Theme Updater & Backups | OOTS

I recently purchased the Parallax theme and just about have my store set up to open and now I get an email saying to automatically update the theme is now $9 per month. I honestly wish this would have happened sooner so I would have purchased a theme from a different provider. Show more

A good idea when it came out, though it was only partially helpful for complex customizations that had been added to the default themes. Unfortunately, now that even the basic version is to be a monthly subscription, we'll be deleting and finding other options. Show more

Very poor service and underhand fees - simply read the reviews. The app doesn't work very well, and now a greedy developer wants to charge over $100 a year (forever) for an app to update a couple of lines of code. Their themes are full of bugs, support is very slow (at times even leaving bugs in the code - I'm looking at you 'Artisan'), and now they are trying to sneakily charge for something that was advertised as part of their theme purchase. I doubt this is acceptable practice, or legal, in most countries. We have already had to change two Out of the Sandbox themes due to bugs in their software, and now they do this. If I were them, I would be very embarrassed as to how they treat long standing customers. The most insulting thing is the email we were sent, spinning this charge as an 'opportunity'. Please don't patronize us with PR, you are simply milking merchants for all you can get before moving on. P.S. Following the developers response: You seem to miss the point - everyone who purchases an Out of the Sandbox theme agreed to do so with the knowledge that the updating app comes along with it (and we have also paid an initial premium for the theme and updater app). You are significantly changing the agreement by now charging for the app, and I would say that is unlikely to be legal here in the EU. Also, you mentioned in one response that you need the money to fund your IT systems - well, if you can't afford to provide a service, don't offer it for free with the intention of locking customers into a 'blackmail scheme'. Have the dignity to admit you simply want more money by charging customers twice. Show more

We run three stores using the Turbo Theme from Out of the Sandbox - and are just about to launch our fourth. The theme was chosen to a large extent because of this app to update our themes. Now, the developer wants to charge an extra $108 per store, per year - meaning they expect us to pay $432 per year just to update a few lines of code once a year. This is a perfect example of how to trap your clients and then blackmail them. Obviously, we are changing themes now for store number four, and then slowly changing the other themes over the coming twelve months. The irony is that BECAUSE they now charge for this app, there is no benefit to staying with Out of the Sandbox for any of their themes. Considering the high costs of their themes, this is slightly mercenary move by Out of the Sandbox, and would appear contrary to their stated aims of helping store owners. If this is how a business is managed, and based on 20 years of ecommerce, I would recommend not using the themes or apps of Out of the Sandbox. Show more

A premium theme should not require an additional $9 per month to upgrade the few times per year that is necessary. This will not build good will for Out of the Sandbox or Pixel Union. I imagine this will also impact reviews of their themes directly. I like Empire but would not recommend it to others given this recent sheisty maneuver. Show more