No support for free account?

[ohgoodgrief 5]

My apologies if I'm posting in the wrong place or something, but I'm here because I absolutely cannot find a way to contact support re: a billing question.  Since I'm brand new to Evernote, I just want to confirm with more experienced users that Evernote does not allow you to contact support when you have a free account.  

I went through Help & Learning - Submit a request, chose my topic, and selected from the drop-down options for every question.  I can see from some of the other topics here that I am supposed to have a Submit button to submit the ticket/request, but this is as far as I get:

(really hope the pic still shows when I submit this...)

 

Again, it appears that this community is my only hope of getting support while I have a free account.  Also, when I tried to contact support through the phone app, that didn't work either.  This is extremely frustrating, especially because my issue is that I'm trying to upgrade!  I can't upgrade without getting support, but I can't get support without upgrading!  This is more than enough to make me reconsider upgrading to a paid account...

I'm happy to provide more details if someone would like to help me troubleshoot, but right now, I'm just first trying to determine if I am correct that there is no support for free account users.  Not sure if I want to financially support a company that doesn't even allow me to contact them when I have an issue not covered in Help topics.

Thanks in advance!

[PinkElephant 8,072]

All support options are only open for subscribers. Since there are real people working in Support, who expect to get  paid, EN took the decision to restrict access to those users who help to run the show.

You can reach support on Free as well, but only on Billing or Account issues, not with technical questions.

https://help.evernote.com/hc/en-us/requests/new

Use this link, and choose Billing or Account as ticket types.

From my personal experience it is advisable to subscribe via iTunes, if you have an account there. No experience with the PlayStore, but maybe it is similar.

[ohgoodgrief 5]

Funny you should say that I can get support on Billing or Account issues, because I tried that first and got even less options than the snip I provided in my original post.  That's precisely what sent me down the rabbit trail of trying to find the magic combination of drop-down responses to allow me to contact Support.  The snip I provided is as far as I could get with any combination.

Thanks for the advice to subscribe via iTunes - that's exactly how I created my Evernote account.  In fact, the question I wanted to ask Support was re: upgrading through the iPhone app, using my Apple/iTunes account for payment.

In case someone with Evernote is paying attention and cares about customer service or even lost revenue, here's my story:  I am brand new to Evernote and saw the deal for 50% off the Personal account.  I decided to give it a shot, even though I just created an account Tuesday evening (3 days ago) and haven't had Evernote long enough to even play around with the free version.  I recognized that it's a great deal and thought I would take a chance.  It's obvious from the Help articles that if I want to pay via iTunes, I have to go through the app itself, but the deal wasn't available there.  I simply wanted to contact Support and ask if there was a way to get the deal through the app/paying through iTunes, or if I absolutely had to pay on the website to get the deal.  I had specifically purchased an Apple gift card for the purpose of upgrading to a Personal account - I strongly prefer that any app costs/renewals go through my Apple ID/iTunes account payment method.  However, if I had been able to contact someone with Support and had been told that I could only get the deal through the website, I absolutely still would've upgraded.

Having spent way too much of my time yesterday, simply trying to find a way to contact Support, has left a bad taste in my mouth.  The only way I found to contact Evernote was to go through the "Share feedback" form under "Support" in the app Settings.  It's just a survey form ("powered by Qualtrics") and not supposed to be a way to contact Evernote directly.  Plus, there's the technical issues I've already encountered in my first few days:  e.g., app has crashed a few times, "Submit" button to submit a ticket within the app doesn't work, here's what I get when I log in after clicking on the link you provided, above:

I'm just not interested in supporting a company which isn't interested in supporting its users.  Even when I wanted to pay Evernote to upgrade, I was only directed to a community discussion forum that specifically states it can't help me with my issue: "we cannot assist you with payment, billing, or subscription issues directly in the discussion forums."  (Totally understand this, btw.)  Having encountered at least one technical issue every time I've used the app, so far (which I hoped would be my primary medium for using Evernote), but there isn't a way for me to contact Support for these issues, doesn't bode well. PinkElephant, you put it very well:

2 hours ago, PinkElephant said:

All support options are only open for subscribers. Since there are real people working in Support, who expect to get  paid, EN took the decision to restrict access to those users who help to run the show.

