Bobcad customer experience

[Tristar500]

Like many of you on the forum I've had a very negative experience with BobCad/Cam.

I first approached the company in 2000 and after a convo with
Chris Corbell , then Vice President, Marketing at BobCAD-CAM.

He was impressed with our combat robot "Botzilla" That competed in THC "The Learning Channel" program Robotica, them went on to fight in the British TV series Robot Wars.

We faired well at the competition and killed 3 robots before coming in a nice second place for the season finale.

As promised the BobCad name and logo was prominently displayed on our bot like the ubiquitous Tide or Pennzoil logo on a NASCAR racecar.

Chris agreed to furnish the software to out team in exchange for the great PR they were getting.
I later decided to include BobCad as a sponsor on a high altitude drone program without asking anything in return. I gladly attended major industrial automation shows bringing a robot or drone prototype to showcase the software for folks attending the trade shows.

Chris was awesome, upgrades when we needed them, tech support when we stumbled at no cost per our agreement.

Now near the end or our prototyping for the drone project BobCad refuses to give me a registration code and said they don't support the product anymore. I pointed out that I'm not asking for support, just a registration code so I could activate after reinstallation after a hard drive crash.*
They tried to sell me the newest version and when I asked them again for the code then slammed the door in my face and won't respond to emails or phone calls.

Draw your own conclusions as to whether you want to deal with a company who treats their customers in this manor.*

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[BurrMan]

And my conclusion is……….

Yes. Yes i do!!!

[metalmayhem]

It's always best to backup reg codes for any software including printing them . If you had licenses then they should have the reg codes on file under your customer number .
I've had my complaints with bobcad over the years but one thing for certain is the support guys have done me well in the few times I've needed them .

[Tristar500]

It's always best to backup reg codes for any software including printing them . If you had licenses then they should have the reg codes on file under your customer number .
I've had my complaints with bobcad over the years but one thing for certain is the support guys have done me well in the few times I've needed them .

Baking up reg codes is not possible with the software. It should be!

[metalmayhem]

what do you mean not possible ?
I've received emails with the codes when I purchased my licenses . I have those emails saved in folders on a couple different computers . I've also printed them

[Tristar500]

what do you mean not possible ?
I've received emails with the codes when I purchased my licenses . I have those emails saved in folders on a couple different computers . I've also printed them

I allways had to do it by phone. You read the code to them, they read one back to you. Have to do this for both codes.

[metalmayhem]

what version did you need to do that for

[Tristar500]

what version did you need to do that for

17, 19 21 and 23. Always on the phone, never given an option to register any other way.

[metalmayhem]

v23 used a dongle , don't you have one ?

[Tristar500]

v23 used a dongle , don't you have one ?

I have 23 on an older computer. No dongle, just registered it by phone like always.

[metalmayhem]

If your looking to move v23 to a newer pc then that should be simple enough . The license and user id is found under help/license in the software . Just copy those and ask support to reset the license . Once they reset the license it can then be registered on another computer . There is no need for them to generate a new code

[Tristar500]

I asked for support with a chat from Al at Bobcad. He sent me this link
This is the transcript from the chat sent to me via emal after bobcad closed the convo.

Me:
Need license for BC 21. SSD hard drive crash and need to get up and running asap. Thank you!

Al DePoalo
2/2/23
Al DePoalo 11:22:29 AM
https://bobcad.com/support-2/product-lifecycle/

[metalmayhem]

looks like that means that not a single one of my licenses up to and including v31 can be deactivated and transferred to another computer . Life cycle up to this bulletin was 5 versions .

One thing I noticed is that all my older licensed versions that I haven't run for a while are all dead in the water and now in demo mode . I don't know if it's due to a license server change but they no longer work and reinstalling the reg codes comes up to say they are being used .

As much as I despise fusion I think it's inevitable , that or mecsoft

[joeavaerage]

Hi,

As much as I despise fusion I think it's inevitable

What is it you despise about Fusion? There are certain things I don't like to be sure, but despise is pretty strong.

Craig

[metalmayhem]

Hi,



What is it you despise about Fusion? There are certain things I don't like to be sure, but despise is pretty strong.

Craig

I don't like working with the cam what so ever , nor do I do I like the cad portion

[joeavaerage]

Hi,
I had become familiar with Mastercam at a previous job. When I left there I took up Fusion, and did not like it particularly. Over a period of time
I've become much more fluent and my likening has grown apace. Bang-for-your-buck Fusion is about as good as it gets, or at least that is my opinion/appreciation.

Craig

[metalmayhem]

I've had fusion , played with it many times and I really don't like the feel of it and I can't see it ever growing on me . bang for the buck it is a worthy option but it's going to come with reluctance . I don't like that it is a cloud subscription based software that can be yanked or have the subscription changed at any given moment .
I worked with mastercam for good number of years myself . I perched myself on x3 because i hated every version that followed , even though the company held a steady maintenance plan . That was an all around solid software and I especially loved designing with it , it's too bad I can't afford it for my home shop . I could go the shady route but prefer not to lol

[joeavaerage]

Hi,

I don't like that it is a cloud subscription based software that can be yanked or have the subscription changed at any given moment .

To be honest the cloud model is the idea I like the least as well. Its because if your local internet slows down you are screwed, and it always seems to happen when you are trying
to show the design to a customer. Go figure! There are a few quirks about the cloud too, like not being able to delete a file because its referenced by another...a PITA but not a fatal flaw.

In the few years that I've had a subscription I've never had features removed, they have only ever been added. Sometimes I prefer the old way but never have I had feature removed.
For those on a 'free to hobbyist' subscription some features have been removed or curtailed, and they sure have belly-ached about it, but if you've had a paid subscription I've had no complaints.

Craig

[metalmayhem]

Hi,



'free to hobbyist' subscription some features have been removed or curtailed, and they sure have belly-ached about it,

Craig

Ya I've seen the belly aching , I don't think they realize how good they have it . Before fusion there was nothing free , aside from freemill which is pretty limited .
The thing I don't like about cloud is the poof part of a cloud , it's there , poof it's gone . I know most will disagree with me and I hope it doesn't come to a point I say I told you so , but I will say it if or when the time comes

For now I have my proffered cad and cam until the no longer supported crap bites me on the a$$

[joeavaerage]

Hi,
how much of business accounting is now done on the cloud? If indeed the cloud ever does go poof then I suspect we'll have more to worry about
than Fusion.

Craig