Autodesk recommends I save data locally "just to be safe"?

[chris7XW6D]

I just got off a chat with support where I was told I should backup my data locally to ensure it won't be lost.  This leads me to be unsure whether my data is safe on the Autodesk servers or not.  Sounds like Autodesk expects me to be backing up all of my files locally, which is probably a good idea anyway out of distrust for Autodesk processes... I just didn't expect Autodesk to tell me this.  Should I be backing up each file locally every time I make changes?  If that was the case, I'd rather find a product that just worked locally in the first place.

Can someone from Autodesk confirm this is the expected procedure?

More details for those interested:

I recently received an email stating my subscription for Fusion 360 could not renew because my card was declined.  The card on file had been replaced some time ago.   I promptly updated the payment information, a process of jumping through hoops between the Autodesk servers and the Digital River servers where subscriptions are managed.  It was a less than smooth process which ended with me unsure if the subscript was renewed or not.  The Autodesk website said the next renew date was next year but I hadn't received a charge.  So I contacted support to verify.

After trouble (even for Huy, my support agent) figuring out what was going on with Digital River, my chat looks like this...

Huy N (10/9/2020, 12:33:20 PM): Let me call them, please give me a moment
Huy N (10/9/2020, 12:37:55 PM): They informed the system will attempt again on Monday the 12th.
Huy N (10/9/2020, 12:38:18 PM): We will need to wait until then. If it is successful, you should receive an order confirmation email again.
Me (10/9/2020, 12:38:43 PM): To confirm... my account and data are secure still in Fusion?
Me (10/9/2020, 12:39:29 PM): There isn't going to be some error that results in everything being deleted because your systems can't communicate correctly with Digital River?
Huy N (10/9/2020, 12:40:42 PM): Your data will still be there although I recommend to save it locally just in case. If it fails to charge you and expire, you will just need to purchase a new subscription.
Me (10/9/2020, 12:41:39 PM): "Save it locally just in case". That's not a good answer.
Me (10/9/2020, 12:42:08 PM): There is a lot of data. You want me to go through and manually save each file to a local cache because of bugs in your systems?
Huy N (10/9/2020, 12:42:31 PM): That is up to you as it's a backup suggestion.
Me (10/9/2020, 12:42:57 PM): In general do you recommend users to backup their data locally because it is at risk in your systems?
Huy N (10/9/2020, 12:43:27 PM): In your situation, its a payment issue that affects the licensing/access.
Me (10/9/2020, 12:43:41 PM): It is a payment issue on your side, not mine.
Me (10/9/2020, 12:44:25 PM): Can someone give me a call so I can make sure this data is safe?

Huy then simply told me he will try and have someone call me but basically he knows nothing about Fusion 360 so I'd need to contact technical support.  So, here I am, not sure if the Autodesk servers will just decide to delete my data because Digital River says my subscription isn't renewed, even though the payment info was updated days ago.

[ryan.bales · Accepted solution]

There are few reasons or causes for concern on this, and your credit card information and subscription renewal failure isn't really one of them. More often than not the concern here is that you might renew with a different account or email -then change to your old email. Which DOES seem to cause some issues - which can be sorted out by the data team. This can take a while to investigate and sort out which would leave you without access to your data.

I've not once had or heard of that team failing to correct an issue or lose data. Backing up your data would be completely irrelevant here as even if your subscription lapsed, the account is still a 'valid' account and your data is your data. Access and use in Fusion would be limited to your license type - obviously. But in short no, a failed payment doesn't mean your data is deleted. That team(very different from the product support team) instructs users to do that as a safety measure - something we asked them to do as a 'just in case' for extreme cases. 

@charegbcan clarify anything i've left off here. 

[chris7XW6D]

Thanks for the clarification Ryan.  That makes a lot more sense.

[prichas]

Sorry for the confusion.  I wanted to chime in and confirm that Ryan is correct.  We do not delete data if a user experiences any issues with their subscription.