Update 2: free Prime promo and upgrade paths

#26

For the sake of your company and your customers, please hire someone with communications and public relations experience. It’s embarrassing and sad that customers (including myself) are still confused even after multiple emails and forums posts from InSync.

Much of what you write is difficult to understand mainly because it seems that English may not be your first language. That isn’t your fault, but it does indicate a pressing need to hire someone with expertise in this area. Your sentences, paragraphs, and general flow of communication are dissonant and quite frankly erratic. All of that leads to nothing but confused customers and frustration.

What does the P.S. section mean in your post? People who purchased after December 20? Please re-word your sentences are they are currently misleading and confusing.

You could have avoided a lot of this miscommunication if you just released a bullet point FAQ. For example, the following are questions that you must answer immediately:

Question: If I have already paid for InSync, do I need to pay again for “Prime”?
Answer: It seems like the answer is “No”.

Question: Am I required to do anything to become a “Prime” member if I am already a paying member?
Answer: It seems like the answer is “Yes, use something that doesn’t exist yet.”

Question: What is the downside to upgrading to “Prime”?
Answer: It seems like the answer is “Nothing.”

Question: Why should I upgrade to “Prime”?
Answer: It seems like the answer is “Because you will get free upgrades in the future.”

Question: Why can’t I get free upgrades under my current plan? Why is the plan attached to the versions I can use?
Answer: ???

Question: If “Prime” is something everyone is grandfathered in to, why is the upgrade window limited?
Answer: ???

Further, I suggest that InSync should take these steps in the future:

  • Do not announce or implement any changes in plans and pricing if you do not have functionality to allow paying members to take advantage of those changes.
  • Always communicate your changes months in advance so that paying customers can be aware of changes and prepare for what needs to be done on their end.
  • Provide clear and concise communication about changes. Rambling on for paragraphs on end does nothing but add confusion.
  • Improve your software to make it easier to view and manage plans and versions. Try standardizing your UI instead of making something completely different from everything else.
5 Likes
FAQ on Prime plan
#27

Suggestion, just automatically upgrade all Plus users to the new Prime and stop trying to sell us on clicking the button… I think I speak for most of us when I say we kind of expected constant updates anyway… so why should we do anything at all? Just send us an email that says, “Your Insync Plus service got a new name! Now it’s Insync Prime! Congrats! Keep enjoying all the best stuff from Insync!” Then many of the problems you addressed would go away.

5 Likes
#28

@terpua: When everyone is moving to a subscription model, I’m wondering why you are going back to perpetual license? As a customer, subscription model gives me better confidence as I know that you’ll continue to support the software. If not, I’ve the flexibility to stop the payment and look for alternatives. (For eg. I’m frustrated with your 2.x release schedule and stuck with the beta for the last 10 months.). Its comforting to know that my current pro license will continue though I can’t purchase a new one. IMHO, You should continue the pro licence.

2 Likes
#29

hello! i’ve been using the product for years as it was always more stable than the typical google drive client. i have a pro account with an @gmail.com acct. is there any downside to me taking up the free offer of an upgrade to the prime lic?

if i understand correctly, i will never have to pay again and have all the features I currently have?

thanks in advance,

#30

As said in the first post:

  • If you have an @gmail account, you can upgrade to Prime (from Plus, Pro or Business) for free for a limited time (we may change this and make it free forever)

Upgrade to Prime is free for a limited time. There is no promise they will make it free forever. They might later on start the PR the trial version of the Prime is about to be over and you will have to pay to use it further. It is unclear whether you will be able to switch back to Pro if you desire to downgrade.

There is another problem that even if you pay for Prime nobody will guaranty you will never have to switch to another plan later, when they invent Insync Eternety and stop upgrading the Prime version.

1 Like
#32

I am a pro user w/ a regular Gmail and a Gapp (work) account, so if I read this correctly my personal Gmail can be upgraded to Prime for “free” and the Gapp (work) for a 30% discount?

I have all my employees paying, so I do like this program but I will tell you this smells of a Ringplus scam and TBH I don’t know how you can fund development w/ a 1 time charge.

As you probably know Ringplus started out free then continuously changed their plans, got people to sign up for “membership” – like Prime, then screwed them, and then went to a freemium model giving folks w/ membership discounts. And all along the way the CEO made promises and the like and then backed out on them.

So my point is (I work for a software company), I simply do not see how this will fund future product development unless you are:

  1. Know that google or some other 3rd party will make the multi-account functionality of your product obsolete
  2. You are trying to get as much money as possible, and then either go out of business, seriously ramp down support/development, or come up with some new scheme to charge customers.
  3. You start (or already have) been data mining and reselling habits since you are in the data path (quite alarming)
  4. You start barraging w/ ads.

