The primary purpose and responsibility of management is to “Anticipate and Prepare.”
All the supposition, speculation, and concern, about the company’s well-being, and all the questions about pricing, and specifics and definitions, should have been addressed in the initial offer. They were not.
Instead what we got, repeatedly, was marketing idiocy: “FREE LIFETIME updates for only 200 dollars.”
Obviously the details of the offer were not clear. Witness the hundreds of questions public and private, and the support messages and calls, including the hundreds of hours spent by CW personal that SHOULD have been avoided. That is evidence of lack of “Anticipation and Preparation.”
We are told all our lives: “An offer that sounds too good to be true probably is.”
“FREE Lifetime updates for only $200,” was rightfully suspected to be “too good.” So as reasonable adults we questioned the implications of what this offer might mean.
But for the next few weeks not one real trustworthy word about our concerns. Just more and more and more of FREE, HURRY, FREE, HURRY. Push, push, push.
“Buyer beware” is another tenet of life during wartime.
I was stung by Lexicon’s blatant fraud of dumping its audio interfaces knowing full well they would not work with win2000 and wXP. (Hence, I refuse to use anything lexicon.) Should I not be distrustful of such a similar presentation?
To not be wary about "FREE FOREVER" would be irrational.
There are only two actual facts:
An offer was proffered to existing Platinum owners/subscribers promising lifetime rolling updates in exchange for $200 (adjusted for whatever reasons.)
A second offer has been made to all existing and new Sonar owners/subscribers promising lifetime rolling updates in exchange for various amounts.
Until “lifetime” has been clearly defined, and such time is actually achieved, there will be no factual evidence that the promise of “free lifetime updates” is true. That is how facts work.
We are given reasons for the change and the extension of the offer. But these are NOT facts. So far they are merely hearsay. Are they only the reasons decided to tell the public to justify the changes and betrayal? (Someone told us this FREE offer was a loyalty reward. Now obviously betrayed.)
Should I not be skeptical about these statements being the truth? We were told there was a limited time to buy “FREE LIFETIME updates for $200.” And then we learn the time limit was a joke. That those of us who responded were duped. Why should we not feel annoyed by this treatment?
Why should we not be unhappy about this? Why should we not express our feelings of being treated fraudulently? That proximity to the holiday sale season is reason enough for us to be satisfied that we were treated with truth and respect and reason? I don’t think so!
Hurry! Hurry! Hurry! That is now perceived as a lie.
To be told that the “managers” of the company actually had no clear idea about what they were doing, and that they just decided to throw some brown stuff at their customers to see what would stick, is more than insulting. “Just trust us. We know what we’re doing.” Obviously NOT!
That we were just part of an un-thought-through experiment: A barely structured Dead jam that may end anywhere at any time is the result of no clear “Anticipation and preparation.”
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, those of us who have being paying attention and have been expressing our dissatisfaction are allowed to be treated with personal attacks and derision by the forum bullies.
Sad days for all of us.