42 minutes ago, yourfutureex said:<div class="ipsQuote_contents"> <p> I'm loving how they will give you a 50% discount on Pro for Cyber Monday but they marked it up so high that it's still $19.95. I'm about to uninstall my free copy. These people have no ethics. </p> </div>
Ya I got a popup for cyber Monday for the same thing. I'm glad I uninstalled. Treat your customers like dirt and we will leave. Plenty of other products out there.
Well, the jerks at least are doing a slightly better job of telling people what they're about to get into with the fine print at the bottom of the page. That's way more than they ever told any of us. The communication STILL sucks, however, so they haven't learned much.
Terms and Conditions
This promotion is for a one-year subscription to CCleaner Professional. Subsequent renewals will be charged at the undiscounted price in effect when your subscription is renewed (pricing subject to change). Promotion cannot be used in conjunction with any other offer. Piriform reserves the right to amend, withdraw or extend this offer at any time.
Way to kill-off your paying customers, Avast!. Apparently you forgot that you need our business a whole lot more than we need yours.
I seem to be in a slightly different position to most of the people commenting here in as much as my copy is a boxed retail version allowing installation on unlimited PC's for home use. As such, I currently have it on two desktops and two laptops, all of which have been able to automatically update to the latest version whenever it's released for no extra charge. I bought mine on February 20th 2015. There was zero mention on the sealed box or the sale details of any further subscriptions ever being required . I have both the original box and the sale invoice in front of me as I'm writing this.
The only hiccup I've come across in the past three years is when I need to do a fresh installation, for example when I have built myself a new PC. If I download the latest professional trial version and try to upgrade it using my key it says it's expired, so up to now, I've always got around the problem by installing from the original disc and then upgrading to the latest version from that.That has always worked without a hitch. Today is the first time that hasn't worked and that's because I just bought a new tablet for my wife, which obviously hasn't got an optical drive so I copied the files from my original disc to a USB stick and tried to install it from that but got a system message that it isn't compatible with the version of Windows the tablet is running (It's the very latest Windows 10 October update one installed this week) So, I downloaded the professional trial version, tried entering my key, which of course didn't work and then came to this site to try and find how to fix it. I tried the "Lost key" link but that didn't work. I didn't buy it directly from Piriform so they don't appear to have any record of my email address. Finally I've come to the forum to see if it's known problem and found it is.
I haven't had any of these nag screens other people have mentioned. I was using the free version previously but paid $33.99 on the basis that it was a one off payment, was useful for my main PC to have the extra utilities it offers and the fact I could use it on my other machines was a bonus. They don't get much use so the free version is probably good enough for them anyway. There's no way I would ever pay an annual subscription for any software though. There are multitudes of programs offered free or for a one off payment as an alternative. I won't be happy if I get asked for extra payment to continue using what I already have, although I accept the time might come when Windows or PC specification progress might mean a completely different version might have to be purchased. I have a number of programs I've been using since the 1990's that I have had to replace with a newer version multiple times. However, I won't be considering anything that requires a subscription.
Although I bought the software from a US retailer, I am in the UK. In this country, and I believe, throughout the EU, it would be completely illegal to sell sealed software in a box that has no mention of a subscription and then request further payment a year later. That is classed as misleading advertising and can result in a court conviction and a large fine. In the case of multiple cases of such malpractice, the fines can run into millions of pounds or Euros as some of the biggest US companies have found to their cost. It is a grey area in my case though as the seller is in the States and I'm in this country so I'm not sure which consumer protection laws apply.
Anyway TL;DR, CCleaner Pro has definitely been sold in the past with the appearance to all intents and purposes of being subscription free.
Derek, could you take some good-quality pictures of all sides of the box and post those for us to see? Along with Cleverbridge (Piriform's payment processor) not even knowing that this was subscription-based software, this is especially damning proof of negligence. Nothing would delight me more than to see Avast! held accountable for causing this issue. There's a thousand ways they could have couched this updated enforcement policy, but it seems they chose the "Too bad - it was your fault - you should have paid better attention" route. It's even more intriguing that the only people apparently aware that this was a subscription-based product either (A) Read the EULA and asked Piriform for confirmation, or (B) Are employees of Piriform. Seems the people that should have been aware this was a one-year subscription product (i.e., Cleverbridge and paying customers) didn't get that "slightly important detail" until Avast! came on board and changed the enforcement policy without so much as a slap on the ass.
Here are pictures of all 6 sides of the box and of the tray and installation disc inside. The box was sealed, but there was nothing inside apart from the cardboard packing tray and disc in a paper cover. No instruction booklet or anything else.
As you can see, there is zero indication that this might be a subscription product. It was priced at $33.99, which I imagine was considerably more than the initial subsciption when sold on that basis. I've checked the disc and there is no easily readable EULA on that and I cannot see one in the installation folder on my PC now it's installed either. It seems the only way the EULA could ever have been read is if the installion process had been interrupted to see it then and how many people do that? Even then, the disc can only be accessed after the packaging seal is broken so I doubt it anything in the EULA that contradicted the apparent sale conditions would hold up in law in this country, or anywhere in the EU. The US and other countries will have their own consumer protecion laws, which may be different.
As I said previously, I haven't had any request for additional payments, so it could be the boxed retail version I have, does have a different EULA to the direct download from Piriform. The only way I could see that though is by doing a clean install from the original disc and I don't have a spare PC to do that.
