Hi, guys not sure if this is the right place but I have a question. I have purchased a script and after updating my website script no longer works I contacted the author who advised me to update my support before he will help. So basically if I don’t update does that mean I have a dead script in my library ? I understand they want to make money but if the script doesn’t work is it not the right author to tell me how to fix it ? I’m not expecting him to fix the script without support but I just want to know if the author should tell me how to fix it or is this normal practice ?
If so then this support thing is a bit unfair for buyers because let’s face it out of 6 months you might need help 1 or 2 times even if its 5 or 6 times you not exactly asking for help every day of every month so most of the time you actually only use up around 1 month worth of support in total and other 5 is wasted.
So what should I do now as Author refuses to tell me what is the issue or how to fix it. Support costs as much as the actual plugin I bought which is also unfair.
Hey there Maxuk. I’m sorry to hear you’re having trouble with a product, but, the author is entitled to ask you to renew your support extension as per Envato Item Support Policy which states that assistance with reported bugs and issues is covered during the support period. After your support period has expired you will have to renew your support to continue receiving hands on help.
This is only fair, since 99.9% of plugins sold here, custom made would cost much more to develop. As a product grows in sales, the author would do nothing else but answer questions left and right with only the initial sale as compensation, in which case, most authors would no longer release updates, or discontinue the item, or would price the initial value out of the budget of most buyers. Getting free support from an author for life would eventually lead to authors utter bankruptcy.
If you are having issues however with an author not following the support policy, please reach out to Envato Market Help and Support, they can investigate the matter more thoroughly on your behalf.
Hi first of all thanks for reply with that detailed information
So as a buyer you saying it’s ok to renew support and pay $80 and not use support for 6 month after that and then author release new update script brakes again and pay another $80 ?
And this to you is justified? Would it not be more fair to have author tell you what is the issue if you don’t have support then pay $80 to actually have him fix it.
This author is not making anything new he only has 1 plugin for sale so I don’t see how him having time to develop new things apply here.
As a buyer I’m very disappointed that now I have a plugin which don’t work and unless I pay $80 to renew support I will not get help. Even though I might not need to use support again till next update.
This support is really unfair towards buyers and way overpriced in my opinion.
I think there should be 3 things changed here.
If buyer has no support author should tell him what’s the issue so that buyer can fix it.
Out of 6 month not everyone uses support every day so as a buyer support time is wasted which again is unfair. I think it would be more fair to have number of support received rather then time support.
I would prefer to have 10 supports then 6 months support. Because out of 6 months I might need help only once but if I have 10 supports I know I can use this more wisley
Overpriced support some developer want $150 for 6 months support. This again is unfair as buyer so if I pay $150 and only need help once I would then have to pay another $150 just to get 1 help again ?
I personally agree authors should not work for free but same time as buyer I’m very disappointed how this expired support is handled.
I am indeed in support of your idea, most times I usually use support once, and none in some cases too. But when there’s update release and by updating the script something stops working, the author should be able to help fix it whether the support has expired or not because the issue was caused by update.
Secondly, the support fee shouldn’t be more than 30 or 40% / 6months of the item’s price except for custom work request.
Envato should look into it so that both the customers and authors can enjoy harmonious relationship. Thanks
Speaking as a buyer - perhaps reducing cost is the easiest solution (although it’s still borderline insignificant amount for a dev who would typically be on way more than this per hour).
The volume of requests would not work because different support requires very different levels of support and it would be impossible to define this and authors cannot be expected to hang around being available until buyers use their allowance regardless of how long that takes
@charlie4282 all I’m trying to get here is some sort of resolution so that both author and buyers are happy.
I have read many posts by many great developers here that just because they refuse to help on expired support buyer leaves negative feedback which I think is really low. Me as buyer would never leave negative feedback just because author refuses to help me on my expired support.
There has to be something done so that both buyer and developer can be happy with resolution.
Or why would anyone want to buy script if after 6 months if they don’t buy support they can’t use it ?
If they don’t update it might have fix for major security and if they update and it don’t work they can’t do anything about it because support has expired.
Definitely not. Releasing updates that purposefully break the item only to force you to get support is most certainly agains the terms of service and can result to sever consequences for the author.
However, getting new features, does justify the cost of an update. Let’s just take for example an app (I can think of a few that charge subscription services and other that just offer a tool to get the data from the old app and pay to use the new app) - at the end of the day, authors have a business here just like you do as a freelancer. There must exist some sort of renumeration in order to entice authors to continue developing new and amazing features and products. Would you provide lifetime support and free features for life for XX to XXXX buyers?
We all can agree that support is something that is always on the table of improvements when it comes to Envato higher staff, and feedback like this is very valuable.
This is actually a good idea, to be honest, but then, if you come to think about the situation you described with authors purposefully breaking updates, what would stop such an author to just ask questions back and forth that would just consume those 10 replies.
In your situation, I’d personally reach out to Envato Market Help and Support to investigate the matter further. If the item is being broken on purpose, this is something that should be severely. As an author myself, I provide answers to small questions and bug fixes even after the support period has expired, I consider it common sense to help with these things, and certainly never release a buggy update just to mess with customers, and I’m certain 99% of authors here run on my logic of customer service. However, in your case, it sounds like a situation where a second opinion from a higher Envato Staff Member / Customer Success Team / Review team would be highly beneficial.
I’d have nothing against that, but you are the type of customers we praise for their professional curtsey, but, like authors, some buyers demand support years after it’s expired applying updates that are sometimes 4-5 years old. Things do break, it’s just a fact of updating from a very very very old legacy version to a newer one.
There must be a balance between authors and buyers when it comes to support.
which again is unfair. I think it would be more fair to have number of support received rather then time support.
