Fogbugz goes darkish | Profitable Software program

At this time I obtained an e-mail titled ‘Your Manuscript Account Steadiness’ which mentioned:

Your Manuscript account is now in arrears within the quantity of $31.25.

Use this hyperlink to specify a bank card in your account and we'll use it to settle your steadiness:

https://****.fogbugz.com/default.asp?pg=pgEditCC

You'll be able to prepay for a yr prematurely utilizing a examine, company buy order, or bank card:

https://store.fogbugz.com/FogBugz/?sCategory=prepayfb&nUsers=0&ixOrderCoveredBySupport=*****

Thanks,

FogBugz Buyer Success
[email protected]

Fogbugz was a web-based bugtracker developed by the a lot revered Fog Creek Software program. They offered it some years in the past when their firm headed off into the stratosphere (Stackoverflow, Trello and so forth). I believe I may need had a free Fogbugz account 10+ years in the past. I requested round on Twitter and fairly a number of individuals appear to have obtained the very same e-mail. It seems that:

• The venerable FogBugz software was not too long ago offered on to https://ignitetech.com and they seem like attempting to demand cash from anybody who ever used FogBugz. Which is prone to be 1000’s of individuals.
• IgniteTech describe themselves as “The place software program goes to reside”, however “The place software program goes to die” could be a greater description.
• FogBugz was renamed to ‘Manuscript’ in some unspecified time in the future.

I attempted replying to the e-mail, telling them in no unsure phrases that they weren’t going to get a penny from me. That is the reply I obtained:

Hello, 

In an effort to supply a greater expertise to our current clients, we're consolidating our e-mail assist channel into our Assist-Middle. 

In case you want technical assist for FogBugz it is possible for you to to submit a case from our 'FogBugz Help Web page'. 

Replies made to this mailbox are routed to an unsupervised mailbox. 

Please don't reply to this message. 

Thanks, FogBugz Help Group

It’s unhappy to see somebody utilizing darkish enterprise practices to attempt to wring a few cents from the corpse of a as soon as much-respected product. Does Joel Spolsky know? I don’t assume he’d be impressed.

** Replace 24-Sep-2022 **

I obtained this e-mail late on the twenty second:

Expensive FogBugz Consumer,

Mea culpa — sincerely.

We’ve turn into nicely conscious of the maelstrom of concern and feedback attributable to a sequence of emails that a few of you acquired, however to elucidate, we had been simply as stunned as you when a number of emails had been despatched. Our unique and solely meant e-mail, which was managed by people, was to tell you that the “free,” non-expiring model of FogBugz is being phased out on October 17, 2022. Moreover, we needed to give you the choice to proceed utilizing FogBugz by updating your account to a paid subscription. This was all the, deliberate effort.

Nevertheless, as soon as we up to date the accounts that had been recognized as free and non-expiring within the inner FogBugz accounting system, the software program routinely generated a type e-mail, notifying you that we had summarily transformed you to a paid account, and worse, truly triggering assortment/dunning notices to some. This was unintended and isn't correct. Sure, we’ve owned the software program for a while and will know the entire nooks and crannies by now. We don’t know if this was a nook or a cranny, however it determined to behave by itself. Reality. It’s embarrassing, and we’d react the identical means as a lot of you have got. So this e-mail is to set the report straight.

We don't routinely cost any buyer for utilization of the software program until a subscription has been expressly elected, regardless of what the faulty auto-email acknowledged.

Right here’s what it's essential to know:

    All free subscriptions for FogBugz will expire on Oct. 17, 2022. In case your FogBugz subscription has already expired, and you do not need to proceed utilizing FogBugz, you don’t must take any additional motion. Your knowledge will probably be deleted from the system; you'll not be billed and you'll obtain no additional emails from both the nook or the cranny.

    In case you had been erroneously charged as a result of your free account nonetheless had your bank card on file (e.g. some customers had been on paid accounts and had downgraded), we'll guarantee that you're promptly refunded. Please use the e-mail [email protected] when you've got not seen the refund already posted.

    Regardless of this mishap, we hope the advantages of the software program will encourage you to proceed. In case your FogBugz free-account subscription is at the moment energetic, and also you wish to proceed as a subscriber, please authorize your paid subscription by following these directions.

    Please be aware: Whenever you improve, your account will qualify for 50{94544a45adb742a0c45c4c472061b284f356c284581e129b68f9fd9e6686d9cb} off any subscription tier.

    In case you want any help whereas upgrading, please contact us at  assist.fogbugz.com.

We sincerely apologize for the confusion that was prompted and are working laborious behind the scenes to resolve all points associated to this motion.

Sincerely,

The (humbled) FogBugz Group

So Fogbugz turned sentient and began demanding cash? And this primary occurred at least a week ago, however the brand new homeowners didn’t discover and an entire load of emails went out days later (together with the one I obtained a number of days after the primary put up on HN)? Hmm.