SolidWorks Backpedals on Penalties

From an anonymous source:

Dear SolidWorks Reseller,

This note is to inform you that we will not implement the new Subscription start date or late fee increases which were scheduled to be effective on October 15, 2008. Based on feedback we received from you, our field sales team, and our customers over the past several weeks, we will review our overall Subscription policies to ensure that we remain easy to do business with and provide the best value for all of our customers.

Appended to this email is a letter to send to those customers who you feel should be informed of this information.

Together, we are dedicated to providing even more value and earning even higher levels of satisfaction from all of our customers worldwide. Further, we will always welcome non-Subscription customers back to our community any time at an affordable price. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Paul Mazur, your Regional Subscription Manager, or myself.

Thank you,

Rich Welch
Vice President, Customer Services
Dassault Systèmes SolidWorks Corp.

And here is the appended email:

Dear SolidWorks Customer,

This note is to clear up any confusion over SolidWorks Subscription policy changes that, if they had been implemented, would have affected a very small percentage of SolidWorks users. It is also to assure you that subscription prices are absolutely not increasing. The subscription price has been constant since our inception and will remain so for the foreseeable future.

We understand that you need to focus on designing better products and improving your business performance, not worrying about software tools or subscription terms.

You may have heard of plans to increase a fee for late subscription payments (and late payments only). Based on valuable input from customers and resellers over the past few weeks, we have decided not to implement these changes. Instead, we are carefully weighing this input and reviewing our overall subscription policies. We have two imperatives in this review: 1) to remain easy for you to do business with and 2) to ensure you receive the best value for your investment. This means that you will continue to gain value from our subscription offerings, and non-subscription customers can rejoin our community any time at an affordable price.

Nothing is more important to us than our relationship with you. We’re pleased that your overall satisfaction with our support services and value added-resellers continues to increase and has never been higher, according to our annual independent satisfaction survey of nearly 10,000 customers conducted in July. Although the ratings are good they need to be better, and we will continue to provide better performance, value, and quality throughout our entire product suite and services.

If you have any questions or concerns about Subscriptions or our products in general, please call your local reseller, or send email to me (rwelch@solidworks.com) or Paul Mazur (pmazur@solidworks.com) and we’ll be happy to respond.

Thank you,

Rich Welch
Vice President, Customer Service
Dassault Systèmes SolidWorks Corp.

Just so you know, I am sick of this topic. But it’s important, so I write.

Since the penalty didn’t really affect anyone, neither will this move.

Based on this reaction, do you think Mr. Welch understands anything that you have said in comments here and in other places on the net?

It is impressive that SW got off their collective ass and did something, but to me it’s a little surprising that it is so pointless.

Interestingly, all the resellers that have contacted me have said they hate this penalty. It is a PITA for them, and makes them look mean spirited to customers. So ironically, resellers are cheering this decision. Resellers have not been cheering the other recommendations we have made, but this much is a victory for them, and at least not a loss for us.

What do you think?