Feel like Evernote has stolen from me

[DavidLGCrawford 9]

I've been using Evernote since (at least) 2005. This was prior to the current rental terms they have now.

I was very impressed with it at that time, and purchased a registered copy. It worked fine for a while, then they switched to this rental system, and I lost my paid version.

Now they've gone and changed their system again making it useless. I can no longer use Evernote now, despite purchasing it and supporting them when they were in their infancy.

I understand that they want to go to a rental scheme, but that's unfair for people who purchased their copy.

I am very disappointed.

 

[gazumped 11,693]

2 minutes ago, DavidLGCrawford said:

2005. This was prior to the current rental terms they have now.

I've been subscribing since 2008 - wasn't aware there ever was a purchase scheme.  If you had free use of the service for nearly 20 years I think it's been a pretty good deal...  What type of contract did your details show?  And what changed recently that makes you say it's now useless?

[DavidLGCrawford 9]

I actually found my Evernote purchase email. It was November 8, 2007.

But I didn't "use the free service for 20 years", I used my paid for, licensed version.

They've now changed it so that you can only have one notebook, and a limit of 50 notes.

[gazumped 11,693]

I sit corrected... I should have said "you used the service without paying a further fee for nearly 20 years..." 

18 minutes ago, DavidLGCrawford said:

you can only have one notebook, and a limit of 50 notes

Your account type must have changed to Free at some stage then,  because that's the limitation they recently placed on that contract type.  Whatever - we're mainly other users here,  not Evernote staff.  If you wish to protest I'd suggest you contact them on https://help.evernote.com/hc/en-us/requests/new?guest=true  - and use the issue type "Account".

I sympathise with the frustrations of paying more than once for 'lifetime' membership - I have several apps where my payments turned out to be for a certain version,  or for a particular period and further upgrades require more payments.  

At least in this case you don't lose access to your existing notes,  but won't be able to create more...

https://evernote.com/blog/evernote-free-note-limits

[eric99 984]

1 hour ago, DavidLGCrawford said:

I actually found my Evernote purchase email. It was November 8, 2007.

But I didn't "use the free service for 20 years", I used my paid for, licensed version.

They've now changed it so that you can only have one notebook, and a limit of 50 notes.

And did they state explicitly in that email that it was a lifetime license for all future versions?

[DavidLGCrawford 9]

34 minutes ago, eric99 said:

And did they state explicitly in that email that it was a lifetime license for all future versions?

No. But I was happy to stay with the version I had. They have disabled it and forced upgrade to continue using it.

[PinkElephant 8,158]

Software from 2007 - and happy to stay with that version.

Just in case anybody asks: EN is a cloud service. To add better functionality and features, the client and the cloud platform must evolve. If somebody had frozen it on the level of 2007, we would no be here and discuss about what’s going on at the moment. It would be long gone by now.

To run a fully featured account, you need to be a current subscriber. To get all features, you must run the current software. These are the simple rules, 2023.

[kyx11 1]

And the support is basically non-existent. I'm a paying subscriber since 2012 and I'm having a fatal error getting the Mac desktop version to even OPEN so I can download my notes to archive... I can't even post a comment here without a moderator approving it!

No one has replied to my customer service request, and there is no one else to ask. 

Not sure what is happening but definitely the application is going down the drain.

[DavidLGCrawford 9]

1 hour ago, PinkElephant said:

Software from 2007 - and happy to stay with that version.

Just in case anybody asks: EN is a cloud service. To add better functionality and features, the client and the cloud platform must evolve. If somebody had frozen it on the level of 2007, we would no be here and discuss about what’s going on at the moment. It would be long gone by now.

To run a fully featured account, you need to be a current subscriber. To get all features, you must run the current software. These are the simple rules, 2023.

So do I get a refund then?

I bought it to help support and grow the company. The company grew. They changed the rules. How is that fair?

If you go to a car dealer and lease a car, then you have a monthly bill. And if they come along and say "we're changing the amount", then you either keep the car and pay the new amount, or return the car.
But if you go to a car dealer and buy the car, and pay the full amount in cash. Now some time later they come along and say, "oh, we're going to need you to start paying each month or you can't drive more than X miles, and can't go faster than Y mph". Would you think that's fair?

[Jon/t 1,309]

If you bought the software around 2007 as a one-off purchase then there was no cloud sync involved. You'd sync via a USB stick to other devices.

This was stand-alone software but things changed around 2008 when cloud sync was introduced and a different version of the software.

[agsteele 2,952]

1 hour ago, DavidLGCrawford said:

So do I get a refund then?

I bought it to help support and grow the company. The company grew. They changed the rules. How is that fair?

Of course there is no refund. The 'rules' changed in 2008 and you continued with the changed service. Perhaps somewhere along the way a communicatioon was sent advising you of changes which you forgot about, didn't receive or went to spam. But the service did change and you were able to continue with the new service. Now we have another change.

