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SignLab Upgrades • WTF?

Replicator

Replicator

New Member
Is this some kind of scam perpetrated by these companies to continually soak you of your hard earned money.

I Paid and upgraded to v7.1 a few months ago and now they want another $500. to upgrade to v8 now.

I was told when I spoke to Cadlink this AM :

We didn't tell you about the upcoming release, because we weren't sure about the exact release date . . . HOGWASH !

That is a blatant dishonest attempt to drain even more of my money, and I'll have none of it . . .

I'll stick to Omega in the future !
 
Replicator

Replicator

New Member

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onesource

onesource

New Member
The professional thing to do is to let people/customers know of a soon to be release so they can make an informed decision other than that it's deceptive and not a good business practice, cadlink should do the right thing and everyone should ask about an up and coming release before upgrading. I was looking hard at SL but I don't know now.
 
Rod

Rod

New Member
Challenges in announcing a release date

Hi everyone,

Let me make it clear that nobody at CADlink meant for any of you to feel pressured or confused about upgrading. Behind the scenes here, we have design work and Q/A taking place continously, and what we release largely depends upon what Q/A says is ready or needs to be done before release. Though we are pleased that SignLab 8 is now ready, it was difficult narrowing down precisely when this would be.

For our people and our dealers, this uncertainty makes it challenging to warn people when they should hold off upgrading. In the weeks leading up to SignLab 8, I believe that people were being given the option of upgrading to 7.1, with the expectation that they would be sent version 8 when ready.

Marc, I have a suspicion that you were charged a fair price for your 7.1 because the upgrade paths between the various SignLab versions are weighted. However, let us look at the history. Can you send me PM with your dongle number and contact information?

Does that sound reasonable?


Cheers,

Rod at CADlink
 
Ursta Graphics

Ursta Graphics

New Member
I had the same thing happen to me when i got version 7. A few weeks after I purchased it 7.1 was released that supports Open Type fonts. I can no longer use LHF fonts in signlab as my version only supports true type. Being a loyal customer I was rather disappointed.

They still make a wonderful software though.
 
Rod

Rod

New Member
OpenType Letterhead fonts in SignLab 7.1

Ursta Graphics said:
I had the same thing happen to me when i got version 7. A few weeks after I purchased it 7.1 was released that supports Open Type fonts. I can no longer use LHF fonts in signlab as my version only supports true type. Being a loyal customer I was rather disappointed.
Click to expand...

If I understand you correctly, the following events occurred:

1. Back in perhaps late 2004, you upgraded to SignLab 7.0, which had support for TrueType fonts.
2. This was fine because, at the time, Letterhead fonts were in TrueType format.
3. A short while later in early 2005, SignLab 7.1 was released, which had support for OpenType fonts.
4. This was still fine, since Letterhead fonts were still in TrueType format.
5. However, in summer of 2007, Chuck Davis announced that Letterhead fonts would be in OpenType format.
6. Suddenly, your Letterhead fonts were not available, unless you upgraded your SignLab.


Is this correct?

Rod at CADlink
 
S

SweetDaddyD

New Member
Heck I'm still on E6. When windows upgraded to service pack 2 it hosed my whole computer. When you would type a letter in signlab it would type 26 letters for each one. Signlab told me they wouldn't support it anymore and it just wasn't compatible anymore and I should pay $1,500 to upgrade to the next version. Uh, no. Kind of ticked me off. I had to remove SP2, the whole computer crashed and a computer shop has to wipe it fresh and start clean. I lost a ton of stuff. A lot was backed up but from installing new fonts and stuff most all of my old work is messed up. I made the computer a relic, only use it for the plotter and use my Mac for everything else now, including the internet.

Because of that, if I ever do upgrade it will more than likely be to Flexi.
 
Ursta Graphics

Ursta Graphics

New Member
Rod,

You are correct! That is what happened...I just don't see justifying another upgrade price to be able to use open type. $1000 or more just to be able to use 12 fonts?

I was hoping that Cad Link would have stepped up with an update or a patch for it... but i figure its highly unlikely due to the fact that they couldn't keep up with newer versions of windows. Hence my last upgrade.

I can also relate to what SweetDaddyD just posted. I paid for the upgrade for version 7 just to be able to use the software with windows updates. Without dumping my whole system.

Cadlink makes one heck of a software and I still use it every day. Sometimes their backwards compatibility and lack of updates gives us (one man and small shops) the shaft though!

JMHO!

-Ursta
 
cOrKinSA

cOrKinSA

New Member
So what is a guy to do?
I am flip flopping on going to Flexi 8.5 or Signlab 8.
Problems surely exist with both programs but does a final decision fall in the same preference as the Pepsi vs. Coke conundrum.
 
Techman

Techman

New Member
The problem is,,
People pay to upgrade at a very expensive price. Then just a few weeks later a new upgrade comes out and people are expected to pay another large price for the new upgrade.

The new upgrade comes without any warning and is especially onerous when he just purchased an upgrade within the past few weeks and is expected to pay again.

Unfortunately the small shop owner feels jilted because he could have waited a couple of weeks and gotten what he feels is some merit for his loyalty. He feels the software vender could give some kind of alert to a new issue coming soon. Or, at least some kind of amnesty.

Instead, we watch flame posts about how they were treated badly and a software author try to justify why they do certain things.

Is it worth it to a software vendor? What is the hidden cost?

Lets see here. Customer value is the price of the software.
One lost customer is that amount lost.
Ten lost sales is ten times that amount.
One negative post make 5 make another purchase.

The end result is find a way to stop the negative posts from happening in the first place. Hmm, try a 60 day policy? would that stop a nice percentage of those upgraders from being being upset?
 
cOrKinSA

cOrKinSA

New Member
I see Techman. I would have made a signlab purchase a few weeks ago and now I am thinking that since I was taught on flexi I could look into getting F8. The feature in the SL8 video looked great but man if I am torn between two of the same worlds.
 
D

dclet

New Member
threads like this and all I can do is shake my head.....

CorelDRAW! and put an end to the nonsense, and never look back...

It's cheaper, it does more and is better at just about everything.
it's integration with photopaint is worth it alone....
 
cOrKinSA

cOrKinSA

New Member
dclet said:
threads like this and all I can do is shake my head.....

CorelDRAW! and put an end to the nonsense, and never look back...

It's cheaper, it does more and is better at just about everything.
it's integration with photopaint is worth it alone....
Click to expand...
Okay so now I am on one of my employees computers and I am staring at CorelDRAW. Are there any "workspaces" I can download or purchase some where to make this look different? I know Flexi has a Corel Workspace, but is there anything for this X3 version?
 
Replicator

Replicator

New Member
dclet said:
threads like this and all I can do is shake my head.....

CorelDRAW! and put an end to the nonsense, and never look back...

It's cheaper, it does more and is better at just about everything.
it's integration with photopaint is worth it alone....
Click to expand...

As far as I know you can't print to a Gerber Edge from Corel, so your point is NULL . . . !
 
Replicator

Replicator

New Member
Here's a real slap in the face . . .

I thought perhaps the sales director or the sales manager
whom I emailed 2-days ago were returning my email message,
but instead it was just an advertising email to buy version 8.

Still waiting to hear from anybody of importance at Cadlink . . . !
 
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