why is there a restriction of 2 disconnects per month for non-members?

[tekomikon 1]

I've recently decided not to renew due to cost of living constraints. And I'm not able to login to Evernote and see my notes at all since I have to disconnect all but 2 devices but I can't do that since there's a 2 disconnect limit per month and I have more than 10 devices from the past. I feel like my notes have been held to a subscription ransom. Do you realise how unethical this is? Please do something about it quickly.

[gazumped 12,057]

14 hours ago, tekomikon said:

Do you realise how unethical this is?

Not supplying services that haven't been paid for?  There might be some arguments about that..  

For information - we're mainly users here - you can feed back your concerns to Evernote via feedback@evernote.com.  Meantime if you have been locked out your notes are quite safe - you can wait out the suspension or re-subscribe on monthly payments with a view to unsubscribing again in a month or two when your access is sorted out.

[mackid1993 1,243]

If you're desperate and want to get out, try the evernote-backup tool on github to pull enex files of your notebooks. It's CLI, but should get your data out and then you can import into a free app such as Joplin in order to access your data if you are past your disconnect limit or are unable to subscribe for a month to do the same with the Evernote app itself.

[Feitz 262]

2 hours ago, gazumped said:

Not supplying services that haven't been paid for?

As long as BS offer a free - albeit limited - version of V10, it is perfectly fine for people to take that offer and not get heat from other users for that. 
It's a business decision from BS to keep this going. 
But as long as  BS offer this free model people can expect it to work as advertised.

[PinkElephant 8,785]

18 hours ago, tekomikon said:

... I can't do that since there's a 2 disconnect limit per month and I have more than 10 devices from the past. ... Please do something about it quickly.

Very simple: The unsync limit is in place since 2020, even if you may not have been aware of it. So the first advise (too late for you) is to set everything up as being on Free before actually dropping to that level. It is not unethical to expect users to do this step when they cancel their subscription.

You can solve the problem yourself: Subscribe for a month to Personal, remove the devices, maybe use the time to reorganize what you want to keep. You will not be able to move notes to other notebooks on Free, due to the notebook restriction. So do it before.

Waiting until it resets is probably no good Plan B for you: Removing 10 devices will keep you locked out for 5 months.

[gazumped 12,057]

2 hours ago, Feitz said:

people can expect it to work as advertised.

Which it in fact does,  down to the detailed warnings and help around device limits.  If a user walks into a self-inflicted lockout it is demonstrably not 'heat' to point out that fact whilst also giving what I hope was some helpful comments.

[Boot17 1,536]

21 hours ago, tekomikon said:

And I'm not able to login to Evernote and see my notes at all since I have to disconnect all but 2 devices but I can't do that since there's a 2 disconnect limit per month and I have more than 10 devices from the past. I feel like my notes have been held to a subscription ransom.

oof. I thought I had a reminder for myself to disconnect all but 2 devices before my sub expires in September, but turns out I didn't have a reminder (but do now). Thanks for the heads up and sorry it turned out that way for you.

[tekomikon 1]

On 6/20/2024 at 1:27 AM, gazumped said:

Not supplying services that haven't been paid for?  There might be some arguments about that..  

That's an oversimplified comment and not in the spirit of consumer rights. I'm not asking for their note-taking services for free but access to my content that I happen to have created on their platform over the years. No content platform should be allowed to lock down user content like that. Period. We've been through a similar change before when they reduced the number of supported devices in the free tier, but they didn't have this weird 'disconnect limit' then. 

I did send an email to feedback@evernote.com but didn't get any response which is why I posted here to see if other people had the same problem. 

Thank you for your suggestion but I'm not willing to pay a ransom to get access to my content.

P.S. There was a moment a couple of days ago when the nag screen was not showing up and I managed to export my notes in enex format quickly. 

[tekomikon 1]

On 6/20/2024 at 1:36 AM, mackid1993 said:

If you're desperate and want to get out, try the evernote-backup tool on github to pull enex files of your notebooks. It's CLI, but should get your data out and then you can import into a free app such as Joplin in order to access your data if you are past your disconnect limit or are unable to subscribe for a month to do the same with the Evernote app itself.

Thanks, the CLI option does seem like a good solution although I did manage to get all my notes out from the app in enex format when the nag screen was down briefly. And yes, I'm on Joplin now and loving it.

Although I would advise against your recommendation of paying for a month just to get access. One should not have to pay anything once they've decided not to use the service.

[tekomikon 1]

On 6/20/2024 at 4:57 AM, PinkElephant said:

Very simple: The unsync limit is in place since 2020, even if you may not have been aware of it. So the first advise (too late for you) is to set everything up as being on Free before actually dropping to that level. It is not unethical to expect users to do this step when they cancel their subscription.

You can solve the problem yourself: Subscribe for a month to Personal, remove the devices, maybe use the time to reorganize what you want to keep. You will not be able to move notes to other notebooks on Free, due to the notebook restriction. So do it before.

Waiting until it resets is probably no good Plan B for you: Removing 10 devices will keep you locked out for 5 months.