Personally I don’t want any of them and as a business user I have grave concerns when a pricing model changes like this, because to me stability and confidentiality are top of mind.

Just saying, I have hundreds of dollars on my team per year coming to you, so you can understand as a business customer I am shaky and your product saves my team from unending aggravation w/ Gdrive crappy software.

2 Likes
#33

I also do not get how you can have a sustainable business model if you sell a product that has unlimited upgrades with a one time payment.
I’m a private user with a Google Apps (G Suite) account, and I have the Pro plan, since I wanted to support the development. I will also likely stay on this for now since I just renewed.

1 Like
#34

What’s the difference between “@gmail accounts” and “@gapp/3rd party accounts”?

When I bought Insync Plus back in Jan 2015, there was no mention of this distinction. My receipt just says “Insync Plus”.

Which kind of account do I have? Apparently whether or not I get a free upgrade hinges on this, but I don’t know how to tell.

#35

Do you have a general timeline for the upgrade page (since apparently your emails don’t always make it through)?

We will provide an upgrade page to Prime for all existing non-Prime customers (will send another email announcement when available) later this month:

#36

Terpua
Where are your responses to the comments that people are making?

#37

Also Terpua
When will the special pricing page for existing customers appear?

#38

The upgrade page is still slated for this month. If that changes, I will post another notice.

Working on generalizing all the various questions/concerns/comments into one post instead of responding individually to every reply.

1 Like
#39

@Psychic99 echos my concerns exactly here.

I don’t see how moving back to a one time fee model with unlimited upgrades is sustainable at all. This really makes me question your future plans and if this is an ‘innocent’ move it strikes me as a naive one at best.

I’d urge you to think about this whole thing again with a clear head and blank slate because all you’re doing is setting yourself up for financial collapse.

You also need to make it a lot clearer that you still indend Plus users to upgrade as that’s buried in the ‘PS’ section at the bottom of your post.

#40

This entire affair has turned into a debacle.

Given that I get intermittent data weirdness with all prior (and the current) versions of InSync, the impression I’m getting is that both the software and the PR aren’t strategic or reliable enough for my needs.

I don’t have time for this sort of back and forth, changing business models, cryptic communications, and so forth. I paid for the product and it was supposed to be a one-time buy. If you expect me to pay again for the accounts I’ve been using for two years, I’ll just find another way.

I’m out unless you wake up and just grandfather your user base and spare us the tedium.

1 Like
#41

I have lost more than 1 hour of my life to try to understand this, cmon… Just do it, put everyone in Prime, and announce the new plan for non-costumers.

Going back to “odrive” for now, I don’t have time for this =(

#42

I’m somewhat amazed no one referred to the “spoiler” in the original mail yet (if someone did, sorry, I missed it).

Spoiler: we’re gifting free Insync accounts to gmail users (ends in a week). Don’t forget to share the gift with your friends :slight_smile:

There’s one clear message in that sentence: you’re giving away free accounts to new users. There are three aspects that verify this:

  1. On May 16 of the same year you ran a similar promo, giving Insync Plus free for @gmail.com or @googlemail.com accounts during 72 hours.
  2. “gifting free Insync accounts to gmail users”, that’s pretty self explanatory, you’re doing the same thing as before, giving free accounts to any Gmail user.
  3. You’re telling us to share the gift. How could we share a gift, only meant for existing customers, with friends that may not even have an Insync account?

I personally purchased Insync Plus on May 8, exactly 8 days before you gave it away for free. I don’t mind, I’m glad I supported this amazing piece of software that eliminates all frustrations with Gdrive. But now I do feel a bit duped to be honest.

I don’t see how moving to Prime can be considered a “free upgrade”, it’s basically a name change at best. There is nothing wrong with more complicated pricing plans, as long as it’s explained simply. On the contrary, it’s more fair to consider different types of users. You’ve eliminated this fair pricing by generalizing three kinds of users.

One thing is very clear here, your goal to simplify has failed – at least for existing customers – so it’s time for a different approach. This calls for a teambuilding day! Gather the team and go out, clear your minds. May I suggest an escape room? I’m sure you’ll find one nearby, it’s a fun activity and has a very positive effect on creativity.

Good luck!

#43

Same here… my insync plus account is linked to a google apps account, does that mean I have to pay again to keep receiving updates?
That sucks…

#44

hi guys. @terpua has posted a FAQ about Prime and upgrading here: FAQ on Prime plan

#45

Was the free upgrade promo now already? It’s end of January, I didn’t get any email so far…

#47

hi @mkdr, we haven’t sent anything yet as we’re still working on the upgrade page. We’ll send an email as soon as it’s up, and I’ll post an update here on the forums as well