“Although the iTunes / App Store terms and conditions state that ‘all sales are final’, when an application does not meet the expectations of a user, like in the case of a 59p iPhone game, Apple have been known to refund the purchase. Now it seems they are doing so with Final Cut Pro X to the tune of $299,” EOSHD reports.
“It is not clear what happens to the activation of the FCPX license after the refund is handled, and whether the user can continue to use the software,” EOSHD reports. “FCPX is the first pro app to be offered exclusively as an electronic download.”
EOSHD reports that Apple isn “not only [offering] refunds FCPX but also Compressor.”
Read more in the full article here.
Related articles:
Change.org petition demands that Apple not change Final Cut Pro – June 27, 2011
Final Cut Pro X ‘backlash’ coming from competitors scared to death over Apple’s $299 price tag? – June 24, 2011
Conan blasts Apple’s new Final Cut Pro X (with video) – June 24, 2011
Answers to the unanswered questions about Apple’s new Final Cut Pro X – June 23, 2011
‘Professional’ video editors freak out over Final Cut Pro X – June 23, 2011
Apple revolutionizes video editing with Final Cut Pro X – June 21, 2011
Apple have goofed over this release so a money back option is a valid and valuable damage limitation exercise.
Apple should have clearly explained beforehand that this release was not FCP Studio but a completely new product. releasing it under the Final Cut banner was a mistake.
I have not yet tried it myself but I plan to do so fairly soon even though I am not a Pro editor. I dont have a Red camera nor deadlines, so $299 is far too good a bargain to miss.
….or is it!?
Looks like the petitions are working…
http://www.petitiononline.com/finalcut
No, not necessarily; it is Apple’s practice to offer refunds in such cases.
Wonder how many refunds will be earmarked for the purchase of Adobe or Avid SW.
Apple has pissed off a valuable (in buzz, influence, prestige and $) market. They need to get busy porting FCS to 64 bit and stop trying to reinvent the wheel. This is Apple’s Vista.
I’m getting really worried at what Apple are going to do with the OS in Lion. Are they planning to take the same route of dumbing it down, adding lots of glossy bubblegum features and steer it towards the iPad crowd?
Apple has been dumbing down OS X. Try to set up a G-Mail account in Apple Mail with POP- an option Google offers and I personally use. The “Wizard” forces you into IMAP and offers no POP option. If you go under manual configuration for a POP account and it sees the gmail.com it will undo your configuration and set it up as an IMAP.
Call AppleCare and they will show you an unpublicized “secret” button that will allow you to set up G-Mail as a POP account on Apple Mail. What complete and utter bullshit…
Apple has been dumbing down the OS for Buffy and her FarceBook friends as well as other Windoze refugees. The effing Firewall is another Apple dumb down victim.
My answer was to buy nice firewall and mail apps that don’t treat me like a knuckle dragging moron.
You’re an edge case dude. Most people wan’t IMAP (or to not care and have their email just work w/ a username/pw) and most people don’t even need a software firewall on their machine if their router has one already.
Apple designs for the 80%, a strategy which is working really well for them. For the other 20%, there are plenty of workarounds because you’re the types of people who care enough to find them.
Apple policy to offer refunds ???
In the UK under the Sale of Goods Act, if you don’t like anything you have the right to return it for a full refund.
I’m really curious to see what would had happened if the name was totally different …
Likely, the same thing. Remember, calling it a different name doesn’t solve the problem of FCS being effectively end-of-life’d.
It would have helped CourtJester.
It will be interesting to see the percentage of purchasers thatcask for a refund. I predict that Apple will announce that number, and that it wil be very low.
I think all the controversy is good for sales, since it all adds up to, “FCPX is terrible for professional editors, but wonderful for everyone else.”
i hope they publicize the number of refunds made.
