VSL Protection Plan Renewal

[DaddyO]

I received an email from VSL that my Protection Plan is up for renewal in a few weeks. I went to the appropriate page to purchase a renewal but some language I encountered there, that the renewal lasts two years from purchase made me wonder if by renewing a few weeks early I actually lost those weeks. Shouldn't the renewal be tacked on to the end of my current plan, I wondered?

So I contacted sales and got a prompt response (thank you!) that indeed the two-year renewal would start on the day I purchased it, not when my current plan expired. The concern I had turned out to be justified. If I renewed at any time before the end of my current plan I would simply lose the remaining time I had paid for two years ago. That surprised me, so I asked for clarification, and was told that this is how it works. The staff who helped me were helpful and prompt. All they could do was tell me the policy.

I am a longtime, happy VSL customer, but I find the policy surprising and unsatisfying. I am put in a position of either eating my remaining time or putting my renewal on a "to do" list and hoping that life doesn't get so crazy at that particular time that I am unable to get to it or, perhaps even forget it as it gets buried by other "to do's." 

I was told there would be a few days grace period, but it concerns me that the burden is put on me, the customer, and that an early renewal to "get it off my list" actually penalizes me. I find this puzzling.

I would be happy to hear further comment from VSL, and this is not an attempt to engender dissatisfaction in others. I'm just genuinely curious if I'm the only one who finds this particular policy unsatisfactory. I'm hoping VSL will review it and find a way for me to pay now, while I'm thinking about it, and have a full two years tacked on to the end of my current plan.

[Kai]

I was wondering as well how this works when I got the email, and find this "solution" likewise puzzling and inconvenient. It should not be too hard to write a little script that checks how long the current plan is still valid and determines the expiration date of the new plan based on that. In case VSL does not want people to purchase coverage for the next 20 years in advance, that script could likewise ensure this 😉 ...

[Alexander VSL]

Hi,

We do our best to provide a convenient process to protect VSL-licenses on your eLicenser USB Key. Before your Vienna Protection Plan expires we will send a reminder approximately 4 weeks in advance. Furthermore we will send a second reminder, when the VPP is expired, in case the renewal wasn’t on your “to do” list. To keep the licenses of our valuable customers protected we have a grace period after that expiration date. In this way we can be sure to provide a protection of full 24 month.

I’m really sorry that our VPP process isn’t more convenient and I truly can understand that an automated renewal would be a nice feature. Because of the given setting by Steinberg’s eLicenser you get a new license with every new Vienna Protection Plan for your eLicenser USB Key to decide again which key should be protected (in case you have more than one or a new key).

Thank you for your understanding!

Best,
Alexander

[DaddyO]

Alexander, thanks for your kind reply. The system per se with reminders, etc., is fine. That is appreciated. 

But it seems the problem I'm bringing up has either not been understood or not addressed. I'll try again to explain. It does not have to do with any inconvenience in renewing, nor does it have to do with needing help remembering to do so.

It has to do with the (needless) loss I incur if I renew right when I receive a reminder, weeks before the expiration of my current license. On the day I purchase that renewal, VSL starts the clock on my new two-year plan. But since this is weeks before my current plan has expired, this causes me to lose the current plan's remaining weeks. As the customer, I literally take a loss when I renew unless I wait until the day my current plan expires.

What VSL should do is start the clock on my renewal the day my current plan expires and not before. It's only right that I should get the full two years of coverage on my current plan even if I renew right when I receive my reminder. Instead VSL abruptly stops my current plan before it expires and puts in place a new two-year plan on the day I purchase the renewal. I'm covered, to be sure. But I've taken a loss in covered time.

This makes no sense to me. I can't recall any company I've ever dealt with in any aspect of life that has ever set up renewals this way. It's not that I need automatic renewal, it's that I want all that I've paid for.

Let me reiterate, I'm a happy VSL customer overall. That's why I find this problem so unsettling. 

[DaddyO]

@a.machat said:

I’m really sorry that our VPP process isn’t more convenient and I truly can understand that an automated renewal would be a nice feature. Because of the given setting by Steinberg’s eLicenser you get a new license with every new Vienna Protection Plan for your eLicenser USB Key to decide again which key should be protected (in case you have more than one or a new key).

Thank you for your understanding!

Best,
Alexander

Alexander, looking again at this last paragraph in your reply, I wonder if perhaps I am not also misunderstanding you. Are you saying the problem I identify, the abrupt loss of paid time if I renew right when I receive my first reminder, is an unfortunate necessity because of technical considerations having to do with USB keys and licenses?

[michi]

Hello John,

Please rest assured that you won't loose a single day of the protection period. Let's hope that your ViennaKey works flawlessly forever, but in case of a problem, there will always be a human member of our support team that takes care of your specific situation, and we won't "torture" you with missing time from a period overlap.

We're always looking for the best solution for our customers! I hope that helps!

Best,
Michael

[DaddyO]

@michi said:

Hello John, Please rest assured that you won't loose a single day of the protection period. Let's hope that your ViennaKey works flawlessly forever, but in case of a problem, there will always be a human member of our support team that takes care of your specific situation, and we won't "torture" you with missing time from a period overlap. We're always looking for the best solution for our customers! I hope that helps! Best, Michael

Michael,

Thanks for your kind assurance.

My point has never been that VSL is trying to torture me. To me the question is legitimate, but It sounds like no one else has ever brought it up before, so it's never been considered. Perhaps no one else thinks it important enough to bother with.  What's a few weeks out of two years. If so, I guess I'm the crazy uncle. 

I do rest assured that I can always count on the good graces of VSL staff. That has always been my normal experience.

Given that some might consult this thread in the future, it appears for the record that the answer to my question is this: Don't worry about the official renewal date becoming earlier by a few weeks every two years, VSL will take care of me.  Either that or always make sure I renew within as few of days of expiration as possible.

[plowman]

You're no one's crazy uncle. Because you discussed this on the forum, and because VSL replied, I am better informed. I now realize that signing up for this coverage takes a little calendar vigilance on the buyer's part. So thanks for posting. 

[DaddyO]

@plowman said:

You're no one's crazy uncle. Because you discussed this on the forum, and because VSL replied, I am better informed. I now realize that signing up for this coverage takes a little calendar vigilance on the buyer's part. So thanks for posting. 

Thanks, plowman.