i thought id buy absolute 7 as it got virtually every thing in it how wrong i was I’ve just wasted my money over the years you purchase products one by on ,but it appears that once i got it it only was able to add one more item and few gb data seem I’ve got abasulte7 but not in a program but ,all my downloads I’ve already paid for over the years i would like a refund ,it should be sold as a package less what you already own , i could brought komplete few quid more maybe the update i might get free lol
Caveat emptor. Especially if spending a lot of $$$.
The only bundle I ever bought was Arturia’s - I wanted the BX-3, Vox and Farfisa. It was cheaper to get the whole caboodle than the 3 separate VSTis.
You’re not alone:
And I think you mean “robbed” not “robed”.
This is one which confuses people a bit.
Despite its name, Absolute is not the same thing as IK’s Total Studio MAX, Arturia’s Sound Explorers Collection or Native Instruments Komplete. It’s not a bundle of every single Steinberg product.
It is a colletion and that is clearly visible on the website
And there is a list of what is included in it, so it is simply possible to check the content.
https://www.steinberg.net/vst-instruments/absolute/included-instruments/
There is a link on the support pages to the Online Shop Support, where you can request your refund
To suggest that Absolute is a bad purchase is a bit of an exaggeration. Which Steinberg VSTs did you own before acquiring Absolute? It would be easier to determine whether buying Absolute was worth it—compared to purchasing the missing plugins individually—if we knew that.
I too believe the description is a little deceptive. Where’s Iconica and TGuitar? But, I did do my research before plopping down my cash and was aware of what I was getting. TBH, I think you have a case for a refund.
Ah, messaging. Steinberg’s mortal enemy.
Better verbiage would be:
**
Boost your sound, your inspiration and your Instrument Collection
**
Save big and unolock this currated collection of the best Steinberg VST Instruments…
It’s clear that its not everything.
I sometime wonder if this is a language thing? Most Europeans have amazing linguistic abilities (often speaking multiple languages. It’s amazing), but perhaps with these kinds of things are just too tricky for non-native speakers?
My company had to come up with a campaign that had to be translated into 15 languages. It’s amazing how many terms of phrase don’t work in other languages.
You just have to put in the effort to look 
https://www.steinberg.net/vst-instruments/absolute/included-instruments/
What betrays Steinberg more in this case is the decision to name the bundle “Absolute.” Any person looking at the product without prior knowledge would assume a product with such name is a bundle of every single Steinberg product because one of the definitions of absolute is “Loosed from any limitation or condition; uncontrolled; unrestricted; unconditional.” They won’t think that’s a curated selection of some Steinberg products instead.
And that’s made worse if those people have knowledge of other products from competitors with similar names (Komplete, Total Studio MAX, etc.) which are a bundle of every single product made by the company in question.
Agreed
And yet N.I. has 3 Komplete bundles - Standard, Ultimate and Collectors Edition. I have a bargain basement edition - Komplete Select.
Komplete has 3 editions recently. For many years, Komplete was a bundle of all the stuff made by Native Instruments. But there are other options, like kiloheart’s Toolbox Ultimate, Melda’s MCompleteBundle, etc.
For me, effort was definitely put into looking at that list before buying and thinking, “This is everything” … because that’s what it says, “whole”. So I got it under that understanding because I didn’t know they actually had more to offer than what their idea of “whole” offered in Absolute… but then looking at the expansions list afterwards, I wandered into the ALL INSTRUMENTS list on the site and thought, " what does whole actually mean? " 
because it sure doesn’t mean what it means to me. but maybe i’m wrong
You looked at the list, saw what was offered? I own a bunch outright so would never buy Absolute, but for someone who has nothing or very little it’s a good deal 
Since the list is curated, maybe people could receive a progressive discount crossgrade based on which components of the bundle they already have? Because you have some disadvantages with the Absolute license like not being able to update or upgrade individual components of it and the only way of upgrading being upgrading the whole Absolute package.
You are absolutely right. A Cubase user who already owns HALion 7 and Groove Agent 6 might be very disappointed by such a purchase. However, for a non-Cubase user who doesn’t own any Steinberg instruments and wants a suite of interesting VSTs and libraries, I think it’s worth the cost and the term Absolute takes on its full meaning, or perhaps it corresponds to another era…
Bro forgot about a payment coming out of his account and now he needs the money.
We’ve all been there. 
