Digital Art Zone

Consider this my attempt at understanding; I got a notice the other night that my PC monthly fee had been paid (I have it set up with an autopay thing on Paypal) and that reminded me that I had been going to cancel it. So I went to Paypal and told it to not renew. Which had the effect of IMMEDIATELY canceling it entirely here at Daz. But I had JUST paid for an entire month.

I had expected that I would still be a PC member until my membership ran out. But instead, it looks as if I have paid for an entire month that (sans one day) I don’t get to use.

It’s only 9 dollars, but I’ve been a member here for a decade (Or more if you count other iterations of the company) and if this really is the policy, they should make that clear. And even in that case it really feels ungracious, as if it’s set up to deliberately ‘game’ the customer - and I feel I should get a little more respect than that.

If this is just bad management of a payment/permissions system - then please, fix it! I can’t be the only person that’s had to deal with this.

Moving this thread to the Commons, as it is not a New User question.

Please submit a support ticket, using Zendesk, to sales in order to get an answer to your problem, as CS is not in the habit of browsing the forums, they are here for forum members.

BTW you say you cancelled your sub at Paypal, did you also cancel on the subscription panel in your account prfile ? because that does cancel a sub immediately..  http://www.daz3d.com/forums/viewannounce/7225_4/

I don’t know who at DAZ decided NOT to make some note,sticky or other form of notification about this phenomenon, but all I ever see happen is people get mad or annoyed when they find this out.

They (the customers) have every reason to be.

It is not DAZ’s fault for this “Quirk”, when it was explained how and why it happens it was something “understandable”....

BUT…

WHY NOT FRIGGIN TELL PEOPLE ABOUT IT?

Would it break someone’s fingers to type the words “Canceling one’s subscription will immediately end your Platinum Club benefits and you will no longer have access to PC forums or discounts- you will effectively lose ALL remaining days on your subscription”...

HEY… Look DAZ- now nobody has to type this… it’s only a cut and paste job! All you have to do is cut it and paste it into the “The Proper way to Cancel a PC Membership”  sticky thread…. WHICH NOBODY WILL DO... Because to add a note like that would be too much trouble or be a sign of weakness to the competition… I can’t even imagine why that STILL is NOT included ANYWHERE that I’m aware of… If it IS somewhere else OTHER than an exclusive sticky note, then it is is the wrong place… it should be RIGHT THERE in “The Proper way to Cancel a PC Membership”...  SO THERE IS NO CONFUSION.

Yeah, DAZ will refund your money probably, but now you have to file a support ticket or GOD FORBID take a shot at getting through on the phone…

DAZ- IT IS SIMPLE COURTESY TO INFORM CUSTOMERS OF THIS ISSUE!!! STOP MAKING PEOPLE HAVE TO WASTE THEIR TIME AND GENERATE MORE WORK FOR CUSTOMER SERVICE BECAUSE NOBODY WANTS TO INCLUDE THAT TIDBIT OF INFO!!

IT IS RUDE AND UNFAIR AND WASTES OUR TIME AND YOUR RESOURCES!!!

I like DAZ,  but simple stupid lingering crap like this REALLY pisses me off, I can not imagine any rational business reasoning as to why you would feel this should not be included in the sticky “The Proper way to Cancel a PC Membership”

CAN YOU?  ANYONE OUT THERE?

When it happened to me it was early into the site change and my dismayed thread/post was (if I remember correctly) merged into another thread where it was more or less instantly ignored…
Since that day I have seen so many posts about this I can not help but wonder WHY nobody wants to inform customers about this?

Does this seem good for business? 

Throw us a bone here…

Does anyone at DAZ besides forum Administrators EVER look at these threads… you know… maybe just to get an idea what us filthy peasants are thinking?

DAZ - Read jadiana’s words: “If this really is the policy, they should make that clear. And even in that case it really feels ungracious, as if it’s set up to deliberately ‘game’ the customer - and I feel I should get a little more respect than that.”

How does this customer feel? Cheated? Ignored? Slighted? Poorly treated?  or   Are they happy about this all?

