countryman 13 Posted October 1, 2014 Hi all, I need some ideas/advice as it seems I need a new DMS due to the outrageous greed of Dragon2000. I have received a letter from them today, and it appears they have decided that it's OK to charge me £89.95 + VAT per month to continue using Dragon2000 (I currently pay them £39.95 + VAT per month), with one month's notice! Obviously whatever software I get needs to be able to integrate my existing records (which go back years). I am only a 'small' independent retailer and do not have a workshop. Any ideas? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Autolink100 34 Posted October 1, 2014 I have just had the same letter. When we started using them back in 2002 it was a straight up front purchase of the software and you paid a nominal amount for support. It does seem an outrageous hike in what they charge and I wonder if they are pricing themselves out of the market for the smaller trader. They seem to be modelling themselves on Autotrader's business model. I will also be looking around at the alternatives. Not impressed with them at all 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gavin@Rousdon 137 Posted October 1, 2014 I used Garage Data Systems (GDS), only a basic system, workshop invoicing with a car sales module, it has other bits which I don't use like stock control etc etc Not sure how much a month it is as I purchased it up front before they started doing monthly payments. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
countryman 13 Posted October 1, 2014 I have just had the same letter. When we started using them back in 2002 it was a straight up front purchase of the software and you paid a nominal amount for support. It does seem an outrageous hike in what they charge and I wonder if they are pricing themselves out of the market for the smaller trader. They seem to be modelling themselves on Autotrader's business model. I will also be looking around at the alternatives. Not impressed with them at all When I started with them it was free! It was called the free Stockbook edition! Now I don't mind anybody having a profit, we've all got businesses to run, but I am really p****d off!! Yes, they do seem to have adopted the AutoTrader greed - that's why I don't advertise with AutoTrader and I shall on longer be using Dragon2000. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CJ Underhill 34 Posted October 4, 2014 We use a system from Catalyst called Platinum. I think its more workshop based with a car sales section. Its a good system that does everything you could imagine. Stock control, invoicing, VAT etc etc not sure on the price tho. If your only a smallish vehicle sales, you may find it better to have a programmer write you a system. We've got a guy writing one for us, its a bigish up front cost, but then theres no monthly payments, works out alot cheaper in the long run, plus its designed to how we want it Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Autolink100 34 Posted October 21, 2014 I am in the wrong business! I should have gone into computers. I spoke to Dragon 2000 last week about their planned hike in charges and how it seems a bit steep for the small independents such as myself and I was basically told tough luck, if you don;t like it, jog on son. They are obviously doing so well they are not bothered about losing the smaller dealers, must be a lovely to be that comfortable about your product. It's a good system and we have been using it for about 11 years now but I have had a good look around over the last month and there are plenty of alternatives that do the same job for a whole lot less money. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sparky 274 Posted October 22, 2014 Can you simply no longer buy Dragon outright for a one off payment? I think I'm on Dragon 8.1 and that was about £500 and the only monthly fee being support which I didn't take out. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Autolink100 34 Posted October 22, 2014 Can you simply no longer buy Dragon outright for a one off payment? I think I'm on Dragon 8.1 and that was about £500 and the only monthly fee being support which I didn't take out. No, you can't buy it outright anymore like we did 11 years ago. It is now a monthly subscription and the latest 2014 version is cloud based so nothing to install on your PC. I suggested that as we actually paid for it up front maybe we could carry on using it without support but was told no way, they can disable it over the web and that is what they will do if we don't want to continue with them. The software makes us call them every year for a new license code anyway so I think we are stuffed. The guy I spoke to in customer services was adamant that there was no room for negotiation and that a small independent like ourselves will pay exactly the same as a large main dealer. I think their attitude sucks quite frankly. I suspect that as you have a very early version that you can simply carry on using it for as long as you please and i guess they haven't written to you asking for more money which makes me even more angry. I think we are on version 9.something which obviously has a few things built into it to lock it down if they wish. Have you ever heard from them since you bought it ? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sparky 274 Posted October 23, 2014 No, you can't buy it outright anymore like we did 11 years ago. It is now a monthly subscription and the latest 2014 version is cloud based so nothing to install on your PC. I suggested that as we actually paid for it up front maybe we could carry on using it without support but was told no way, they can disable it over the web and that is what they will do if we don't want to continue with them. The software makes us call them every year for a new license code anyway so I think we are stuffed. The guy I spoke to in customer services was adamant that there was no room for negotiation and that a small independent like ourselves will pay exactly the same as a large main dealer. I think their attitude sucks quite frankly. I suspect that as you have a very early version that you can simply carry on using it for as long as you please and i guess they haven't written to you asking for more money which makes me even more angry. I think we are on version 9.something which obviously has a few things built into it to lock it down if they wish. Have you ever heard from them since you bought it ? No. The last time I spoke to Dragon was when I asked how to change the VAT rate from 17.5% to 20%. They basically told me to bugger off as I wasn't paying for support, can't argue with what they said but the way they said it left a lot to be desired seeing as this was the already my second purchase from them. Reading your post it sounds like things have not changed much. Thankfully I managed to do it myself. If mine crashed today (please god no as I'm only 7 days away from year end)) then I would look at other options as there is no way I would pay them the thick end of a grand a year, that actually makes AT look good value for money! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
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