Difficulties upgrading to latest version of SocialEngine PHP

    • Moderator
    • 6923 posts
    September 29, 2017 2:12 PM EDT

    Keep in mind that there were reseller agreements in place before the current owners purchase SE. The reseller program was halted a year or two ago but those old resellers still have their licenses and original agreement still stays due to the extremely low price they paid for our product. We are working on a solution for these sort of clients but we are a business and do need to also cover our bottom line if we want to invest in R & D and for everyone to have a great product. We are still honoring those license purchases from those resellers. 

    Note that our support is a minimal fee. It doesn't actually earn much at all at the price it is now. The resellers got a substantial discount for them to provide support for any clients they sell to. 

    Again, we are looking at a solution for old resellers which can have various outcomes for those resellers that may not be providing the support they agreed to provide. We want all of our clients happy. Please, gs,  don't rake us over the coals for agreements that were in place well before the current ownership took possession of the company. 

    Note also that part of the old agreement (and any future reseller agreement) is the agreement to tell clients about support, who they are to contact for support, etc. That was all supposed to be crystal clear to clients purchasing from resellers. 

    • Moderator
    • 6923 posts
    September 29, 2017 2:15 PM EDT
    RebeccaH said:

    Donna and GS, appreciate both of your replies. I did not understand at the time of purchase of SE from FastComet that I would not be able to contact SE directly for support. I thought I was simply buying the same product at a discount through FastComet because I'd signed up for their hosting package and getting SE at a discount was one of the "perks" of doing business with FastComet. It's entirely possible that there was something about support in the fine print, but it wasn't something that was on my radar when the owner of the company and I made the decision to move forward with the purchase. While FastComet has done an exceptional job of hosting our website and helping with many support issues, several inquiries about the details of SE's function have led to the answer that they are a hosting company, and cannot help with website development/theme issues. This has been frustrating, because this is an area where I definitely need some help. I may contact FastComet one more time on the issues I've outlined in this thread. As a customer, I would have really appreciated knowing in no uncertain terms that I would not be able to purchase SE's support at any time in the future once I purchased the license from FastComet. Like GS said, that fact is a very important one when it comes to making a purchasing decision.

    Donna, Kyle Neal from SE contacted me on 09/25 to say that SE would not be able to help because I bought my license through FastComet. I replied to him on 09/27 and have not yet heard back from him. I would really appreciate it if SE could review this case and see if there's a way they could help me.

    Thanks much!

    Rebecca

    P.S. I believe FastComet techs told me at one point that because we were outside of the 60-day purchase window, I/they could no longer contact SE for support. Is this true? Because I thought that SE offered paid support options on an as-needed basis after the 60-day period was up? How does this work out with the reseller policy?

    Please contact our support. I believe Kyle is still working with you in your ticket. Resellers are responsible for all support according to the agreements they had back then (before our company was bought by the new owners a few years ago). We no longer have that program but we honor the original contract at this time. 

    • 49 posts
    September 29, 2017 2:19 PM EDT

    Donna, thanks for your replies! I will give Kyle a couple more days to get back to me, and then if I haven't heard from him by Monday or Tuesday, shoot him and/or SE Support a quick reminder email. Thanks for your help! - Rebecca

    • Moderator
    • 6923 posts
    September 29, 2017 2:22 PM EDT
    RebeccaH said:

    Donna, thanks for your replies! I will give Kyle a couple more days to get back to me, and then if I haven't heard from him by Monday or Tuesday, shoot him and/or SE Support a quick reminder email. Thanks for your help! - Rebecca

    No problem Rebecca. I think he might be trying to contact Fast Comet to get you assistance but I will ask him. I haven't checked the ticket recently (other than this morning).

  • gs
    • 857 posts
    September 29, 2017 2:38 PM EDT

    ==>"Please, gs,  don't rake us over the coals for agreements that were in place well before the current ownership took possession of the company. "

    My apologies, but that information was not stated prior to any of my posts (except this one of course), thus I was in no way addressing the issue of old ownership or prior contracts.  But if current ownership wants to not support something they should clearly state such, since many businesses do this (especially when the previous product/business wasn't as good as the current product/business).

     

    ==>"Note also that part of the old agreement (and any future reseller agreement) is the agreement to tell clients about support, who they are to contact for support, etc. That was all supposed to be crystal clear to clients purchasing from resellers. "

    Here though I am now addressing the current ownership and current reseller agreements (since 'and any future reseller agreement'):  This still does not justify or explain why SE hides this critical information from Clients.  Informing a Client that 'well, they were supposed to tell you that' is unfair to the Client.  In addition, even if a reseller stated something like 'we'll provide support since you purchased from us', I doubt that anyone would take that to mean 'you must forever come to us for SE Support because SE will never ever support your product even if you are willing to pay them'.