Is that fair? I couldn't say but it is the way things are.  If you feel you are due a refund then you should contact the support team and request it. You'll have to explain the deal you had very carefully. I doubt that there is anyone in the staff who has any knowledge.  My guess is that the amount of refund due to you on a pro-rata basis will be small but you may get it as a courtesy.

You'll have to ask the support teams. We're all other users and likely have less sympathy than employees might have.

[CalS 5,281]

If you airgap your PC when using EN you should be able to use your version of EN on the one device.  No syncing, just the one device.  Not sure that's worth it, but it can be done, until that device dies anyway.

[PinkElephant 8,158]

5 hours ago, DavidLGCrawford said:

…
But if you go to a car dealer and buy the car, and pay the full amount in cash.   …

Then you have a car from 2007 - whatever it will be worth in 2023, 16 years later.

The environment in which it operates is fundamentally different, speed is way up, and new cars have airbags and electronic brakes.

Be happy that software is not sensitive to rust and fender benders. But it’s aging as well.

So use it as it is …

[mackid1993 743]

This thread omg! This is why we can't have nice things.

[DavidLGCrawford 9]

12 hours ago, PinkElephant said:

Then you have a car from 2007 - whatever it will be worth in 2023, 16 years later.

Except that they have turned off the car, and prevented you from using it. It hasn't broken down. They disabled it.

• They started by limiting how far you could drive in a month, only 50 miles. I didn't complain because I can get by with that, and just push off more until next month.
• Then they limited it to only two registered drivers. That's annoying, but I managed.
• Now they say you can only have one seat, and can only go 50 miles total. Once you've reached the 50 miles, no more. You can still get in the car. But you can't drive any further.

Most companies, when they switch from a purchase to a rental model, will grand-father in their purchasers. They realize that without these first people who opened their wallets to support the business in it's infancy, the company wouldn't even exist.

When I bought it, it was not to get extra features (there were a few, but that wasn't why I purchased). I purchased it because it was a product that I believed in. It did its job, and did it well. I wanted to help support the company.

I've been an strong advocate of Evernote over the years, bringing in countless new users. I've encouraged my business clients, as well as my university students to use it. No more.

Over the last 2 days I've been looking for alternatives, and it looks like I'll be going with Joplin. It does about everything that Evernote does, and a very similar interface (so there's no learning curve). With the added benefit that I can install the sync software on one of my servers. That means I have unlimited usage and unlimited storage, that nobody can take away in the future.

[mackid1993 743]

You don't understand how software licensing works.

[DavidLGCrawford 9]

1 hour ago, mackid1993 said:

You don't understand how software licensing works.

I've been a software developer for over 40 years. I certainly know how it works. I also know how to take care of my customers.

[Dave-in-Decatur 3,970]

9 hours ago, DavidLGCrawford said:

When I bought it, it was not to get extra features (there were a few, but that wasn't why I purchased). I purchased it because it was a product that I believed in. It did its job, and did it well. I wanted to help support the company.

I've been an strong advocate of Evernote over the years, bringing in countless new users. I've encouraged my business clients, as well as my university students to use it. No more.

And you did support it ... one time ... in 2007. Not since. I'd say you've probably drained off far more than any refund you think you're owed. As for "bringing in countless new users," people who don't want to subscribe say that all the time, as if these other people would never have found Evernote without them, have all subscribed and kept subscribing forever, etc. Why not send Evernote a bill for your uncompensated marketing work?

[mackid1993 743]

This thread is really strange. You pay for a product once in 2007. It reaches end of life. A new cloud based subscription product is launched in 2008, you use that for free for 15 years. The generous free plan lead to the software vendor nearly going bankrupt and getting bought out. The new owners implement changes to make the company profitable. You no longer have access to use the service you used for free for 15 years. You're upset and think you've been stolen from because you paid for an older version of the product that reached end of life 16 years ago. You may be a software developer with 40 years of experience but clearly you are not familiar with SAAS products and the fact that a major version of a product can reach end of life at some point and have support discontinued.

Go find a download for the now end of life version you bought a license to in 2007. If you purchased it you should have saved the installation media. Go set up an airgapped Windows XP VM and input your license key from 2007. That is what you are entitled to use as you've paid for it. You are not entitled to use the current version for free beyond 50 notes and 1 notebook any longer unless you pay for the current version of Evernote.You weren't stolen from, but clearly feel entitled something you aren't.

[Wanderling Reborn 185]

So, help me understand it. 

Unless I am mistaken, the single-license product version did not have cloud connection, it was for storing the information locally on the hard drive. 

