While trying to resolve a licensing problem with Steinberg regarding a Zero Downtime Activation Code that was supposedly sent to me 11 years ago… It appears no one is willing to listen to my version of the circumstances leading up to this misunderstanding.
I have contacted Steinberg/Yamaha USA customer support and they relayed the message from Germany that there was nothing they could do about it. I’ve emailed Germany twice making my case, But 4 days later I have not heard anything. It appears that I’m being left out in the cold holding onto a deactivated license with no chance of rectify my problem. This is additionally troubling since by now even if it was to be resolved I don’t think I would make it under the wire to purchase the current upgrade offer for Cubase Pro.
If anything changes in the next 48 hour I will be sure to update this post. But for now I am past upset regarding the lack of communication from Germany.
Not sure if it’s reasonable to expect a 48hr - 1 week response after 11 years?
I probably wouldn’t remember if someone sent me a deactivation code last year let alone last decade.
But … respect to you. I’d just maybe give a bit more time for a response as the people at cb are probably pretty busy dealing with the upcoming c12 update and reso;ving/ignoring all the issues with the current version 11.
I contacted them via email last Friday (almost 1 week ago) and I sent several follow-up emails on Monday (3 days ago) and not a peep. It seems that no one gives a #### about my problem or for that matter even to talk about it.
Seriously, Steinberg can’t even be bothered with sorting the Scissors tool or the Ext Efx connection bug (with a new USB MOTU interface) using C11 in Win10. Amazing example of commerce over quality. All the best with your troubles.
@Easto, I am sorry for the delays and the issue. The original case dates back 10 years and we do not have any records of it anymore except from the USB-eLicenser being registered in one of our accounts. This was pre-Steinberg Zero Downtime, and back in the days we used our own accounts to blacklist USB-eLicensers that had been reported to us as broken or lost.
I found your tickets in our system here at Steinberg HQ and replied. I hope that the solution is acceptable.
Ed, I have received your email. I cannot tell you how happy I am. I can assure you that my requests were 100% legitimate and I appreciate you making things right. I have purchased the upgrade and I’ve been able to load Cubase 11 on my computer.
But it’s still not working. I loaded everything, the elicenser showed the new Cubase 11 and not it’s failing to pull it up saying the elicencer is broken? It didn’t say that a minute ago. Cubase will open but freezes on the splash page.
I’m finiished with this. I"m calling support and try to get my money back. This has been a nightmare.
Yes, it goes in and out now. What do I need, a new dongle? Can I transfer the license to the new dongle or do I have to apply for one of the ZDT licenses when I get the new dongle?
Regardless, I’m going to contact usa customer service and as for a refund. I just can’t take this any longer.
You didn’t say exactly what SB did for you, but it sounds like they un-disabled your key. But as you said previously, the key is broken, and also it’s a very old key.
So if your system complains it’s broken, I imagine it actually is broken.
It looks like I need to head over to guitar center and buy a new dongle.
Sorry for all the rants but over the years I’ve had problems with Steinberg and it seems like if it isn’t one thing it’s anohter.
I"m a 66 y/o retired musician that just likes to tnker with it and they just seem to make everything so difficult, separate logins for downloading, purchasing, forums ets.
To be fair, they have improved on this score – One account for Asknet and one for all Steinberg websites. That’s a 33% reduction in required accounts!
Also, if you didn’t know this already, your Cubase 11 purchase grants you a free update to Cubase 12 when it comes out, and the Cubase 11 license will remain on the USB key, and will continue to work, even as the Cubase 12 license resides on the computer.
You have probably read the stuff in the links below, but in case you haven’t check it out:
I would like to thank everyone for putting up with me. I bought a new dongle and everything is running as expected. Cubase Germany was kind enough to reactivate a license for me and I’m good to go…
You got lucky. I had a similar situation once. I spent a lot of money on Cubase and Wavelab probably 20 years ago but in a move the disks, dongle, everything disappeared and were lost. I was sure I had registered the software and thought I could just pay for an upgrade and replacement dongle but when I contacted Steinberg many years ago they said they had no record of my purchase. I just figured it was my fault for losing the stuff but I was surprised that they didn’t have some sort of records at the time.
I went through a similar situation earlier this year upgrading from a 6.5 license from close to 10 years ago, although my experience was very positive.
With that said, understanding the upgrade path was the most confusing/stressful part. I bought a new dongle from amazon as my old one had stopped working, and Steinberg US support via online chat was great in helping me understand exactly what was needed and how to apply zero downtime to get up and running right away. It did require a few sessions to clarify things, but it all got worked out in the end. Since then I have had zero issues with my 11 Pro software and am happy that I returned to Cubase.
I’d recommend to anyone reading this and getting frustrated or confused with the upgrade process to take a deep breath and contact Steinberg through the online chat feature on their support site.
pacific202. I do agree that the USA support was incredible. Unfortunately I had to duke it out with Germany since the USA side said their hands were tied regarding deactivated keys. Still, they did offer some great help and appreciate everything they did to help.
What was making me nervous was that the deadline to be able to take advantage of the latest discount was coming to an end quite soon and I didn’t want to miss out. Having to wait a week for resolution was nerve racking to say the least.