This lack of respect for users who aren't the equivalent of dollar signs is exactly why I have chosen not to upgrade.  No one forced Evernote to offer free accounts - that's not on the free users, but on Evernote.  I am part of an online group that just recommended Evernote as part of moving to a paperless lifestyle, which is why I created an account and downloaded the app three days ago.  I am telling everyone about the utter lack of customer service and will be encouraging them to only use the free version, if even that.

My guess is that the majority of Evernote users are those who have free accounts - if that assumption is correct, then the number of downloads the app has on the AppStore and Google Play, the number of users Evernote is able to tout, the good reviews in various outlets, etc., are largely thanks to users who aren't paying customers.  Because I haven't really used Evernote yet, I don't know if there are options for beta testing, etc., but this would potentially be yet another way that free account users help Evernote's business.  So the idea that the only users who "help to run the show" are those with paid accounts?  I think it's seriously time Evernote rethinks its stance.

[gazumped 11,652]

10 hours ago, ohgoodgrief said:

free account users help Evernote's business.

LOL you mean besides connecting to Evernote's servers 365x24 every time they view or change a note,  occupying petabytes of permanent online storage and being the beneficiaries of constant updating and bug fixing?  Only online 'influencers' believe that consuming for free helps suppliers.

Actually if you gave Evernote and iTunes credit for being responsible grown-up companies and simply upgraded from within the app you'll either be given more information about your next steps with iTunes or you will find that your billing is adjusted to give you credit for the period you already paid for in providing the increased benefits. 

If for some reason it doesn't,  you're then in the position of being entitled to contact support as a subscriber.

[PinkElephant 8,072]

In the iTunes Store it is not possible to get the rebated plan. They are listing the actual Personal subscription, and the old Plus and Premium plans. This probably because existing subscriptions with these plans need to be able to renew.

So AFAIK to get the rebate you can’t subscribe via iTunes.

From my experience it is possible to switch to iTunes later. You first need to let the direct subscription expire, and wait for the downgrade to Free to happen. EN will usually give a week in addition before they downgrade. On downgrading no data will be lost.

Then you can subscribe new via iTunes.

[gazumped 11,652]

Thanks for the clarification @PinkElephant - I should've qualified my answer that I've never used iTunes for payments.  I don't share your enthusiasm for paying that way because of situations like this - Evernote isn't Apple (obvs) and given price changes and discounts the two companies can't collaborate on anything but the standard payment levels between them.  For that reason alone I'd always pay direct with Evernote - if anything goes wrong there's only one target for any complaints!

I flagged this thread for our Evernote Guardian Angel to take a look - maybe we can get a definitive statements on upgrades and cancellations when paying through iTunes!

[PinkElephant 8,072]

iTunes is really nice with subscriptions: 1st it allows to cancel every sub within 14 days, no excuses needed - even with services that do not allow cancelation, or make it very hard to cancel. 2nd it reminds me 4 weeks in advance when a sub becomes due the next time - enough to decide on top or flop. 3rd I always have a list of my subs available in one place.

This is the reason why it is my preference - even if some subscriptions are not possible through iTunes, or require to get the software from the Mac AppStore, which in some cases is not the best solution.

Anyhow good you flagged it - this support link should work, at least to sort out questions like "Where do I have to throw my money to subscribe". 

[ohgoodgrief 5]

8 hours ago, gazumped said:

Only online 'influencers' believe that consuming for free helps suppliers.

No "influencers" here - I have zero social media presence. 

I am, however, big on word-of-mouth marketing and I tell everyone I know about exceptionally good or bad experiences with a company.  I also tend to be a brand loyalist - when I find a good brand, I tend to stick with it; conversely, once a brand has lost my trust or has treated its customers poorly, the brand has usually lost my business forever.

8 hours ago, gazumped said:

LOL you mean besides connecting to Evernote's servers 365x24 every time they view or change a note,  occupying petabytes of permanent online storage and being the beneficiaries of constant updating and bug fixing?  Only online 'influencers' believe that consuming for free helps suppliers.