You won’t ever know the real numbers. Despite what may be published. Looks like there are problems with 10.6.8 upgrade and XServe too. When you get as big as AAPL is now things are going to happen. Quality control is much easier when you are small. It’s as simple as that. I don’t care who runs the company! A lot of FCPX users are calling it Apple’s Vista. Apple doesn’t care about the pro user. They don’t make enough money from them. That’s a fact Jack. Apple has all but said that they are abandoning the pros for mainstream users. Follow the money. That’s what it’s all about. It’s Apple, a huge money making machine that doesn’t care what you think. And since I’m not a fanboy I completely understand this and have no problem with it. Over 25 years as a customer and o have never once felt the need to apologize or make excuses for Apple. It’s a company. It’s not your buddy. Get a life.
The Pro users buying HW & SW are what kept Apple alive during it’s dark days. When Apple is no longer the flavor of the month, they might regret pissing off Pro users.
Sorry, no. Saying “that’s a fact Jack” doesn’t have the power to turn gibberish into an actual fact.
Final Cut Pro X is Apple’s Vista? The hell? FCPX wasn’t an operating system, last time I checked. They’re abandoning pros for mainstream users so they’ll make more money? How is it PROFITABLE to abandon pros? It isn’t. They’re the ones who buy Apple’s most expensive products with the best margins.
If they really were nothing but a huge money making machine, then they’d split Final Cut into two separate editions – home user($300) and pro($1000~) – instead of having FCPX succeed FCP7. And if they didn’t care what people think then they wouldn’t be offering a refund.
The fact that trolls like you are pouncing on this makes me rather certain that this is yet another fake controversy fabricated by Apple’s “competitors”, much like antenna-gate was. One of the major reasons they’re offering a refund is probably so they can determine how many people actually hate FCPX, which will likely turn out to be less than 1%. Echoing antenna-gate, again.
You don’t make your living with an iPhone, right (antennagate)? Well, lots of independent contractors, boutique firms and others feed their families with FCS and have clients that want no excuses.
It is normal in the world of professional SW to roadmap your development to allow those who make HW & Plug-Ins time to plan for the changes. It also allows customers to budget the path forward. Apple’s “I’ve got a secret” approach may work fine on Wall Street and with the Fanbois but doesn’t cut it in business.
I’ve been using Apple stuff since the days of swapping homebrew programs on cassette tapes and also own Apple stock- so I’m not some troll. There is not one Windows PC in my home and never has been unless you count a guest’s laptop or FUBARed PC brought over seeking help.
This is unacceptable behavior and is exactly what IT managers have hated Apple for. Nothing like living down to someone’s expectations…
Small shops have a huge investment in Apple HW, SW and 3rd party plug ins & EOLing FCS weeks before an OS upgrade has rightly got Pros up in arms. Mark my words (iCal it): Lion WILL break some functionality if FCS which will leave contractors and boutique firms with unsupported SW on an out of date OS that they depend upon to serve clients.
Was that supposed to be a response to somebody else? Because your comment there has nothing to do with anything GM or I said.
P.S.
The IT managers who hate Apple hate it because products that are easy to use and work cause IT departments to have most of their employees laid off. The more reliable cars you buy the less mechanics you need.
“Toyota Hilux!? Hiluxes are terrible! They’re proprietary, and closed, and, and… And they’re a security risk! You should buy a thousand Ford Pintos instead. Trust me, as the manager of your mechanics department, they are GREAT vehicles!”
Uh, this has been Apple’s way for a LONG time. It’s not like they just started doing this. I still maintain that if you just wantonly installed it on all your machines without checking it out, then that’s on you. Apple has stated that this is a complete rewrite of FinalCut and that features missing will be added in an upcoming release. Your workflow was fine yesterday, why is it your business is in disarray today? Did you throw away all the other software?
GM, you understand Apple. I use to work for them at a retail store and you pretty much nailed it. It’s not like apple owes anyone anything. They are there to make a product and do whatever the hell they want. Does it suck for people who spent 500,000 and more on expensive video systems for Final Cut. Sure does. But, apple never signed an agreement to the user saying we will be with you forever. The only thing you can really do is like it or move and to another NLE. Apple, doesn’t care to much what you do…because they have their hands in so many pockets. BUT! In defense to apple…they usually are pretty good at listening to complaints and getting them right the second or third time.
