I’m glad you’re on my side.
I do feel a bit cheated to be honest and I agree with you in that existing subscribers should’ve been given the option/warning of the upcoming price increase.
It’s a rather large price increase too. If it was an extra £100, I could take that but an extra £200 is s bit of a stretch.
We are not all made of money.
I, like you are considering not continuing my subscription which is a shame really as I enjoy it’s functionality and ease of use but I can’t stomach the price hike.
@danny, thank you for the detailed explanation of the rationale for this change.
while i was planning to move to a lifetime sub within the month and am sorry to have missed the opportunity at the price in effect at the time of my initial subscription, i am also aware that roon users are best served by to long term viability and success of the company. i hope this chage moves roon toward that goal.
thanks again for the additional information and i wish roon continued success!!
Reposting as a reply to the thread rather than as a reply to a reply to the thread.
Full disclosure, I’m a lifetime subscription owner.
With that out of the way, I subscribed for one year at the annual rate. I wanted to make sure roon was right for me. But I did so knowing that the lifetime subscription might not be available after the first year, and might disappear at any point during that first year.
When first subscribing, I debated ponying up for the lifetime subscription out of the gate, but decided to roll the dice, planning to update to lifetime at the end of the year if I’d found roon to be a good fit, and — of course — if it was still available.
I do understand the frustration of folks who’re facing the price increase. I’ve been in the same position with other services. But that’s really the way lifetime subscriptions often work. They come and go, prices go up and sometimes, but less often, they go down (and in my experience, when they go down, it’s not a good sign of the company’s health).
At the end of the day, for me at least, roon is another piece of high-end audio equipment. I’ve paid a lot more than $700 for any number of audio components so, while $500 (really, $500+$100) was a good deal, $700 is still pretty sweet.
Thankful I checked in as my trial is coming to an end on the 26th. Does anyone know how quickly accounts are likely to turn it around, I’ve emailed on the contact address but it’s making me nervous, I’ve been saving for what feels like a lifetime already
Not a lifetime subscriber, 2 years of annual and with new sub due next week I’d set aside budget for lifetime but… oh well.
I’d be lying if I said this wasn’t a shock and disappointment this morning and I considered just using BluOS that my amp provides but it’s nor Roon really is it. So I suppose I have £250 free budget towards those Kef R3’s I’d promised myself
Understand Roon’s view and Danny’s explanation was appreciated in its honesty and transparency and have no issue with annual going forward, maybe if you can tie the sub in with Tidal or similar one day…
Yes, charities are adopting this model en masse. Whilst I generally contribute without hesitation, if a charity requires me to sign up for a monthly debit then I’m sorry, I can’t help you, no matter how worthy the cause.
Spoke with my wife who has an MBA about the benefits of Lifetime subs versus annual
subs and her answer was spot on with Roon’s direction. Lifetime Subs are to infuse capital
into the company so that you’re not held down by VC need for rapid returns.
The power and proper relationship between consumer and vendor exist in annual agreements. If Roon continues to evolve the product and add value I have the choice to maintain my sub or move on. This gives me an “out” and gives Roon incentive to keep producing better software.
I get that some people love Lifetime subs but that also represents a risk in that if Roon becomes insolvent your lifetime sub means very little.
Everyone is entitled to their opinion. Because my opinion is different than yours does not make it crazy. It just makes it different than yours.
For me, the lack of giving existing customers at least a brief window to take advantage of the old pricing is awful customer relations. They gave a window the last time because it was the fair thing to do. The decision now is not based upon good customer relations or fairness, its based on how they can best make more money. It was a choice. Being transparent about why you’re exercising awful customer relations does not therefore make it good customer relations. Telling you I’m lighting your house on fire doesn’t make it burn any less.
This was a bean counter decision. One that looks great to the bean counter, but is a terrible way to treat existing customers.
That is my opinion. Others are completely free to have their own opinion even if it disagrees with mine.
Smart, well-thought out business planning with clear transparency for your customer base. Who could complain? Just teasing, as I know there will be those who are unhappy for various reasons. I bought in at the old lifetime price and, if I discovered it today, would buy in at the new lifetime price. Roon has simply breathed new life into my audio consumption habits and the value is clear to me.
Adobe is not providing updates to products other than through the subscription model now. Does Roon foresee doing that too? In other words, might there be a time when I as a lifetime subscriber will no longer receive updates unless I start an annual subscription?
A heads up to those of us who are in our first year (past the 30 days) would have been fair and reasonable. I was literally saying to myself this week I think I have to make a decision to go with the lifetime.
I respectfully request reconsidering and give everyone in the first year 14 days to make a choice of paying by year forward or taking advantage of the original price lifetime price.
I agree with you completely. It was an accountant cash flow business type decision. That’s what they did. However, it was a decision that neglected existing customers. Something can be a good cash flow decision and be an awful existing customer relations decision. Those two things can exist simultaneously.
They last time they did this, they gave existing customers a window to have the old price. That was the fair, and correct customer relations thing to do. Apparently it was too successful. So this time they ditched the good customer relations angle and went for the pure cash flow angle.
What’s even worse is that new customers who began the annual less than 30 days ago can have the old pricing. This rewards new annual subscriptions, ones less than 30 days old, and penalizes long time loyal annual subscribers.
If you’re going to give a window for the old pricing, shouldn’t all subscribers be treated equally? Why are long time subscribers not being given the upgrade at old price window?
I understand the financial angle from Roon’s point of view. But that does not mitigate the customer relations disaster.
Exactly! That would be the fair thing to do. Especially because last time they did just that. So long time annual subscribers had no way of knowing a warning would not be coming based on past Roon policy.
I was saving up to buy a lifetime license next month. Ok, raise your prices, but at least give us a week warning.
Piriform pulled a swifty with their otherwise good product CCleaner. People thought they were purchasing the product outright but there it was in the fine print - the option to charge a subscription fee at the discretion of the company. This option was activated years later after Piriform changed hands, causing angst among the software’s considerable user base.
No idea whether Roon has a similar clause hidden in the terms & conditions somewhere. Nobody reads that stuff.
Roon is a ground breaking software is many genuine ways. Apparently they have a novel approach to Christmas marketing as well. This week my inbox is filled with Black Friday deals. Roon’s Black Friday deal is to raise the price of the lifetime subscription by 40% and give a window for the old price only to new customers.
