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CCleaner Pro "Lifetime" Licence - why has it expired?


psychopomp1

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Hi,

I purchased CCleaner pro a few years ago when it was sold for a one-time fee instead of the current yearly subscription. So technically, I have a non-expiring licence (ie a lifetime licence) so why is the program showing that my licence has expired?

ccleaner_pro.jpg 

I can use the program without any issues except that I don't get auto updates. Why are Piriform not honouring the full software features (eg auto updates) for those who have a lifetime licence? With other software such as Malwarebytes, if you purchased a lifetime license then it gets honoured fully even though the software creator no longer offers such licences. Just feel a bit cheated by Piriform  as they didn't tell me at the time of purchasing my lifetime licence that feature X would stop working after X years....

 

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I've been here much longer than Pro has been out.  It's never been lifetime license.  Always has been one year of automatic updates and priority support, all other pro features continue to work after a year is up.

 

ADVICE FOR USING CCleaner'S REGISTRY INTEGRITY SECTION

DON'T JUST CLEAN EVERYTHING THAT'S CHECKED OFF.

Do your Registry Cleaning in small bits (at the very least Check-mark by Check-mark)

ALWAYS BACKUP THE ENTRY, YOU NEVER KNOW WHAT YOU'LL BREAK IF YOU DON'T.

Support at https://support.ccleaner.com/s/?language=en_US

Pro users file a PRIORITY SUPPORT via email support@ccleaner.com

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14 minutes ago, Nergal said:

  Always has been one year of automatic updates and priority support, all other pro features continue to work after a year is up.

That's strange, when i received my licence details by email, there was no mention at all of updates and support for just 1 year...

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On 9/30/2018 at 12:19, Nergal said:

I've been here much longer than Pro has been out.  It's never been lifetime license.  Always has been one year of automatic updates and priority support, all other pro features continue to work after a year is up.

Wrong.  I bought this a year ago just because it was a one time purchase and I just got a "re-sub" notice.  There is no indication on my receipt of any more money I need to shell out for this and that is a bad business practice. I've always thought over the last year that I paid for this in full, well I guess they thought maybe they were losing money.  I won't pay for it again, not for what it is.  

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Believe me i'm not wrong, as I said i've been a mod here much longer than Pro has been out.  It has always been a year for the two things I mentioned.  The rest works as it did when you paid for it.  I'm not sure why you have so much anger about losing auto update and priority support.

 

ADVICE FOR USING CCleaner'S REGISTRY INTEGRITY SECTION

DON'T JUST CLEAN EVERYTHING THAT'S CHECKED OFF.

Do your Registry Cleaning in small bits (at the very least Check-mark by Check-mark)

ALWAYS BACKUP THE ENTRY, YOU NEVER KNOW WHAT YOU'LL BREAK IF YOU DON'T.

Support at https://support.ccleaner.com/s/?language=en_US

Pro users file a PRIORITY SUPPORT via email support@ccleaner.com

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  • 2 weeks later...

My receipt for CCleaner Professional Plus dated 1/7/2015 for $35.95 mentions NOTHING about a subscription.  I work on hundreds of customers computers per year and have been telling them about the fantastic deal that CCleaner Pro was because it was a one-time purchase - until recently!!

Instead of the denials, just come clean and say, Okay, we changed our business model and it became unsustainable to continue with the lifetime licenses.

image.png.afbfe042472d2335ddb7c53730841f0c.png

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Even better is now every time you start your computer you get a huge red pop-up that tells you you need to renew it.  What a crock of BS.  I won't recommend this program to anyone.  They can lie all they want.  I wouldn't have EVER subscribed to this had it been that way when I paid my money.  Just pathetic bait and switch, even when we prove it.  

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I have the same issue, and I've checked all my documents. I bought this because I believed it was a one off payment, not a subscription.

I notice on the support page it says that we are paying for a one year subscription, but that seems to have been posted on Friday at 06:01.

I won't be renewing my licence, and I shall be uninstalling the software.

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Still no post from them saying how to stop the constant pop-ups to renew it for another year.  The only thing they've said is that you need to call them, most likely to try and sell you something else. 
And also remember, the customer isn't always right, as proven above, even with proof. 

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Guest Ben CCleaner

Hi All,

Just to be clear we have never had a one off license. Please see the following link for the End User License Agreement that was in place a the time of your purchase:

https://www.ccleaner.com/legal/eula-archive/ccleaner-professional

In section 5 (Term and Termination of Service) it states that the term is for one year and that after which we will remove Priority Support and Automatic updates. Expiry notifications should only be recieved at application startup, if you wish to stop these you will need to convert your software back to the free version. This can be done by uninstalling the application and ensuring all files are deleted from CCleaner folder in Program Files, upon re-installing the application should now be the free version.