If you read your comments with a bit of detachment, you will realize how 'not simple' that sounds. Thankfully, I was able to export my notes in enex when the nag ware went down for a bit. 

[tekomikon 1]

On 6/20/2024 at 6:12 AM, gazumped said:

If a user walks into a self-inflicted lockout

That sounds like the definition of ransomware to me. Imagine if this were a version of Windows OS that going to be charged more than you could afford and would lock you out of your computer and content.

Users should always have an option to export their content (their IP) for free. And it's not like I got a detailed mail on how to do that before the subscription price went up and I cancelled my renewal. The 'disconnect limit' are 'ecosystem' dark patterns that are designed to keep users from leaving. I don't see any purpose it serves for the customer.

Evernote unfortunately no longer resembles the service I signed up for more than 10 years ago with efficient note taking capabilities and a rich set of 3rd -party integrations. 

[tekomikon 1]

On 6/20/2024 at 8:04 AM, Boot17 said:

oof. I thought I had a reminder for myself to disconnect all but 2 devices before my sub expires in September, but turns out I didn't have a reminder (but do now). Thanks for the heads up and sorry it turned out that way for you.

Glad that my warning is going to help you. Make sure you export your notebooks before September. And Joplin is an amazing choice that let's you use your dropbox or drive for storing your notes and has a lot of open-source plugins.

[PinkElephant 8,785]

You still invest a lot of effort into proving others must be wrong, you must be right and you have been treated unfair.

Fact is you violated several restrictions of your free use account. This lead to your account being temporarily locked. 

A lock that can immediately being removed by changing your account status to paid. Or by waiting for the suspension period.

Conclusion: Don’t violate the restrictions, and you will do fine. Nothing about this should be surprising. Except you expected the rules being there, but not being enforced. Now you know better.

[tekomikon 1]

5 hours ago, PinkElephant said:

You still invest a lot of effort into proving others must be wrong, you must be right and you have been treated unfair.

Fact is you violated several restrictions of your free use account. This lead to your account being temporarily locked. 

A lock that can immediately being removed by changing your account status to paid. Or by waiting for the suspension period.

Conclusion: Don’t violate the restrictions, and you will do fine. Nothing about this should be surprising. Except you expected the rules being there, but not being enforced. Now you know better.

I'm not investing any effort in proving other people wrong. I'm just shocked and surprised at your ignorance about your rights as a user of software. All this talk of restrictions and violations is exactly what is wrong with how users are getting trapped in ecosystems. Anyway, I'm not here to educate you if you don't want to learn. I'm off Evernote anyway and will leave its fate to you fanboys. Please don't bother to respond.

[PinkElephant 8,785]

Free users were circumventing the 2 device restriction by frequently swapping devices. This means they abused the Free plans limits.

This was the reason why in 2020 the 2 device unsync limit was introduced. It took away the 2 devices limit being a toothless restriction.

If it now did cross your intentions, it did exactly why it was setup in first place. As a user who always paid what I used, I think everything that protects the subscribers from being exploited by freeloaders is good, because it enforces fair use among all.

Don't wanna pay: Play by the rules.

[emporis.structures 0]

What ignorance here! I think that Evernote employees have recently focused on how to find more methods of harassment to be able to take money from users, even when they want to leave the application. Sad and embarrassing. While it was free, they paid us to become popular, giving us free access to the platform. Now when you change your phone and set it to synchronize the two devices, Evenrote automatically blocks your access to your own content because you do not have a paid account. And if you have recently desynchronized two devices, you remain with the blocked content. Or, you pay to them as if they were loan sharks.

[gazumped 12,057]

On 8/8/2024 at 1:47 PM, emporis.structures said:

What ignorance here!

Were you expecting to be able to use the features of this app plus free web storage for ever?  If blocked,  you're temporarily locked out of your notes.  Patience or a subscription will get your access back.

[mackid1993 1,243]

I swear this is basic economics. Perpetual free accounts with no incentive to convert to paid is bad economics and only works when VC money is coming in. If the original Evernote Corporation realized this they would probably still exist. 

[PinkElephant 8,785]

@emporis.structures oh, you were asked to pay for what you use now ? 

Good, because else I’m afraid they would still take MY money to pay YOUR expenses for using the service.

The account block is only temporary. Either you wait 30 days, or you (finally) pay a month of Personal.

BTW bringing more Free users to the service is not „repaying“ anything - it’s just enlarging a riot. We have had enough of this in the past years. In the end all subscription income was not enough to entertain the crowd - which unfortunately did not lead to shut down the Free party.

May we show you out of the door now ?

[mackid1993 1,243]

3 hours ago, PinkElephant said:

@emporis.structures oh, you were asked to pay for what you use now ? 

Good, because else I’m afraid they would still take MY money to pay YOUR expenses for using the service.

The account block is only temporary. Either you wait 30 days, or you (finally) pay a month of Personal.

BTW bringing more Free users to the service is not „repaying“ anything - it’s just enlarging a riot. We have had enough of this in the past years. In the end all subscription income was not enough to entertain the crowd - which unfortunately did not lead to shut down the Free party.

May we show you out of the door now ?

No free users are providing free advertising and should be compensated for using the service for free. /s