If free users are such a horrible drain, then why does Evernote offer free accounts?  According to your statement, Evernote must be so incredibly magnanimous to offer free accounts in spite of the terrible burden free users cause in return... and yet they're not magnanimous enough to offer any customer service to those same folks...  Yeah I seriously doubt that Evernote offers free accounts unless they get some benefit from it.  I suppose you also believe that only paying users are on this site, helping to point out technical issues and potential bugs, etc.?

9 hours ago, gazumped said:

Actually if you gave Evernote and iTunes credit for being responsible grown-up companies and simply upgraded from within the app you'll either be given more information about your next steps with iTunes or you will find that your billing is adjusted to give you credit for the period you already paid for in providing the increased benefits. 

If for some reason it doesn't,  you're then in the position of being entitled to contact support as a subscriber.

So my official Evernote-community-provided solution is that I should've upgraded at full cost through iTunes, and then I should've assumed that I could contact Evernote support afterwards, to have my billing adjusted?  How would I have possibly known that the discounted offer was available for those who paid through the app, when there was no indication of that in the app?  Up to the point of authorizing payment, it was still showing full-price, so how would I have guessed that I could retroactively get the deal and that it wasn't an online-only exclusive offer?  Also, my lack of ability to contact support didn't exactly instill any confidence that Evernote would even give me the time of day, much less give me any sort of credit back to my iTunes account.

If it hadn't been for the 50% off deal, I would've played around with the free version for a while, then tried out the free trial of Personal, etc., etc.  I was just attempting to take advantage of what seemed like a great deal.  But with the issues I've already encountered with the app alone, much less lack of customer service, and then I've observed a ton of rude responses on this site, which is supposedly where Evernote wants me to go for an alternative to customer support...  Anyone with reason can understand why I'm no longer interested in Evernote.  I should've just been done with it and not even tried to help Evernote realize that it's turning off potential customers.  I've just heard from several people how much they love Evernote, so I was hopeful that the company is not as horrible as my experience indicates.

 

9 hours ago, PinkElephant said:

In the iTunes Store it is not possible to get the rebated plan. They are listing the actual Personal subscription, and the old Plus and Premium plans. This probably because existing subscriptions with these plans need to be able to renew.

So AFAIK to get the rebate you can’t subscribe via iTunes.

Thanks for this.  If only I had been able to get this info from Evernote when I was attempting to contact them... there would've been a very different outcome!

8 hours ago, PinkElephant said:

From my experience it is possible to switch to iTunes later. You first need to let the direct subscription expire, and wait for the downgrade to Free to happen. EN will usually give a week in addition before they downgrade. On downgrading no data will be lost.

Then you can subscribe new via iTunes.

Thanks also for this - it's exactly what I had planned to do in the case I learned that the deal was only available if you pay online.

 

Glad to know that this thread has been flagged... the point of telling my experience was in the hopes that someone with Evernote would read it. Whether they choose to realize that they have a customer service opportunity here, or if they just walk away thinking maybe they should allow people trying to give them money a way to contact Support... who knows?  At least I did my "due diligence" in trying to make things better than when I found them.  So, Evernote:  For future reference, there are plenty of us who would rather, say, do a free trial and then pay for a service, rather than having the opportunity to have a free account but being treated like junk by not being given any customer service.

...and btw, I'm still getting this when I sign in to evernote.com with my Apple ID:

...but don't mind me.  I'm just a free account user.  

[PinkElephant 8,072]

If you end up on a page telling you "trouble loading Evernote", you most likely have tried to log in on a 3rd device. Limit is 2 devices on free, remember. A 3rd will not load unless you unsync another first.

Using my Free account on my Mac (one of my 2 Basic devices), it took me 2 minutes to create a support ticket about a Billing issue. I would just have needed to Hit the "Issue" Button, and it would have been done.

Use a synced device

Hit account information

Choose Contact Support from the drop down menu top right on the account screen

All the rest is quite straightforward. Support chat is greyed out, because it is really only for subscribers. Ticket works for Account and Billing issues for all users.

