Buyer Beware: Ebook site Vs Logos Site - Now there are duplicates

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1270693#Comment_1270693

I did speak with CS today and was told that they now do sell both versions and I wouldn't get the upgrade though in fairness they said the ebook version came out AFTER the Logos version... I would have never thought to check both sites before purchase.

oh well

David Carter

in fairness they said the ebook version came out AFTER the Logos version...

I've never known this happen before. Frankly, I think this idea of intentionally selling two different versions is a bit ridiculous myself.

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1270697#Comment_1270697

Agreed. This if the response I got last month when I notified them about the parables book. I thought it was a one time thing but it seems I’m wrong

—

“Thank you for contacting us.

In this case, the book offered on ebooks.faithlife.com it is the eBook edition, these editions are designed for reading and have few connections to your library, on the other hand, the book offered on logos.com is a Logos edition, Logos Editions are fully connected to your library and Bible study tools, this is the reason why the prices are different as one of them includes the full datasets to be compatible with the Logos tools.

I hope this helps.”

Jan Krohn

Having "J Warner Wallace" and "James Wallace" as two different authors in the system doesn't help finding these duplicates.

Search Results | Logos Bible Software

https://community.logos.com/forums/t/212619.aspx

It used to be that when this happened, it was a mistake, and Faithlife/Logos appreciated being told about it, and would remove the ebook version. It was usually caused by them having upgraded the ebook to a full Logos version but having forgotten to remove the old one from the ebook store.

There's a whole thread with reports of these issues, and responses from Faithlife/Logos noting the problem.

Either whoever spoke to you from CS today was mistaken/confused about company policy, or that policy has changed. You could cite the long history of removing duplicates if you feel like contacting them again. I don't see any point in there being two versions available, and it is confusing to users.

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1270703#Comment_1270703

I agree Rosie! I have tried two different people. One last month and one today. I'm not quite sure where else to go. I have the email from last month and I did a chat today. I'd rather not name drop employees though.

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1270703#Comment_1270703

They still haven’t upgraded me to this: https://www.logos.com/product/198935/how-to-preach-and-teach-the-old-testament-for-all-its-worth

In fact, it’s been months since they said, “we’ll look into it…” and nothing has happened! The website still wants to charge me for the Logos version!

DAL

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1270705#Comment_1270705

I agree Rosie! I have tried two different people. One last month and one today. I'm not quite sure where else to go. I have the email from last month and I did a chat today. I'd rather not name drop employees though.

Mitch Snyder was the FL employee handling these reports on that thread as recently as April. You could try reaching out to him via the "Send a message" link on his Faithlife social media site page: https://faithlife.com/mitchsnyder-b

EDIT: Also, I just noticed that his email address is posted here on another thread.

He'd at least be able to tell you whether internal policy on this has changed in the past few months, if not pursue why different messaging is coming out from CS if the policy hasn't changed. He's a good guy, as far as I can tell from his interactions on the forums.

David Vela (Logos)

Hi Mattillo, thank you for bringing this to our attention and sorry for the confusion.

Having both editions available is not intentional, and we’ll be retiring the Ebook Edition in both cases you reported. We’ve recently implemented a solution to avoid publishing new Ebook Editions if we already have available a Logos Edition for that same title. We’re also trying to identify and retire duplicates that were made available before the solution was implemented.

We could swap your Ebook for the Logos Edition, but you would lose any current highlights and notes in the Ebook, since they are technically two different resources. Please confirm if that‘s what you want.

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1270713#Comment_1270713

Thank you David. Yes. Please swap my ebook of person of interest investigator guide for the logos version. I understand I’ll lose my notes and highlights which is fine.

I tried to address this issue with CS staff but they didn’t seem to understand this so it would be great if someone could pass this along. I’m not sure how many bought the parables book last month. I did my best with emails and a forum post to stop that one. Luckily I own the logos version and checked before buying the ebook by accident.

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1270713#Comment_1270713

Hi Mattillo, thank you for bringing this to our attention and sorry for the confusion.

Having both editions available is not intentional, and we’ll be retiring the Ebook Edition in both cases you reported. We’ve recently implemented a solution to avoid publishing new Ebook Editions if we already have available a Logos Edition for that same title. We’re also trying to identify and retire duplicates that were made available before the solution was implemented.

We could swap your Ebook for the Logos Edition, but you would lose any current highlights and notes in the Ebook, since they are technically two different resources. Please confirm if that‘s what you want.

