PHPLD price change - You need to pay $20 every 6 months

@dvduval - thanks for the mention Also thumbs up for taking criticism and skeptics positively.

@amiman - good tips; well said! Feature/pricing pages should list everything; people don't like surprises when it comes to pricing.

 

So...I purchased the script under one condition - one time payment for script - now you changed rules and took back what belongs to me and I can't even have old versions of the script anymore?

Charging for support or access to support forums is fine - for people who need support.
Charging to all who purchase the script from now on is also fine, as long as it's clearly stated.

Honestly, I don't care about that licence, never planned to use it and I lost about 30$ or something, but if I ever install phpld script again will use nulled versions for sure and will not be ashamed.

Business must be really bad, but you should try to create new script, not milk this one.

 

Wait and See about New Rules of phpld..

 

basically if one is buying a license they should be aware that they are going to pay $40.00 per year.

It is cheaper to buy @$30.00 and to keep the version updated etc. It is going to cost you more per year then what you paid initially.

 

Didn’t I buy my licences with free lifetime updates?

Thanks Brian

 

What all of you fail to realize, even to this day, is that Duval is a liar and a big time swindler.

Did you knwo phpLD 3.0 was suppose to be free? He did a good ConJob on people to get their money, and made promises to keep it free but never delivered and back-stabbed the contributors.

If you do not believe me, just read it here:
http://www.phplinkdirectory.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-1080.html

and in case he tries to remove it, and/or edit it some more, view it via Archive.org in its entirety here:
http://replay.web.archive.org/20070...ctory.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-1080.html

You all should have known better several years ago when he was caught outright in many many lies.

 

@David, are you willing to refund people that want to cash in licenses?

Thanks Brian

 

So David you may clearly explain this for all your script purchasers...

 

And EXACTLY what I stated in my post would happen(He edited the post), has been done, which is why I also gave the unedited archive.org post which should be read, here:

http://replay.web.archive.org/20070...ctory.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-1080.html

Now to try and remain slick, it was not updated via the thread which would indicate an 'edit date', but rather they dug into the database and updated it there.

You guys and gals need to wise up and learn already that Duval is devious and stoops to lower than lows to cover up any and all facets pertaining to his lies being caught out there. This is not the first time he's been caught in the act either.

It's time to wise up people.

 

I received a reply from David by PM regarding my question.

Without revealing full details of the PM, I feel that a response on this thread would be helpful to the people that have supported PHPLD.
The support forum is substandard and a problem can take a long time to be answered.

I upgraded my Niche SEO directory to the latest version of PHPLD, a problem with the URL rewrite forced me to revert back to the older version. With the new update fee I could throw money away on an update and then revert back to an older and already paid for version.

Would it be so difficult for your coders to implement new rules for new customers of the script?

I haven’t had time to compare the two links that Rob posted, I will do so later on.

Thanks Brian

 

I hate this kind of making "business",milking out his paying customers without shame....bad for him!

 

Since I don't use/own this script, I won't comment on the issue directly.

What this should teach everyone is to be very thoughtful in the early days of your business, be it running a directory, selling software or something else. When making decisions as to what you will include for a given price point, always consider future growth and whether or not you can truly offer something like free upgrades or a lifetime listing. A terms of service should be considered a legally binding document and while most will include phrases about it being subject to change, as far as I know it is classified as a purchase agreement and therefore a contract.

I admit that I absolutely hated paying to have one of my directories upgraded. Had the price been crazy expensive I might have made more noise about the issue. But, I also recognized that since I had customized my site that it would be harder to upgrade. Had I been told that I would have to pay an annual fee that amounts to around half the price of the script each year for the software upgrades that I was promised and support I may or may not even use, you would have heard me screaming and I would have been searching for another piece of software.

I just hope that if eSyndicat ever decides to go this route that the original customers, who purchased under a policy of "life-time technical support, free upgrades and free installation" get grandfathered in and exempted from the subscription fees.

 

It can be an yearly free for support - that makes sense.

the fact that David want to charge $40.00 a year for a script that he sell for $30.00 makes it hard.

 

I like the way he jumps on the chance to promote the script on here but when its something with negative overtones he remains silent or directs you to the phpld forums.

I don't even try the phpld forums anymore if I have a query or issue as its like talking to myself and full of unanswered requests for help.

 

We wouldn't be where we are today if it weren't for the great support we have provided. There was a time when we did not charge for support or even the script. One of the main reasons we changed was people were getting bad support or even getting ripped off. There were some early days when we were still learning and of course we made some mistakes. But we have grown our staff and rarely if ever even receive a refund request because we back up our script. No company is perfect, but again, we wouldn't be where we are today if we did nothing but rip off people. Instead we are the largest directory script on the net, and on over 100,000 sites. That didn't happen by chance.

I have asked people to come to us for help, because that is where we help people. As for the $20 to renew, that is a pretty "soft" rule right now. If someone needs help, we tend to help even if their time has expired. However, going back to the original premise, you have to also consider those people, that you spend 10 hours helping for a $30 script. In such cases, a $20 extension is not a lot to ask. So again, this is more of a "soft" rule right now, but it does give us some room to say to people, "your time is up. We can't help you for free for another 10 hours."

Let me leave you with a success story. We had a user from the "old times" when we were still learning and they got frustrated with us. They then went to Esyndicat, then phpLynx, and then again to Esyndicat, finally to end back with us. Here is a link to the whole story:
Returning phpLD Customer
And then finally there are the many thank you notes we receive. (and even more)

I wish all of you the best including those who have had a bad experience with us. Just like you we try to learn from our mistakes and improve. Sorry if someone feels we have been dishonest, but clearly this is not shared by all. We have customers who have been with us for years who think otherwise, and I just hope you will realize there are two sides to every story. Once again, best wishes to all, including our detractors. I won't stop dreaming. No matter how difficult the problem, hopefully we'll come together in a positive way that helps us all.

 

David: Whatever you say

Asking to pay $40.00 year for a script that you sell for $30.00 is way too high!

May be you need to Jack up the price to $300.00 for buying then at 10% yearly renewal may be good price.

 

And with just about ANY script or software out there, its not too difficult to dig up stuff on them that can be perceived as dishonest. From the fiasco that happened with vBulletin, to Bill Gates and the PC, and the founding of Facebook (even the recent PR campaign by Facebook against Google), there is so much that you can dig up if you try hard enough.

But then you have stand back and look at Facebook, and vBulletin, and the PC, and even phpLD...
There is a lot to like.
Once again, best wishes to all!

 

Sorry, but the $40 is not correct unless you need A LOT of support! Then $40 may not be enough. Also, see my note about the "soft" rule above. We have a great staff, and most often problems are solved quickly and accurately now. More often than not, you would be giving us more money because you want to. We have to earn every dollar that customers give us, especially repeat customers, and we have lots of those.

Just today, we completed work on phpLD licence #8 for a customer who was frustrated with another directory script. We first converted 4 of his sites to phpLD and then he got 4 more. We must be doing something right.

 

Would it be so difficult for your coders to implement new rules for new customers of the script?

An updated version is not asking for support.

Thanks Brian

 

That is a mistake on our part. I reviewed your account and for some reason it was indeed not granting you access. You should ALWAYS have access to what you purchased (and you do now). Where there may be limitations is for additional modules and upgrades to the script which you will seeing in the near future. And as you said about selling other scripts, you will be seeing exactly that in the next month and throughout this year, and the new system will help us do that.

If ANYONE has trouble accessing the download they rightfully purchased, let us know. We have 8 staff members who work 20 or more hours per week. We have ample help to make sure you get your problem solved.