Thinking about it, I believe you did go into that loop because you tried to log in on the EN website directly - which counts as a 3rd device, and will not allow this to happen. Maybe EN could post better advise than what they actually do if this happens ....

 

[ohgoodgrief 5]

I wasn't trying to submit a support ticket when I logged in and it gave me the error message I put in my last post.  I literally went to evernote.com, clicked on "Log In" in the upper right-hand corner, and signed in with my Apple ID.  It lets me sign in, but gives the error message.  I understand your confusion from the other thread, but that is a completely separate thread where I was simply trying to report a potential bug with the iOS app.  I am no longer interested in nor trying to contact Evernote support.  I have only received the error message yesterday and today, and it was only when logging into evernote.com through Chrome. 

Thanks for the advice re: the number of devices.  However, if it's due to the number of synced devices, that's strange, because I've only ever logged in on 1) the iPhone app and 2) evernote.com on this computer (where I continue to receive the error message).  Still, I'll assume that this is the issue for now!  I'll sign out of the iPhone app and delete it... that should do the trick, right?  See I'm trying to log in, in order to delete my account.  I found how to do this from a Help article, but the app won't allow me to access Account Status within my account settings. (It won't take my password and tells me that I reset my password four days ago...yes, Evernote, I created an account four days ago.  ...and yes, I have double- and triple-checked my password.)  So, I need to log in via evernote.com in order to delete my account.  That's the only reason I'm concerned about not being able to log in.

[PinkElephant 8,072]

Device limit ...

https://help.evernote.com/hc/en-us/articles/218558068-Understanding-the-device-limit

[ohgoodgrief 5]

Again, I have only ever accessed Evernote from two devices.  I literally don't even have any other devices!

1) iPhone (using iOS app)

2) my laptop (going to evernote.com using Chrome)e

Apparently nobody believes me, but even Evernote itself backs me up:

[PinkElephant 8,072]

 No idea - I am just another user, and experience won‘t solve every mystery.

The loading problem point to a devices limit problem. Usually I would now say „Ask support“, but I think we skip this part here.

No further comments. Wish you luck.

[dbvirago 498]

Sorry, but I have to agree with the OP on this one. I had a similar experience with Costco. I went there last week and they gave me a free sample of a cracker with some lobster dip on it. It was delicious, so I decided to support them with my famous word of mouth advertising. But when I tried to leave the store with a cart full of crackers and lobster dip, they demanded I pay for it. Why are they giving this stuff away if in the end it's just some trap by corporate greed to take my money? I have stopped supporting these greedy corporate thugs and their ilk. I refuse to give my loyal business to any store that won't give me free food.

 

[ohgoodgrief 5]

8 hours ago, dbvirago said:

Sorry, but I have to agree with the OP on this one. I had a similar experience with Costco. I went there last week and they gave me a free sample of a cracker with some lobster dip on it. It was delicious, so I decided to support them with my famous word of mouth advertising. But when I tried to leave the store with a cart full of crackers and lobster dip, they demanded I pay for it. Why are they giving this stuff away if in the end it's just some trap by corporate greed to take my money? I have stopped supporting these greedy corporate thugs and their ilk. I refuse to give my loyal business to any store that won't give me free food.

You must've missed the part where I was trying to give them my money - the whole reason I posted here in the first place...

...and to use your example, Evernote has offered a free never-ending smorgasbord, not a free sample.  A free account is not the same as a free trial.  As I stated earlier, I would prefer to have a free sample (limited free trial period) and decide whether to buy, rather than have a free account with zero support.

[ohgoodgrief 5]

10 hours ago, PinkElephant said:

 No idea - I am just another user, and experience won‘t solve every mystery.

The loading problem point to a devices limit problem. Usually I would now say „Ask support“, but I think we skip this part here.

No further comments. Wish you luck.

