Fed up with HSMWorks

[Anonymous]

I am one of the unfortunate ones who paid $10k for it when it was owned by HSMWorks before it was bought out.  I used to have a dongle license and it worked great.

After Autodesk bought it, I was switched to a network license and the insipid network license manager.  It never worked right on our server because it had issues with the Rockwell license server that was already present....somehow they use some of the same stuff and it completely scrambled.

So support put the license server on my local PC.  It works sometimes...  But when I reboot, it the HSMWorks license cannot be found.  In addition, Solidworks now takes 5 minutes or more to boot, hanging on HSMWorks....probably because of the license manager.

So I paid 10k for something I CANNOT USE.  I have asked repeatedly to be switched to a single seat license, and all they want to do is jerk around trying to get the stupid license manager working...  I'm done with it man!!  I need to make parts, not be an IT guy.

I don't feel that HSMWorks is being updated enough either...  I pay like $1,600 a year for "subscription"... subscription to what?  I see all kinds of refinements for Fusion and Inventor, even probe stuff... Solidworks?  Dusty same old stuff, and a busted license manager.

I am 99% ready to jump ship here guys!!  Extremely unhappy!

[al.whatmough]

Please PM me.  I will do what I can to help you sort this out.

[Anonymous]

Thanks Al, I will.

One other thing I'd like to bring to light...

I bought HSMWorks for $10k and pay the maint ever year...  Now that Autodesk is switching to subscription and away from perpetual / maintenance, that leaves us who bought an "asset" with nothing in a sense!!  It's known that Autodesk is going to increase the price of maintenance and tighten that screw to to the point it forces everyone onto subscription....I just talked with an Autodesk rep about this...  It's maddening!

I like the price for HSMWorks subscription that actually comes with Inventor and Fusion 360 w/ HSM...  Kind of cool really...  I do not like the fact that I just rolled up $10k and smoked it...

So, that being said, is there ANYTHING that can be done for the folks who bought HSMWorks (pre Autodesk) believing in the product and company, then having the rug pulled out??  Leaving a lot of guys who paid big money for a product out in the cold if nothing can be done!  I'd switch products in a heartbeat if we can't see some kind of loyalty break or something?  

2 years subscription no charge would be a great start.

[al.whatmough]

I can see your frustration with the business model change.

Let me do some digging into what can be done for users wanting to move from perpetual license to subscription.

I think there are some offers in the works.  I am not completely sure of the details yet.

[Laurens-3DTechDraw]

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@al.whatmough wrote:

I can see your frustration with the business model change.

Let me do some digging into what can be done for users wanting to move from perpetual license to subscription.

I think there are some offers in the works.  I am not completely sure of the details yet.

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If you trade in your perpetual you get a discount. That discount can be 3 years long(The longest subscription license) and would cause the subscription to be cheaper than the maintenance. (That's what they say)

The problem, with this, is that "you will continue to receive a discount" also after those 3 years is totally unclear. 

We should just get a trade in your perpetual license and receive 50% off for the next 7 years kind of clarity.

They try to force you into it by making you scared with increasing the maintenance fee but they should just be fully open on how many discount you get, for how long and how they will increase the maintenance because with this communication nightmare the user can't make a good choice.

Find the forum for this transition here: https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/moving-to-subscription/bd-p/2017

[Anonymous]

Why would you give up a perpetual seat for subscription? Why would any seat holder even consider this? If you are unhappy now think of the satisfaction your subscription future will bring when things don't work right. You will have to pay no matter what just to keep working and they have not laid out future costs and set it in stone. With a permanent seat you can work for years without spending another dime while you seek out a viable alternative, if you wish to, and make life work for you and not you for it.

  As far as I am concerned any reasonable expectation of you being treated like a valued customer has been subsumed into a paradigm where all you are is a source of ever increasing cash and paying what they ask because you have become a data hostage. Look the guys from Autodesk are on record as saying they have done this to enhance the income derived from each customer. Not that they are giving you more for more money but rather locking you into a forced pay to play. It becomes just that if you agree to enter into this dark world.

  Al here is an offer to keep me as a customer. Treat me like you guys did when I first came here with perpetual seats and no 35% price increase in three years. I should not have come here today as I just get mad over all this. Picture Dave walking out the exit door when this years maintenance is up and I won't be by myself.

