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[FW1] Verrry long drama w/Checkpoint



Hi people,
Below is a looooong saga with multiple quotes and all sorts of things. I
know this is a volunteer help forum and not everyone has the time to peruse
a book, so I wanted to make a brief summary of my point up front, and then,
if anyone's still interested and has time, I'll leave all the details below
for you to read.

Summary:

Our Checkpoint FW-1 software maintenance contract ran out on March 31, 2000.
This according to both a Jay Hartman, and my reseller's "inside guy"... both
at Checkpoint itself. I went to a certified reseller on December 1, 2000. A
full month before the nine month grace period for renewal would run out. I
was stalled and stalled, both by this reseller and Checkpoint, and never
given the renewal. They stalled it enough that they then began saying that
my nine months was up, so I'd have to pay almost $8000 to get back into the
software subscription. This is ludicrous as I tried to get this done well
before the nine months and was blockaded. My company ownership is pondering
legal action, and I would hate to go that route. I'm just looking for some
options/opinions, if anyone has the time to do some reading.... 

Thanks....


Details:

I have a nagging issue with Checkpoint and one of their resellers, and I was
wondering if I could get some outside opinions here. We are currently
running version 3 on a Nokia VPN210 box. 
There are varying opinions about when our software maintenance out, but I
will use the most valid one for this cause, which is one that was emailed by
a Checkpoint Rep. That lists it as March 31, 2000. I've pasted the email and
the guy's name at the bottom. Regardless, the entire time we had software
maintenance (through two other resellers, we'll call them Reseller A and
Reseller B), we never ONCE received any software.
So, according to Checkpoint itself, our last software maintenance ran out in
March of 2000, but there is a nine month grace period to get back into it.
In December of 2000, a month before this grace period was to expire, I
emailed a sales rep at this other reseller, we'll call them Reseller C. He
told me he would get me a quote, but I was stalled and stalled, primarily,
according to him, because he was being stalled by Checkpoint. I got emails
like:
12/13/00 - "I met with my Checkpoint Channel Manager yesterday and he is
aware of our situation and we are trying to resolve this.  I didn't want you
to think we had forgotten.  I hope to have this resolved this week.  I
greatly appreciate your patience on this."

1/4/01 - "I have a quote request in to my purchasing person to get you the
correct figures for the upgrades.  This should be the final figures to get
your products covered and to the latest version.  I should have this to you
by tomorrow and we can then review it.
Checkpoint said they were verifying the parts for me so I will make sure
that everything I have quoted is exactly what Checkpoint would require to
move forward.
I apologize for the length of time this has taken but the end is finally
near."

1/12/01 - "I appreciate the extra effort on your end.  Checkpoint left me a
voicemail today looking to have a conference call to put an end to this
dilemma.  I am not sure if they wanted your involvement or not but I called
them back with a message of my own.
I hope this is the light at the end of the tunnel and not an oncoming
train."

1/31/01 - "This is in regards to the Checkpoint licensing issues (Reseller
C) attempted to correct through Checkpoint.  At this time, Checkpoint does
not have migration path for the RemoteLink product you purchased in 1998.
They have told me that they will have a migration path for all RemoteLink
customers in February and that this migration to latest Checkpoint products
should come with no fee assessed.  
I have requested the details of this situation from Checkpoint and hope to
have something in writing form them as well as us. Please also keep in mind
that we still need to address the hardware upgrade through Nokia but I will
put a request together for this and copy you on it.
Thanks again for your patience and I hope we can have you up and running on
the latest and greatest by next month."


That was all I heard for a while. In March, he was laid off or otherwise let
go from Reseller C. My new sales rep tried to take over things... From him I
received:
4/19/01 - "Well I've got some good news; Automated Emblem can renew their
contracts for their Check Point Software as a Software subscription renewal
as opposed to the Legacy Subscription even though your subscription has
lapsed for over 12 months. The savings is quite significant.
Their RL can be supported through Nokia. 
I have a few more details to get together then I will have a proposal sent
to you."

"The inside guy at Check Point had first explained to me the following:
Enclosed is all the information regarding Automated Emblem.
Certificate Key: (removed)    Product: IPXX-SSC-V41
Support ID  Material     Type          Valid From    Valid To
(removed)    SS-SCC-U   Software support   31-Mar-1999   31-Mar-2000

They need to purchase: SS-SCC-U  $295.00 for renewal.  (Once they purchase
this SS renewal, they will be eligible to receive an ESC-U)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----
Certificate Key: (removed)   Product: CPFW-ENC-U-3DES-V40
Support ID  Material         Type           Valid From    Valid To
(removed)    SS-CPFW-ENC-U   Software support   31-Mar-1999   31-Mar-2000

They need to purchase: SS-CPFW-ENC-U  $595.00 for renewal
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----
Certificate Key: (removed)    Product: IPXX-IM-50-V40
Support ID  Material  Type  Valid From  Valid To
(removed)    SS-IM-50   Software support   01-Apr-1999   31-Mar-2000
The customer needs to re-register the certificate key in order to have an
FM-50.
They can purchase a Software Subscription renewal with part number:
SS-CPFW-FM-50  $595.00
After having received this information I thought everything was OK, I'd send
you a quote for $1485, you'd think I was a hero, and all would be well.
When I had the (Reseller C) sales admin person retrieve the same information
and prepare a quotation it appeared that you would be charged legacy
subscriptions totaling $7970, I went back to the Check Point inside guy and
asked why the difference in information.
	The following was the reply, from CP's inside guy:
Automated Emblem can renew their contracts for their Check Point Software.
Their RL can be supported through Nokia.
Glenn(CP Regional Channel Manager): You will need to write an NSP (none
standard pricing)so that they can purchase SS renewal as opposed to the
Legacy Subscription as their subscription has lapsed for over 12 months.
	The following is Glenn's reply:

This NSP was refused by our executives.  You are going to have to sell them
Legacy Subscription.
What I will do is give them 10% off of any future software orders. I
apologize for this, but it is out of my hands."

Okay, so now this was getting infuriating. As it turned out, it was a moot
point. This sales rep, the second one I'd dealt with at this reseller, was
laid off on 6/1/01. I haven't heard from this company since. 
 The other email I received from a Jay Hartman at Checkpoint itself that
showed our expiration date as March, 2001, is below (I did indeed have Gold
Support, too, but their screw up there is not relevant to this issue
anyway):
"I show software subscription is registered to this product through March
31, 2000.  I don't show any Gold Support licensed at this time.  The cert
key for the product is licensed.
Jay A. Hartman
Customer Service Rep. - Eastern and Southern Regions
Customer Service Rep. - Canada
CheckPoint Software Technologies Inc.
3 Lagoon Drive
Redwood City, CA 94065
Tel:Fax:"


That's it... Thanks for your thoughts, guys. 

Evan


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