I would hope many of you will do the same.
Many will take the free subscription then leave, but personally, it’s not just about the money, it’s about how they’ve treated us as loyal customers. If that’s the case I’m not going to use somebody who has ripped me off then tried weasely tactics to con me in to staying with them. I can understand that maintaining the apps etc might not work long term under the VR one-off purchase model so we are looking at a subscription based future. If they had simply allowed us to keep what we have already bought then I would have no doubt got sucked in to buying future subscription products from them at some point so it’s their loss. They ain’t getting a penny of me and I hope many many others do the same. Morally reprehensible and (in my view) legally dubious, but a nice little earner for VR/OA! Much better for them than having to compete outright in the subscription mapping world with their competition.
The sense it makes is it offers the opportunity for VR/OA to force every VR customer who bought a map to start forking out money every year if they want offline access to the maps they previously bought outright. If there was an American style class-action to be slapped on VR/OA I’d be joining it but I’ll just probably have to vote with my feet and go ANYWHERE but to O/A and hope many many others do the same. They are very simply demanding that we pay every year for something we already bought outright. Anything less is a rip off and an attempt to coerce into an unwanted subscription model more akin to some sleazy double glazing sales ploy. ViewRanger is a competent & robust bike route planner. Choose between four types of maps so that you are familiar with the route you are planning to visit.
ViewRanger has an extensive collection of maps and routes spanning over 23 countries with 180,000+ routes. When OA bought VR they inherit that customer commitment. Download: Komoot (Free Trial, Premium) ViewRanger. We should all expect free lifetime offline access to all our VR purchased mapping just as we paid for with VR.
What VR are offering is clunky online “access” and a time limited free subscription which might allow some limited offline access.ĪLL rather weasely in my opinion and it certainly suggests to me that they are not a company I want to enter in to a further agreement with. I think many people do not realise that offline access to already purchased VR mapping will not be available unless you pay for a premium subscription every year.