Good morning, David!

Please, see my previous post so I can get a swap too for this other book.

They still haven’t upgraded me to this: https://www.logos.com/product/198935/how-to-preach-and-teach-the-old-testament-for-all-its-worth

In fact, it’s been months since they said, “we’ll look into it…” and nothing has happened! The website still wants to charge me for the Logos version!

DAL

Thanks!

David Carter

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1270713#Comment_1270713

We could swap your Ebook for the Logos Edition, but you would lose any current highlights and notes in the Ebook, since they are technically two different resources. Please confirm if that‘s what you want.

Hi David

I have the Macarthur "parables" Ebook - could you swap mine for the Logos Edition please.

Thank you

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1270747#Comment_1270747

I spoke to CS and apparently they don’t upgrade ebooks to Logos editions anymore (only on certain books). I finally got mine upgraded, but ended up with two copies; one ebook and one Logos, which is fine!

Anyway, maybe an announcement needs to be made by Faithlife to ensure proper communication.

DAL

PS. Bob pretty much retired! He’s still on the board, but not directly associated with the company anymore. That was a huge WOW 😮 to me!

David Carter

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1270771#Comment_1270771

Anyway, maybe an announcement needs to be made by Faithlife to ensure proper communication.

DAL

To their own staff apparently judging from this thread.....

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1270775#Comment_1270775

Anyway, maybe an announcement needs to be made by Faithlife to ensure proper communication.

DAL

To their own staff apparently judging from this thread.....

I told the guy I spoke to this morning that the problem is that they sound so confident in what they say, but it isn’t accurate as it’s been proven time and time again. So yeah, giving their staff accurate information is a must!

Joe McCune (Faithlife)

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1270714#Comment_1270714

Matillo,

I have added the Logos Edition to your account and locked the Faithlife Ebook.

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1270794#Comment_1270794

Thank you Joe

Mitch Snyder (Faithlife)

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1270710#Comment_1270710

I agree Rosie! I have tried two different people. One last month and one today. I'm not quite sure where else to go. I have the email from last month and I did a chat today. I'd rather not name drop employees though.

Mitch Snyder was the FL employee handling these reports on that thread as recently as April. You could try reaching out to him via the "Send a message" link on his Faithlife social media site page: https://faithlife.com/mitchsnyder-b

EDIT: Also, I just noticed that his email address is posted here on another thread.

He'd at least be able to tell you whether internal policy on this has changed in the past few months, if not pursue why different messaging is coming out from CS if the policy hasn't changed. He's a good guy, as far as I can tell from his interactions on the forums.

Please feel free to email me at any time or post on the thread Rosie mentioned. I do keep an eye on the forums and am always here to help as I can. If I'm unable to assist I will make sure to pass it along to the appropriate parties!

EDIT - here is my email address mitch.snyder@logos.com

DMB

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1270771#Comment_1270771

PS. Bob pretty much retired! He’s still on the board, but not directly associated with the company anymore. That was a huge WOW 😮 to me!

That may well be, for most companies. But in Logosia, 'Bob said ...' or 'Dan said (once) ...' still goes. I think you have your written FL rules, plus the Logosian fathers.

Paul Caneparo

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1270794#Comment_1270794

Matillo,

I have added the Logos Edition to your account and locked the Faithlife Ebook.

Will this happen automatically for everyone in due course?

Jon

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1270808#Comment_1270808

This is a HUGE change in policy if true, and absolutely should’ve been announced. I buy Faithlife ebooks all the time, because I was confident that if one got upgraded then I would receive it free, per the old policy, but there’s no way I’m buying Faithlife ebooks anymore if this is no longer the case.

ill have to look and see how many Faithlife ebooks I bought over the past two years, expecting they would be upgraded in the future, not knowing there was a new policy in place. And what about Faithlife ebooks that were bought while the old policy was still in place, but then get upgraded to Logos resources in the future? Will those be grandfathered in, since they were purchased with an understanding that the upgrade would be free? Many important questions that need to be clarified.

Can someone from Faithlife verify whether this news of the policy change is true or not?

