Maintenance Fee increase

[JParis]

John, have you emailed them and asked what is their justification for the ridiculous increase?

Oh, they sent a nice email, which I will only quote a portion of..it's BS, I know it, they know I know it.

As a result of market conditions, technological advancements, and product and support enhancements, effective July 1st, 2024, there has been an adjustment to the price of Mastercam annual Maintenance agreements.

"Technological advancements"     

No mention of course of doing away with the "multi-seat" discount, they hide behind pretty words instead.

[Newbeeee™]

Oh, they sent a nice email, which I will only quote a portion of..it's BS, I know it, they know I know it.

"Technological advancements"     

No mention of course of doing away with the "multi-seat" discount, they hide behind pretty words instead.

I'd have to be putting in a "nicely worded letter of complaint showing my utter disgust"

[JParis]

I'd have to be putting in a "nicely worded letter of complaint showing my utter disgust"

That is currently an "on-=going" chain...I of course don't expect a damn thing to come of it..

I am going to take a few days to decide if I am even going to submit the req for it...me, the Mastercam Fanboi am considering this relationship moving forward.

[Newbeeee™]

If you were to lock in to a release/version that is solid for you, the reality is it would do you for a long time.
Release benefits as we know are really only small/incremental....it's not like a game changer such as trochoidal milling is launched at every release.

[Zoffen]

That is currently an "on-=going" chain...I of course don't expect a damn thing to come of it..

I am going to take a few days to decide if I am even going to submit the req for it...me, the Mastercam Fanboi am considering this relationship moving forward.

From a business perspective building the future on mastercam is a risky investment IMHO.

Yes there are lots of legacy stuff and its hard to teach an old dog new tricks but if you zoom out a few years past the initial pains it might be worth it to be on a new platform that is more future proof than what we have here...

Honestly they have had enough time to bring the software into the future (Present?) that its sunk costs at this point...

[TSmcam]

If you were to lock in to a release/version that is solid for you, the reality is it would do you for a long time.
Release benefits as we know are really only small/incremental....it's not like a game changer such as trochoidal milling is launched at every release.

The issue is, all the other software, and hardware. Within a short time, other software moves forward and then incompatibilities start to creep in.
Our Mastercam maintenance ceased at 2019. That wont even install on both my last two notebooks (both Win 11), and those people I still know/knew at CNC Software couldn't provide a solution.

Sometimes, there is a catalyst for looking elsewhere. Could be machine tool compatibility with software, could be cost vs benefits of the software, could be change of company/company culture.

[JParis]

.... without giving away too much,  don't want to get anyone in hot water...

The loss of the multi-seat discount was the single biggest culprit in driving that maintenance quote.

Nearly 20% of it is attributed to that all alone.

[TSmcam]

.... without giving away too much,  don't want to get anyone in hot water...

The loss of the multi-seat discount was the single biggest culprit in driving that maintenance quote.

Nearly 20% of it is attributed to that all alone.

By multi seat discount, you mean if you have multiple licenses of Mastercam, you get a discount on Maintenance? I didn't even know that was such a thing with Mastercam. Of course, our reseller would never have given us that benefit...

[JParis]

By multi seat discount, you mean if you have multiple licenses of Mastercam, you get a discount on Maintenance? I didn't even know that was such a thing with Mastercam. Of course, our reseller would never have given us that benefit...

Yes.

When you bought a seat of Mastercamit cost XXXX.... you paid a percentage of that cost when paying maintenance.

When you bought another of the same seats,  you paid XXX the multi-seat discount got you a break on cost to buy. It also got you a break on maintenance as the maintenance cost for that seat was also calculated on the lower cost of the discounted seat....

So you bought and got a discount. When you kept maintenance you also got a discount.

A seats maintenance cost is now calculatedon the full cost of the seat.

[TSmcam]

Yes.

When you bought a seat of Mastercamit cost XXXX.... you paid a percentage of that cost when paying maintenance.

When you bought another of the same seats,  you paid XXX the multi-seat discount got you a break on cost to buy. It also got you a break on maintenance as the maintenance cost for that seat was also calculated on the lower cost of the discounted seat....

So you bought and got a discount. When you kept maintenance you also got a discount.

A seats maintenance cost is now calculatedon the full cost of the seat.

Ah. We only got a discount within something like two months if we an additional license. AFAIK there was no discount on maintenance. No surprises there. The same guy used to charge for demo discs... LOL

[Newbeeee™]

.... without giving away too much,  don't want to get anyone in hot water...

The loss of the multi-seat discount was the single biggest culprit in driving that maintenance quote.

Nearly 20% of it is attributed to that all alone.

I wonder if Gibbs/cimatron/vericut/icam etc (the rest of the SW stable) also has this newly implemented robbery....
Perhaps do a search using LinkyDin and see if there's any new recruits on the financial side which previously worked at Autodesk....

Oh...and someone has to pay for "their future"....well, hopefully it's better conceived than historic basics such as tool manager without a gauge line and the related lack of compatibility for importing between different versions etc....and i'll STFU regarding setup sheets....

https://www.manufacturingsolutions.sandvik/en/news-stories/news/2024/06/sandvik-launches-artificial-intelligence-copilot-in-cam-software-together-with-microsoft/

[gcode]

I didn't even know that was such a thing with Mastercam. Of course, our reseller would never have given us that benefit...

A multiseat discount on maintenance renewal has been around as long as there has been maintenance.
Either you weren't aware of it and your dealer didn't mention it, or he was keeping it for himself
and charging you the single seat price on every seat.

Eliminating that discount this year causes a 20 to 30% price increase for multiseat owners.
It's not a good look for new owners just sitting down in the captain's chair.

I have been cutting back on our Sandvik tool purchases where ever possible.
When my Sandivk rep calls wondering where the orders went, I'll let him know why.

I realize I'm just an old man shouting at clouds, but shout I must.

[JParis]

The bottom line and I said as much yesterday...existing customers are getting screwed over and hard. There is simply NO other explanation for it.

I had to admit to myself, my own bias in the whole thing...I have been with Mastercam in various ways for so many years that to me, even though it isn't my money, it feels personal.

and yes, the "subscription" word was mentioned as "possibility" to reduce cost...I didn't explore that any deeper

[gcode]

I had to admit to myself, my own bias in the whole thing...I have been with Mastercam in various ways for so many years that to me, even though it isn't my money, it feels personal.

Ditto.. I've been using Mastercam since the mid 90's and owned a seat since 1989 and I feel the same way.
I was embarrassed bringing this year's quote to my boss, but he just signed it and never said a word.

[JParis]

Ditto.. I've been using Mastercam since the mid 90's and owned a seat since 1989 and I feel the same way.
I was embarrassed bring this year's quote to my boss, but he just signed it and never said a word.

Yup, brought it to my boss, noted my own personal inclination, said to me, "we're a XXX million dollar company, if a bill of that size is a problem, we have bigger problems"...I submitted it, I will address the cost only if asked.

I was upfront as we bought more that our maintenance would be going up...no one though expects to nearly double.