An Open Letter to SWsoft Regarding Parallels

   By chris on June 8th 2007 in /dev/random | 3,192 views

This is an open letter to SWsoft, makers of the Parallels virtualization software.

Before I start though, I want to say one thing: the Parallels software is brilliant, amazing stuff and a phenomenal boon to the Mac platform. In fact, for new Mac switchers Parallels has been one of the apps I’ve pointed to with pride as a reason that now is the right time to cross the floor to the Mac. It is Parallels the company that has right pissed me off, not the software.

Back in December I bought my girlfriend – a life-long Windows user – a new iMac loaded to bear with Parallels on it. Parallels was bought knowing full well it was not feature-complete software, was shipping betas, and wasn’t fully compatible with Windows XP yet. But it worked well enough to do web development and testing and was a software project well worth supporting.

The purchase confirmation email from Parallels titled “Getting Started with Parallels Desktop for Mac” contained the following:

This copy includes free Upgrade Protection for one year following the date of purchase, which entitles you to receive all major upgrades released during that timeframe at no additional cost. When a new major version is released, you will receive an email to the address you used to register the product that includes instructions on how to download and install the new version, and a permanent activation key that is compatible with the new version.

Note three key statement in there: one year, major upgrades, and no additional cost. That promise was one of the key considerations in supporting the Parallels betas: when the product was ready for prime-time it would be shipped free.

Two days ago Parallels released version 3.0. On the good faith of the promise made on purchase we downloaded and installed Parallels 3.0. It converted the Windows image to a new format, over-wrote the old Parallels and then asked for a serial number. Surprisingly our original serial number no longer worked.

Parallels customer support has this to say about it in an email titled “Activation key for 3.0″:

Parallels Desktop 3.0 is a major upgrade for Parallels Desktop and it
will work with the new 3.0 activation key that comes as separate
purchase, either full version or upgrade version that is available for
the owners of the previous Parallels Desktop versions. You can order
Parallels Desktop 3.0 US version online

Etc., etc.

Note two key statements in that email: major upgrade, separate purchase. Parallels customer support is directly contravening Parallels’ own “new buyer” policy.

So which is it Parallels? Has your customer support made an honest mistake and you’ll be providing the serial numbers you promised six months ago, or are you screwing the customers who bought your product in good faith as acts of support?

I’d really like to hear an answer to this.

Update: Ben from Parallels replied, in the comments below:

If you bought upgrade protection you WILL get a free 3.0 key! Its just taking us a day or two to get them out. Hold tight, its coming!

Welcome Digg. To clarify some misperceptions people seem to have, three things:

  1. Parallels tech support was contacted directly, twice in response to this issue. Their reply is above. It is only now, after much complaining from many people that they’ve clarified (I choose to give the benefit of the doubt and not say “done a 180″).
  2. For those who say: “then don’t upgrade!” I say: the upgrade is awesome. I want to upgrade and if we hadn’t been promised upgrades as part of the original purchase you can bet we would. This is about fulfillment of obligation.
  3. The Parallels 3.0 installer updates the VM in a manner that is not backwards-compatible with earlier versions. Install 3.0 and whether you want to or not, you’re using it, no take-backs. It was only after the complete install process that the installer tells a user their original license is no longer valid.

22 Comments »

22 Responses to “An Open Letter to SWsoft Regarding Parallels”

  1. Jens24 responded on 08 Jun 2007 at 6:46 pm #

    I AGREE 100%!!! Yes software companies need to make money to stay in business but if I make promises and then do not keep them I should not be in business! Do not screww your customers!!

  2. Kenneth responded on 09 Jun 2007 at 6:20 am #

    Same here!! I rarely vent any anger to anyone anywhere, but I paid 80 dollars in good faith that I will be kept updated of any upgrade for one year and I got the same message above!

    I think PD for Mac is an excellent piece of software that is well worth 80 and still need some improvement. But a promise is a promise. Anyone who is not honest should go out of business. Period.

  3. sam responded on 09 Jun 2007 at 7:00 am #

    I contacted parallels, and they sent me this. In the future it is much better to contact them than to write a whole post to complain unnecessarily.

    Hello,

    Thank you for contacting Parallels support.

    We apologize for the inconvenience caused. Due to the great interest
    stimulated among our customers by the new release, we have experienced
    some technical problems with the servers. We are doing our best to
    resolve these problems as soon as possible and you should receive the
    email shortly. Please contact us again by replying to this email if you
    do not receive this email in a few days. In case using Parallels Desktop
    during next few days is essential and crucial for you please register at
    our website and get a temporary trial key for version 3.0.
    Also please make sure that the purchase email has not been stopped by
    your email spam filter.

