Lament for the Classic License

Just paid $598 for two year subscription, was not given the choice of just doing one year instead. But then did not have choice when Trimble reneged on the promise of the Classic License with its entirely fair maintenance and support agreement:
" As of November 4, 2020, SketchUp no longer offers new Classic Licenses or renewals of Classic Licenses. This includes the Classic Maintenance & Support plans. We’ve updated our policy regarding supported versions of SketchUp to help with any questions you may have. For more information, please see our End of Support article."
What?
I bought SketchUp early on when their office was in Boulder, CO and if you visited with questions they would send a tech down to talk to you about best gear to use. Then came Google which moved the ball a bit but also sat on it a bit too. Then came Trimble with its far flung enterprises and at first middling attention to SketchUp, though of late they seemed to have tightened their game on furthering the software. But, then they also tightened their grip on the revenue stream. My long cherished Classic License disappeared quicker than a bit coin. Some bright corporate type notching up a coup.
Maybe I’m not being fair, but I don’t feel fairly treated. Hey, it’s not too late, the paper trail is there. Not too late to admit to a moral lapse. You speak of community, well restore the Classic License, cast off the shadow, be healed, stand tall among your fellows. Wouldn’t that feel grand!

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I think that Classic licenses won’t be reinstated, but for your case, you do have a 2021 license that you didn’t yet use. I’ve told the license system to send the license to you.

You can download the Mac disk image for 2021 from here:

https://www.sketchup.com/sketchup/2021/SketchUpPro-dmg

Thanks for that Colin. I am not sure of the terrain here. What does that mean in practice? I can download the 2021 SketchUp and use that instead of the current software? Sorry to trouble, but the situation is a bit opaque.

Yes. If you have a classic perpetual license for SketchUp Pro 2021 (which you apparently do) then you could use that version forever (or as long as your computer and operating system are compatible) without paying any more money to Trimble. You would not be eligible for support (with a lapsed and impossible-to-renew) maintenance and support agreement, but the 2021 software would be available for you to use forever.

Thank you TDahl. If I were somehow able to unsubscribe from my just paid for installment, get refunded my $598 and begin using the 2021 version, would I be financially penalized at a later date when I did need rejoin the subscription stream? Is it possible to get a refund on my just completed transaction with Trimble. Do appreciate the help and the community here.

Yes, you could contact support and ask for a refund. In the future, if you wanted to get back up to date you would start a new subscription. It seems wrong that you only had a two year option, for which you paid the full amount. Paying the full amount for one year at some point would not have any penalty for having waited some time to do that. It would of course be whatever the yearly rate is by then. If you only see a two year option online, it would be worth getting the subscription over the phone.

Use this form to start the refund process:

https://help.sketchup.com/en/contact-support/technical-question/form

Again, my thanks.

By the way, you don’t need to delete your SketchUp 2020 folder. It’s worth keeping that around in case you have extensions that have not been updated for 2021. Also, some times a file can have issues, and the fall back situation is to save the file as a 2020 version file. Those cases are rare at this point, but if it happened you would at least be able to keep working on the file, without having to reinstall 2020.

Make sure that you have added the 2020 license to any machine that you want 2020 to work on, before you add the 2021 license. When you add the 2021 license to 2021, you are then committed to 2021 being your current version, and adding a 2020 license to another new machine won’t work.