The backlash is understandable of course but I don’t recall Apple saying at any point that they would stop supporting Final Cut in its previous form. Only that further development would stop. If people like and use version 7, keep using it.
The instant anger at not being delivered a totally perfect software package that conforms to the needs of all users immediately is ridiculous.
What is most striking is this…Apple demonstrates through this refund offer that they are accountable, responsive and are willing to take the criticism. Nearly ALL those commenting are doing so under a pseudonym, unwilling to be accountable themselves. Typical.
Apple creates software miracles all the time. I’m betting that even those that find this new tool “totally unusable” will be converted once two or more point releases address the primary concerns. The conscious decisions Apple’s engineers made about this are steps on a path not something made of case hardened steel. Apple honestly thinks YEARS ahead and to get there they must begin on a path, starting people down a new road. The gnashing of teeth will be forgotten once they grow this tool into the utter monster it is destined to be.
– Apple hasn’t said anything about FCP7 at all. Big mistake.
– FCPX already breaks FCP7 in some situations regarding codecs.
– You think they’re going to keep releasing dot releases for FCP7 to work with Lion?
– FCPX conforms to the needs of some people, JUST NOT CURRENT FCP7 users.
– Hoping for some future modifications to FCPX to make it usable does not pay for your daughter’s medical bills.
You seem to take issue only with the fact that there _may_ be no more point updates for FCP7. If this turns out to be the case, can you explain how this is going to directly and significantly impact your ability to “pay for your daughter’s medical bills”?
Also, your statement that FCPX doesn’t meet the need of current FCP7 users is directly contradicted by evidence presented elsewhere on the net.
Your anger, on the face of it, currently appears disproportionate.
Thank you Steve.
My guess is that instead of quieting the uproar the pundits will say that Apple released a dud.
That’s because they did. And then mis-sold it.
They’d be right.
Apple didn’t release a dud, they released a ground breaking new video-editing program with an amazing price point.
However, they COMPLETELY bombed when they suggested it was a replacement for FCP7. It is not. No multicam support, no FCP 7 import, just to name a couple of the obvious limitations.
They should have called the new program, FCP Xpress and continued to support FCP7 with maintenance upgrades until FCPX was ready for professional level workflows and editing suites. Problem solved.
And everyone frothing at the mouth can still use FCP7 and still buy new seats from 3rd party retailers.
At least for a few months.
I expect an open letter from SJ very soon.
It will be popular with the YouTube and Vimeo crowd. Pros will migrate to Adobe & Avid unless Apple checks it’s arrogance and owns up to it’s eff up.
No, Pro’s will stay right where they are because true Pro’s are too busy making money with FCS to care about a lot of bellyaching on blogs. They’re running Snow Leopard and, like true Pro’s, did not install untested software on their Production box and won’t even turn an eye towards Lion until 10.7.4 or 5.
Pro’s understand that if you have something that works, you don’t change it. Then, after another profitable year or two, they’ll put the latest FCP on a test system, run it through it’s paces, and slowly integrate it into their workflow.
Anyone with an investment in FCP that would consider switching their editing software just can’t be considered a Pro. Because Pro’s know that troubleshooting the things that aren’t quite right will waste a ton of otherwise profitable time.
Something wrong with the link to the original story.
Just shut up and get back to work.
… says the guy neither shutting up nor working.
Link to full story comes back with a database error.
Also, I got a refund for CoD: Modern Warfare, and whilst the game continued to work it was no longer marked as purchased in the MAS, so no updates and no additional authorisations.
Funny, didn’t the users say the same thing, when Apple went from PowerPC OS9, to Intel OSX & now look where we are? Give it time folks, give it time.
