littlesophiaI'm sorry, but that's just plain wrong.
First, as a paying customer, I expect direct notification that my service has changed and how.
I first Purchased the Space Upgrade on June 1, 2008.
It was made clear at the time that this was the only way to host video ON WordPress.
No other option. No "test" period. No limited time offer.
Then, as you attest, Matt posts on "Just Another WordPress Blog" (Not very official sounding, is it?) "for those that helped us test it we have now extended a one-year free video upgrade." This was May 11, 2009.
This is in the middle of my Terms of Service, which didn't end till June.
This CHANGED what I paid for in the MIDDLE of my active service.
I WAS NOT notified that what I paid for no longer did what I was paying for.
A post on a blog does NOT count as notifying paying customers.
Think of how many services you use, home phone, cell, ISP, cable, water, electricity, gas, credit cards, bank loans, My Yahoo or Google, e-mail service, Facebook, twitter, campfire, wordpress, and on and on... Imagine having to check every single one of those companies, every single day, for possible blog posts that might, just maybe, indicate that a service you use has drastically changed. NO. It is the responsibility of those providing service to directly notify those served about any changes. You get the letters from the credit card companies all the time. "Our terms of service have changed..."
Direct. Individual. Notification.
BEFORE the change.
NOT, "oh, and by the way, we already changed the service..."
So, without direct notification, in June 2009, I renewed by Space Upgrade to continue uploading video. But I paid for a service that did not do what I was told it did when I initially bought it because the provider failed to properly represent the service at renewal- indicating how it had changed since I first subscribed to it.
I never said any users "were slugged with an extra $60 fee." You did.
I don't want WordPress to make a "press release."
That's as useless as Matt's after-the-fact blog post.
I want paying customers to be respected so that they are notified of upcoming changes BEFORE they happen. The changes are explained in detail, with specific dates that don't require someone else to use "in other words" to try and explain it. Those paying customers should then be given the option to continue using their service as paid till it expires (which WordPress did cover with the one year free VideoPress upgrade), or opt out and be refunded a pro-rated amount of their money. This way they do not pay for something that does not actually provide the service they were promised.
I'm dismayed that WordPress staff are still under the misguided belief that what has transpired is okay, right, or even legal. I'm dismayed that the proper treatment of PAYING customers isn't a higher priority than "fixing stuff."
This isn't a "finer point" that is "not well documented."
It's an inter-state binding financial transaction / agreement.
You CAN'T just go and change a paid service on a whim.
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