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Alibre CAD Software Bait & Switch
Users grumble over misleading software promotion

A company named Alibre decided to gain attention for their CAD software by promising users a full version if 100,000 people signed up by August first. The plan worked: users in our software forum began to eagerly discuss and register for the software, and the press (linked via Alibre's website) began applauding the planned give away of free "fully functional" CAD software - typically worth thousands of dollars.

"A powerful parametric, solid-modeling 3D CAD program called X-CAD will be made available for free when and if 100,000 people register by August 1, 2005," stated the company's press release, which claimed the software being offered was "not a demo or trial software," and was "fully-functional."

"I - want to emphasize that Alibre Design Xpress is not a 'bait and switch' offer," stated the company's CEO during the promotion's launch. "You get CAD that typically costs thousands of dollars and we get a relationship with you and learn how to make this the best 3D solid modeler on the market today," proclaimed the company's website.

Except whoops: just before the counter reached a hundred thousand registrations, the company unveiled that the CAD software in question wasn't a full version of their product after all. It was instead Alibre Design Xpress, a new feature-crippled version of their software - complete with banner ads you need to pay $50 to disable.

Many negative comments on the apparent bait and switch are being deleted from the company's website, according to our users.
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FFH5
Premium Member
join:2002-03-03
Tavistock NJ

4 edits

1 recommendation

FFH5

Premium Member

FTC should investigate and fine them

These bait and switch gambits come under FTC control. The company can be enjoined from such behavior and also be fined. The FTC should follow this up and take appropriate action.

As to the users - buyer beware is still good advice. Very rarely do you ever get something for nothing.

Edit: corrected FCC to FTC

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Join Red Room Forum

technick
Premium Member
join:2000-12-16
Wheat Ridge, CO

technick

Premium Member

Re: FCC should investigate and fine them

Thats bullshit! I signed up for it too, and never received a link to download it. But I also noticed at the same time I am starting to get some spam in my inbox. Has anyone else noticed spam?

alexy
@bellsouth.net

alexy

Anon

Re: FCC should investigate and fine them

No more spam than usual, and none in the box used to register for X-CAD. I don't like what they are doing, but I've seen no evidence of the feared email harvesting scheme. There are LOTS cheaper ways to get 100,000 emails.
BarneyBadAss
Badasses Fight For Freedom
Premium Member
join:2004-05-07
00001

BarneyBadAss to technick

Premium Member

to technick
Technick,

um.. did you even think to use a 'JUNK' email account??? so I guess I have to answer no; I'm not getting any more junk e-mail than I usually get.. but it seems my 'JUNK' email account only gets junk, so how would I know?

Hmmmmm.....

AMDUSER
Premium Member
join:2003-05-28
Earth,
ARRIS CM8200
ARRIS SB6183

AMDUSER to technick

Premium Member

to technick
said by technick:

"..I signed up for it too, and never received a link to download it. But I also noticed at the same time I am starting to get some spam in my inbox. Has anyone else noticed spam?
Never received a link to download, haven't received spam.. yet. Will report for spamming when it arrives. Hopefully they will get to finally meet Big, Bad, Bubba - in jail.
TherapyChick
join:2003-09-19
Fayetteville, NC

TherapyChick to technick

Member

to technick
You're getting SPAM? OMG!!!

just kidding, but really, I used an old yahoo email that is nothing but spam and stuff, didn't really care about the CAD software, but thought, hey, 100,000 geeks can't be wrong?



lol

hayabusa3303
Over 200 mph
Premium Member
join:2005-06-29
Florence, SC

hayabusa3303

Premium Member

Re: FCC should investigate and fine them

If you look at the SITE people it says in plain black and white... (You can download X-CAD, a fully functional, parametric, solid-modeling 3D MCAD application, for free on August 1, 2005.)

