Xara Auto Renew problems

[Daniel]

In Xara's defence, the subscription support and response time is excellent. Anyone contacting them to ask to change their subscription would get a reply within single-digit numbers of working hours, and quite likely, before that.

Other subscription services I can think of: Dropbox, Spotify, Microsoft 365, Xero, Sipgate, Google One, Backblaze and Amazon Prime - you could cancel any of them, keep using them until the end of your prepaid period, and then renew month to month.

Dropbox, Microsoft 365, Google One, Backblaze and Amazon Prime all have automatically renewing annual billing - which you could cancel - and then keep using until the end of your term, and then let your account close or switch to monthly billing. Xara really is following common standard practice.

Acorn - it's four activations per user licence - I have XDP+ on my PC and Mac desktops, and my PC and Mac laptops, all using my user on my Scale subscription. There are two other users on my organisation account, they use their own computers. It's insane value for money.

[Acorn]

It's insane value for money.

+1

Acorn

[handrawn]

yeh, right... of course xara is exceptional value for money, if it does what you want; insane is just hyperbole

but with , for example, prime or office, I can switch to monthly and manage my account online without having to waste time contacting the company

now that is common standard practice - in the case of xara it is at best only part way there

[Acorn]

yeh, right... of course xara is exceptional value for money, if it does what you want; insane is just hyperbole
but with , for example, prime or office, I can switch to monthly and manage my account online without having to waste time contacting the company
now that is common standard practice - in the case of xara it is at best only part way there

handrawn, there is a defined Cancel Subscription section.
I cited https://helpandsupport.xara.com/xara...scription.html.
It is five mouse clicks to get there but it is there and works.

The OP issue was not realising his subscription renewal was due.
If it was a day early then that would be the reason to complain but Xara rectified the problem in less than a day.

The only issue I can see is a UI one where a whole paragraph< with the greater than sign, is a click link.
It does not appear elsewhere in the 'workspaces' site and would be better replaced with an underlinked text link.

Acorn

[handrawn]

acorn - matt made a big play of how xara does things 'common standard practice' way - common standard practice, as I see it, is to make it dead easy to get to the point wher you can manage your account, and then let you manage it: switch between annual/monthly online. whatever, online - xara does neither of these two things; amazon and MS do

this thread has moved on from the OP issue perhaps - but we are here to have discussions, or has that changed.. in which case I see no reason to stay

[Acorn]

Sorry handrawn, it is pedantry to say Xara does not do these things.
The logic being followed is if you ask for an annual subscription you can cancel at any time but the subscription runs to the end, whereupon there is no renewal.
Ditto monthly.

At expiry, you are free to chose what to do.
If you have not cancelled it will continue.

So, in the case of monthly, if you wanted alternate months you would have to pay for a month and immediately cancel. Wait a fallow month and repeat.

There is no calling up Xara and you are still exercising complete freedom of choice.

On an annual subscription, if you wanted to cancel after three months then you would have to get Xara to exceptionally agree this so it could reapply the monthly rate to those months used to work out if a rebate was applicable. There would be no rebate if you used the product for 9 months or longer.

All of the points raised by the OP, you and Chris M have been answered.

Acorn

[handrawn]

no need to be sorry