Sonny Software

Greetings New Bookends Friends,
I am posting here for the first time at the suggestion of Jon.

I purchased the Bookends/Mellel bundle for the first time on June 19, after a few days trying out the demo (downloaded Mellel demo on 6/6/07, and Bookends demo on 6/16/07). I look forward to continue using them and paying the reasonably priced updates, and accessing the responsive customer support on both programs.

However, I was distressed to find that I missed the cutoff off date for a free upgrade of the new Bookends 10, which was July 1. I asked Sonny Software for a free upgrade, but was denied on the bases that 1: there has to be an arbitrary cutoff and 2: that three weeks was a generous grace period. Jon graciously suggested I bring this up on the forum, so here I go with my case and welcome your opinions:

1. Although I don’t mind paying for regular and very reasonable upgrades, less than a month after my original purchase was a rude blow. Especially coming so soon after a nice bundle, it suddenly seemed to have a shocking surcharge. Moreover, had I tried the demo for another 11 days (instead of just 2 or 3) I would still be eligible for a free upgrade.

2. Regarding grace periods: I have known both Endnote and Finale to give several months after the initial purchase when an upgrade was coming.

3. I want to support smaller companies like Sonny Software, but in my experience, the big companies have tended to yield wiggle room in precisely these areas to keep a customer. (The equivalent of your local restaurant offering a cigar or brandy your first visit and having you come back.) In this case the “cigarâ€

How many other companies would ask you to post this on their forum website...... Anyway, I do agree with you that a the period of 'only' 3 weeks could have been extended a bit further - I would think that three months would have been more appropriate (since there was no 'warning' of an up-coming release). However, I would like to say the following:

1. If you buy a brand-new computer and it is upgraded one week after, you will not be able to return it for the new version.

2. Since Jon decided that a 3 week period was enough, I do agree that it should be strictly adhered to - otherwise we are one a slippery slope.

3. Sonny software is a very small company (I could see it grow bigger though!) with frequent releases and this means that your upgrade fee for version 10, is not just for the current version, but will give you free updates for many months to come.

4. Jon provides such a great support and provides us with the best (by far!) referencing software out there, which in itself is worth supporting with the upgrade fee.

For my own perspective, I think it is reasonable, under the current circumstances, that sonny software declined your free upgrade. I can however assure you that you will be extremely happy with the future updates provided by Jon, and will find the small upgrade fee well worth the money. For my own perspective, I can only say that I payed the upgrade fee happily and straight after the new version came out. And that even has to be seen in the light of my lab just having bought a site-license for the program (so I really didn't have to pay anything, since I could just have used that instead) and I am a rather poor student! Even so - I am so happy with the program and the support provided that I wouldn't hesitate paying another upgrade fee tomorrow should a version 11 come out .

Kristian

Thanks for that, Kristian.

I'm not going to spend a lot of time on this, but because there are always going to be some people unhappy when there is a charged upgrade, I'll make a few comments.

1. We charge for an upgrade every 2-3 years (the last charged for upgrade was Nov. 1, 2004). The cost is $29, about half of the already-discounted student price. The upgrade clock doesn't start when *you* (anyone in particular) buys Bookends. In this case it started in 2004.

2. Over the course of the 2-3 years we come out with upgrades, on average, every 6-8 weeks. These typically have new features, some quite major, at no charge. I don't think any other developer I'm aware of does this on such a regular and consistent basis.

3. What should the "shadow" (free) period be? I learned a lesson when 8.0 came out and we offered an approximately 5 month grace period. I got emails from some people who missed the cut who were *outraged* that they had to pay $29, even though they had bought Bookends 6 months before Nov. 1. So, there is no proper time.

4. One more general comment. Bookends 9.2.2 is just as good now as it was when it was released (the last release being only a few months ago). In fact, I anticipate a free update to 9.2.3 when Leopard is available, so no one is forced to upgrade to remain compatible with it (hm, I wonder what other reference management app company has the opposite strategy?). If you think the upgrade fee is not worth it, save your money and use Bookends 9 (which was a free upgrade from Bookends 8, BTW) as long as you want. I get the occasional email from people still using Bookends 6 (from the mid 90's) quite happily.

Well, those are my thoughts, and I'll try to stay out of this thread from now on if I possibly can.

Jon
Sonny Software

I bought Bookends on June 21 so I, too, wished that I had tested the software for a little longer. But then, I loved the new features in Bookends 10 so much that I quite happily paid the upgrade fee. I was a little surprised, though, that there wasn't a student discount for the upgrade. (Or was there one that I somehow missed?)

No, nothing missed. We decided to make the upgrade fee rather inexpensive and flat (it gets to be a mess when there are different fees for regular, student, ex-EndNote users, Mellel users, etc.). The upgrade cost will entitle you, of course, to quite a few free upgrades before the next paid-for upgrade, and I think you'll agree will be insignificant over time.

Jon
Sonny Software