Ok, so I had to do a complete reformat of my hard drive, and forgot to backup the JS41, now my link has expired, and I have to spend more money to download it again. To date I have had to do this multiple times, and the cost adds up. I think it is an unfair practice to be honest. Any money at all to download something I have already legally purchased, makes me feel like a criminal for wanting my aircraft again.

 

Patrick Boynton

Hi Patrick,

 

As a huge appreciator and fan of PMDG's work, I too have had to pay 3 times in the last 6 months for "extended download" of products I've purchased from them...(due to a sudden HD failure), and agree with you;  the practice is in my honest opinion, not in line with all other aspects of the professionalism, quality and integrity of how PMDG run their shop.

 

....but it is their shop, so for now, as unpopular as it seems to be, I guess they'll keep doing it.

Its not my fault that no one explained to me that the backup software I have does not back up Setup files.

 

Patrick Boynton

What's wrong with burning the installers on a CD? Or putting them on some USB stick?

What's wrong with burning the installers on a CD? Or putting them on some USB stick?

 

+1

 

It takes less than 5 mins to back up the setup files to a disc or drive. I do it before I install anything.

Its not my fault that no one explained to me that the backup software I have does not back up Setup files.

 

Patrick Boynton

 

No, but its not PMDG's fault either - you need to check the backup software is running, you need to make sure your files are being backed up correctly.

 

You are responsible for the files on your computer.

I think that you are looking at this from a different direction than they are. Losing the download file is in a way similar to losing a DVD for a piece of software. Would you expect the company to give you a new DVD if that happened? Hosting files for download costs money, and it is a bit odd to expect a company to do it for free after they have already delivered the files to you. Granted other companies do it for free, but that is an added incentive to use that company, not something that should be expected of everyone. All that PMDG are doing is saying that you, as the customer, have the responsibility to take care of the product once they have delivered to you.

PMDG have repeated stated that bandwidth costs money.  Anybody can see that statement is correct, the multi-mb connections commercial companies require cost large amounts of money.  Server space costs money.  

 

As Stephen states above, if you lost your DVD  would you expect a company to replace that free of charge and post it too you also free?

 

Always back up your installers, it doesn't matter where they are from, even if it's a DVD, back that up.  TB external drives can be had for the price of a PMDG aircraft.  

 

I do have issues with some of the things PMDG (and others do), the 'activation' DRM for example, but i would never expect them to allow me unlimited downloads; they aren't exactly Steam.

Wow.....I'm just reading the comments, and my first thought is, "if THESE are bad, just wait until Kyle joins in!!    :Shocked:

What's wrong with burning the installers on a CD? Or putting them on some USB stick?

Thats not the point though. OP wants to know WHy he has to pay twice. 

pmdg is THE only add on dev out of the 20 or so I have that does this. 

 

I would like to hear from some one at PMDG to explain this and if its logical and if the reasoning places the PMDG in a different category to every other add on developer then I can accept it.

THE only add on dev out of the 20 or so I have that does this. 

 

 

That might be a hard question to answer without giving away commercial secrets.

 

It could be that PMDG are one of the, if not the most popular developer, so statistically they would have more customers downloading at any one time.  They also tend to release aircraft that are larger in size than the average, again putting more strain on bandwidth.

 

It could be something as simple as bandwidth costing a lot more in the states.

 

In any case i imagine PMDG will say "bandwidth costs money"

I don't get the people that want everything (or almost everything) for free.

You paid for a software that you failed to backup. You didn't pay to have it backed up for you on a server.

If other company do it that doesn't mean that what PMDG is doing is wrong.

WotanUK, on 16 May 2013 - 1:14 PM, said:

 

That might be a hard question to answer without giving away commercial secrets.

 

It could be that PMDG are one of the, if not the most popular developer, so statistically they would have more customers downloading at any one time. They also tend to release aircraft that are larger in size than the average, again putting more strain on bandwidth.

 

It could be something as simple as bandwidth costing a lot more in the states.

 

In any case i imagine PMDG will say "bandwidth costs money"

I understand your logic so surely opus and orbx would do the same?

Your also focusing on the positive however it could just be a cash grab as well. im not saying it is but just saying its obviously a possibility

Thats not the point though. OP wants to know WHy he has to pay twice.

Oh!! Well, that's easy... Bandwith costs money. So by giving people an incentive to backup their files, PMDG can spend less money on hosting, and more on development (for example.)

In IT, there is a saying: "Files that aren't backed up, aren't worth saving." And yes, it is your responsibility to make sure the files that need to be backed up, are backed up.

Aerosoft have a free download service,but they still advise to backup your data.