I agree with the above posters that the apparently yearly subscription was severely undercommunitated, and thus shouldn't be considered valid. There are laws for that in the UK, where Piriform Ltd. resides. The company is supposed to provide the customer with all needed information about the product at point of purchase, pursuant to the UK Consumer Rights Act 2015 c. 15 s. 11(1). Retroactive expiration of licenses is likely covered by c. 15 s. 11(5) in the same law, which says the customer have to agree to the change in license terms for it to be valid. Even the country of residence in which the customer resides would likely deem this illegal by their legislation. Anyhow, I'm attaching my own invoice from Cleverbridge, further proofing that no word of a subscription was found.
EDIT: Comparing a product key request from 2016 and a newly inquired one seals the suspicion of retroactive expiration of my license.
I hadn't realised Piriform was a British company. However, it was dissolved last October, presumably as part of the takeover.
15 minutes ago, Derek_S said:<div class="ipsQuote_contents"> <p> I hadn't realised Piriform was a British company. However, it was dissolved last October, presumably as part of the takeover. </p> <p> <a href="https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/05565433" rel="external nofollow">https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/05565433</a> </p> </div>
That's a shame, however this breach of contract should still be covered by applicable EU consumer laws (Avast is based in Czech Republic). The evidence is pretty clear at this point.
Its astonishing that a piriform tech commented on this thread and now they have gone quite on us.
Its sad when good companies fall prey to larger companys (cough avast cough).
This seems like a repeat of Norton ghost. Now that used to be the best 15 years ago lol.
On 28.11.2018 at 16:25, Kuktar said:<div class="ipsQuote_contents"> <p> Its astonishing that a piriform tech commented on this thread and now they have gone quite on us. </p> </div>
Agreed. The least they can do is aknowledge the situation and compensate those affected.
sadly, it's very common for them with that behaviour.
actually, you could argue that you are lucky they chimed in at all - it is usually that rare.
On 11/26/2018 at 19:13, yourfutureex said:<div class="ipsQuote_contents"> <p> I'm loving how they will give you a 50% discount on Pro for Cyber Monday but they marked it up so high that it's still $19.95. I'm about to uninstall my free copy. These people have no ethics. </p> </div>
3 minutes ago, mta said:<div class="ipsQuote_contents"> <p> sadly, it's very common for them with that behaviour. </p> <p> actually, you could argue that you are lucky they chimed in at all - it is usually that rare. </p> </div>
11 hours ago, KAZiBA said:<div class="ipsQuote_contents"> <p> Agreed. The least they can do is aknowledge the situation and compensate those affected. </p> </div>
I agree with all three. Its questionable tactics. I am glad the tech commented, I just wish it was something useful. Short of lying in the comment it's really not useful of they are forcing a new policy on old users.
The applicable solution to this miscommunication going forward would be:
1. 1-year subscription as compensation for not clarifying to consumers about yearly subscription since it was hidden within the fine print.*
2. 75% off one-time use 1-year subscription.*
3. An apology
*Needs to provide legit receipt to be marked off
Think that receipts going forward should state yearly subscription so there is no further miscommunication and excuse to say "it was in the fine print"
Is it just me? Or...
Well, I was going to buy it, but now? I guess not. I don't see the point of "subscribing" to something that does not progress. This isn't a newspaper or a magazine.
Adobe was hard enough to swallow.
Re the above post.
See here for info regarding this offer from Codesdepot
https://forum.piriform.com/topic/51806-is-this-legitimate/
Well, having said I couldn't find a EULA on my installion disc, or in the installation folder on my PC, I realised this week that there is actually a copy in the options section of the user interface. I still cannot see anything in there that would suggest my copy is subject to an annual subscription though. As far as I was concerned when I bought it, it was advertised as a one off payment. I wouldn't be so sure the one advertised by Codes Depot isn't legitimate. They are certainly not the only retailer under the impression what they are selling is not a subscription product.
Interestingly, I received an email inviting me to upgrade to the latest version a couple of days ago. It was headed:
I know from previous experience that if I followed that link and downloaded it, I would be told my license has expired. On the other hand, in the past, if I ignored the email and used the program itself to check for updates it usually updates itself in a matter of seconds without a problem. Iwas a bit apprehensive considering the contents of this discussion but decided to go ahead as I do have a full system backup made each day to an external hard drive. I took the plunge, and it upgraded without a hitch as usual.
So the plot thickens. I believe that Avast has really screwed the pooch on this one. As I said, I searched through all the terms and conditions that I could find on the website and could not find any reference to a yearly subscription. I don't believe any court on earth would rule in their favour, no matter how much money they tipped into it. The negative publicity that they are bringing on themselves will not only trash the reputation of CCleaner but blowback on Avast and anything that they have their fingers in, after all, they are selling security products and behaving like malware. I for one will be spreading the word about their ethics.
1 hour ago, Eagle Beak said:<div class="ipsQuote_contents"> <p> I for one will be spreading the word about their ethics. </p> </div>
Even bad press would help them. Look at how many tech giants misbehave, and suits against them is mere pocket change.
@Ben Piriform This new development calls for a proper response.
"Proper response?"
Yeah, they'll promise not to give a crap even harder. I'm pretty sure Avast! couldn't care less. Their silence is deafening enough.