PinkElephant, you were absolutely correct - it must have something to do with the device limit.  ...which means this is yet another bug/tech issue - par for the course at this point.  From the last screenshot I provided (list of devices), I was able to "revoke" a device (strange word for this - Evernote's, not mine).  After revoking the Evernote Web "device," I was then able to go back to evernote.com on my laptop and log in.  So, it must have something to do with the device limit, although that makes absolutely no sense in my case.  In the process of trying to delete my account, I've logged back in on evernote.com again, and each time, I've had to delete the Evernote Web "device" from the list of (2) devices on the iOS app before it will allow me to log in on evernote.com.  Apparently, Evernote wants me to stay logged in on the web; if I sign out and try to log back in, it must think I'm trying to log in on a third device?  I get the error message and have to delete the "device" in order to be able to log in again.  So, while this is yet another tech issue, you were absolutely 100% correct that the error message I was receiving had to do with the device limit.  Or, rather, Evernote incorrectly perceiving that I was going over my device limit.  Maybe you can use this knowledge to help someone else in the future.

Now that I can log in on evernote.com again, I went to delete my account.  ...and of course, encountered another issue.  When you go to delete your account, Evernote requires that you enter your password again.  Totally understand this, but it's not working on the app, nor evernote.com.  I used my Apple ID to create my account, and of course, I therefore continue to use my Apple ID to sign in, whether on the iPhone app or evernote.com on my laptop.  When trying to access Account Status within account settings (where you go to delete your account), it displays my email address and asks for my password, but it won't take it and states that I modified my password four days ago.  Yes, I modified my password four days ago...when I created my account.  Haven't changed it.

If anybody has any suggestions, I'm all ears - I'm ready to be done with all this!  I'm hesitant to change my Evernote password in a Hail Mary attempt, because again, I log in using Apple.  I'm afraid that changing my password will cause further issues with a discrepancy between my Apple ID password and a new one I might create through Evernote.  Still, I'm willing to try it if that's my best shot.  Not trying to draw this out - I'll eventually figure it out myself - but if anybody has a quick tip, I'm listening.

Also, if anyone knows how to delete an account from this site, that would be great too... that'll be my next step after deleting my Evernote account.  I'm not seeing an obvious option under Account Settings, and nothing of use comes up when I search for "deleting forum account," "delete account," "how to delete community account," etc.

[PinkElephant 8,072]

2 hours ago, ohgoodgrief said:

...and to use your example, Evernote has offered a free never-ending smorgasbord, not a free sample. 

No, a free account is not the full buffet, it is one piece of bread a day, with a small topping, but not more than 25gr a piece.

On the subscribers buffet there are 200gr superwhoppers, with you-name-it on top. De-li-cious !!!

But who said life is fair … ?

 

[PinkElephant 8,072]

About the device limit: Thanks for the feedback. Actually I fell to the same trap yesterday when trying to issue a ticket. I went straight to the web client - but on loading and loading realized I need to use the Mac client that is registered. Then it took me 2 minutes to get the ticket ready.

A word of caution: Only 2 devices, and only 2 free revokes per month. There were „clever“ users in the past permanently swapping devices by revoking, so EN decided to block that bypass.

About removing an account: There always is a full login with user and password (and to be really safe it should have 2FA as well). Often people forget while using „log in with …“.

For serious account activities EN requires this first and only login to prove the identity. If you think about a life of notes behind it I think it is a sound requirement to ask for full identification to move ahead. It is not a bug, it is a security feature !

[ohgoodgrief 5]

16 minutes ago, PinkElephant said:

A word of caution: Only 2 devices, and only 2 free revokes per month. There were „clever“ users in the past permanently swapping devices by revoking, so EN decided to block that bypass.

Oh wow - this is incredibly helpful to know.  I bet I can't revoke the device again then... at least not until next month.  I was set on logging in to evernote.com because I couldn't delete my account on the app, but I've since discovered that I'm encountering the same issue with both.  So, I guess whether or not I can log in to evernote.com is a moot point.

19 minutes ago, PinkElephant said:

About removing an account: There always is a full login with user and password (and to be really safe it should have 2FA as well). Often people forget while using „log in with …“.

For serious account activities EN requires this first and only login to prove the identity. If you think about a life of notes behind it I think it is a sound requirement to ask for full identification to move ahead. It is not a bug, it is a security feature !

