Why am I forced to update to version 12

Hi,

We have bought a Business Licesnse for Teamviewer 11 but as soon as I try to remote connect to a person running Teamviewer 12 it tells me I need to upgrade in order to connect. Which means I loose my Licesnse and get back on a Free version!

How can TV11 and TV12 not work with each other? That does not make any sense!

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DFWKen

I'm going to take back what I said in the comment I made.

It appears that I can continue using TeamViewer11 without upgrading. What I have done was to put a button within my application that will download TeamViewer11 Quick Support. My clients can simply click that button, download, and run QuickSupport without any hassle. Within seconds, I'm able to log onto their computer and give the support.

Formerly, clients would try to download the entire TeamViewer application from the TeamViewer website. Of course, that would download full TeamViewer 12; which I was required to help them through an Uninstall and then reinstallation of TeamViewer 11. But having discovered the link to TeamViewer11 (wasn't easy to find) and testing QuickSupport 11, I have NO problems. My clients can click the buttown within my product's Help:About screen and quickly download TeamViewer11 QuickSupport and run it. Support couldn't be easier for me.

Thank you TeamViewer

All comments

DavidW

I feel the same frustration every year when they release a new version.

While I do try to get by for as long as I can, at some point I MUST upgrade since some of the users I support are also using Teamviewer to support their customers. I don't like the feeling of being FORCED in to upgrading or loose the abilty to support some customers.

These are MY pain points/suggestions:

- Renewal price is TOO HIGH. Many software package are in the 10%-30% range. Some are even free for life. Many of us are just independant consultants that went beyond the free to use thresholds.

- Free upgrades for ONE year should be given for new purchases and renewals.

- Monthly subscription model should be available. I don't mind paying a little more, if I can just pay monthly.

- Ability to connect to at least 2 versions forward. Even if it is just limited functionality. I can't see them rewriting the connection protocols in every version.

I have brought some of these items to the sales department, but don't seem to get anywhere.

Please Press the Kudos button below if you would like to see some of these ideas brought to the product/business model?

DFWKen

I'm going to take back what I said in the comment I made.

Thank you TeamViewer

Nondas

Agree 100% - This is a complete & utter joke

troy

I am in total agreement. I bought the full corporate version of 10 and was pretty much bullied and pestered to death to upgrade to 11 so i finally gave in. They produce a version every year and now once again pestering to upgrade to 12. they even remove the easy access links off their website. try to find the older versions they make it almost impossible. This use to be awesome software but i am bout done with them and this corp push to get money. I am going to find new remote software one that doesnt practice this kind of business.

Namhost

Hi,

Then why did we pay for a licensed product? - are we not supposed to be able to connect to any version of the application? is that not supposed to be one of the reason you buy a license in the first place? Most clients that are not computer literate will obvously just go directly to the site and download v12 because they will have no idea where to get an older version - this causes another fuss by sending them third party links to get an older version. Why the hassle?. We are already restricted from new v12 features which I am fine with, now I must loose my license and start with a free version again!

That's just absurd!

JamesC

We purchased a version 11 License in September, paid the invoice in October, 2 days before the annoucement of version 12. I called them to see if we could get any discount or be grandfathered into version 12. Nope, they want $1380 for us to upgrade to 12 only days after paying $3000 for a 3 user license.

We use the quick support tool and it works great, but if a user has version 12 installed they must close it and then run the quick support tool. It is just a hastle to our users in order to connect for support. I only reason we purchsed Teamviewer to remove some of the hastle we found trying to use other VNC type solutions.

They just sent an email to upgrade at a 5% discount. Great, so I give you $1300 now and another $1300 when version 13 comes out in October. Very expensive for the use we get out of it.

Joust

I agree. its a complete money grab.

I too bought a license to TV11. i'm very angered by the fact that i am disallowed to connect to my customers who download a trial of TV12.

I will tell all in social media about my experience here and ward them off Teamviewer.

