RESUBSCRIBING

[John Bigboote]

Every year it happens, go to open A:M and I get the 'subscription has expired' dialogue... crap, already?! I like to document my resubscribing experience here on the forum, so that it may help others, possibly illuminate Hash Inc. what a typical(?) yearly(since 2000) customer goes thru... but mainly because I hope NEXT year I will be able to pull-up this thread and read it if I get stuck... because every year I GET STUCK! (I do my home sub in a few months)

 

SO- I go to the Hash store, update my address and user information no problem, add 1 $79.99 yearly sub to the cart, go to checkout. This year, I notice that Hash is really-really pushing the PayPal payment process- and it looks as if it is the ONLY way to buy... but you can click on a tiny 'pay without PayPal' button and be directed to a credit card option. I figured this out after backing out, reading the instructions, going back into checkout (now my price was DOUBLE so I had to lower the units back to 1...) and then looking for the CC option.

 

SO- the transaction goes smoothly, I get a receipt- print it out for my boss, and jot down the 16 digit code that I know I will need. The invoice instructs that a confirmation email has been sent. I check my email and see there are 2 emails... 1 from Hash Inc. WebStore(orders@hash.com) and another from service@paypal.com... both are thank-you's and both offer to show a receipt (making my paranoid brain say- did I just get double-billed? I didn't use PayPal! need to check the creditcard statement...grrr)

 

SO- I already have A:M V18 installed on my computer, and I know if I try to start it I will still get the 'expired' thing... but at this point, I am at a loss for what to do next- and there is no documentation or instructions on any of the reciepts informing a resubscriber what to do... this is where I get stuck every year, and remember other years doing a full UNinstall/REinstall. THEN- my brain kicks in... I remember there is a text document in my Hash folder (a .lic file) that I need to fiddle with. I open the file, look for instructions... no, it is mostly code. I drag the .lic file out of the HashV18 folder and onto my desktop... retry starting A:M and VIOLA! I get a new window asking for my 16 digit code... home free, right? Wrong. Code does not work. retype it... no. Perhaps I wrote it down wrong, or made my 0 look like an O... need to recheck the numbers...

 

SO- I go back to the email sent from Hash and see there is a 'click here for detailed invoice' option... which links you BACK to the Hash store where you see your order information and within is a ACTIVATION CODE with a different set of digits... I copy those numbers down and enter them into the A:M dialogue box--- VIOLA! Good for another year of splineing. BUT, makes me wonder- what was that 1st set of 16 numbers? Looking at my printed reciept I see them as my 'Receipt ID #... 16 digits XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX JUST LIKE the Activation code... confusion for the sake of confusion it appears.

 

Now I know I am not the sharpest crayon in the box, but I really feel bad for someone new trying to figure this all out.

 

AND- every year I look at my order number and make note of it, subtract last years number from it and get a number I perceive to be the 'units sold' for the year... multiply that number by $80 to see how much money Martin, Jason and Steffen are 'rolling in'. I hope I am wrong... 2013 was 304 units or $24,320.

[robcat2075]

Welcome back to A:M land!

[Brian Kidd]

Great little story there John, I've been through simular situations in the past. I've had Anim:Master since the Playmation days. Will Pickering used to work over at Cineplay Interactive when they were marketing Playmation for Hash Inc. The office was located over in the NW area of Portland which was a little closer to me than popping over the River to Vancouver to actually go to Hash.

 

When a new update came out Will would just leave some 3.5" floppies at the Cineplay where I could just stop by and pick them up. Back then too Hash only had a BBS and at best we only had a 14.4 model so D'L'd anything would take longer than driving over to get the floppies. Will eventually went to work just at Hash so I started going over there to pick them up. I always enjoyed stopping by because sometimes they would show me some new project like a commericial or such that they are working on. I only actually had a chance to talk to Martin briefly once.

 

Recently I also just resubscribed being out of the loop for awhile. The last version I had was V15, been a bit busy the last couple of years so I haven't even touched the software until I just built a new machine. Luckily since it was a brand new fresh install of V18 I didn't have to mess around to much getting it up and running with a new Activation Code.

[robcat2075]

I've had Anim:Master since the Playmation days.

Welcome back to A:M!

[johnl3d]

Understood went through something similar ...but then I'm old

[pixelplucker]

I hate those tiny PayPal alternate pay options, PayPal really likes virtual cash over the digital hose that sucks the cash out of your bank account.

 

The subscription renewal process should be much easier than it is. Maybe they could have it just toss up a warning and when it runs out bring you to the page to pay and have the all the update happen behind the scenes. Maybe even toss in a short grace period for payment clearance.

 

Think that is possible?

 

I had a worse experience upgrading one of my other programs where it failed to import my databases (a 3 hour+ process to build) then they had to patch it to remove the nag screen at launch only to have to rebuild the databases again. Then I added another processor to my machine only to rebuild the stinking databases!!!!