The seemingly small difference between “instrument” and “VST instrument”. Yeah, not really consumer friendly.
The main advantage of Absolute is that you can ‘upgrade’ everything included in the bundle in a single pass, for one price, which is typically a fraction of what it costs to upgrade each Instrument Engine ‘one by one’.
Steinberg typically also adds some new instruments/effects to the Absolute lineup across the board with Upgrades, and they can involve several different plugins/engines. I.E. The past few cycles with HALion have added at least 2 new instruments and hundreds of presets. Groove Agent and Backbone usually adds some extra kits and presets. Retrologe and the other classic synths could get more presets, and the list goes on.
Seems like the last cycle also added a piano or two for HALion like “Etude”, which emulates the CFX Piano that comes in a lot of Yamaha Digital Pianos and Keyboards. I’m not sure exactly what all was added in the latest Absolute upgrade, but they DO ADD some nice things that’d cost a significant amount to buy ‘individually’. Without an Absolute key. Without Absolute, if we want the Steinberg Grand, it’ll cost extra. If we want the full version of Etude, it’ll cost extra. Etc.
Seems like with each Absolute bundle upgrade, you do get more new stuff, and you’re more like to get ‘full versions’ of it instead of the scaled down stuff. Any of which would cost you from $50 and up to buy ‘individually’, and might cost again to keep ‘up to date’. Absolute bundle saves money over the long haul keeping things upgraded to their latest version.
Those of us with just a HALion or Sonic Collection Key didn’t get the extra pianos (Seems like if we own Dorico, we got Etude ‘Elements’, not sure if a HALion/Collections key alone would unlock that).
I.E. Upgrading HALion as soon as a new version cycle hits the streets might cost $99. Then another $99 to upgrade Groove Agent. Then again for Backbone, etc.
In contrast, if you hit the right sale, you might be able to upgrade EVERYTHING included in the Absolute bundle for a one time fee of $99.
With Absolute, the only minor disadvantage is you usually have to wait a bit later in the “Steinberg Product Upgrade Cycle” to be able to buy an Absolute Upgrade. Traditionally, they have taken some time to release all of the individual instrument upgrades coming in the complete product cycle before offering Absolute upgrades.
Personally I think it’d be neat if they’d allow Absolute owners to go ahead and buy a key for the next cycle the day the first instrument in the bundle gets an Upgrade, but I’m sure they have good reasons for not doing it. People will complain no matter what, and it could add some expensive technical issues to change the policy.
I.E Imagine if HALion 8 came out in October. Absolute users might have to wait a few months before they could buy an Absolute upgrade that’ll cover HALion 8, where those with an individual HALion 7 key could go pay a full Upgrade price the very day it’s released and be cooking in HALion 8.
With that in mind, I recommend you keep Absolute, and perhaps any individual keys for apps you might want to stay on the ‘cutting edge’ with…as in foaming at the mouth to get the latest versions on the ‘day of release’.
Sell any individual keys that are less important to you. I.E. If you don’t use Groove Agent or Backbone much, but can’t wait to dive into new versions of HALion the day they are released…You could keep a HALion key, Absolute, and sell off your individual Groove Agent and Backbone keys (and anything else in the bundle that you have individual keys for and don’t mind waiting a bit for upgrades).
If always getting the latest releases as soon as they come out isn’t important to you at all, sell all your individual keys, and keep Absolute. You’ll most likely save a bunch of money in the long run doing that!
Neither are the competition’s interfaces, that fill up the screen with a GUI trying to sell you more instruments (rocket science trying to get to the real GUI to do anything other than freaking Audition and SHOP), kill off their legacy support ‘on purpose’ (and make it very difficult or nearly impossible to roll back to older versions), put up libraries that are two to three times the size yet don’t yield much if any quality or feature improvements relative to the file sizes, are a pistol to get working if you’re not ‘constantly online’, MUST have an up to date credit/debt card number on file, hit you with ‘auto-billed subscription fees’, require a separate app to edit and create new instruments, and won’t let you release a bank of your own instruments for a ‘free player’ unless you register with them (and probably pay fees).
In short, there ain’t to ‘utopia’. There’s always a trade off of some kind. I’m not suggesting that we should ‘never complain’ or ask for things that’d make our lives better, but I can state with confidence that ‘the grass isn’t much if any greener’ in other instrument and plugin eco-systems.