People it is still july when did august turn july?
They might be full of hot air i see alot of poeple cant read.
HawkI911
join:2002-04-08
San Antonio, TX

1 recommendation

HawkI911 to FFH5

Member

to FFH5

Re: FTC should investigate and fine them

This company was pretty deceitful, but how many ppl here actually need a CAD program? I understand the whole "free thing" but come on, you're going to get about 10 minutes of fun out of it before uninstalling it.

CAD programs are dull and technical unless you're an engineer/architect/enjoy designing stuff.

guitarzan
Premium Member
join:2004-05-04
Skytop, PA

guitarzan

Premium Member

Re: FTC should investigate and fine them

said by HawkI911:

how many ppl here actually need a CAD program? , you're going to get about 10 minutes of fun out of it before uninstalling it.
Sure if the install takes 10 minutes.:D Like you posted.unless you're an engineer/architect/enjoy designing stuff.

There is absolutely no "fun factor" in Cad if one has never used it before.More like 10 minutes of frustration,provided one tries that long.
BarneyBadAss
Badasses Fight For Freedom
Premium Member
join:2004-05-07
00001

BarneyBadAss to FFH5

Premium Member

to FFH5
Hey, Old_Repub,

Dust off your army boots man, and kick thier ass:D

Fatal Vector
@dsl.sfldmi.ameritech

-1 recommendation

Fatal Vector

Anon

SURPRISE!


Fell for it, didn't you? You really should have known better. As if a company is going to give away a CAD program worth thousands of dollars. What was it P> T> Barnum said? There's a sucker born every minute.

Combat Chuck
Too Many Cannibals
Premium Member
join:2001-11-29
Verona, PA

1 edit

1 recommendation

Combat Chuck

Premium Member

Re: SURPRISE!

said by Fatal Vector:

Fell for it, didn't you? You really should have known better. As if a company is going to give away a CAD program worth thousands of dollars. What was it P> T> Barnum said? There's a sucker born every minute.
Fell for it, how? I imagine most of us (at least from this site) who signed up saw something similar coming and planned accordingly, and as of right now I haven't received any spam in the box I signed up with.

The way I saw it, if it was true I get a new toy to play with; if they pulled what they did I just delete the addy I signed up with, nothing lost nothing gained.

Fatal Vector
@dsl.sfldmi.ameritech

Fatal Vector

Anon

Re: SURPRISE!


Point is, you went for it. It was FREE! What is it consumer advocates say? "If the deal looks too good to be true, it probably is".

Now, have someone crack your knuckles with a metal ruler, you naughty boy. A bayonet will do also.

Combat Chuck
Too Many Cannibals
Premium Member
join:2001-11-29
Verona, PA

1 edit

Combat Chuck

Premium Member

Re: SURPRISE!

said by Fatal Vector:

Point is, you went for it. It was FREE! What is it consumer advocates say? "If the deal looks too good to be true, it probably is".

Now, have someone crack your knuckles with a metal ruler, you naughty boy. A bayonet will do also.
No, I didn't "go for it", I wasn't deceived. Having seen what someone was quoted for solidworks, I knew full well that chances were X-cad would either suck or there would be some other stipulation. And I've lost nothing but the five minutes to set up an address at my domain and fill out the form.

They tried to pick my pocket but since I had my hand on my wallet they were unsuccessful; but I still got to see a magic trick.

2kmaro
Think

join:2000-07-11
Oklahoma City, OK

2kmaro to Fatal Vector

to Fatal Vector
I signed up for it, and invited others to do the same if they needed a 3D CAD program. I also went into it with eyes open and even in the face of their front page claim of not selling or giving away the email list their building up, I naturally created a throw-away email addy in the event that that was a bogus claim. Haven't been checking the "TO" addresses on the 100 or so junk emails I get every day (they go direct to DELETE folder and are deleted when I shut down the client), but perhaps I shall for a while to see if any comes into XCAD@...

