hi there,

I lost my eLicencer USB key recently and afer buying a new one that I regeistered on my VSL account I received this amazing feedback from the support department::

Generally, the most valuable part of our products is the license which is stored on the key. With eLicenser (owned by Steinberg / Yamaha), we don't have access to the licenses on the keys of our users, so we're not able to restore and/or transfer any lost or stolen license to a new key, or to block or remove licenses on a lost/stolen key. The problem with that is that whoever finds the key can use all your registered products without any restriction, if he also has access to the samples and software, e.g., from a friend, and with eLicenser's technology there's nothing we can do about it!

Basically every user is responsible for his keys and licenses himself, we're not obliged to replace any lost or stolen licenses or keys at all, like e.g. lost or stolen jewelry wouldn't be replaced unless it's insured.
I'm afraid this means that you will have to purchase new licenses if your key doesn't show up again.

This email suggests that VSL do not have any control on the eLicencer security process which I seriously doubt and by extention, this suggests also that if your USB key is lost, broken, defective or corrupted by any virus you will have to pay again to retreive your entire collection. Most of the major conpanies have implemented  ZERO DOWNTIME procedures to allow the users a permanent acces to what he paid for... Why not VSL?

I'm sharing this with you because it is someting that I would have to know before investing (I lost?) a lot of money.

Anyway, as was considering to buy a solo cello and this sad story led me to the Spitfire web site where I found an excelent ARTISAN CELLO that perfectly work without any unreliabe and outdated USB device.

I wonder if some of you expenrienced the same problem and if you have any idea how to go through this mess?

I own for about 1000€ of VSL products that I cannot obviouly buy again

Thanks for your support

Philippe

Originally Posted by: jasensmith

Yeah exactly!

Read this before buying and, while you're at it, read the other umteen thousand threads on this same topic before buying as well

I am scared too ; I have more than 10 000 € of VSL licenses !

I dont understand why VSL is not putting pressure on Steinberg so we can handle our licenses.

VSL is loosing clients.

There is a vey simple way to do it.

You store the License an the dongle number on your computer and on Steinberg site.

So if you lose you dongle you disable the license and the dongle you lost and you move your license to a new dongle. VSL has just to add a routine in VE and VI to check once a month if the dongle is still valid

The other solution is that VSL uses the App Store as protection

I read somewhere in this forum that the situation can be a bit compromised.

- If your Vienna Key is broken under the warranty, you can get replacement free of charge

- If your Vienna Key is broken without the warranty, you need to pay around 40 Euros (can't remember the exact figure) for each license you have, but not for the product price.

- If your Vienna Key is lost, you might get a small discount on your owned products. But yeah, you'll have to buy it again.

Vienna Key warranty lasts for 2 years, so you'll need to buy and transfer your licenses to the new one before it goes off. 

The way they compared Vienna Key with jewelry is ironically right. It is as valuable as jewelry for many people here. Even I disagree with this inconvenience but I believe that it is the reason why you could never find VSL softwares being cracked.

I can only hope that you'll get over this horrible situation soon and that it will never happen to anyone again, including myself.

Is there a way to backup the licenses on another eLicenser?

To the original poster....this was quite an eye opener.  I have both VSL and Eastwest libraries.  Last summer my Ilok stopped working.  I had to contact PACE to get a new key and have my licenses reactivated.  It took a couple of weeks but I was not out of all the money that I put into Eastwest.  I also have invested a few thousand dollars into VSL.  This seems to be a huge concern and more customers should be aware.  I simply cannot believe that a company that can produce such high quality sounds and the software to run it can't come up with a solution.  I know for myself, if my key is lost, I cannot afford to replace my products.  I will have to return to Eastwest and VSL will end up losing another costumer for good.  How should we as customers go about complaining?  Who should we collectively complain to other than voicing our dissatisfaction in this forum?

Originally Posted by: Acclarion

Is it corporate greed, arrogance, indifference, or some other reason that compels a company to essentially "stick it" to their customers?

Have they broken their contract with you? The contract you agreed to at the time of purchase? If you've changed your mind since then, aren't you free to sell your license to someone else? Greed would be if VSL forced you to buy their products against your will; so this doesn't look like greed to me. Please learn not to sign contracts you dislike; this should solve your feeling that companies are "sticking it to you". When you buy a product, you don't get a slave you can order around; you only get what was in the agreement.

VSL could add value to their products by adding insurance against lost/stolen keys.

VSL could offer insurance as an option. The cost of the insurance could be passed on to customers: Customers who want the insurance pay for the insurance; customers who don't want to pay for the insurance don't get the insurance.