    Best regards, Scott Rogers.

  4. Ben @ Parallels responded on 09 Jun 2007 at 9:27 am #

    If you bought upgrade protection you WILL get a free 3.0 key! Its just taking us a day or two to get them out. Hold tight, its coming!

  5. chris responded on 09 Jun 2007 at 10:09 am #

    Thanks for the response Ben and good to hear. I might suggest you inform your customer support about this and explain to them what it means because their response to those of us who’ve bought your product is really sending out the wrong message.

    Let’s all chalk this up to growing pains.

  6. Binary Code » Digg Visitor Browser Stats responded on 09 Jun 2007 at 12:43 pm #

    [...] open letter to Parallels about the confusion (I choose to give them the benefit of the doubt) around their upgrade pricing [...]

  7. Rick responded on 09 Jun 2007 at 1:45 pm #

    +1

    Furthermore Parallels was completely incompetent when it came to handling the upgrades.

    I ordered the upgrade over a week ago.
    Yesterday the release was announce, but I had no upgrade key.
    I called Parallels yesterday (08Jun07) and they basically told me:

    We have millions (MILLIONS!!!!) of upgrade orders.
    You should get your upgrade key by Wednesday (13Jun07)
    And call us back on Wednesday if you have gotten it then.
    We’re sorry. No really, we are.
    Oh! I can forward this call to one of technicians,
    who can get you key sent out right-away.
    Please hold….
    Hello, you’ve reached Tiffany’s extension.
    I’m away from my desk right now.
    Please leave a message.

    I left my message.
    No joy from Parallels, so far.

    Maybe VMWare should be glad they don’t have monopoly.
    I hope they are taking notes.

  8. Paul responded on 09 Jun 2007 at 2:12 pm #

    “I ordered the upgrade over a week ago.
    Yesterday the release was announce, but I had no upgrade key.”

    Thats odd as I ordered mine on 1st June and got the license key by email pretty much instantly (presumably by some automated process) and then just had to wait for them to post the new code up on the site a few days later so I could use the key they had already sent me.

  9. Dan In Japan responded on 09 Jun 2007 at 2:24 pm #

    You forgot to mention that Parallels in Japan runs TWICE as much. Could be because of the language porting issue, but geez, TWICE!?!

  10. George responded on 09 Jun 2007 at 3:55 pm #

    What does Ben mean by “If you bought upgrade protection?” I paid $79 for Parallels on November 11th, 2006. Did I buy upgrade protection? I thought it did, I thought it was part of the deal, not a separate purchase. I sure hope that’s the case.

  11. Aaron responded on 09 Jun 2007 at 4:27 pm #

    I agree. One of the main reasons I bought the application was because of the upgrade promise.

    Please live up to your word, Parallels!

  12. Pete responded on 09 Jun 2007 at 5:54 pm #

    Re: George’s comment:

    I’m curious about how “upgrade protection” was obtained as well… I purchased Parallels on March 5, 2007, and I don’t recall it being an option — was it included in my purchase?

    When I look at the current purchase page for Parallels 3.0, there is no additional option to add “Upgrade Protection” to the order…

  13. jobu responded on 09 Jun 2007 at 6:17 pm #

    1st. It was a shipping version back in the summer of last year. They made public betas available. You made the decision to purchase and downloaded a beta versus a final version.

    When we purchased Parallels we had to pay extra for the maintenance.

  14. Pauldy’s House of Geek » Blog Archive » The migration is complete responded on 09 Jun 2007 at 7:15 pm #

    [...] virtualization solutions VirtualBox seem rock solid, and VM Ware is great. Parallels kind of did a bad thing to their customers this month and while they make a good product its not worth the potential to get [...]

  15. Ben @ Parallels responded on 09 Jun 2007 at 9:38 pm #

    Maintenance/Upgrade protection is a separate charge that guarantees you 1-year of free upgrades. It was never included free. So, if you don’t know if you have it, chances are you don’t.

    There’s more info on upgrades on http://www.parallels.com and on my blog (http://parallelsvirtualization.blogspot.com).

  16. Hugh McMillan responded on 10 Jun 2007 at 4:21 am #

    When I bought Parallels Desktop 20 December 2006 my email from info@parallels which stated,

    “This copy includes free Upgrade Protection for one year following the date of purchase, which entitles you to receive all major upgrades released during that timeframe at no additional cost. When a new major version is released, you will receive an email to the address you used to register the product that includes instructions on how to download and install the new version, and a permanent activation key that is compatible with the new version.”