Thanks

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Yeah. When I bought this, I haven't seen it anywhere that says this license is just a one-year subscription. And recently the pop-up says I must renew my subscription by buying a one-year new key socked me. Too disappointed with this unclear policy.

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I'm in the same boat.  And if you contact support to find out how to remove the annoying popup ad, as directed, they will simply send you instructions on how to uninstall CCleaner and download/install the free version. 

This was definitely either a bait-and-switch or a campaign to hide the fact that these licenses were only good for a year.  I will set up a google alert to  notify me of when a class action lawsuit is filed against Avast/Piriform. 

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On 22/10/2018 at 19:31, Ben Piriform said:

Hi All,

Just to be clear we have never had a one off license. Please see the following link for the End User License Agreement that was in place a the time of your purchase:

https://www.ccleaner.com/legal/eula-archive/ccleaner-professional

In section 5 (Term and Termination of Service) it states that the term is for one year and that after which we will remove Priority Support and Automatic updates. Expiry notifications should only be recieved at application startup, if you wish to stop these you will need to convert your software back to the free version. This can be done by uninstalling the application and ensuring all files are deleted from CCleaner folder in Program Files, upon re-installing the application should now be the free version.

Thanks

Ben,

I've got the original terms & conditions emailed to me upon purchase in January 2015 and they do not contain a section 5 like your link, nor do they mention a period of one year anywhere.

(Edit: these are the vendor's terms & conditions, sent from "cleverbridge / Piriform Commercial Ltd". Subscription software purchased through cleverbridge - e.g. Raxco's PerfectUpdater - indicates the expiry date on the invoice.)

Have installed CCleaner multiple times during OS rebuilds and never had an issue until now. My current version is 5.47.6716, however it will not update to the new version 5.48.6834.

Piriform has clearly changed the terms of the licence recently and rather than haggle about it, I will simply abandon what was once a great product. You lot could learn a thing or two from Malwarebytes about customer support. Adios.

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7 hours ago, Ron The Bear said:

 

 My current version is 5.47.6716, however it will not update to the new version 5.48.6834.

 

Have you tried this ?

https://support.piriform.com/hc/en-us/articles/360018683371

 

Support contact

https://support.ccleaner.com/s/contact-form?language=en_US&form=general

or

support@ccleaner.com

 

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On 27/10/2018 at 15:47, hazelnut said:

Thanks for this, I now have the latest version installed (although the 'Subscription Information' button still shows Product Status: Expired).

A response from Cleverbridge, the vendor I purchased through, states: "This does not look like its a subscription based product meaning it is a perpetual license (one time charge)."
 

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  • 2 weeks later...

This is DEFINITELY bait'n'switch, Piriform!

I kept the mail you sent me when I made my ONE TIME purchase, and it clearly shows the product name, customer name, license key, expiration, and my download link.  Under "Expiration", I have a single dash "-", as in NO EXPIRATION.  Also, I have a different license key request e-mail from Piriform dated 12/2/2016 (well after your so-called "1 year of support" that shows the exact same thing - no expiration date with a valid download link...

Today, when I request my license key, I get a similar page, only now that dash has been magically replaced with the date "27 Mar 2015".  I also see that the license key request I asked for on 9/24/2017 shows that my key had expired, and the download link disappeared as well, indicating that you made this change to my account sometime in late 2017 without any notice to me whatsoever - and yet my products still continued to update normally.

When I made this purchase, this was NOT a subscription-based product, and you have no evidence to suggest it was.  Showing us newly-updated EULA's AFTER our purchase was made is completely invalid.  Until you can explain to us how "no expiration" magically turned into a retro-active date from 3 years ago in just the last release cycle, AND also explain why you were obviously OK sending me my same download link and license key > 1 year after my original purchase, you are obviously guilty of a bait'n switch.

Additionally, NOTHING in my PDF receipt from Cleverbridge (that I also still have) says anything at all about license expiration or subscription.

This stinks.  If you wanted to move to a SAAS model, then you could have at least given your PAYING customers some notice before you went after us without any lubrication.

Regardless of how you or your moderators choose to spin this, you got some 'splainin to do.  I'm all ears.

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Guest Ben CCleaner

@kb9gxk regarding the EULA on our website this was simply editied in 2016, if you would like to see the version prior to this and active at the time of your purchase please use a service such as the Way Back Machine to view the archived version of the webpage. For example, see the link below and refer to the section 5 "Term and Termination of Service".

https://web.archive.org/web/20150210075931/http://www.piriform.com:80/legal/software-license/ccleaner-professional

@Sonartech I am able to see the original email sent to you on the 27/03/14, however I am unable to see Expiry date listed as '-' on the email, can you direct message me an example or screenshot of this?

