Download of Past Purchases at FSPilotShop

[Taliwalida1 7]

Then they should charge you the bandwith cost, like 5 cents or something. Come on guys, it's 2013 and why are you all against normal/reasonable customer service. So what if the purchase doesn't include an insurance against corruption. LOL how do you even come up with that stuff.

I see you everywhere bashing other who actually dare speaking their minds. And again, i don't get why.

Well said Mork! LOL bandwidth costs hahaha. Keep in mind school's out... So they are all trolling around here

[Don t moderate me this way 882]

Then they should charge you the bandwith cost, like 5 cents or something. Come on guys, it's 2013 and why are you all against normal/reasonable customer service. So what if the purchase doesn't include an insurance against corruption. LOL how do you even come up with that stuff.

I see you everywhere bashing other who actually dare speaking their minds. And again, i don't get why.

 

 

Mark,

 

I never bought anything from the company in question.

 

Even with companies that offer unlimited re-downloads I would STILL backup every download/installer as soon as appropriate.

 

Yes, I DO favour competition and will continue to consider companies with unlimited re-downloads first.

 

But not backing up the precious stuff you paid your hard-earned money for is just "plane"-stupid.

 

The freedom of choosing your supplier includes the freedom for the supplier to set his terms of service. It's not just us who have a choice. It's also true for the supply side.

[xplanery 250]

I have hundreds of addons backed up and none of them has ever become corrupted. I think there's nothing wrong with asking for payment to download after years from purchase, otherwise some people would use the site as backup storage whenever they need to reinstall the addons. 

[Taver 57]

Even though I was just clarifying what the original poster was trying to convey I will give you my specific example of why I needed to re-download the product.

 

Some have suggested it is "stupid" to not back up the product. I backed up the product. I also upgraded to windows 8 and the previous installer was no longer compatiable with installing to windows 8. (I documented this in the windows 8 forum)

 

I then needed the product again with the new installer to re-install my product. That is when I discovered there was a re-download fee.

 

I don't have a dog in this hunt I was just clarifying what the original poster meant with his comment.

[Don t moderate me this way 882]

Even though I was just clarifying what the original poster was trying to convey I will give you my specific example of why I needed to re-download the product.

 

Some have suggested it is "stupid" to not back up the product. I backed up the product. I also upgraded to windows 8 and the previous installer was no longer compatiable with installing to windows 8. (I documented this in the windows 8 forum)

 

I then needed the product again with the new installer to re-install my product. That is when I discovered there was a re-download fee.

 

I don't have a dog in this hunt I was just clarifying what the original poster meant with his comment.

 

 

A W8-compatible installer I would consider as a (free) update to the original product (not yet W8-compatible).

 

Re-downloading an updated full installer (as opposed to a mere free update) should be available for free.

[Dr Vesuvius 22]

As someone else has already pointed out, different companies that distribute electronically do things different ways.

 

Some allow unlimited downloads of your purchases for an unlimited time. That to me is a positive thing, a good service to the customer and something that would encourage me to purchase from that company.

 

Some place limits on the initial download, but if you contact support will offer a relatively painless re-activation to allow you to redownload at a later date.  That's also good customer service and another positive.

 

Some give you a limited time and/or number of downloads, then charge you a fee to redownload.  That's.... acceptable.  They're within their rights to recover costs, though as someone else says, the "administration fee" is likely to far exceed the wholesale bandwidth cost.  It's certainly not a positive thing, offering no advantage to the user.  At best it's neutral.

 

Then finally some companies give you a limited time, then if you miss the boat you're SOL.  Buy the thing again.  Needless to say that's a negative and would certainly put me off buying from them.  Ironically, some companies that appear to be in this final category, if you contact them and politely explain your situation, will often be sympathetic and provide you with a fresh download.

 

Comparing requesting a re-download and requesting fresh physical media is very last-century thinking. In an age of electronic content distribution, companies have a simple choice.  They can, at fairly minimal cost, provide an excellent bonus service to their customers.  Or they can choose to "recover their costs"... with of course an additional fee to cover..ahem.. "administration".  Or exploit it even further with a "download insurance" fee.  For a clue as to which way the future lies, take a look at the "big names" in electronic content, and see which option they've gone for.

