Over the last few days we have been receiving very disturbing reports
from some of our customers, who were called on the phone by CREN and told
that CREN had paid for their LISTSERV and/or LMail support until June 30,
1995. To the best of our knowledge, however, these customers are not on
the list of sites whose support is paid by CREN, nor did CREN notify us
that they should be added to the list (and that CREN should be invoiced
accordingly). These sites will only receive support if they purchase it
from either CREN or L-Soft. Obviously, after this free offer made on the
phone in a very assured tone, we are having serious trouble talking these
customers into sending us money for something they think CREN already
paid on their behalf. One customer asked us to confirm he could cancel
his PO for LISTSERV service, and people generally think we are trying to
rip them off. To quote one of the "victims":
>CREN absolutely gave me the impression that maintenance was paid up thru
>June 95, after which I would be on my own. They weren't the least bit
>vague about it, and I asked them more than once.
I am sure that this was an unintentional misunderstanding that CREN will
correct promptly. In the meantime,
DEMAND THAT CREN PUT THE OFFER IN WRITING
The person making the call probably doesn't have the authority to confirm
the offer in writing. It will go to a CREN officer, who will confirm that
there was in fact a misunderstanding (or then actually put the offer in
writing, in which case CREN will have to pay us for your support and you
will indeed receive it). Note, again, that CREN did offer free support to
core sites, and to a few other sites. But, in that case, you should have
received a formal e-mail notification from CREN, with copy to L-Soft. Ask
us if in doubt. CREN also offered free one-time upgrades to 1.8a and
1.2a, which are indeed genuine and a benefit of CREN membership. These
upgrades, however, do not include support or future versions. They just
give you the right to replace your current 1.7f and 1.1d servers with
1.8a and 1.2a. This is a good interim solution while you work on a
purchase requisition, but it does not replace support. Obviously we
cannot speak for CREN, but we have not heard of any plans on CREN's side
to offer free support or free upgrades for LISTSERV next year, and such
plans would appear to conflict with CREN's current strategic plan.
This message is being posted to the L-Soft mailing lists because enough
customers have been writing to us about CREN calls in the last few days
to suggest that CREN has in fact been calling all or most of our
customers on the phone. There are probably 10 unreported incidents for
each reported one, and having a public answer from CREN now will save us
a lot of time in the future.
We apologize for the inconvenience and confusion that this and other
messages have caused you in the past. We realize that this CREN/L-Soft
contract has made it much more difficult for you to understand what is
going on and what you should be doing. We did not know it was going to
turn out that way. On August 31, the last deadline will expire, and this
confusion will be over (or, at least, no new confusion will be generated
:-) ). There will be no further amendment extending the deadline, because
there will be no unfulfilled assignment in the contract. All but two
sites have been sent and have accepted the updates. The two sites in
question are getting rid of VM soon. We feel that the benefits of the
amendment (about 100 free 1.8a upgrades delivered) outweigh the
inconvenience it has caused.
Eric
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