Changing the rules to force pro upgrades

  • When I installed this plug a couple of weeks ago I researched it to make sure that it was right for what I needed. My online store is unlikely to have more than about 100 products and they allowed up to 2000 on the free version, so perfect, right? Not so much.

    I have 59 products on my store and I used the plugin to add them to my Facebook catalogue. The plugin worked perfectly… until yesterday’s update.

    There was an issue after the update which caused a problem with my dashboard, thankfully that was fixed today. However, when I tried to update my feed, I got an error message that I had exceeded my limit. I thought this was strange so I had a look at the product description and to my amazement the 2000 product limit had been changed to 50 products. So I visited their website. The free plan showed ‘Feed up to 2000 products.

    I submitted a support request and was told “We made all the features free from the plugin for up to 50 products. That’s the only limit you will find. Hope you can understand.” Well no. I don’t understand. I could understand if the rules are changed for new downloads, but to change the rules on existing users is ridiculous. Maybe they figure that they don’t have too many existing users but there are at least 100 people affected by this right now. This is just not ethical. They very quickly changed the limit on their website too.

    Anyway, I am keeping the screenshots as proof of the above and looking for an alternative.

    Two days ago I was going to give this plugin a 5 star rating but after this it is a one from me. This is not because the plugin or the support is bad but because of the above. I just can’t find it in myself to support devs that screw people over.

Viewing 7 replies - 1 through 7 (of 7 total)
  • Plugin Contributor Lincoln Islam

    (@coderexco)

    @mcgregors Thank your for your support. “Two days ago I was going to give this plugin a 5 star rating” but you didn’t waste your time giving any support to the developer who made something useful.

    “I just can’t find it in myself to support devs that screw people over.” really sorry to see you think that we’re screwing you just because we changed the free limit. Look no one screams when google starts asking payment for using maps on the website.

    I’m sorry that we couldn’t make you happy after all of our hard work.

    Thread Starter mcgregors

    (@mcgregors)

    Hi Lincoln

    The plugin itself is great, I am not denying that. So very well done there.

    The Google Maps pricing only affects the API and only after you have used the $200 credit that they give you per month. This doesn’t affect mobiles and embeds so you can still use it on your website. They have always charged for certain API that is just a new pricing plan so not really comparable to this situation. Besides that, Google is pretty well established.

    When I downloaded the plugin it was with the conditions and restrictions at the time. The fact that it stopped doing what it was supposed to do should not happen. The reduction from 2000 products to 50 products in the free version is equivalent to a 4000% increase.

    Plugin Contributor Lincoln Islam

    (@coderexco)

    @mcgregors You’re right Google is a well-established company. We’re a small team with very limited capability. We still try to do our part as a contributor.

    So, as we make our living making plugins, we have to make something to support us. Otherwise, there is no way we can keep it updated and available for everyone. The only restriction we implemented is the quantity.

    I know you’re someone like us trying to do something in the eCommerce space. I hope you would agree with me on that if we don’t make money there is no way we can keep up the good work. Again I’m sorry you had to face inconvenience.

    Don’t hesitate to let me know if we can do something to make you happy.

    Best of luck with your business. Cheers!

    So what is the price for the ‘pro’ version anyway? Can’t seem to locate that information anywhere…

    Plugin Contributor Lincoln Islam

    (@coderexco)

    @sapience – Thanks for showing your interest. It should be on the dashboard of the plugin. I will ask my team to make it work for you.

    Thread Starter mcgregors

    (@mcgregors)

    I appreciate that you have to make a living. But say what you like. This situation is like giving a bicycle away and then a week later taking the wheels back and forcing the recipient to pay for them.

    If you made a mistake by setting the number of products too high at the beginning, why has this become your user’s problem now? Or maybe it was set high with the intention of sucking people in only to later change the rules. Either way it is wrong and your ratings will suffer as a result. This will have a negative effect on your future business regardless of how good your product is.

    Good luck to you too.

    Plugin Contributor Lincoln Islam

    (@coderexco)

    @mcgregors Thank you for your comment – “Giving a bicycle away and then a week later taking the wheels back” updating software isn’t the same thing.

    When We give a physical product away there is a less chance we have to release updates for it and work continuously to keep up with the road authority( WordPress & WC).

    You still can use the old version of the plugin without updating & use up to 2k.

    We’re glad that you tried our product. You put 1star just because we tried to make out of the plugin for releasing more features. I hope you have a great experience ahead.

    Thank you

Viewing 7 replies - 1 through 7 (of 7 total)
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