Due to privacy issues I am unable to go into detail about any of your cases on here. If you would like to do so please email our support team using premium_support@piriform.com

Thanks

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I’m watching this thread with interest as I too have noticed that neither the receipt nor the terms & conditions seem to mention the license is only for 1 year & not a lifetime license. I too thought I was purchasing a lifetime license with updates & support.
I have noticed that I can use all the features except automatic update but can manually update, imo this means the license is a lifetime one & in reality you’re just paying £15.00 approx for the auto update feature & another year of support - not worth the cost imo but that’s another story.

Virginia/Bastet.
Windows 11 Pro 22H2. CCleaner Pro. MalwareBytes Pro. Defender. Macrium Reflect Home.

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The point here is, even if the EULA states that it's not a lifetime purchase, the website itself should be worded in such a way that makes it apparent that we are subscribing, and not buying.  This was not the case.  Even now, go try to pay for the pro and you tell me how long a subscription is.  You can't do it.  All they did was add a mouse over that describes auto billing.  THERE ISN'T EVEN A SUBSCRIPTION PERIOD.  How long are you buying this for? 1 month? 1 year? It doesn't say it anywhere.  It's a just a big damage control thread here, they try to tell us one thing, we prove them wrong, they have to keep saying the same thing over and over again.  

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To be fair to Piriform, I don't think this was a malicious miscalculation.  I think Piriform's just trying to monetize their product by moving to a SaaS model, and that's going to burn existing customers.  If you read the legal T&C for the period, it does make mention of a 1 year support period, but it also says some other stuff that is very misleading:

4. UPDATE SERVICES
Subject to your payment of the applicable annual update fees and support fees for the relevant year, Piriform shall from time to time, via its website, make available new versions of the Product for you to download and use (the "Update Services").
5. TERM AND TERMINATION OF SERVICES
The Services shall start on the date on which Piriform sends a confirmatory email to you confirming full payment of the support and update fees and issuing your user account details, and shall continue for a period of 1 year or for such other period as we may agree with you in writing.
If you have purchased yearly subscriptions for the Support Services and/or Update Services, at the end of the year and any following year, the Support Services and/or Update Services shall renew automatically for another year. Piriform (or its authorized agents or sub-contractors) will give you an opportunity to cancel your subscription in advance of the renewal date and will inform you of the renewal fees. Unless you notify Piriform by email before renewal that you do not want to renew the Services.

It says "...shall continue for a period of 1 year or for such other period as we may agree with you in writing".  However, it also says "If you have purchased yearly subscriptions for the Support Services and/or Update Services, at the end of the year and any following year, the Support Services and/or Update Services shall renew automatically for another year", which we know never actually happened, nor were we ever given "...an opportunity to cancel your subscription in advance of the renewal date and will inform you of the renewal fees".  So these terms & conditions are definitely sketchy and subject to some pretty wild interpretation.  Piriform's telling us today that we ALL purchased a single yearly subscription for the product - so why were we never asked to renew after that first year, and why did my product continue to update normally for 6+ years AFTER I originally purchased it?  Also, Why was Piriform sending out e-mails with still valid license keys & download links 4+ years after that original date of purchase, showing the license expiration date as "-"?

Regardless of what they say today or what was said at the time, there's still the matter that Cleverbridge never mentioned a subscription period, nor did the Piriform product web page at the time.  (@Ben - You can wayback machine that one, too...).  How could the payment processor skip an important detail like that?!!  My guess is they didn't know about it, either.

Then there's the fact that the product pages didn't mention this "small" subscription detail anywhere in the purchase process, on my receipt or in my license key details.  That's extremely bad form, but it translates to a 'bait-n-switch', regardless of how it's framed. 

The $25 I paid in 2012 was well spent.  I have enjoyed using these tools and I obviously was thankful enough to actually pay for the product.  Still, though, the way this is shaking out sucks, since I'm still searching my inbox for ANYTHING from Piriform that ever mentioned expiration of my seemingly permanent license key.

If I was Piriform, I'd be damage-controlling the hell out of this, and at least offer a reasonable explanation, apology, discount or exception for those affected by this issue.

The silence, however, is deafening.

 

 

 

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On ‎10‎/‎28‎/‎2018 at 01:41, Ron The Bear said:

Thanks for this, I now have the latest version installed (although the 'Subscription Information' button still shows Product Status: Expired).

A response from Cleverbridge, the vendor I purchased through, states: "This does not look like its a subscription based product meaning it is a perpetual license (one time charge)."
 

Ron, could you post the full e-mail from Cleverbridge for us to see?  I'm &^%$# stunned that not even THEY would be aware that Piriform's purchase model is a subscription.  It seems like everyone except Piriform is under the impression that this was never a subscription-based product - including the people that happily took our money.

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