EoL right before a major OS upgrade is not an encouraging sign. Effing over the Pro market in the middle of a recession that could get much worse is not going to win Apple any friends or customers.
Bet a cold one that Lion breaks a litany of functions on FCS.
I would have predicted that the number of refunds will be much less than even the number of 1 star (lowest rating) reviews, but it appears that Apple is refunding people who are complaining who have not specifically actually asked for a refund.
It’s the pros that are complaining. For us, it’s not about the money. I’m complaining, and very much do not want a refund.
For us, it’s that we want to continue to use Macs. We were with Apple fighting to the death and refusing to give up our Macs until they were pried from our cold dead hands.
We’re now fighting again. What is wanted is simple. Apple can keep the pros by either continuing to sell and support FCP, and/or by giving FCP users an upgrade path to FCPX by allowing project imports and adding missing pro features.
Really, if they just announce that they’ll do this with some timeline, it would help. For example, Apple could win us all over by saying FCP is being put back on the market and will be supported (compatibility and security updates) until FCPX is upgraded to support the core features pros need, which will be in about 1 year.
Until then, pros really don’t care about the refund. $299 is trivial. Many of us actually like FCPX and can use it for new projects, but need continued support for our FCP projects.
So many comments here on MDN (even from MDN itself) are “We don’t do that pro thing ourselves, so this isn’t a problem for anyone else”.
To those people stop thinking you’re the only one in the universe and imagine the people in studios that have years worth of FCP projects developed by multiple people and knowing that Apple has EOL’d the software that can access those projects.
“Just keep using FCP” doesn’t cut it when you don’t know how long FCP will be compatible, free from security holes, or that you can’t buy new licenses for new workstations. Buying from eBay isn’t an answer since the software has DRM and a user may retain their old serial number. Which is one of the reasons why corporations won’t allow this.
Well, don’t most pros not immediately hop on the bandwagon with brand new software? But rather wait to see real reviews of it and integrate it when it makes sense for them?
I also might imagine a third party would fill this void. Looks like a great business opportunity for someone.
@Scott,
It depends. Usually a pro office/studio would have an IT department that would go through a whole long lengthy process.
However, the cost of FCPX is so incredibly trivial that many pros just went ahead and dove right in. If there’s a chance that it improves things, it’s worth it.
For many, FCPX offers speed advantages that translate into incredible man hour savings.
Also even some pros in IT upgrade traps may have not only upgraded their workstations on their own, but have done so on personal/home Macs.
It’s pretty amazing to see so many “worst” ratings in the App store, but I don’t think it’s the case of people blindly jumping in and feeling ripped off, more so it’s the case of really wanting to be able to use it with their FCP projects and other pro needs.
“…. the cost of FCPX is so incredibly trivial that many pros just went ahead and dove right in.”
“I don’t think it’s the case of people blindly jumping in and feeling ripped off, more so it’s the case of really wanting to be able to use it with their FCP projects and other pro needs.”
So which is it, dude?
I think Apple’s done a good thing. Just get your refund and move on . . . .
Well, trivial as the cost may be, I think it foolish to just dive in to something that has been promoted as an entirely new application without testing it. And if it’s trivial, then why not just wait until the updates to bring it into the workflow?
there will be some refunds, some media outlet will claim that apple refunded all FCPX sales.. And unless apple publicly states the number, we will probably never know.
with software, the number of refunds are not as high as one would think.
What you are saying what you want, will happen. and odds are more people will hold out for the “fixes” and updates rather than go through the refund. which they may ultimately re-purchase later..
i cannot remember apple EVER offering a broad scope refund. Wow.
bumpers.
FinalCutProGate.
Another attack on Apple from The Consortium of Companies Apple Has Beaten the Crap Out of in the Last Few Years.
I wonder if it’ll last as long as AntennaGate?
This is like any media bubble. When the dust settles, very little will have happened.
Frankly, I think the number of refunds will be very small because I think the number of real users who actually complained is very small. Just a media bubble.