    Contrary to Ben’s statement above on 9 June 2007 at 9.38 pm there was no separate charge for my maintenace/upgrade protection.

    Concerned that a new version was out but I had heard nothing from Parallels except for a discounted upgrade offer of 50 per cent off I wrote Paralles on 31 May 2007 and reminded them of my free Upgrade Protection. Within three hours I received an email from David Salinger which stated in full,

    “Sorry for the confusion! You will receive your key to upgrade automatically within the next two weeks. Thanks!”

    It has been a week and a half and there is no sign of any upgrade key. In fact there are reports from similar customers who are also missing their upgrade keys as promised.

    While Ben at Parallels writes that there is information on upgrades on the Parallels website as well as his blog there is nothing that I can find which specifically addresses the issue of all the users awaiting their free upgrade as promised.

    On the Mac upgrade page there is a field where one may enter a coupon code which would presumably affect the stated $49.99 upgrade fee.

    Ben wrote the following in his blog on 1 June 2007.

    “My copy of Desktop for Mac came with maintenance. Do I have to buy a new copy or an upgrade?
    Nope. The whole point of maintenance is that when you buy it, you’re buying 1 year of free upgrades…and that includes major upgrades like this one. You’ll get your upgrade key, for free, when we go live with the final version.”

    VersionTracker lists Parallels Desktop – 3.0 Build 4124.0 as being available 7 June 2007.

    On Parallels website one can read,

    “Benjamin H. Rudolph, Director of Communications, Parallels Renton, WA – June 7th, 2007 – Parallels, Inc. announced today its release of Parallels Desktop 3.0 for Mac, a completely new version of its award-winning software that enables Mac users to run Windows, Linux, and any other operating system at the same time as OS X on a single Mac desktop, without rebooting.”

    So when will Parallels honor their promise of a free upgrade to the customers who bought their copy of Parallels Desktop with that promise?

    Parallels is busy. Monday, tomorrow, is Apple’s WWDC and that can’t help. But Parallels made the promise of Upgrade Protection over six months ago and one assumes that that had a method of implementing it when the time came. Since they knew when they would release v3 one wonders why they were so clueless about providing free upgrades in a timely manner. And why no complete and honest statements to those affected customers on Parallels website even at this late date?

    This is NOT a good way to treat your customers.

  17. VMware Fusion’un fiyatı belli oldu - Mac Dünyası responded on 12 Jun 2007 at 10:47 am #

    [...] politikayı izliyor. Bu konuda pek kişi ümitliydi, hattâ SWsoft’a açık mektup yazanlar bile olmuştu. Sonuç, tam anlamıyla hayal [...]

  18. Jeff responded on 14 Jun 2007 at 5:42 am #

    Please do this.

    Go to parallels.com, “order” PD 3.0, go to check out. where is the option for SW upgrade protection.. ITS NOT THERE!!!!

    Looks like my next $40 is going to VMWARE FUSION. NOT Parallels 3.0!

    Crooks!

  19. chris responded on 14 Jun 2007 at 12:11 pm #

    I believe that the upgrade protection was only available while the product was beta, to assure buyers then that they wouldn’t be stuck paying again when it released as final. Now that it’s final I don’t see a reason Parallels would continue to want to continue offering it.

    And given that Parallels has indeed sent out the 3.0 serial numbers now (and my complaints and concerns have been completely addresses) I see no issue with the company nor any reason to call them “crooks”; that just seems harsh.

  20. Myron responded on 05 Jul 2007 at 4:09 pm #

    Well how about this one Kiddies..
    I opted for the mail me one version, which arrived today. The software key on back of the cd jacket will not activate the 3.0 v. strange as the label covers another serial number which is unreadable as the new label is over it. I called them at 4:45 PM and they are closed even thought the message says they are open until 5 PM.

    I wonder if they stand behind their MONEY BACK (satisfaction) GUARANTEE??

  21. David Ellul responded on 08 Jul 2007 at 5:14 pm #

    Hey Chris. Funny how I keep stumbling across something you’ve written. After googling about this very issue where do I find myself?
    Yes, this does mean that I’ve defected to Apple as well ;-)

  22. chris responded on 17 Jul 2007 at 9:55 am #

    Welcome to the dark side Mr. Ellul – it really is that much nicer over here ;)
    Any luck with your Parallels issues?