As for getting the full copy, yes I hoped they'd be honest in their offer and provide what they said they would. But being the cynic that I am, I rather expected some fine print weasel words somewhere that I hadn't seen just yet. Time will tell.

lemekim
Premium Member
join:2002-02-11
Philadelphia, PA

lemekim to FFH5

Premium Member

to FFH5
There is no such thing as free lunch =(

guitarzan
Premium Member
join:2004-05-04
Skytop, PA

guitarzan to FFH5

Premium Member

to FFH5
That offer was too good to be true.I thought of using my gmail account for a second or two.Smelling the coffee after those few seconds.I asked myself who in their right mind would give free copies of cad in exchange for an email.? let alone 100,000 copies? Glad i passed on that weasel deal If one would just think about the deal.Would you give someone an expensive cad program for practically nothing.?

Orwell1984
@fdn.com

Orwell1984

Anon

Yeah

I had a feeling. So glad I used a throw away.

graycorgi
Premium Member
join:2004-02-23

graycorgi

Premium Member

Proof that

Gmail's spam filter's work =) Haven't seen any spam hit my thunderbird inbox folder since this.

oliphant
I Have 8 Boobies
Premium Member
join:2004-11-26
Corona, CA

oliphant

Premium Member

TINSTAFL

True then, true now.

Dagda1175
join:2001-06-17
Goleta, CA

Dagda1175

Member

Free CAD software???

Suckers.... this shouldn't have sounded right to anyone in the first place.

MIABye
Premium Member
join:2001-10-28
united state

MIABye

Premium Member

Re: Free CAD software???

It did not sound right to me. I am now glad I went with that initial judgement and just watched everyone else sign up.
Kearnstd
Space Elf
Premium Member
join:2002-01-22
Mullica Hill, NJ

Kearnstd to Dagda1175

Premium Member

to Dagda1175
but companies wonder why people pirate, heck this one said it was a full version of their program then swung back with a spyware and adware encrusted one.

Jovi
Premium Member
join:2000-02-24
Mount Joy, PA

Jovi

Premium Member

Email

Does anyone have the email stating that it was free(after 100,000 sign-ups) and no internet connection required? I'd be interested in taking a look at that. Thanks

Combat Chuck
Too Many Cannibals
Premium Member
join:2001-11-29
Verona, PA

Combat Chuck

Premium Member

Re: Email

This is the email I recieved after signing up:
--


X-CAD Registration Confirmation Instructions

Thank you for registering for the free X-CAD software.

Please click the link below to verify your registration.

»www.x-cad.net/optin.asp? ··· XXXXXXXX

It is very important that you verify your registration. Unverified
registrations will not count towards the 100,000 needed to release the
free X-CAD software.

When 100,000 people register, you will receive an email message with
instructions on how to download the free software.

Spread the word and get your free 3D CAD software faster, tell all your
colleagues and friends to register too!

If you have any problems with this process, please contact
info@x-cad.net.

© 2005 All rights reserved.
--

conveniently vague about what the software is, I think if you wanna discuss the legal aspects you'd be best to do so about the website.

Jovi
Premium Member
join:2000-02-24
Mount Joy, PA

1 edit

Jovi

Premium Member

Re: Email

I find it interesting the CEO says this in the press release:

"It's amazing that vendors in this market rely upon customer-hostile policies such as encrypted file formats and forced product retirements/upgrades - and even more amazing: their customers stand for it. We believe these oppressive practices and the companies that engage in them have basically caused the industry to stagnate, and we're out to change things.

"I also want to emphasize that Alibre Design Xpress is not a 'bait and switch' offer. We believe that by providing very high value software to a lot of people, and then engaging with them to learn from them -- while building trust by respecting their privacy and requests to opt-out of our communications -- we will increase sales of our flagship Alibre Design product family."

»www.alibre.com/xpress/ne ··· p?source

guitarzan
Premium Member
join:2004-05-04
Skytop, PA

guitarzan to Combat Chuck

Premium Member

to Combat Chuck
said by Combat Chuck:

Spread the word and get your free 3D CAD software faster, tell all your
colleagues and friends to register too!