Are you saying that the old 2007 version that you purchased has been disabled by Evernote (assuming it can still be installed and ran on the modern OS) and can no longer work with locally stored data ?  If so, you have a point. 

Or are you saying that your purchase of a standalone version in 2007 should entitle you to some special plan for the cloud-enabled version of today ?

I am not being sarcastic, I am genuinely trying to understand what is going on. 

I have some software that is about that old (I am a hoarder...) Some of it no longer works or can be installed due to the changes in Windows. Some of it still works. I do not expect the companies who published these titles to keep supporting them indefinitely, but I would be absolutely mad if they issued a patch to disable the features that worked locally and did not depend on server-side processing or cloud sync. 

[mackid1993 743]

This provides some answers: https://www.pcmag.com/archive/evernote-plus-10-159973

"EverNote" 1.0 cost $34.95. This was back when "sync" was done by moving a USB stick between computers and smartphones ran Blackberry and Palm OS.

OP could be a COBOL or FORTRAN developer.

[PinkElephant 8,158]

If he is still an active COBOL programmer, he wouldn’t likely debate a „loss“ of 35 bucks from 16 years ago. These guys are really in demand.

The main difference between this initial EN and what followed it is that the later versions all rely on a cloud server, to perform critical services, syncing across devices and safe storage.

This means recurring cost, and justifies why a completely local solution would not transfer. It could be used „lifetime“ (whatever it means), but as it was on release.

[Jon/t 1,309]

Evernote 1.5... get the plus version for $39.95 and sync via USB drive!

[WilliamL 654]

I don’t get the complexity, if Evernote sold lifetime offers at one point, they should be honoured surely unless Evernote doesn’t exist any longer - but it does. 

Whether a company should sell lifetime deals is a whole other issue. I don’t think mocking the user who raises this is a fair approach, which a fair few folks here are. Things are getting both toxic and desperate in this continued defence of the various actions of Evernote. 

[Jon/t 1,309]

5 minutes ago, WilliamL said:

I don’t get the complexity, if Evernote sold lifetime offers at one point, they should be honoured surely unless Evernote doesn’t exist any longer - but it does. 

I don't think there was a lifetime offer. Evernote was just a piece of software that was sold like all software was sold as a standalone product.

If the OP had the 2005 version then it was a different product from 2008 onwards. It was stand-alone and synced via USB. There was no cloud sync, no account logins or online anything really. That software wouldn't have been updated since around 2007ish. A bit like using Word 97. Probably still works given OS restrictions.

[PinkElephant 8,158]

At that time all software was sold* for lifetime use. But this didn’t include the next major release. 

(*) And in fact it wasn’t sold, all you purchased was a lifetime license to use it. Always as it was, maybe with a few dot-releases.

This never included an entitlement for eternal free updates for other versions. And it for sure didn’t include the free use of subscribers features in a cloud service launched years later.

[Boot17 1,465]

5 hours ago, WilliamL said:

Whether a company should sell lifetime deals is a whole other issue. I don’t think mocking the user who raises this is a fair approach, which a fair few folks here are. Things are getting both toxic and desperate in this continued defence of the various actions of Evernote. 

While I personally don't think the OP has a leg to stand on with this argument and some good points have been made in this thread to attempt to prove that, there does also seem to be quite a bit of mocking going on by some.

[gazumped 11,693]

2 hours ago, Boot17 said:

While I personally don't think the OP has a leg to stand on with this argument and some good points have been made in this thread to attempt to prove that, there does also seem to be quite a bit of mocking going on by some.

Part of the joy of posting in a public forum - when you're right,  you're right;  when you're wrong,  people tend to be abrasive.  As long as they don't get too personal or abrasive....

[CalS 5,281]

Perhaps

[mdavidf68 4]

I've also been a member since 2008, Evernote was never sold with a lifetime license, OP is being melodramatic.

[NLaMotte 0]

having the same issue. was paid user for 10+ years, did not want to continue using paid version and then they restrict # of notes.  Now I cannot even access my account anymore because there are too many devices synced and they restrict the number that can be unsynced in a month so they now are holding my notes hostage.  Horrible business model. 

[gazumped 11,693]

21 hours ago, NLaMotte said:

they now are holding my notes hostage

Hi.  You can wait out the suspension or subscribe again for access.  The device limit has been in place for years. 

[Dave-in-Decatur 3,970]

@NLaMotte, welcome to the forums. You don't say when you dropped from paid to free, but it may simply have been unfortunate timing if it was close to the time when Evernote put the new restrictions into place. Regarding device and unsync limits, those have been in existence for quite awhile, and the information should have been available to you when you decided to go with free. As @gazumped said, you can always re-subscribe for a month, get everything lined up the way you want, then cancel the paid sub and return to free.

As for a "horrible business model," giving things away for free is not, IMHO, a business model at all. Obviously opinions on that vary, though.