As I stated, I totally understand why EN requires that I enter my password again.  The potential bug is that it's not taking my password.  I created my account with my Apple ID and log in with it, so I don't understand why providing the same password isn't working.  I have to do two-factor authentication each time I log in to evernote.com on my laptop, but of course, logging into the iPhone app bypasses Apple's 2FA.  Either way, EN asks for my password again when trying to access Account Status, both on the app and on the web. (Again, totally understand.)  It shows the correct email address for my account but won't take the corresponding password. 

I have no idea what's happening, but I'll figure it out eventually...

[ohgoodgrief 5]

Aha!!  Apparently there was an issue about this time last year, in which people couldn't log in using their Apple ID.  I'm not having the same issue, but I'm very hopeful that the solution will also work for my situation:

https://help.evernote.com/hc/en-us/articles/360058137073

[HLind 0]

I am having the same problem. My scanner is not showing up on my new MacBook Pro, and now it keeps telling me to upgrade. I removed my iPhone and the app is not even downloaded on my iPhone and it only gave me one day to remove another user which is me!  This is horrible. I may need to sell this thing and move on if I don't get any help.

[PinkElephant 8,072]

If your scanner is not showing on your MacBook Pro, where is the connection to EN ?

If it is one of these EN wonderscanners (just a badged Fujitsu ix500, which is deprecated by Fujitsu), you may find this helpful:

https://help.evernote.com/hc/en-us/articles/360024050514

In general since there is no support by EN staff for Free users, you should familiarize yourself with the help database. It took 15sec to find this help document - time well spend. EN has an impressive collection of help documents, and is updating it permanently, including a lot of short tutorial videos.

[HLind 0]

Hi Pink Elephant

 

Thanks for sending this link, I did try to update the software earlier it was not working but I tried again with the auto update feature that popped up today so I am hoping it works. Fingers crossed!  Appreciate it

[PinkElephant 8,072]

If you are sitting by bread and water because you spend all of your budget for that shiny new MacBook, you did everything right.

But wait: Found that last 5 dollar bill plus change from last years trip, forgotten in a remote pocket ? Don’t spend it on a large „to go“  now !

Buy yourself a month of Personal subscription: Sort out the devices issue then, or even try a chat with EN support.

😉

[whydoIneedyetANOTHERname 4]

On 2/13/2022 at 1:09 PM, ohgoodgrief said:

You must've missed the part where I was trying to give them my money - the whole reason I posted here in the first place...

...and to use your example, Evernote has offered a free never-ending smorgasbord, not a free sample.  A free account is not the same as a free trial.  As I stated earlier, I would prefer to have a free sample (limited free trial period) and decide whether to buy, rather than have a free account with zero support.

He didn't miss it. There are just people who are hellbent on acting like Evernote is problem-free and the only people that are complaining are either cheap and don't want to pay, "don't get it", or just like to complain. They act like Evernote cares about them being on here as their #1 fan. I've never had as much issues with a product as I do with Evernote. And as I've said on here before - my boyfriend and a couple co-workers of mine HAVE paid accounts (both monthly and annualy) and still have the same tech issues and issues reaching real support. 

Anybody that bends over backwards trying to convince you otherwise is often blowing smoke because they get a rise out of telling people to "suck it up". I was in the same boat about to switch to paid but why when so many other companies are better at communicating and standing behind their product. Just yesterday my boyfriend lost a years worth of notes and everything reset to a very specific date in 2022. He has gotten 0 help. I'm switching tonight because the thought of my notes not even being safe is the last straw. Again, if paid people are having the same issues you do nothing to convince me to switch. The dramatization on here against people who have issues with Evernote are missing the point - the product shouldn't be this dang buggy in the first place. Free or otherwise. Funny the Pink Elephant calling you an influencer but have whole accounts dedicated to defending Evernote and helping people with their tech issues as if it's part of their lifes work. No one ever accused them of acting like an influencer everytime they insist that it's always the users fault and the almighty Evernote will "get better soon"... 

[agsteele 2,942]

This is a two year old discussion. In not arguing the points you make but the people in this thread have likely moved on.