With a statement like that in the offer.That yelled scam in big
fonts.

techjoe
Premium Member
join:2004-02-20
Lombard, IL

techjoe to Combat Chuck

Premium Member

to Combat Chuck
said by Combat Chuck:

This is the email I recieved after signing up:
--


X-CAD Registration Confirmation Instructions

Thank you for registering for the free X-CAD software.

Please click the link below to verify your registration.

»www.x-cad.net/optin.asp? ··· XXXXXXXX

It is very important that you verify your registration. Unverified
registrations will not count towards the 100,000 needed to release the
free X-CAD software.

When 100,000 people register, you will receive an email message with
instructions on how to download the free software.

Spread the word and get your free 3D CAD software faster, tell all your
colleagues and friends to register too!

If you have any problems with this process, please contact
info@x-cad.net.

© 2005 All rights reserved.
--

conveniently vague about what the software is, I think if you wanna discuss the legal aspects you'd be best to do so about the website.
Thanks to your participation in the X-CAD 100,000 Seat Giveaway we have reached the goal of 100,000 registrations early!

Some of you may not have heard, we announced on Wednesday that Alibre is the company behind X-CAD and X-CAD is Alibre Design Xpress, the newest member of the Alibre Design product family.

As of August 1, Alibre Design Xpress will be available to all for free. But, as one of the first 100,000 to register, you're getting a little more.

For you Alibre Design Xpress will include all the features listed on the new Alibre Design Xpress site, plus:

* Advanced part modeling, which includes features like shelling, 3D sketch, reference surfaces, etc. View the Alibre Design brochure on our web site for the full part modeling feature set.

* Create and edit assemblies with up to 25 unique parts. You can open an assembly with more parts in read-only mode.

* Create 2D drawings with standard orthographic views. All drawings are fully associative: you change the model and the drawing updates.

* 3D import/export of all the standard formats Alibre Design supports, including STEP, SAT (ACIS), and IGES. DXF and DWG are supported in 2D, and STL is supported for export.

All free versions of Alibre Design Xpress require an Internet connection and will display a banner of Google ads through a built-in web page. No third-party adware is installed on your system. If your Internet connection is lost we have taken steps to ensure that you can save your work. The Internet connection requirement can be turned off for a small fee.

On August 1, you will receive instructions on how to download the software. We had hoped to release it to you sooner, but given the nature of software development, we are in the final stages of quality testing. At this time we expect all to be ready for the August 1 release.

This is truly the best offer for parametric 3D CAD software available anywhere. When you get the download instructions, please complete the steps to download and install Alibre Design Xpress right away. The special offer you get as one of the first 100,000 expires on August 31, don't delay.

If you are no longer interested in Alibre Design Xpress and would like to be removed from all future email communications and eligibility for the extra features offered to the first 100,000 registrants, you may Unsubscribe here.

This isn't the end, there will be additional valuable incentives for engaging with us over time, so I encourage you to stay opted in to our email communications and participate in the short surveys and contests. We won't abuse your email address, we stand by our privacy policy and if you opt out, we won't send you messages.

Best Regards,
Greg Milliken
President and CEO
Alibre, Inc.

This email as sent to: xxx@xxx.xxx

This email was sent by Alibre Inc.
1701 N. Greenville Ave, STE 702, Richardson, Texas 75081
www.alibre.com ¦ phone 972.671.8492 ¦ fax 972.671.8493

Now I'm really excited? NOT!
Primis1
join:2005-06-13
Coldwater, MI

1 recommendation

Primis1

Member

Alibre's Goiing-Away Party?

Speculation over on the CNCZone forums (a machinists' forum) is that this might knowingly be/have been be the Last Hurrah for Alibre and that they're going under anyways. They release the adware version, someone continues getting a stream of advertising income form it (read CEO, execs, etc), they harvest email addresses to sell off to the highest spam bidder to supplement and ease that for now, and then they close up shop and call it good, not caring one way or another.