I will find another solution to spend my money on. This is very poor customer service and exploitation in the extreme.

so very angry right now

joecam

I just paid about $1,400 for a license a month ago and they kept pounding me with upgrade pop-ups until I had to and everything worked fine for a month. I dont want version 12 and now NOTHING works and their support is absolute **bleep**. haven't been able to get to them for 3 days and now a weekend nobody is there?!?! I cannot access any of my PC's. I cannot even roll-back now because I cannot get onto a **bleep** PC! any suggestions?

corylulu

And that's the thing, I wouldn't feel so bullied into upgrading if (a) I was garenteed updates for a minimum of a year after my purchase and (b) the upgrade costs weren't ABSURD!

Even if you move to the subscription model, it's still $1000+ a year for almost not substantive features. That's literally more expensive than what we pay each year for Web hosting, Dropbox, Visual Studio, Adobe CC Suite, and various other subscriptions COMBINED!

I'm sorry, I understand this is a business software, but when this is one of our least used of our software, yet costs more than our entire software suite, updating just isn't justifiable... especially when what is being added is a bunch of **bleep** we don't need and is only really being updating to avoid all the hassles TV builds into their program to be user hostile to people on previous version.

I do appriciate them calling me after talking about some concerns I had here, but ultimately, the added value to new versions just don't match up with the costs and honestly there main costs for this software is marketing anyways. It's P2P software that probably has no need for more than 3 developers working on it and a license server.

Dropbox offers me MUCH more value for 1/10th the price. Set a reasonable price point and I'll pay it.... Refuse to and I'll just stick with the old version and you'll lose out on that reoccuring revenue.

wisersites

No. Every time I try to connect using V11, it is problematic and reflects poorly on our support team. Our clients want simple and easy, not this.

Joust

Nope. I am not going to perpetuate this money grab. Ill count teamviewer as a lost cause.

There are other solutions that work fine so ill go to them.

Furthermore. I will tell all about my experience with teamviewer and warn them off too.

I can see being forced to upgrade to newer versions to get new features. But to criple your paying customers is not acceptable.

Good luck teamviewer.

You lost me as a customer. Payed licence be **bleep**

dwyere

Teamviewer older version has never been able to connect to TeamViewer newer version (such as 10 to 11 or 11 to 12). This has been true as long as I have used the product (going on 6 years). TeamViewer newer version has always been able to connect to TeamViewer older version.

If you are having people download the QuickSupport option from the website, you will need to have them first go to "older versions" on the download page. The QuickSupport link on the downloads page will always be for TeamViewer's latest version.

I've noticed TV is now going to the subscription-only route. As an existing v. 11 user, this means $300/ year, after I paid $800 for a one-time license only six months ago. That is not right.. I'll stick with v. 11 for now, but at some point I'll be looking for alternatives.

TruearT

It's completely irrational.
Older should not use the newer features, but al least should connect.
It's not rational, it's immoral and unfair. Just a greedy business model and a dirty trick.

Romulus14

The TeamViewer BUY NOW page says:

The Right License for You

No monthly fees! Pay just once and you own the license.

Source: https://www.teamviewer.com/en/pricing/

The above is a quote directly from your website. I was a **Third Party Product** customer for many years and in June 2016 we just had enough of being "slapped around" by **Third Party Product** every year, with crazy price increases and imposed limitation and etc, hence our choice to switch to TeamViewer - based on your tag line advertised on your website above!

I fully understand the need to grow your product and develop new releases. However, should a newly - existing paid for customer bear the cost by paying more or should you be recovering the costs by attracting new customers with all the great new features of v.12? How can you advertise "No Monthly Fess - Pay Just Once..." when this is not truly the case.

I thought we would be just fine if we ignore this update and continue using v.11, but now comes the kicker, we are facing issues where remote clients are downloading the new version or updating their versions and we can no longer access the machines without having to go through a whole song and dance of uninstalls and re-installs.

