Can we have a V14 recall?

[Gary Pauley]

Just now, Tim Planche said:

Still using Accordance 14 and it is working well. i like the new features...

Same here Tim.

[Kurt O]

v14 is still working pretty smoothly for me.  I am using a MacBook Pro with M1 Max processor using the latest MacOS.  I did rename my v13, so I still have it just in case.  Thank you to the programmers/developers who are obviously working hard to make v14 another great version of Accordance.

 

Edited November 29, 2022 by Kurt O

[Rich]

3 hours ago, Leopold Green said:

with Rick going not long after Mark left I am really worried about what is going on here - is Linda the only person left of the 'Roy Brown' (golden) era of Accordance?

 

When I think of how much money I have tied into this programme and I realise I no longer know who Accordance are I feely very edgy indeed

 

I hope Accordance can (re) introduce themselves on this forum since the members of this forum represent the most active or engaged of their customers

 

I was going to post something to express my "concern" at this point — but I think you stated it pretty perfectly.  

 

I will add — I have more invested in this software than pretty much anything other than my house or car at this point. 😀That required a lot of sacrifice and work — and I (maybe naively) was hoping that investment was for a lifetime.  The current situation is very concerning — less for the quality of V14 honestly — and more the handling of the communication, the lack of response, the change of management that has come to light, and a potential sign of internal issues with Rick's departure who has been the only real voice of Oaktree for a number of years.  

 

As you noted, I think it would be good for Accordance to reintroduce themselves to their customer base.

[Michel Gilbert]

2 hours ago, Rich said:

The current situation is very concerning — less for the quality of V14 honestly — and more the handling of the communication, the lack of response, the change of management that has come to light, and a potential sign of internal issues with Rick's departure who has been the only real voice of Oaktree for a number of years.

 

I said something similar in the post that was taken down yesterday:

"This news [Rick leaving] is also worrisome and troubling. This week I learned [on the forums] that Accordance was sold and that you [Rick] are leaving. Given the subtle marketing changes in the past few years, the Acc 14 rollout that wasn’t ready (in my opinion), and the departure of much of the old vanguard, it makes me wonder, what’s going on? I know you will never say, but I wonder if there are some internal problems at Accordance."

All of us who have used Accordance for three to four years or more know what it felt like to be cared for by Helen, Joel, Rick, Mark, David, Jordan, Silas, and other programmers and tech support people. Accordance was a ministry and a business. But if the release of Acc 14 is any indication, this type of customer care is being downgraded. And with Rick leaving, I think that many of us are feeling that we might not experience the same level of customer care that the former administration provided, including transparency and responding to grievances.

 

I also think that we felt were in a partnership, supporting Accordance with purchases in exchange for a top product, top resources, and best in class customer support. Now some of us are beginning to wonder about one and possibly two of these. Like Rich and Leopold, many of us have spent the most on a house, then vehicles, and then Accordance. In my case, tractor is third and Accordance is fourth. But whether Accordance spending is in third or fourth place, it shows the level of partnership that some have with the program, and downgraded customer care is something that could jeopardize that partnership going forward.

 

[rcdeacon]

I certainly concur Michael Gilbert to the point I will not be making further purchases. I dislike taking that approach but the silence and uncertainty has me being cautious!

 

Bob

Edited November 29, 2022 by rcdeacon

[Don Bedsole]

Hi folks. I'm new here, and I not wanting to be a smart aleck, but don't they have contact information on the website which could you use to direct your questions? I have already been in touch with Michelle twice for different matters (not those matters being discussed in this thread), and she answered my questions. Just a suggestion.

[Kristin]

@Don Bedsole,

The issue is that for those of us who have been around for awhile, we can tell something has changed and it is making us nervous.

[Bryan Sherwood]

41 minutes ago, rcdeacon said:

I certainly concur Michael Gilbert to the point I will not be making further purchases. I dislike taking that approach but the silence and uncertainty has me being cautious!

 

Bob

Same here.  I'm not making any additional purchases at this point.  

[Gedalya]

I will also not make any additional purchases at this point

[Kristin]

5 minutes ago, Gedalya said:

I will also not make any additional purchases at this point

 

I am unfortunately inclined to agree. What I really don't understand is the silence. Whoever is in charge now, it seems like they would want to instill confidence for their loyal customers, so I am left under the impression that whoever is in charge is not concerned about us. From a business standpoint it doesn't make sense.

[Dr. Nathan Parker]

I’m going to show this thread to Richard Perry and see if he can chime in here. Richard (Linda’s husband) is the marketing director at Accordance.