Since FCPX is totally new, it’s unlikely that it erased FCP7 from users hard drive. Stop the lost money, starving kids, lost projects drivel and get back to work.
Oh, and if by some strange chance that your FCP7 did get erased, you find it in your Time Machine backup, right?
what kinda bonehead would add their applications folder to their time machine backup?
It’s shitware as a Pro app despite the defense mounted by the Fanbois.
Thanks to a fraud alert freeze from my bank I didn’t have to suffer the waste of 4 Benjamins (iMovie Pro X, ConPresser, Motion). Have looked at it and messed with it at a friend’s house and read pages of reviews, feedback, and looked at online videos detailing the gripes.
It’s not a replacement for FCS. It’s a step up from iMovie, another steaming pile of shitware that wrecked good SW.
Apple has dropped the server OS, dropped server HW, FUBARed Quicktime, turned the Apple store into an iOS showroom, and now has turned a suite of Pro apps loved the world over into iMovie on steroids.
I do not professionally edit video these days, but used to and have a paid copy of FCS on my Mac Pro for when I do edit- as I despise iMovie ever since Apple Effed it up. The criticism I have seen are valid and this is no way to treat the professional or creative markets.
Many reviews took the attitude that Apple is abandoning the pro markets to chase upscale consumers with more $ than sense. It shure looks that way.
You seem to despise everything that Apple has done or is doing. In fact, judging from the way you have used this ginned-up FCP X controversy to go on this repetitive, name-calling rant against everything Apple, you absolutely hate Apple.
And yet, the only reason you didn’t buy FCP X (from what I understand) was a fraud alert freeze by the bank (by the way, nice touch there, using the word “fraud” in a rant about Apple). You also “have looked at it and messed with it at a friend’s house and read pages of reviews, feedback, and looked at online videos detailing the gripes.”
If Apple were a person, you’d be a dangerous stalker!
Mac Pro with LED Cinema, MacBookPro, iPad 2, Apple TV, Mac mini Server, iPhone 3GS, Final Cut Studio, Logic Studio, AirPort Extreme Dual Band, Aperture. About $100,000 in Apple stock. All on my dime.
Makes me a real Apple hater.
Apple doesn’t have to treat the Pro market this way and shouldn’t.
Wow! I can make up an imaginary list of Apple products I have, too. Mac Mini, iPhone 4, MacBook Pro, gigantic Cinema Display. Did I also mention I’ve been using Macs since 1984? Can’t forget to throw that one in there, too.
Okay, reading through the rest of these comments I see now that Apple’s “competitors” are most definitely attempting to manufacture another fake scandal a la antenna-gate. “Apple is abandoning the pro markets to chase upscale consumers” is the theme. Or should I say meme?
I’d love to hear somebody explain how abandoning your highest paying customers in order to chase after some lower paying customers makes sense. Does Apple hate making money now? Does it wish to be less profitable?
And… Hey, you know what else this reminds me of besides antenna-gate? It reminds me of the false “OMG APPLE IS GONNA DISCONTINUE THE MAC!1!1!1” hysteria after Steve Jobs uttered the phrase “post-PC era”. Infact, if antenna-gate and the Mac-is-dead hysteria had a baby, it would be this.
IT’S TOO RATE TO APOROGIZE!!!!!!!!!!
Okay MDN!!! Where are you on this. If this doesn’t tarnish the sheen on St. Jobs, what does? Moves now to the top of the list of SJ blunders – it may not replace the decision to sacrifice a first quality antenna for the sake of style, but it’s really, really close.
shut up. All that shrill whining has woken my dog up.
all of you ready to jump ship over this are being ridiculous. Maybe you should give Apple 5 minutes to issue an update that addresses the problem. I can’t speak personally on it yet but it sure looks like a great product that is missing a couple key elements. I have faith that Steve and the team will fix it soon and it will be lauded as the industry standard in no time.