So I got a quote today, as you have me on the ropes now. A deja vu - **Third Party Product** re-occurring nightmare continues... I've tried my best to block the punches over the past few months, but today TeamViewer delivers the final **bleep** to the chin ~ $530 to upgrade! Congratulations TeamViewer on knocking out another valued customer!!

mLipok

@Namhost wrote:
Hi,
We have bought a Business Licesnse for Teamviewer 11 but as soon as I try to remote connect to a person running Teamviewer 12 it tells me I need to upgrade in order to connect. Which means I loose my Licesnse and get back on a Free version!
How can TV11 and TV12 not work with each other? That does not make any sense!

As far as I know TV12 can connect to all older version - also to TV11.
Each older version can not connect to NewerVersion (for example TV 9 can't connect to TV10 ) , and it is quite rational.

NeilInOz51

I have a software company too, with embedded TeamViewer Remote Support. But if a client decides to download a new TeamViewer (maybe the free one) and has it running (as they do) then our version of Remote Support doesn't work, which makes us look stupid and penny-pinching.

Summary: The worst pricing policies of any software company, bar none.

SHERGENR

Not withstanding the overall issue regarding forward compatibility, the solution that I have posted has worked without fail. BTW, I am not a tech support person and my clients are likely as anti-tech as they come (farmers and cattle feeders). They seem to be able to follow my instructions regarding the systray and even task manager. It's not optimal, but it gets me through the night. My biggest issue right now is that I wish I knew how to make the QJOIN/QSUP links stick on my clients desktop (have tried making it a shortcut, but it always changes when I try to email it to them).

I find it absurd that TV doesn't figure out a better way to mollify their installed and PAYING base, but that is their issue. I won't recommend anyone to them. I find it ironic that at the top of this thread, they have a vaguely worded link to a solution: Upgrade to 13! LOL

Anyway, if anyone has any solutions please post, but I can't waste anymore energy railing against the machine.

BRelaz

Greetings @Paulden,

I really appreciate your response. Sometimes text is hard to decipher given it doesn't contain or carry tonality. However, onto business :robothappy:

@Paulden wrote:
I think what annoys me most is that we even need to find a solution. The incompatibility is just a sales mechanism. Every version cannot be incompatible with the others (Im sure they are not rewriting the protocol every version). They have now release version 13. Again incompatible with other versions.

- I'd agree that it is unlikely they'd be re-writing the entire protocol between each major version (much less re-visions), but it's possible they update specific security protocols or deprecate others. An example that is somewhat related would be Apple's removal of PPTP VPN connections in IOS 10 then in 11 they upped the encryption grade requirements for the protocols allowed.

@Paulden wrote:
And if I send an invite to v11 and they have 12 or 13 installed and idle - it should exit and make way for the requested version. It should not abort leaving the user helpless.

- I'd agree that customized installers / executables should be shutting down current installed versions and or forcing the uninstall so that version x.x can be installed as part of our corp licenses. That would be fantastic!

Trudging forward...

Even though it is likely others have voiced other concerns, opinions, suggestions, etc.. maybe as license holders we should both put in a request for the following features or modifications to past, present, and future versions.

If I were to create a list it would go like this...

Suggestions:

Provide at least 1 year of upgrades for free, guaranteed. This includes major version changes.
Add option to purchase 2, 3, or 4 year software assurance for a reasonable price during initial check or within first 30-90 days of purchase. Price should be something along the lines of 15% of purchase price for 1 year, 12.5% for each year in 2 year agreement, 10% for each year in a 3 year agreement, etc etc.
guarantee encrypted connections to newer soft-version-endpoints up to 2 major revisions passed purchased version(4 year cycle being a full cycle for one version imo), thus giving you accessibility (but not corporate control / customization) of future soft in the specific cases clients have pre-existing, but newer installations of teamviewer.
guarantee of un-encrypted connections to new soft-version-endpoints up to 4 major revisions passed purchased version, thus providing similar benefits as the aforementioned point, but less secure.
Corporate customized "Quicksupport", "Host Installer" and "Full installer" should do the following:
- Shut down any current instance.
- Provide option to uninstall current version leaving settings intact and zipped into a backup folder within the teaviewer directory.
- Provide option to install for a set amount of time (ex 1 to 30 days) in case the client is utilizing contracted support.
- Build "QuickSupport" into installer versions in case of Admin credential issues wherein if the endpoint client can't elevate to required access levels, the installer can default to putting a time sensitive (or not) "QuickSupport" module within a temp directory, shut down any installed instances if any, and run the "QuickSupport" modules.

