Sorry to go...

Tim Kirkwood

I have already emailed with customer support. But I wanted to leave a message here letting you know that I am sad to go. I have enjoyed my time with SmugMug.

But...

I was disappointed that when my site hosting auto renewed, it was $100 higher than I anticipated.

When I checked that box for auto renew I expected to see a $150/year charge to my account.
I was very embarrassed to have my checking card declined at Walmart when I was trying to buy decorations for my sons birthday party.

I logged into my bank from my phone to see that there was a charge from SmugMug for $250!

Yes, I received an email a few weeks in advance that my site would be renewing. No, I did not read the entire contents of that email (my fault). I saw that it was from SmugMug and I knew my renewal would be coming soon. But I did not notice that it would be renewing for $250. So I ignored the email and had enough money in the account to cover the cost I was expecting to be posting.

If I authorize an auto renew, and the cost of that service changes, then you should cancel the auto renew and force me to log in and agree to the new terms/amount.

I understand that there are lower priced options for the folks who want to stay. But I don't do enough photo work/sales to warrant the cost.

This is more of a hobby for me than a business.

Thanks for the 7 years of hosting.

This post is not to demean the site, service, or pricing. It's simply a suggestion to void auto renew should the rates change. SmugMug is a great site and I will still recommend them to people looking to create a site for their work.

Tim Kirkwood

LPC

If this is more of a hobby for you than a business then why on earth were you not on the Basic or Power user plan? 60 bucks a year at most! Ludicrously good value.

Good luck with wherever you decide to go next but I hope you don't regret it when you get there.

bobbyhero

I see that you're communicating with Amanda via email. We'd love to have you stick around, and I hope a solution can be worked out!

sbphoto0124

You're not the only one leaving...
I just downgraded my subscription while I shop around for new site options. I've been very disappointed with the "new" SM and the lack of "new" features for business owners.

Good luck and I can relate to the whole being caught off guard with an unexpected charge. It truly sucks!

bartman01

LPC wrote: »

If this is more of a hobby for you than a business then why on earth were you not on the Basic or Power user plan? 60 bucks a year at most! Ludicrously good value.

Good luck with wherever you decide to go next but I hope you don't regret it when you get there.

Neither of those plans would allow him to make any money from whatever sales he has. 'More of a hobby' does not mean ONLY a hobby.

LPC

bartman01 wrote: »

Neither of those plans would allow him to make any money from whatever sales he has. 'More of a hobby' does not mean ONLY a hobby.

I only have a Power account, it is more of a hobby for me and I regularly sell photographs. You don't have to sell them directly from your website, if people want them they will always, always contact you directly. I would never have sold a single photograph if I didn't have the shop window provided by Smugmug for the princely sum of 60 dollars a year! It takes two seconds to send a magazine a file and you get to keep all of the fee!

But there are plenty of other options out there with slightly lower or slightly higher charges for similar services (just remember to read your emails and the fine print) or you could just buy a couple of hard drives for the same money if all you want is storage.

mbonocore

Hi Tim,

Amanda sent you an email. Please let me know if you didn't get it.

I am very sorry to hear you were caught off guard with the change.

Please let me know if you got Amanda's email.

Thanks!

uketeecee

Tim,

I understand your frustration. A change in price should void any auto-renew agreement. Absolutely! End of story.

Like you, I am not happy right now. The new version of Smugmug has been released in beta mode and the bugs are driving me crazy.
BUT... in a year or so all the bugs should be fixed (hopefully).

The Smugmug service is the best available. I know because I've done many hours research on the competition and I've decided to stay.

You should too.

ceasley

I agree with Tim. Been on the fence between Zenfolio and Smug for about a year, but decided to go with Smug with the full belief that they will work out the bugs in time. If you want to keep most of the features of the PRO account, then downgrade to the Portfolio level at $150 per month. That is what I had to do since I'm not really working this as a business.