One simple paragraph could have avoided this… Does this foster trust and confidence?

I really hope that whoever decided that this info should NOT be included in “The Proper way to Cancel a PC Membership” did not actually go to some sort of business school that they actually paid money for… if they did, THEY should be on the phone asking for a refund.

I’ll say it again: “IT IS SIMPLE COURTESY TO INFORM CUSTOMERS OF THIS ISSUE!!! STOP MAKING PEOPLE HAVE TO WASTE THEIR TIME AND GENERATE MORE WORK FOR CUSTOMER SERVICE BECAUSE NOBODY WANTS TO INCLUDE THAT TIDBIT OF INFO!!”

I just don’t understand this. 

PS- While I do know Customer Service is not in the habit of frequenting the Forums, I can not imagine why anyone in DAZ’s management would NOT want to take a look at the forums every now and then to see what people are thinking, what they like, what problems are present, what the general mood is… I would imagine one purpose of a forum would be to actually have a ready source of customer statisfaction data…  Stuff like this can be a deal breaker which drives AWAY customers, why anyone in management would choose not to check in every now and then to see if there are any problems circulating, using a medium that the company is paying for anyway…  thats beyond my line of reasoning.

The Announcement I linked to entitled   “The Proper way to Cancel a PC Membership (Updated 9/7/12)”

does say           I quote

Please follow these steps:
*  Be sure you are logged in to the store
*  go to “My Account”
*  Select “My Subscriptions”
*  click “Edit”
*  “Cancel”
*  Your subscription will be cancelled immediately

So if I want to enjoy the benefits for the entire period that has been paid for, I have to wait until the very end to cancel the subscription? Did I get this right?

I have heard of some shady subscription services that do this sort of thing, but I never expected it from DAZ. This together with the fact that “30 day guarantees do not apply to subscription items” (from the PC monthly renewal page) puts DAZ in some rather unflattering company.

Then again, for all I know this might be common practice with subscription services. Thing is, there’s no reason why it should work this way, apart from the obvious “business reason” of getting some money from forgetful customers.

I will mark the day on my calendar.

can they make it like the old way? 

it was friendlier.

iirc,
turn off auto-renew and the subscription cancels on the renew date? 
it used to have a 30 day grace period, so you could renew within 30 days at the renew price, instead of paying the full subscription.

chohole - 29 November 2012 10:30 AM

The Announcement I linked to entitled   “The Proper way to Cancel a PC Membership (Updated 9/7/12)”

does say           I quote

Please follow these steps:
*  Be sure you are logged in to the store
*  go to “My Account”
*  Select “My Subscriptions”
*  click “Edit”
*  “Cancel”
*  Your subscription will be cancelled immediately

I get what you are saying…

But it does not say “Canceling one’s subscription will immediately end your Platinum Club benefits and you will no longer have access to PC forums or discounts- you will effectively lose ALL remaining days on your subscription”....

98% of people would understand that their remaining days, since they are paid for- should still grant them their benefits… I know that now, so do many other people… I understand you and other admin have repeated this many times, but this REALLY is NOT made clear by the simple statement “Your subscription will be cancelled immediately”....

This is directly the difference between having a sign that says: “Don’t open this door” and “DANGER DO NOT OPEN DOOR!”... There seems to be no consequence to “cancelled immediately” and the definition is very definitely open to interpretation, which very many people interpret as meaning wholly otherwise…

Should a person be faced with having to file a support ticket or make a call thus wasting their time and wasting customer support’s time on such a stupid issue like not adding one stupid little explanation.

MOST people who read the word subscription will believe it means they keep what they paid for… this does not work that way and it should be spelled out.

Why is that so hard that do?

If DAZ views people who don’t somehow understand they will lose all benefits instantly upon cancellation as not being smart enough to grasp the implication of the meaning of “Your subscription will be cancelled immediately” in the wispy grey context of internet commerce standards, than I can understand then they believe they possibly have gone far enough because anyone with half a brain would immediately grasp the concept and realize they will lose all benefits… and thus anyone who doesn’t get it should not have to have it spelled out for them. Let them file a support ticket and wait for their refund… that will teach them a lesson.