These are just some ideas I'd like to see implemented and as I've said prior, as paying customers we both could put our weight in to the suggestions sections on the forums / contact teamviewer via email with the suggestions. While it doesn't fix the "present" it might lead to better future results - because let's face it, despite the current limitations, Teamviewer is a top-notch product and for the most parts it works well (certainly better than most VPN soft). What do you think, @Paulden?

Paulden

Not a useful solution (if I understand it correctly). We have a corporate licence (yes but our users are independent businesses. We have no policy control over what they do. All the invites we send to invite them to version 11 fail if they have installed version 12 (or higher now). The launch just fails and we have to then blindly talk them through killing the tasks or uninstalling.

I'd love to install it agin for them and set it not to continue to offer or look for upgrades. But there is no such setting in teamviewer. And it continues to offer the FREE upgrade. They just dont say that while it costs nothing it will cost you in support. Even our coorporate version continues to tell us of the new version with a footnote "You may need a new licence" (MAY?)

Teamviewer is just FRUSTRATING. Incompatable versions, upgrade offerings to make them all incompatable. And no controls to turn these upgrade offerings off.

mLipok

so very angry right now

I'm angry every time when I pay a substantial amount (not only for TeamViewer) ...... mostly, I'm angry at myself ..... and it is because I do not earn enough so to have a Porche in a garage and many other things.

But seriously, I just think that my customers do not pay me enough, but this is changing. But the changes are painful.

msg

I agree with nearly all of this well thought out post from wmelton, except for the last paragraph with the BBB/Attorney General bit. However, I can certainly understand the frustration that drives such a response.

It would be great if TeamViewer would simply listen to some of the biggest backers in its customerbase - the IT people who recommend and purchase the software. We're practically screaming for TeamViewer to acknowledge some serious issues, and respond appropriately with fixes. I've been trying to share some of those concerns here in other threads, but those issues haven't been addressed, either. I'm sorry to say I'm not impressed with this forum as an effective feedback system, one that results in problem resolution. What's the point if we don't get any meaningful response or committment from TeamViewer on the matters we take our time to report for discussion?

The alternative is the same as always - no one here wants to do it, but it could result in finding another way, which could mean another product. This isn't just a bunch of people annoyed about nuisance price hikes. We're telling you we can't afford it anymore, whether it be small one-man shops or small businesses. You're being warned that you're going to start losing people, if you haven't already.

I get it. It's about money. On on both sides, though - TeamViewer's and its customers'. I can understand how this subscription and price model ensures continued revenue for TeamViewer, and I acknowledge that this is extremely important, but it's killing it for a lot of us. I, like the others frustrated here, have become dependent on TeamViewer. Trusting in it for the long term, I've been deploying it throughout our organization over the years since v7. However, if I'm forced to make a change, I will find another way. I love TeamViewer, and I really don't want to have to do this, for a multitude of reasons.

We recommend this software to others, and not just internally. I'm always telling other IT people and business owners about it, singing its praises. It's one of the top four productivity tools I require to do my job efficiently, along with Evernote, Outlook and Gsuite. How can we continue to recommend it when it's not affordable? My bosses will balk at renewal at these fees. At best, I'll lose two seats. I'm always using at least one, sometimes two, if I'm using a desktop and Macbook at the same time. Our users won't be able to host meetings with clients. That means we lose half the main functional benefit to the organization. You have to see how that makes it harder to sell.

That's my day job. Then there are consulting jobs in less controlled environments where I'm more greatly affected.

Just letting you know. I know TeamViewer's got challenges. So do we, and you're pricing us out of your customerbase.

Is there a way increase subscription volume through reduced, fairer cost, and still have the necessary revenue to keep TeamViewer going?

Paulden

I am sorry you appeared to take my response as a criticism. That was not intended. I was trying to state fact but when I saw your responce it was obvious I was not clear. Appologies. Your info could certainly be of assistance to some of the community facing this issue.