[mhanel]

2 minutes ago, Nathan Parker said:

I’m going to show this thread to Richard Perry and see if he can chime in here. Richard (Linda’s husband) is the marketing director at Accordance.

 

Great. I hope he has something helpful to say! I've tried to learn more about the new owner and while I don't know him at all, this article seems to indicate that he knows what is important. Again the troubling sign is that we are not seeing anything even close to this. No answer is worse than a bad one because to me it expresses apathy.

From: https://www.christianretailing.com/index.php/newsletter/latest/28649-harrison-house-ceo-acquires-multiple-family-christian-stores - "Troy believes the managers and their teams will be key to the success of the new chain."

[Pastor Jonathan]

Reading all the statements here, I am in the boat as a few others. 

 

At this point, I was given the base program and have been building it up slowly and surely, adding to it as I could. 

 

There are several things that I am struggling with here:

 

1) Just now hearing about Accordance being bought out, that gives me some great uncertainty. 

 

2) Seeing that Rick is leaving, and then the other names I do not know are out, my uncertainty goes deeper not knowing who is in control of the company and why. 

 

3) The lack of response here on this forum, just giving us an update is a major concern because if I am going to spend money, I would like to know what that money is going to and for. 

 

4) The thread was removed with Rick leaving. Why and who removed that? More unanswered questions. 

 

5) Lastly, the issues of the bugs is a minor detail but combined with everything else mentioned and talked about, is this the new trend? I chose to go to Accordance because I needed a powerful study tool that would give me depth. I appreciate that with Accordance, but if the company goes under, or in a direction that I am not keen on, am I now in a place where my investment is just lost? Because there are many great online Bible sites that I can get great info, sure it is not as new or refreshed as maybe I would like, but it is there, and with my notes imputed. Combine that with some of my hard books that I have on my bookshelf and I have some good stuff. Again, not as new or as powerfully searchable as Accordance. These are my musings. 

 

I think we should hear something from Oak Tree. Not necessarily a video, but at least a visit on this forum to share and answer questions. A Q/A post where we can get information. But then, since these things are happening maybe offer to buy us out of our resources?

 

Me personally, I wouldn't know where to go other than the Web Browser, and I am not saying I am ready to leave Accordance. Instead, I hope and praythey hit the web browser side of things well. But I am sure there are many of us who have some investment in Oak Tree that we are a little uneasy right now that perhaps this would be a goodwill gesture? At least we know we are not tied into a situation where we could lose out either way. 

 

These are just some thoughts that I had and I am open to where my thinking is wrong. I am just struggling because a company that has such a close knit group as we find here, I am concerned about the silence and I am having some internal debate on many thoughts through this. 

 

Just my .02. 

[Pastor Jonathan]

7 hours ago, Leopold Green said:

with Rick going not long after Mark left I am really worried about what is going on here - is Linda the only person left of the 'Roy Brown' (golden) era of Accordance?

 

When I think of how much money I have tied into this programme and I realise I no longer know who Accordance are I feely very edgy indeed

 

I hope Accordance can (re) introduce themselves on this forum since the members of this forum represent the most active or engaged of their customers

@Leopold Green

 

Where did Mark go? I read the other names, but this surprised me!

 

I agree with others. I got their new sale email, but I am holding off purchasing anything more for the time being. 

[Michel Gilbert]

48 minutes ago, Don Bedsole said:

. . . don't they have contact information on the website which could you use to direct your questions?

 

Hi, Don,

 

In the past, this forum was always the place where users directed their questions to the owners, and they responded, usually immediately. Now, either the new owner(s) aren’t reading these threads, or they don’t know how to respond. In either case, certain aspects of customer care from the past have eroded.

[Rick55]

The future for Accordance is bright, please rest assured. Your investments made into the software were wise and honorable as your are seeking to know God more. Change is never comfortable, but it's necessary to reach 'new heights'. Israel did not want to leave bondage in Egypt, because it required CHANGE. If they just listened to God they would have been in the Promise Land much sooner.

 

Everything will be okay, just keep reporting bugs to ensure the software becomes more stable. Anything that is happening internally is not our business. Our business is the conformation that the Accordance software works properly.

[tswope]

On 11/23/2022 at 4:21 PM, Robb B said:

I've been using Accordance since 2005 and version 6. For everyone worried about Accordance because of the way 14 rolled out, let me reassure you that this is not that abnormal, especially when they want to get this out for ETS/SBL. One of the things we love about Accordance is that it's not a corporate machine like that other company, and so I don't expect the same level of communications work when a new version drops. It will eventually all be available, maybe in about a month, if they follow past rollouts. I don't work for OakTree and have no inside information, but I am not at all concerned about the company because of how 14 was released.

