russel: one has to run PM as administrator for the activation process, which worked just fine.

I think it is very easy to over install in good faith, there is no warning what so ever. CB should include a warning and a "seat" count in the activation dialog.

I have now PM running on my new PC and many thanks to Jamie and Bob for patience and expertise.

Francis