Is the current 60% sale a glitch?

davemacp

So everything seems to be 60% off at the moment including hardware. Is this a legit sale or a glitch?!

Reefius

That doesn't seem right.

Reefius

Prices are back to normal now. I wonder if people who ordered any hardware will actually receive it, or if purchased software licenses will be revoked.

holonology

I work in communications (and sometimes crisis comms), so maybe I can help ;)

I actually upgraded using the pricing. I was sat here happily on Komplete Standard, but I picked up Ultimate when I saw the price. Should I lose my licenses because of this mistake? I think that would leave a very bad taste in the mouth, regardless of where you stand on this one.

If I were NI, I would be careful how they respond to this. I'd send a message first thing tomorrow to explain the situation. I'd then directly apologies to HW customers that these orders cannot be fulfilled and cancel their order/refund immediatley. I'd send a second message reassuring SW buyers who are now wondering if their licenses will be honoured, that they will be honoured. SugarBytes had a similar issue when Sweetwater put their entire bundle of products on sale for $69 (which is worth $359.) They honoured those deals, so... there is a previous use case there.

CPM101

I upgraded to traktor pro plus and saw the prices, so bought some new gear, assuming it was a promotion.

Why should you keep your upgrade, but me not get my new gear, they either honour the mistake or they don't.

If they don't honour the HW sales, then your licence should be refunded and reverted back and I will carry on using my old gear, no bad taste.

If it's good for one then it's good for the other.

Q_X

Well my view is legally, the software downloads have now been given and money taken so that is done.

For hardware purchases, then they not bound to it based on their own terms and conditions and contract of sale. Would be great if they honour the sales but guess it depends on their P&L exposure and what inventory plans are. May be an opportunity for good will social story and getting rid of inventory.

holonology

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/91968#Comment_91968

Agreed. NI could use some positive will. It shouldn't come to giving stuff away, but broadly I'm with you here.

CPM101

I disagree.

If the price was incorrect, they are perfectly entitled to downgrade your licence back to its original one and refund it.

Makes no odds if it's a physical item or an electronic one legally, same as you can return it to them for a refund and they have to refund you.

I saved around £200 on what I bought as I didn't go mad or take the Mick.

Imagine not keeping that, but someone who saved 800 on komplete can..

Should be the same rules, all keep, or all loose.

NB, I'm not bothered, I will carry on using my old gear, was an impulse, but to say I don't get to keep it just isn't cricket.

holonology

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/91961#Comment_91961

I do hear your point. But simply because as @Q_X says there is a legal difference between HW and SW. It is my understanding that SW is typically non-refundable in both directions. HW is different as there is a process of payment authorisation, stock release etc to go through once an order has been placed. If the payments for HW are on hold or have not been fulfilled (which they aren't until a physical product leaves the warehouse) then NI can say they made a mistake and do not have to fulfill them.

Some people might have been idly browsing online, completely unaware of all this and bought into NI without knowledge of "typical" sales and sales cycles for certain products as you point out. At the time of my purchase I thought wow - this must be one of those firesale "secret" sales and therefore totally legit. Many VI makers products frequently go up/down in price, so this one seemed completely normal. Where I completely agree with you is that this is about building and maintaining good will having made a mistake, so how they act next is extremely important. And naturally as a fan of the company, I hope this can be solved in a way that works for all parties.

JesterMgee

SW is refundable because it is tied to a license so both HW and SW have the same rules applied.

Usually a company (large) will simply honor the error and allow the user to keep the software they purchased because it is more to the company to have a happy user than someone fuming about a mistake.

However, it is also perfectly reasonable a transaction can be reversed, in the same way it can if the product fails to meet the specifications. Same if you happen to purchase something in-store and the operator makes an accident at the checkout when processing the sale. They can void the sale and reprocess. As a customer if you were charged $1000 for a $100 product you would demand it, sellers have the same rights when it comes to an honest mistake but in most cases if the customer wins, companies won't bother making a fuss over a few $$$

Percivale

What did their sales policy [or fineprint] say. Once sold no refund? If so then was those discounted items deemed as sold? I didn't get any at any rate.

holonology

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/92029#Comment_92029

You can get a refund for any digital product for up to 14 days after purchase (I think this is a common "cooling off" law in most places.) However, some music SW makers stipulate a backdoor no-returns policy. The most notable example of this is 3rd party Kontakt libs. From one T&Cs, "You can ask for a full refund only if the product(s) have a technical issue." Meaning, you will not get your money back if you decide you don't like the library. This is technically not correct and some would say it's borderline anti-consumer, but it is how many small businesses operate, especially in the music SW space. Many SW makers also operate a fee to resell or ban resale entirely, which again means if you have a change of heart, it's tough luck. These policies make it difficult or even impossible to sell the SW. NI offers (I believe) a full money back guarantee, as is good and proper; along with free license transfers.

Kaiwan_NI

Hi everyone,

Thanks for bringing the issue to our attention. We had a temporary pricing error in our online shop from 3 am to 2:30 pm last Sunday, September 3. This error caused nearly all products to be discounted by over 60%. Once we became aware of the issue, we identified the root cause and made the necessary fix.

If you purchased software products during this timeframe, your order will remain unaffected. We recognize that these orders have already been fulfilled and we respect the fact that you may have already installed and used them in your projects. 

Unfortunately we cannot honor the prices on any hardware orders that were placed during this period. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience and disappointment this might cause. These orders will be cancelled and we have begun to issue the refunds. This may take a few days to arrive depending on your payment method. As a gesture of goodwill, we are offering all affected customers a 10% voucher for future hardware purchases which will be sent out via email today. We know a situation like this can be frustrating and we appreciate your understanding. Looking forward, we can assure you that we have adjusted our process to prevent such errors in the future. 

If you have any questions about your order, please reach out to our Customer Care team here: https://support.native-instruments.com/hc/sections/360000092537 I'll be closing this thread as the matter pertains to specific order details, which are best addressed by our dedicated support team.