EXPIRED AUTODESK MAINTENANCE - How many got this last night?

[The_Angry_Elf]

I got this email last night and to say the least, the first sentence really ticked me off.

"Hello Jim,

My records still indicate that you hold one or more licenses that are past 30 days expired and have accumulated late fees.  I would like to remind you that we are running a promotion until the end of the year to waive all late fees to help customers reinstate maintenance."

Is it just me or does anyone else read that first sentence and think they owe ADesk money?

I know my license has expired, my business is no longer open, but here's the kicker, people with VALID subscriptions have also gotten this email and our phones here are ringing off the hook with rather p.o.'ed customers yelling, thinking their subscription has expired and that they owe money. One client has an email where in the title and the body it clearly states his subscription expires in 07/2015 but he got this email and is livid with us...us, not even ADesk, who sent out this mass mailing from "Chris Felsher"...does "Chris" even exist? If he does, I'll bet his email is completely full with replies.

Hey ADesk, stop the scare tactics, proof read your mass mailings and stop creating trouble for your resellers!

[rkmcswain]

I have seen similar emails over the years that appear to come from "Autodesk", but in reality they are from some slimy reseller.

I'm not saying your email is not truly from Autodesk, just that people have to pay attention to what's going on in the Adsk world and not rely on these panic emails before they make a decision.

I *do* receive legit email from Autodesk regarding promotions, deadlines, etc., which I just ignore. These are pretty easy to spot that they are genuine Adsk emails.

Your complaint is spot on...

[DiModugno_AMT]

Received this email.

While my subscription is recently expired, I still felt that this canned email was a bit fishy.

I wonder how many actually went out from Chris Felsher?

[Anonymous]

I've gotten the email four times. I ignored the first one. I replied to the second:

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(me):

As far as I know, I am fully up to date on subscription. Can you provide additional information about which products have expired?

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The reply:

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Let me pull an asset report.  It is a strong possibility that my data is incorrect.

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I heard nothing for weeks. Then...

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Hello,

I am contacting you regarding your expired subscription contract. With Autodesk's major shift to a pure subscription based license model I am making sure you are fully aware of the impact this will have on your expired license(s). My records indicate you hold licenses which have been expired past 30 days...

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I ignored it again. Weeks later:

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Hello Aaron,

My records still indicate that you hold one or more licenses that are past 30 days expired and have accumulated late fees. I would like to remind you that we are running a promotion until the end of the year to waive all late fees to help customers reinstate maintenance..

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I too am "ticked off."

[The_Angry_Elf]

I think AutoDesk owes all of us an apology for these, as far as I see them, threatening and deceptive emails. I understand what they are attempting to do, but it is worded very poorly and frankly those who are current with their subscriptions should have been filtered out of this blast email.

[dgorsman]

Isn't that a little premature?  First, we need to identify the responsible party which may in fact be an overactive reseller rather than AutoDesk itself.  Having AutoDesk apologize for that does nothing.  Data gathering first, then analysis, then conclusion, and *then* corrective action.

[jessica.t]

Hi all,

Thank you all for your feedback regarding these emails. I completely understand your frustration and have been trying to track this down since yesterday. I'll do my best to make this right. Your patience is appreciated. 

Thanks for jumping in, @dgorsman! If you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask.

[jessica.t]

Hi all,

I contacted Chris Felsher in order to further investigate these emails. It turns out some bad data was pulled from the system that accidently included customers with active Subscriptions instead of all customers with expired contracts. This email was in fact intentional however, some customers were inadvertently included in the email blast.

Each recipient who wrongfully received this email will receive a follow up from Chris with further explanation and apology. As a whole, we apologize for this inconvenience and understand how upsetting this was. Please let me know if you have any further questions or concerns.

Thank you,