Alibre also is allegedly was sued in back in 2000 by SolidWorks (a competitor) for employee tampering, stealing code, and misappropriation of other company/trade secrets from what I can glean from a little bit of scattered info referencing it.

Some reputation indeed. I'm growing less and less surprised by the second.
Stumbles
join:2002-12-17
Port Saint Lucie, FL

Stumbles

Member

Money for nothing and bits ain't either.

LOL.

So people really thought they were going to give away something in the neighborhood of $1,000,000+ of product?

LOL, that's so funny.
HawkI911
join:2002-04-08
San Antonio, TX

HawkI911

Member

Re: Money for nothing and bits ain't either.

"So people really thought they were going to give away something in the neighborhood of $1,000,000+ of product?
"

Yes sir....

Some washington based company you've probably never heard of called Microsoft did just that in its early days. But of course, they're bankrupt now and have entered the oblivion of obscurity.

chanur
Premium Member
join:2001-02-26
Colorado Springs, CO

chanur

Premium Member

Re: Money for nothing and bits ain't either.



Ha, you get my laugh of the day award.

spamd
Premium Member
join:2001-04-22
Cherry Valley, IL

1 recommendation

spamd to Stumbles

Premium Member

to Stumbles
said by Stumbles:

LOL.

So people really thought they were going to give away something in the neighborhood of $1,000,000+ of product?

LOL, that's so funny.
Why is that so funny????

Many companies do this daily. It's called marketing. Matter of fact giving away your product for free is probably the best marketing tool there is. If I can give away my product and can afford to do so. Then I also expect a more loyal customer in return. Keep in mind this type of marketing is for the long haul return in investment.

Also another way they could make up some of the investment is to increase product price of the next version to help supplement the cost of the free version. Over time It will pay for it's self and them some.

The problem with Alibre is there marketing tactics are criminal.
Taber
join:2002-07-31
Millbrae, CA

Taber to Stumbles

Member

to Stumbles
$1mm is chump change in big business.

If you want to make a dent for your product to be used, then you do what you have to do. Too bad this company had to back out or weasel people into something else.

Well now they have a DB of 100,000+ emails and names...

insomniac84
join:2002-01-03
Schererville, IN

insomniac84 to Stumbles

Member

to Stumbles
said by Stumbles:

LOL.

So people really thought they were going to give away something in the neighborhood of $1,000,000+ of product?

LOL, that's so funny.
LOL, you are funny. All those that signed up deserve to get their full copy adware free software, if you think otherwise your an idiot and possibly have down syndrome like the execs at alibre.

-1 recommendation

Cheeseinamousetrap

Anon

Only cheese in a mousetrap is free.

Only cheese in a mousetrap is free.:)

CPM
Broadband, DSL, cable
join:2001-08-24
Denver, CO

CPM

Member

Money for nothing

Sing it.

Get your money for nothing and you spyware for free. Yeah, That is how you do it.
Effect users computer with spyware.

Computer users are so dumb
Stick it to them.
Cus our company will have some fun.

Mass email. Mass Email. Them

I want my,
I want my
I want my
IPO

viperpa33s
Why Me?
Premium Member
join:2002-12-20
Bradenton, FL

viperpa33s

Premium Member

It goes to say.....

Remember the old say, when something is to good to be true, it probably is. Some Attorney General would have a field day with this including the AG from the state of NY. This is on top of the FTC getting involved. This is not only false advertising but also deception. Now that they have access to 100,000+ emails, can't wait for what happens next.

They have disabled there forum feedback link. First indication of hiding something.

•••••

POB
Res Firma Mitescere Nescit
Premium Member
join:2003-02-13
Stepford, CA

1 recommendation

POB

Premium Member

Common Sense 101

If it seems too good to be true then it probably is. Live & learn, boys & girls.

spamd
Premium Member
join:2001-04-22
Cherry Valley, IL

1 recommendation

spamd

Premium Member

Re: Common Sense 101

said by POB:

If it seems too good to be true then it probably is. Live & learn, boys & girls.
While I do agree with that statement. But please do understand that most if not all 100,000 people who signed up used a secondary or spam email address. I think it's not a Live & learn situation here. It's more like lets catch a thief with his hand in the cookie jar.