I’m leaning on the wall next to the doorway reading a newspaper as you pass by and I casually say ” I wouldn’t do that”... about a foot into the next room you almost slip and fall because the floor has some greasy substance all over it… you are not hurt only startled… you dropped some of the papers you were carrying and now they are all sticky… but otherwise you are okay… you will have to reprint those papers and reorganize then, but you didn’t fall right… no harm, no foul… right?

Wouldn’t it have been a lot nicer if I said “The floor is slippery in there, watch out”. 

What do you think of me because all I said was “I wouldn’t do that”...  Do what? Walk that way? Wear those shoes? Carry those papers? Go in that room?  Quietly hum old pirate tunes to myself? Do what?

Do you like me now or do I seem like some smug a-hole?

How about me? If I see people keep going in that room and getting pissed off because they almost fall, should I maybe alter my warning?... I grew up in NYC… Even making eye contact with me is cause for me to become alert so if someone else falls because they disregarded my very explicit warning… too bad… right?

It comes down to one set of people thinking that it is sufficient enough of a warning and many others who don’t understand the implication and will then suffer what is just a minor difficulty to some and an a major annoyance to others.

The issue is about not spelling out the consequences of cancellation.

And thus a question of “is it really that big a deal to not make the effort”?

Really-really?

I understand your point and the other admin who have pointed this out before… I’m not arguing that its your fault or you are wrong, but it should be clear to someone in management that this warning is insufficient and pisses people off and wastes everyones time… all for the want of one stupid simple explanation… to which everyone then can say without remorse “HA! CAN’T YOU READ!!??... IT CLEARLY SAYS: “YOU LOSE ALL REMAINING DAYS AND BENEFITS!  STUPID MORTAL!”

But that just me alone I guess…

It’s not just you My Lord, you’re of course absolutely right.

The customer should not have to stumble upon a thread in the forums to gain this rather important bit of information. Said information is at best vague; there is little reason for the customer to assume what the sentence actually implies, especially given that it’s a change from the way things used to be.

araneldon - 29 November 2012 10:51 AM

So if I want to enjoy the benefits for the entire period that has been paid for, I have to wait until the very end to cancel the subscription? Did I get this right?

If that’s true, it’s bad. That means that if for some reason (like if you have a computer breakdown) you’re unable to cancel on the last day, you’re stuck with another year’s subscription.  For there’s no refund on PC subscriptions.

@araneldon
You sure? I’m pretty oblivious sometimes… I often get the impression I’m the only one who sees a problem.

Taozen - 29 November 2012 12:06 PM

araneldon - 29 November 2012 10:51 AM

So if I want to enjoy the benefits for the entire period that has been paid for, I have to wait until the very end to cancel the subscription? Did I get this right?

If that’s true, it’s bad. That means that if for some reason (like if you have a computer breakdown) you’re unable to cancel on the last day, you’re stuck with another year’s subscription.  For there’s no refund on PC subscriptions.

 

 

I don’t think that is right… But you would have to file a support ticket for a refund or make a call… but of course anyone ahead of you who is doing the same because a simple warning was neglected, would be ahead of you… But like that never happens, so its not a big deal… right?

lordvicore - 29 November 2012 12:14 PM

Taozen - 29 November 2012 12:06 PM

araneldon - 29 November 2012 10:51 AM

So if I want to enjoy the benefits for the entire period that has been paid for, I have to wait until the very end to cancel the subscription? Did I get this right?

If that’s true, it’s bad. That means that if for some reason (like if you have a computer breakdown) you’re unable to cancel on the last day, you’re stuck with another year’s subscription.  For there’s no refund on PC subscriptions.

I don’t think that is right…

Says so right there on the PC product pages.

Search for “guarantee”.

WOW… That sucks…  I used to be a PC monthly member,  I’d never have noticed that.  I do not believe that was the case at the old store.

The immediate loss of benefits upon cancellation is due to one the MANY shortcomings of the Magento software DAZ now uses… but this really sucks if you miss the last few days.