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1270825#Comment_1270825

This is a HUGE change in policy if true, and absolutely should’ve been announced. I buy Faithlife ebooks all the time, because I was confident that if one got upgraded then I would receive it free, per the old policy, but there’s no way I’m buying Faithlife ebooks anymore if this is no longer the case.

ill have to look and see how many Faithlife ebooks I bought over the past two years, expecting they would be upgraded in the future, not knowing there was a new policy in place. And what about Faithlife ebooks that were bought while the old policy was still in place, but then get upgraded to Logos resources in the future? Will those be grandfathered in, since they were purchased with an understanding that the upgrade would be free? Many important questions that need to be clarified.

Can someone from Faithlife verify whether this news of the policy change is true or not?

There's no change in policy. Read back through the thread, and you'll see that Faithlife employee David Vela already weighed in on Mattillo's mistaken assumption, and put everyone at ease:

Hi Mattillo, thank you for bringing this to our attention and sorry for the confusion.

Having both editions available is not intentional, and we’ll be retiring the Ebook Edition in both cases you reported. We’ve recently implemented a solution to avoid publishing new Ebook Editions if we already have available a Logos Edition for that same title. We’re also trying to identify and retire duplicates that were made available before the solution was implemented.

Please note, however, that there is not and never has been any guarantee that every Ebook edition will eventually be upgraded to a Logos edition.

ill have to look and see how many Faithlife ebooks I bought over the past two years, expecting they would be upgraded in the future,

There are tons of Ebooks that will remain Ebooks because they are meant simply to be read cover-to-cover, and no additional tagging other than the automated conversion of Bible references into links would ever be expected nor would Faithlife ever take the time to do that work.

The only sorts of Ebooks that you could expect might someday be upgraded to Logos editions are ones with characteristics that would benefit from Logos features -- such as headwords in a reference book, or commentaries that ought to be indexed by Bible reference, or devotionals that should be indexed by date.

Mike Manis

Ecclesiastes 12:12 (NASB95)
12 But beyond this, my son, be warned: the writing of many books is endless, and excessive devotion to books is wearying to the body.

Jan Krohn

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1270846#Comment_1270846

I'm thinking about coding an automated "book upgrade check". Export a list of ebook editions from the desktop app, upload to a website, and receive a list of possible matches of Logos editions. Is that something y'all would make use of?

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1270858#Comment_1270858

Sounds interesting. I’d probably give it a go

thank you Jan

Jon

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1270858#Comment_1270858

I'm thinking about coding an automated "book upgrade check". Export a list of ebook editions from the desktop app, upload to a website, and receive a list of possible matches of Logos editions. Is that something y'all would make use of?

Absolutely, a second set of eyes would definitely give me more peace of mind rather than just hoping Faithlife remembers to do it.

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1270858#Comment_1270858

I'm thinking about coding an automated "book upgrade check". Export a list of ebook editions from the desktop app, upload to a website, and receive a list of possible matches of Logos editions. Is that something y'all would make use of?

Absolutely, yes please![Y]

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1270808#Comment_1270808

Will this happen automatically for everyone in due course?

Honestly, I think this is what should happen when a ebook edition which has a Logos edition is brought to the attention of Faithlife.

Upgrade it automatically for everyone.

scooter

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1271067#Comment_1271067

Upgrade it automatically for everyone.

If the upgrade entailed losing the original copy, highlighting is lost. Not good.

MJ. Smith

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1271075#Comment_1271075

If the upgrade entailed losing the original copy, highlighting is lost. Not good.

In all cases where I have gotten a free upgrade, I ended up with two copies of the resource without the lost of any highlighting or notes.

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1271075#Comment_1271075

If the upgrade entailed losing the original copy, highlighting is lost. Not good.

That has not been the pratice but who knows.

The Ebook edition has not so far been removed from my Library once i received a Logos Edition.

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1271080#Comment_1271080

If the upgrade entailed losing the original copy, highlighting is lost. Not good.

That has not been the pratice but who knows.

The Ebook edition has not so far been removed from my Library once i received a Logos Edition.

That's been my experience too. I hide the Ebook edition after I receive a Logos edition (after ascertaining that I haven't done any highlighting in the Ebook, which is generally the case and these days I can assume it without even checking).

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1271081#Comment_1271081

That's been my experience too. I hide the Ebook edition after I receive a Logos edition (after ascertaining that I haven't done any highlighting in the Ebook, which is generally the case and these days I can assume it without even checking).

Thanks for confirming [Y]

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1271082#Comment_1271082

Usually I get to have both versions, but this time as you can see from above, they took the e-book version and gave me the Logos version. I had no notes, so there was no loss for me.