Licensing policy
We are just trying to lower the barrier to entry for new customers and offer a subscription model for those who want to be ensured the latest version of everything at a fixed annual cost. This doesn't affect users who already own the product, since you still have what you paid for when you purchased the extensions. 
There comes a point where a company becomes successful enough to risk crapping on it's customer base and I feel that's where WA are right now.
I suspect that a very large percentage of WebAssist customers are small businesses, struggling to make a buck. I hesitated for over a year before buying the tools I wanted. Of course, it goes without saying that cash flow is a major issue for most small businesses, hence my hesitation before making the investment. I don't give two hoots whether I OWN the product or LEASE the product, what I care about is my cash flow, and if I had been offered the choice of a subscription there is no question whether I would choose to lease.
But, having taken the plunge I spent around $800 just 6 months ago, and now the only thing I am being offered is a small discount to upgrade to the subscription. I nearly fell off my chair when I first saw this and have now used the website feedback form 3 times to express my views and ask questions, with no reply.
I would have expected a very special offer for existing product owners, something like the first year of fees waived. I feel that the return on that investment would have generated close to 100% of take-up from existing customers and would have started to pay off massively in year 2 onwards. Meanwhile, the new customers are getting a great deal and would have signed up anyway. So, by making this gesture everyone would have been happy, I wouldn't be sitting here typing this, and WA would have quite likely done better out of the deal.
As a businessman I understand that the subscription model is far more interesting to WA and it's new customers, but alienating the existing customer base in the process of introducing it is unnecessary.
This takes me back to my original point. "There comes a point where a company becomes successful enough to risk crapping on its customer base and I feel that's where WA are right now." Enough said.
I rarely take the time to write in Forums, but this is my 3rd post to the WA forums in the last 24 hours. I'm loving the tools themsleves but my view of WA is now tainted and I am rapidly losing trust in the company.
I'd like to say: this is just my opinion, and I'm perfectly entitled to it.