     

    ==>"Note that our support is a minimal fee. It doesn't actually earn much at all at the price it is now. The resellers got a substantial discount for them to provide support for any clients they sell to. "

    - I can almost accept (but again, a Client should still be informed of this prior to purchasing) that the initial 'included' support is to be from the Reseller, but I can't see how SE feels it's ok to divorce themselves from a client willing to pay for support regardless of the substantial discount the Reseller received.  What's that got to do with the Client not knowing their purchase will never be supported by SE?  Again, that's an agreement between SE and Reseller - the Client doesn't have any clue what they're NOT getting in this case, or forever will not get.

    - To SE maybe $50/month, $600/year is minimal, but to me (and I might be alone) it's quite a bit for support (especially when compared to the price of SE), considering it only covers primarily SE (not 3PDs or server configuration changes, etc.) and little else.   

     

    I apologize if I'm coming across as 'raking'.  That is not my intent.  My intent is to learn of how SE operates, how they support THEIR client (regardless of who purchases) and educate myself (and others) so better decisions could be made by many.  Until a business steps up to handle all aspects of supporting SE (SE products, 3PDs products, hosting environment), there most likely will be finger-pointing between businesses.  That management would be worth $50/month to me - as an addon to a non-managed hosting plan (since that's a variable cost based on site needs).

    • Moderator
    • 6923 posts
    September 29, 2017 2:44 PM EDT

    In all reseller situations, it is up to the reseller to provide information regarding support and any other pertinent information as they legally assume that responsibility. We do not know of a breach of contract until it is brought up like this in our system. Note that there aren't any current new agreements with the new owners since it was suspended back when they bought it in order to rework it. The intent has been to bring it back but with better agreements for all involved. 

    We are working to resolve this as mentioned. Please allow us that time. Remember, our owners are super nice people. They are always, always trying to do their and our best for everyone. We will find a way to do that with these old reseller issues.

  • gs
    • 857 posts
    September 29, 2017 2:46 PM EDT

    ==>"Remember, our owners are super nice people. They are always, always trying to do their and our best for everyone. "

    Yes, and it's noted, noticed, and appreciated.  This is a large part of why I've remain hopeful 

    • 49 posts
    September 29, 2017 3:21 PM EDT

    Update: I just received a very nice email back from Kyle with SE Support, and he and the team are currently working with FastComet to get these issues resolved. I really appreciate his and Donna's concern for customer satisfaction!

    GS, again, thank you for your help and for facilitating this conversation.

    I'm optimistic that we'll get these issues resolved and will look forward to posting the outcome here once that happens!

  • gs
    • 857 posts
    September 29, 2017 3:34 PM EDT

    Yay!! I figured SE would step up, even in this difficult situation.  This newer ownership has made a huge improvement in both the product and operations.  I personally use FastComet but have read excellent reviews about Cazaratech as well.  Glad you're on your way  Thanks to Donna, Kyle, and the rest of the SE Team for helping out another Client (and one who seems to be kind, polite, and patient).

    • Moderator
    • 6923 posts
    September 30, 2017 5:38 AM EDT

    Good to hear it RebeccaH. Our pleasure gs.

    • 49 posts
    December 29, 2017 8:42 PM EST

    Wanted to provide a final update for this discussion. After speaking with Kyle at SocialEngine, it became apparent that I needed a web developer to help with the issues I was facing on the site. Thanks to gs's recommendation and Aaral from SocialEngineSolutions contacting me directly, we hired SES to install their responsive SpectroMedia theme and customize it for our site. I could not be happier with the results!

    SocialEngineSolutions' stated goal is to provide "legendary support," and in my experience, they live up to this claim! I have found their prices to be quite reasonable, and the two staff members with whom I've dealt have been professional, courteous, and helpful. Support tickets are answered in a timely manner. I am a fan of both the SpectroMedia Theme and the work that SES did to customize it. One very happy customer here!

    • Moderator
    • 6923 posts
    December 30, 2017 9:34 AM EST

    That's great to hear that you have it resolved.

  • gs
    • 857 posts
    December 30, 2017 10:10 PM EST

    So glad to hear it worked out, and SES was able to implement their incredible and totally responsive SpectroMedia Theme for you with customization.  As you mentioned, their support response time is very quick too.