 

I've also beta tested every version of Accordance since version 8 (I think), and the number of bugs here isn't unusual either. The team has made massive improvements to 14 since the first betas, and I am confident any significant bugs will be squashed in days or weeks, not months. Once again, this is all in line with my experience with Accordance over the years. 

 

David, Rick, and Roy are all still active at the company, and they've been there a long time. The owner might have changed, but the key players are still in place, and that continuity is great for the company and the consumers.

 

All in all, 14 is a solid release. If you're concerned about some bugs, wait to upgrade until 14.02 or 14.03 (or whatever it ends up being in a week or two). But as someone who uses Accordance every day, I have 14 installed on both of my Macs and it has worked quite well.

 

What @Robb B says above is substantial and worth repeating. He brings up several reassuring points. While I share many of the same concerns as many in this thread, the opinion of someone with this kind of experience with Accordance is far weightier to me than the temporary silence of developers and managers who have probably slightly prioritized trying to fix the known bugs and roll out v. 14 for the main release than responding to all of our concerns just yet.

Edited November 29, 2022 by tswope
Forgot to tag original poster

[Robb B]

I hate to be the one to say this, but silence in a situation like this is status quo in the software industry. If you use any other significant piece of software and it comes out with some bugs and people start a firestorm on the forums/community boards, you know the devs will not respond. The community manager will not respond. That is simply how this business works. You can hate it (as I do), but I would not expect anything different than what we have seen in this situation. It's not how I would handle a situation like this, but it is how basically every app, game, and other piece of software interacts with their community, so they must have a reason for it.

 

Accordance staff will respond when they have something substantial to say. Until then, threatening boycotts or missing a sale to try to force a response is only going to cost you money in the long run when you pay more for something you wanted that's on sale now.

 

I suggest patience with the devs and CMs. I guarantee their goal is the opposite of running their business into the ground.

[Kristin]

2 minutes ago, Robb B said:

The community manager will not respond. That is simply how this business works.

 

The whole point is that Accordance was different from the rest. That might be how "this business" works, but Accordance felt more like a family. What you wrote describes Logos.

 

3 minutes ago, Robb B said:

I guarantee their goal is the opposite of running their business into the ground.

 

Then why are so many employees leaving?
 

5 minutes ago, Robb B said:

threatening boycotts or missing a sale to try to force a response is only going to cost you money in the long run

 

A lot of us are from BibleWorks and no first hand ignoring issues is not always cost effective as you suggest. We really need to hear from Accordance.

[Robb B]

 

1 minute ago, Kristin said:

We really need to hear from Accordance.

8 minutes ago, Robb B said:

Accordance staff will respond when they have something substantial to say.

 

[circuitrider]

Mark Twain said something like, "Homely truth is unpalatable."

 

Robb B is telling some ugly truth.  It sure doesn't taste good but it is truth.  

 

In harmony with Kristin's point:  It does feel like something is changing.

 

This is not threat but my brother-in-law and I are already looking elsewhere.  I've purchased and downloaded another program and have subscribed to a seminar website to learn more about it - just in case.  

 

Wisdom will be justified of her children...So I'll just have to take the good advice already given:  Be patient and let's see how this unfolds.  

 

 

[Mark Allison]

1 hour ago, Pastor Jonathan said:

Where did Mark go? I read the other names, but this surprised me!

 

Several of us who work remotely were let go a few months ago. But God is good, and most of us have landed in great places. I'm now the Manager and Solutions Architect for Digital Content at Lifeway Christian Resources. 

[Tony Lawrence]

2 minutes ago, Mark Allison said:

God is good, and most of us have landed in great places

So glad that many of you who have been a support to us users have found good and meaningful positions. Best wishes for your future.

 

[David Padfield]

If I would have known that version 14 was going to totally destroy my library, I NEVER would have bought it! I have purchased over $30,000 worth of Accordance books and have spent many hours setting up my library in a way that works for me — and all of the hours I spent arranging the files was wiped out without warning simply by installing the new version of Accordance!

[Michael J. Bolesta]

2 minutes ago, Mark Allison said:

 

Several of us who work remotely were let go a few months ago. But God is good, and most of us have landed in great places. I'm now the Manager and Solutions Architect for Digital Content at Lifeway Christian Resources. 

 

God is good indeed. You are missed.