IK Multimedia Charging To Re Download Samples Feels Cheap

[akeia]

I did say it was my error regarding the installation. I thought I had transferred everything to an external drive but one sample set didn't make it. So I paid the money to redownload. Just feels lame. It isn't breaking my bank, it is the principle of the matter though. I may never purchase another IK piece again as they have cheapened the experience. Just note too, the first thing I bought from them with ST2 back in like 2005, so I have been using IK stuff for almost 20 years.

If you had contacted tech support about this, chances are they would have reactivated your download for you. It's up to their discretion, but generally that's what they do unless you're a repeat offender.

Absolutely not. Their support is even worse than their business model. And every contact with their slave farm ends in endless automated mail back and forth until they understand what the problem is. After that nerve wrecking experience they do NOT give you a free download. I tried it after finding out about this stupid download policy.

[GusGranite]

I like IK plugins and I think a lot of the criticism that comes their way is straight mean and unfair.

I have always had a problem with this charging for download policy, though, and have let them know. Not only does it feel cheap as the OP states, but it gives the customer a completely unnecessary reason to dislike you as a company. Why would you ever want to do that? Just use the 10 slots method that everyone else does.

[vurt]

I like IK plugins and I think a lot of the criticism that comes their way is straight mean and unfair.

I have always had a problem with this charging for download policy, though, and have let them know. Not only does it feel cheap as the OP states, but it gives the customer a completely unnecessary reason to dislike you as a company. Why would you ever want to do that? Just use the 10 slots method that everyone else does.

i can't get over their "transfer fees on hardware"

[agharta]

I like IK plugins and I think a lot of the criticism that comes their way is straight mean and unfair.

I have always had a problem with this charging for download policy, though, and have let them know. Not only does it feel cheap as the OP states, but it gives the customer a completely unnecessary reason to dislike you as a company. Why would you ever want to do that? Just use the 10 slots method that everyone else does.

i can't get over their "transfer fees on hardware"

I got caught with that one.
I had a brand new Uno which was still in the box and was charged to transfer it.
That's the kind of crap I expect from them though.

As for the download thing, not sure they save any money with that.
I picked up maybe 500GBs worth of their stuff in two group buys for free.
I haven't downloaded the synths yet and I only downloaded all the other stuff due to the time limit.
Otherwise I would probably only have ended up downloading half of it over a period of time.
The same will probably happen with the synths.
So if they just gave me two downloads with no time limit, I'd have used less bandwidth.
Scarcity makes people act strangely.

[robinibbo]

Hi, a bit late to the game with this one but thought I would have my say too. I enjoy IK Multimedia products, most of which I managed to get free from various offers, bundles, trades etc. I don't mind their policy of paying for re-downloads if you did not pay for it in the first place, but if you did pay for the full software license, you should not have to pay. I have all my 10 Syntronic synths backed up, twice, and this is just a normal process for all my big installs. I have Omnisphere too and I keep a backup of my USB drive. It would be interesting to discover what the bandwidth charges were to IK Multimedia before they changed their policy, or whether it was just a change in business model to find other revenue streams? I'm retired in my 60's, we didn't have free stuff when I was young and I appreciate all the goodies we get today for nothing, certainly not going to complain about the generosity of IK Multimedia in giving away their products.

[SeBaer]

It’s the equivalent to paying for soda refills at a sit down restaurant. I think that is the best analogy.

Obviously you haven't been to a restaurant in Germany. Here, you pay for every single drink.

[bungle]

I like IK plugins and I think a lot of the criticism that comes their way is straight mean and unfair.

I have always had a problem with this charging for download policy, though, and have let them know. Not only does it feel cheap as the OP states, but it gives the customer a completely unnecessary reason to dislike you as a company. Why would you ever want to do that? Just use the 10 slots method that everyone else does.

Absolutely amazing products, their developers are top notch, soft and hardware, but the company policies, ooof, what a bunch of turds.

[monkeymanx]

It’s the equivalent to paying for soda refills at a sit down restaurant. I think that is the best analogy.

Obviously you haven't been to a restaurant in Germany. Here, you pay for every single drink.

I have not... Do they even charge for water there?

[SeBaer]

It’s the equivalent to paying for soda refills at a sit down restaurant. I think that is the best analogy.

Obviously you haven't been to a restaurant in Germany. Here, you pay for every single drink.

I have not... Do they even charge for water there?

Yup. You won't get tap water, just the sparkling kind of stuff or fancy bottles.
And most of the time it's even more expensive than beer.

[zzz00m]

Yup. You won't get tap water, just the sparkling kind of stuff or fancy bottles.
And most of the time it's even more expensive than beer.

[jinotsuh]

Naaa, IK's ok by me. At least you know about the charging to download after your initial time expires, you should use that knowledge wisely, you should be backing stuff up anyway. In case of say a Hard Drive taking a dump or something, I'm sure if you contacted Support and explained the situation they would fix you up, I've heard of it happening more than once.

I once foolishly by accident wiped the wrong drive, I didn't bother contacting support, it's only $10, so I just purchased a download credit, and done what I had to do. Small price to pay.

$10, I spill more than that on a night out at the pub or club, I certainly piss more than that up against the wall.

[zzz00m]

Small price to pay.

Less than $10 if you apply Jam Points!

[briefcasemanx]

Their current revenue model is to get a ton of new customers up front with super cheap pricing for huge swaths of their catalogue and then nickel and dime people once they're all-in with high upgrade pricing and stuff like this. I'm actually completely fine with it because I JUST got Total Studio MAX for $250 after owning very few of their products, so for me the amount I saved was so large that I don't care about spending a few dollars on the back end of I need to download something. Sucks for people that spent a ton of money already on their software AND still have to pay download dollars on top of that.

Weird business model for sure, seems like it's likely to piss off a lot of people. I'm happy with it but I'd guess I'm in the minority.

[zzz00m]

IK is what is is...

[niterateaudio]

Yup. Agree. I think it would be good if IKM did away with the credit to download your old SampleTank sound content which you rightfully own. I can't really see tons of people constantly needing to keep downloading it all day long. SampleTank is a great product and I use it all the time.