 

Purely personal opinion, no offence to anyone intended. 

 

Dr V

[Mork 34]

Mark,

 

I never bought anything from the company in question.

 

Even with companies that offer unlimited re-downloads I would STILL backup every download/installer as soon as appropriate.

 

Yes, I DO favour competition and will continue to consider companies with unlimited re-downloads first.

 

But not backing up the precious stuff you paid your hard-earned money for is just "plane"-stupid.

 

The freedom of choosing your supplier includes the freedom for the supplier to set his terms of service. It's not just us who have a choice. It's also true for the supply side.

 

It doesn't have to be ignorance for people to don't have a back-up. What if you had a break in you house and your pc get's stolen? Or a fire, computer virus or what ever the reason. Do you keep all your DVD's in a seperate location, in a safe, in a bunker floating on oil just to be sure? You probably don't either. Where is the line of stupid? Plus the fact that it's very common for people, who definitely aren't all computer whizzkids, to screw up their computers every now and then.

 

The beauty of the internet and why the company (any for that matter) is probably making more sales is because of digital distribution. They can easily offer some service which costs them almost nothing with free unlimited download from your purchase.

 

I don't think it helps anyone stating the obvious, what he should have known/done and all... he knows that and is facing the consequences now.

Although technically you might be right, any fellow customer like yourself should strive to improving service and support and should not burn down or sneering others who actually share their experiences. It may help you in the future.

[e51f8e0401548d7940caf01724 16]

don't they offer 100 free downloads or something?

[ErnieAlston 33]

It doesn't have to be ignorance for people to don't have a back-up. What if you had a break in you house and your pc get's stolen? Or a fire, computer virus or what ever the reason.

That's what Offsite backups are for (ex Carbonite, Norton Backup etc). Some places even offer a few gigs free backup space.

 

What if the company goes out of business ? You can't expect unlimited downloads forever if the company no longer exists.

 

There simply is no excuse anymore for not backing up software you cannot afford to lose.

 

Its certainly nice that a company provides unlimited downloads, but they all don't and they all are not required to.

 

So backup your installers to safe secure place, cause you might not be able to download them again someday.

[mgh 89]

 

 

What if you had a break in you house and your pc get's stolen?

 

Do you expect your pc supplier to replace it free? If not, why should the download supplier replace your downloads free?

[Mork 34]

Do you expect your pc supplier to replace it free? If not, why should the download supplier replace your downloads free?

What is the actual cost of download? They already have a server with the program online, so its only extra bandwith. And that is not expensive. And so what, then let them charge a dollar or something.

 

Again, why so rigid? It's a service they could easily provide to their paying customers with no extra cost (if they choose to charge a small fee).

 

And if the office goes out of business, then that's bad luck. That's a whole other subject that also affects running purchases of hardware, kitchens, cars and service contracts etc.

 

Take a look at Steam, Origin etc. In this day and age, it is well possible to service your customers better, and I would expect more support from other customers like yourself. It can only help.

[Benzhangar 108]

Its funny though,

Bandwith, and Server issues for redownloading your PAID purchase with Simmarket.com seems to be no issue to them.

 

Just re-downloaded a purchase I made many years ago without re-downloading fees.

Now i'll make a back up of all just to be safe. You never know but as of now, their pretty reliable for access to your past purchases hassle & fee free.

[Q_flyer 766]

[ViperPilot 81]

I have purchased items from the retailer in question, and have always had a good experience. I made sure to archive the original .zip files (and their unzipped counterparts) with a copy of the Product Key, if applicable.

 

A $5.00 charge for re-downloading doesn't sound out of line. Yes, you paid for the Original product, but it isn't the retailer's fault if the Buyer didn't take the steps to protect his or her's online purchase. I mean,  you've got to do something with the .zip file after you've extracted it, so why not archive it?

[Nurmblitz 59]

Yes indeed, I meant re-downloading. This came up after a new FSX re-install. I tried to obtain updated installers just in case they've been updated. Fortunately I have backups, so no harm done. But, I see no sense of paying again as they have those installers anyway - we are talking actually about download links. If I would have downloaded all, sum would have been 40 dollars.