Congrats, Silhouette…I now hate your site.

That was one of my worries, too. They are reportedly going to make sure that lost credits will be restored. Here is another site that had more information, and it’s worth checking:

More helpful Silhouette Update info


I feel less stressed now that I know my credits won’t be lost forever. So far, it looks like they are still there, even if I can’t use them right now. The sale goes till June 5th, so hopefully the site will be fixed before then.

Thank you, elegantsufficiency , for the update.

My engineer DH had told me that it sounded like they were changing servers, and that is what the email you posted said. He also said that normally, when a company changes servers, the switch doesn’t occur until the new site is working well. 

I went ahead and bought items from the Silhouette Design Store during the half off sale, since I figured I could download them later, and I had credits that needed to be used. I had 83 items that I had bought and were waiting to be downloaded. In the past, you could download the entire order as one, and they showed up in your software immediately. Last night, I had to download each of the 83 items separately, and I will have to unzip each separately, which will take time and be annoying. Hopefully they will get all this corrected soon.

I am still working OFFLINE with my Silhouette for now. Other than not being able to purchase and download files from the Silhouette Design Store, it works fine.




 

At the first day or two of the sale, I put all the files that were in my wish list into my cart. Then I realized that it showed full price for the files. Fortunately, I noticed that before I checked out. So I put all 81 back in my wishlist. It was a slow, obnoxious process because the site was still super slow, and I had to do them one by one. A few days later, the files finally showed the sale price, so I went ahead and bought them before the sale expired (I think the last day was the 10th). If you bought them during the sale, you should send Silhouette an email asking them to credit you the amount that their site overcharged, especially if you bought a lot of files.

I will be so glad when their site works well again. Hopefully that day will come sooner than later. I love my Silhouette. I love their software. I used to love their site, but not at the moment.

If they don’t get the issues resolved soon, I think a lot of customers will cancel their subscriptions and turn to other options. That could be a disaster for Silhouette. Sales of the machines aren’t the only thing keeping their company solvent.

When a company decides to change servers, they usually keep the first one going till the new site is fully functional, so that the transfer is seamless. I suspect that they may have tried to cut corners, so they weren’t paying for two servers at once, or maybe they just kept the overlap to a minimum, hoping to get it done quickly and to keep costs down. If they lose subscribers over this, though, they will be losing money from the subs that they probably took for granted.

I agree that this is extremely frustrating, and that they have made a big mess of things. The issues are only about their not having the new site fully functioning before the switch, and currently have to do mainly with purchased file design downloads, and how slow the website functions (which isn’t consistent).

I’ve subscribed for years and never lost any Silhouette Design Store files due to any update. I back up periodically, regardless.

Both Cricut and Silhouette make excellent electronic cutters, which are comparable. Which one you prefer usually comes down to three things: the software for each machine, the designs each company offers, and their subscription plans.

If I want to cut Cricut/Disney designs, I use my Explore Air 2.  I use my Silhouette for everything else.

For the record, Cricut has experienced PR disasters, too, far worse than Silhouette’s.

A website can be fixed. As long as I don’t lose my credits, it’s not costing me anything.

As long as they fix their website, I will probably keep subscribing. My sub doesn’t renew till the end of November, so there is plenty of time for me to decide. With my sub, I get the designs of my choice for pennies on the dollar, and they are mine to keep forever, even if I were stop subscribing. However, if I stop my subscription, I won’t be able to just re-subscribe and get the same deal if I change my mind.

With a Cricut sub, you get to USE most of their designs while subscribing, but (except for the $10 coupon you get every 3 months) you do NOT get to keep those designs if you quit subscribing. Also, Disney and other premium designs are NOT included in your subscription. You can buy designs for 10% off, but I get a far better deal with Silhouette.