[Anonymous]

Don't feel so bad. Before I discovered HSM inventor I paid 18,000 for mastercam. Now my mastercam dongle has a coat of dust on it because I like HSM so much better. 

[Anonymous]

Hegemann38 - price for the Mastercam dongle?

I feel that my investment into an asset has just vaporized. Bait and switch.

[Anonymous]

I've had enough.... I had been given a link in my "Autodesk" account to download a standalone HSMWorks 2018... So I uninstalled my "network server" version and installed this... and low and behold IT DOESNT WORK!!!!!!!!!!!!  Now I have no HSMWorks yet again!!!  So awesome!!  So awesome I just bought a brand new $130k machine that now I can't use until I spend hours on the phone again getting this stupid license crap resolved.

Oh and by the way, Inventor HSM 2018 license doesn't work either.  Fusion does...whoppeee - why would I ever use that crap??  I am a Solidworks guy, I bought HSMWorks because it was CAM for Solidworks, and now I am getting Autodesk shoved in my ass...  I don't want Autodesk - I DON"T WANT IT.  I despise AutoCAD, and I don't care for your Inventor or Fusion.... Which is WHY I USE SOLIDWORKS.... But we have been **** on, and continue to get **** on, by huge corporate Autodesk.

I'd absolutely LOVE to see a class action against Autodesk for making our HSMWorks perpetual license vaporize.  That should be illegal, and I think you should get sued for doing it.

I am moving on starting Monday.  I can't stand another second of this.

[jeff.pek]

Sorry for the frustrations. We have seen some problems on the licensing side, unfortunately. I'm sure these problems are solvable.

It would start with a closer understanding of what you're seeing.

If you want to make a try at resolving the issues inside HSMWorks, please PM me your serial number, along with what, exactly, you're seeing when you try to activate.

Jeff

[Anonymous]

Hi Irobotix,

  Recently  was real unhappy over some things and  did not take Jeff seriously. Figured he was a corporate guy with insider lingo and answers for problems that were also not solutions but evasions. With a better understanding of things now I think he is one of the genuine answer guys and he wants to get answers. Same for Al although Al has never been a corporate speak guy. The problem is over their pay grade and they are having to deal with decisions made that are negatively affecting us in many ways. If you have the patience to slog through it with them they will over time solve the problem.

Do you have a perpetual license. Can't you revert back to the last known good version? As long as you are current on maintenance I believe that you can get a second home use license and that could allow you to try the new stuff out without sacrificing your production box.

  I am with you. I came here for HSM only and going on three years later I leave barking dog Inventor as a parts placer for HSM only and use Solid Edge for all modeling. I can't stand the pain of trying to work with Inventor when I know how easy things can be in Solid Edge. Just renewed with SE for two years but can't see that happening here at this rate. If you leave where are you going?

  Autodesk does not have the urgency you do to solve the problem. Their people get paid irregardless of whether their product works well for customers. So when problems arise it can take some time to fix them. For the guy whose house payment and insurance and mill payments depend on steady reliable daily output to profit, problems are immediate income threats. This is true in most cases and then it becomes important for us, the customer whose income depends on our software choice, to find a company that has an existing and proven program to work with and a record of stable corporate policies that have not changed over time. And where change does not appear to be forthcoming either. I don't think Autodesk qualifies in this important area any more. I no longer regard promises from companies like Autodesk as a part of my life and only look at what can be reliably done TODAY with my purchase. No more we are working on it and upcoming super exciting things carrots. What can you do today with the current level of software is the only real metric to go by. I kind of pity the good guys like Al and Jeff who have to work under people who have radically different goals than our customer satisfaction and bullet proof reliable software that just works all the time and does so very well. 

[lenny_1962]

@Anonymous

We have network and I have installed the standalone version when our network has crapped out so I can keep on programming.

one for the standalone do you have the correct numbers for your AD account? like in my pic.

you also have to reinstall the software, I know Pain in the ...., but thats how it is now.

you need to pick the left box for standalone and put those numbers in. bam works every time.

I know your at your last straw, was on that a couple of time myself but this software just flows so easy in SW, SolidCam and CAMWorks are ok but, MasterCam not a fan, would rather run surfcam traditional than master.