Saturday, October 15, 2005

Roxio, Roxio ...

... Wherefore Art Thou, O Roxi-O-O-O?


I have groused and grumbled about mail-in rebates before, but really now.


Roxio makes a product called Easy Media Creator. They have just emailed me to tell me that I can pre-order version 8. Because this would be an upgrade for me, they have most kindly offered me an upgrade rebate — for a limited time! That's gripe #1 folks. Why is an upgrade discount limited to a restricted period of time? Once you have bought software, you should always be able to upgrade for a reduced amount. Even the supposedly-evil Microsoft does that, and so does Adobe with its expensive but wonderful Photoshop. In fact, Photoshop upgrades are always tremendously reduced compared to the initial purchase price.


This, alone, has somewhat put me off Roxio. After buying version 5, I had reneged on version 6 for just this reason, and later on version 7. However, when I bought my current computer which has a DVD Writer, I decided to update my software and purchase version 7.5. I don't have any particular complaints with the software although for CDs, at least, I think that I prefer the old and unimproved version.


But that's all background filler and not my main grievance right now. You see, when I did purchase version 7.5, it came with an upgrade mail-in rebate. It wasn't for a whole lot of cash — about twenty dollars on software that was worth sold for about a hundred bucks. And to obtain said rebate, they made things as difficult as possible. I had to find my original, several year-old package and cut the bar code out of it. (For whatever reason, I had kept the package, and miraculously enough could find it. Do you think that maybe they weren't counting on that?) Of course, there was also paperwork to be filled in.


I did it all — in May! It's mid-October now. No rebate in sight. Isn't that ridiculous? Hardly a way to build customer loyalty, is it?


I don't love mail-in rebates overly much. I think that they exist to induce us to purchase a product, but they make it as inconvenient as possible in an attempt to discourage us from actually sending in for it. Then, they keep us dangling for as long a time as possible. That has always been standard procedure, but, apparently, it has now become a complete ruse — in some cases at least.


The mail-in rebate was not the deciding factor in purchasing this product; nevertheless, I am irked by these questionable practices. I can't seem to find a way to justify Roxio's neglect or incompetence (whichever it is).


No Roxio, I won't be purchasing version 8 or any other version. And I don't suppose that any of the ten or twenty people who read this blog will either. And who knows how many accidental surfers will end up here as a result of a search and also refrain from purchasing your product? Was it worth it, Roxio? Was it?


 

6 comments:

Norma said...

I hate rebates, coupons, sweepstakes, buy one get one free, loyalty clubs, and barcode bingo. Just sell me the product if I show up. Don't make me play games, sniff, scratch, or shuffle papers.

Bonita said...

Oh,Oh,Oh, I'm with Norma! These practices squander my time, drag it into places I'd rather not go. Buy 1, get one free? I've heard that is a good deal, and it appeals to me: I'm a twin.

Lynn said...

I agree. I think companies employ one and only one rebate processer. I particularly find it irksome when a company gives you a link to see the status of your rebate. Of course, they move the link about a week later, and you sure can't find what the new link is from navigating their web site.

Anonymous said...

You won't find a Roxie anything in my home :-)

methatiam said...

At work, I was trying to get a CD/DVD burning software for our office and tried several. Roxio is one of the *worst* piece of ... software ever to escape a marketing department.
I was told that we had an enterprise license for it, and we STILL went out and bought something else, figuring there was no need to throw good money after bad.

Gina said...

We are still waiting for our rebate from Dell for our computer screen we bought four years ago. And now no longer even use.

Good thing we never held our breath...