Hi guys,

Anyone know what is happening with 7-Aliens? Or hear any news from 7-Aliens?


On July 25, 2011, I found a buyer for Catanya. He sent me the money on that same day. And on that same day, I sent to 7-Aliens my request for license transfer.

Actually, about a week before that transaction, I got the approval already from 7-Aliens regarding this license transfer.

Now, ever since that "day", I heard nothing from 7-Aliens. I already sent several emails (6 so far), asking politely but without any response.

When I did some research here at KVR, I found this:

http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=320484&postday s=0&postorder=asc&start=15

Any idea on what is really happening with 7-Aliens?

Cheers,
g7

Can somebody help me with this?

Cheers,
g7

I'm pretty sure no one knows, which I think was the conclusion reached in the last thread about this. If he approved it, then he will probably answer your emails eventually, but it sucks to have to make the buyer wait indefinitely.

This happens sometimes with small developers. I emailed the developer of the G-Player plug-in, which supports Gig files (since Tascam discontinued Gigastudio 3/4) about a pretty serious bug and haven't gotten a response in probably two weeks. I may never get one.

Dear A.M. Gold,

Thanks for the feedback. Below is the email I sent to 7-Aliens, asking for permission. I deleted the name.
------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------
Date: Monday, May 9, 2011, 8:06 AM

Hi,

You can resell your copy. Once you find the buyer, you'll send us his
email and we send him his new serial key. Your's will be discarded
afterwards. Have a nice day.

xxxxxxx
7Aliens
------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------

Did I miss something? Please advise.

I don't doubt it, but he isn't answering his email now. Maybe he's on vacation.

You aren't alone in not getting replies from him, though---he is known for being hard to get a hold of.

Well, I don't know what other permission do I need to ask?

Any advices?

I don't think it's a matter of permission---he gave you that. He isn't following through on the transfer. I don't think there's much you can do. It's a very annoying thing, though, if you've already received payment. I've considered selling my Catanya but probably won't try it for this same reason.

I believe it won't do no harm if, as developers, they inform their customers in advance either via KVR or their website, that they will be out of reach during a certain period of time. In that sense, buyers and sellers can better time their transactions.

Becoming proactive, e.g like Urs, is like leading by examples. I know that he always lets us know in advance before going on vacation. Am I saying something wrong here?

Nope. Small developers are always a little risky to get involved with, though. Prodyon just went belly up and there were a number of people who were expecting "plug-ins for life" that are pretty unhappy now.

I don't know why the 7 Aliens guy isn't answering, but he is well known for being unresponsive to emails. I don't know what you can do other than wait and make sure to remind him if he answers that he approved the sale before.

Ah, that Prodyon. Yeah, I bought Enchoir, a nice product. Too bad, its development has stopped.

But, it's really strange, that some developers underestimated the importance of after-sales service and thereafter brought down their own company. There are lots of this stories, as examples, yet, there will always be somebody who wishes to try to neglect it with the hope that he/she will be the pioneer. Hmm....classical.

Well, one thing to keep in mind is that on KVR we learn about a lot of "companies" that are really side projects for people who have other jobs/careers, because they can't possibly make enough money selling plug-ins.

So there is a wide range of developers out there and we hear about most of them here. We can't really treat them all equally. Some are more serious about business than others. I agree that when we buy something from them we have a right to expect support, but it's just not going to always be there with some of these very small developers.

A good example of a tiny company with excellent customer service is WWAYM. I don't think they sell very many plug-ins but I have gotten excellent service from them and they have answered my emails very quickly.

That is true.

The core to this excellent service is that we love our job and our customers. Sure, there will always be naughty customers. But, if we treat them well, they will become nice customers. Of course not all of them, but let's say, 99%, good enough. That 1 % will not bother us. And I believe, I can live with it.

The other way around is also true.

But you have to add to that fact that some of these guys are all alone---Dennis from Prodyon is a good example. He designed and built plug-ins (in SynthEdit) but he was also the only guy (or at least the main guy) handling all the business and customer service.

I think some people get overwhelmed and just start putting things off. I think customer service after the sale is, sadly, one of the first things to go when these developers are trying to do everything by themselves.

Just a quick add that although it took several days to get my transfer through from 7 Aliens, I eventually received it OK with a very polite welcome email - I have a suspicion that you will receive the transfer shortly.
I would also add that I did not expect anything different from what I eventually received (based on the research I had made) so I guess it comes down to individual expectations and these issues can tend to occur with some independent companies particularly in the current climate (and when judging against the better indies).

Hi Don,

Thanks for the support. I hope that will happen to me as well, since I got the approval in advance before the transaction. Oh well, it is not the end of the world. Let's see.