I think what annoys me most is that we even need to find a solution. The incompatability is just a sales mechanism. Every version cannot be incompatable with the others (Im sure they are not rewriting the protocol every version). They have now release version 13. Again incompatable with other versions.

And if I send an invite to v11 and they have 12 or 13 installed and idle - it should exit and make way for the requested version. It should not abort leaving the user helpless.

BRelaz

Recap:

Never Stated the following

- Previous versions are compatible with future re-visions of teamviewer.

- Updates aren't worth it. Upgrades are best implemented during a revisions half life, or 3/4th life-cycle.

- It would be easy or solve all your problems immediately.

The following was stated:

If you have a corp license you can :

Create customized "quicksupport" and "host" installers that can come pre-packaged with policies or be sent to a default group.
These customer installers can be accessed with a customized download link-space provided by Teamviewer where the /suffix is customized by you. ex. get.teamviewer.com/evilcorp.
Policies enable us to create regulatory parameters such as "Do not updated", "Never check for updates", "Don't allow teamviewer to shutdown", etc etc.
Policies can be applied to the customized installers either individually or by assigned group.

You can take control of your environment if the effort is put in and a lot of repitition. I realize these recommendations / informational easter eggs are NOT immediate resolutions, but given time and effort you can take control of your environment, no matter how volatile or change prone, with the simple measures suggested above.

msg

You can "connect down" but not up. Ex., with TV12, you can connect to any version 12 or earlier. If you were to downgrade your host to v12, you could connect.

Tamir

This does not fix my problem. It seems Teamviewer support refers all problems with the upgrade harrassment to this guy's quicksupport solution. I have Teamviewer Host 13 (a native Linux app, or so I'm told) running on Ubuntu 17.10. I am trying to remotely control it using Teamviewer 12 (not a native Linux build but rather a WINE wrap) on another Ubuntu 17.10 and I am getting this message:

Pressing "OK" does nothing.

I can't understand why Teamviewer 12 cannot connect to Teamviewer Host 13. It would seem obvious that one version difference in levels of technology would be compatible.

Brandonr91

Maybe I am not seeing the big picture, but all of these complaints seem to have a very easy solution, atleast a good portion of the problems listed, if you have a teamviewer corporate account.

First you go to > Login.teamviewer.com

>> Proceed to "Design & Deploy" and setup customized "QuickSupport", "QuickJoin", and "Host" installers for the version you have paid for. Then you switch to the "Policies" tab and setup a general policy with whatever settings you'd like, but make sure to add the following policy settings >> "Update Teamviewer automatically" and set it to "Disabled" & "Enforced"(only applies to custom host after you apply policies to groups and that installer). Add the "Check for new version" and disable/enforce that as well.

Note that you can apply these policies to groups in your contact list so long as they are on your version, even if its not the customized installer. However, once you created the customized installers you can point your clients to >> get.teamview.com/page-name-for-installer (hint: use company-installer-type+version >> ex: get.teamviewer.com/company-Hostv11).

Hope this helps...

rahhal

I upgrade every year, when they release a new version. I understand the frustration - but if they made it forward compatible (i.e., use TV11 to connect to a TV12 machine) they would lose a lot of revenue - and I guess that's just not their business model. So I **bleep** it up and pay. It's still the best remote control app out there, and I've profited from it immensely over the years.

mLipok

@DavidW wrote:
- Monthly subscription model should be available. I don't mind paying a little more, if I can just pay monthly.

Personally I would like to have ability to use Quarterly payments. It would be an indirect solution, satisfying both sides.
Developer and buyer.

But of course, as I'm very small (3 people) company, the monthly payment would be the least burdensome for my company's modest budget.

TruearT

Respectfully, you cannot be more wrong.
You are justifying a forced update. That's not fair, almos illegal (or is it?).
We all paid users from version 1 to 11 made possible for them to develop new features, but that's not the way they should act. It's at least immoral.
It should have compatibility at least with the last 2 versions or more.
I'v been using it just for a few months and now it's useless.