I signed up knowing that this could be a scam, but at the same time I wanted to see what Alibre ethics are like.

And guess what we found out.. No serious harm done to us yet besides blatant lies and deceit from Alibre.

AnonProxy
Premium Member
join:2001-05-12

AnonProxy

Premium Member

Proof positive there is a sucker born every minute

Great Job!

hdman
Flt Rider
Premium Member
join:2003-11-25
Appleton, WI

hdman

Premium Member

Thank God for SpamGourmet!!

I too signed up for this offer, but never figured it would pan out. I used a free disposable email from »www.spamgourmet.com and gave them 4 shots at a legit email. I got spammed within 24 hours on that email address and the rest are getting gobbled up by Spam Gourmet. Goodby Alibre....looks like you won't be around long offering a freebie, then selling contact data to spammers.

HDMan

salzan
Experienced Optimist
Premium Member
join:2004-01-08
WA State

1 recommendation

salzan

Premium Member

No Spam Here

Other than the email of confirmation, I've received no spam. If that was part of their plan, they may be doing a re-think after this scheme blew up in their faces.

They have until Aug. 1 to figure out how to deal with this PR fiasco, so something good may still come of it.

As for everyone with 20/20 hindsight, most of us had a pretty good idea of what we were doing. That still doesn't excuse the misleading actions of Alibre and we still have a right to expect them to live up to their promises.

Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Fatal vector
@dsl.sfldmi.ameritech

Fatal vector

Anon

Re: No Spam Here


Confess. You were all drooling over the prospect of free thousand dollar software. Greed will get you every time. Now, everyone get out their rulers and crack the knuckles of the person next to you 5 times.

Do it now.

salzan
Experienced Optimist
Premium Member
join:2004-01-08
WA State

1 recommendation

salzan

Premium Member

Re: No Spam Here

said by Fatal vector:

Confess. You were all drooling over the prospect of free thousand dollar software. Greed will get you every time.
Personally, I hadn't set my sights that high. I did, however, expect to get a fully functional program without adware that didn't need to phone home or be connected to the internet to work.

DoUSmellIt
@206.21.x.x

DoUSmellIt

Anon

Let;s do it

We should all file a combined lawsuit. The X-CAD site blatantly said it was for 3D cad software but if you go to look at the Alibre CAD Express (which is the product they are giving away) it says it is 2D design software. Not to mention all of the other deceiving claims they had on the x-cad site

mikey03821
@verizon.net

mikey03821

Anon

Re: Let;s do it

Let's just hack the full version (non-ad) and make it freely available. Hey, all who signed up before 100,000 technically have a license for the full version.

HRM
God Bless America
MVM
join:2002-02-03
Darien, CT

HRM

MVM

I want my money back

I want my money back
Nagrom Nniuq
join:2002-11-19
Springfield, OR

1 edit

Nagrom Nniuq

Member

Re: I want my money back

Wrong spot.
Nagrom Nniuq

Nagrom Nniuq

Member

Lawsuit

Those of us that are in the 100,000 really need to get organized and sue Alibre.

It should be a relatively simple lawsuit as we have obvious bait and switch and lying about the required internet connection.

If all of us got together on this they would have no choice but to settle.

Ideas?

••••

rodoke
join:2003-10-28
Carbondale, IL

rodoke

Member

Even Ray Charles could've seen this coming!

I remember the original "FREE Software" thread. My question to them is: didn't the fact that the giveaway page had almost no information on the software in question tip any of you off? I mean, the site had no system requirements (beyond "Windows Something-or-other"), no feature lists, no independent reviews, not even any screenshots!

Anonymous88
Premium Member
join:2004-06-01
IA

Anonymous88

Premium Member

Suckers

I hope you did not use your 'clean' email accounts :D

••••
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