Op and I did speak outside this thread. We’re all good.
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Yea, I’m done. Been a loyal customer since early 2014 and all of sudden the price is double because I took a month off? One month, after 5+ years of loyalty. No thanks, I’m done. Not a good way to treat customers that have been there since the beginning.
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All on topics discussions aside this is a wonderful exercise in marketing. Most companies would kill for such a direct and open pricing feedback from their base. I guess Netflix should take note 
From the discussion it becomes clear that for some an additional $90 per year is a lot of money, regardless of value. It is a hard sell for them when a significant price increase is essentially used to fund increasing feature creep on the product.
I love TR and will continue to use it no matter what. But if I am honest, it is the core of workouts and training plan that i pay for. Performance analytics and to a smaller extend the calendar are nice to have but never in a hundred years would I pay for this. Same with outdoor workouts. I get the excitement, but in reality it doesn’t work all that well. TP pushes to my wahoo already and even simple workouts with long threshold intervals are really difficult to execute on rolling roads.
So while I am just happy that I’m grandfathered in and can tell my wife that at $99 TR is a massive steal, I think now might be a good time to consider a base vs premium subscription model. It would be a shame if TR develops into a feature-laden behemoth that remains inaccessible to many riders because it’s too expensive.
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I think you are missing the point of the debate here: part of the critique is about TR’s communication strategy of the price hike, which caught some members by surprise. This is a blunder that could have easily been avoided. And secondly, in the grand scheme of things the competition for most is not 3 apps and a personal coach, but typically one of the other apps and services. When your pricing is this high, but your advantages are not immediately obvious to a large share of customers — even if they exist — TrainerRoad (the business) has a problem.
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Just my personal take on this, it becomes really tricky when it comes to exception case like these. You need to define the business rules before you can hand it over to the developer for coding and there will be tons of permutations for such exception case. Where do you draw the line? What if another guy has been a loyal customer for 6+ years and took 2 months off? Is he eligible for the grandfathered pricing?
In such situation, I believe the best thing you can do is to drop a line to customer service or maybe even Nate and see if there is anything that they can do for customers like you. No harm asking right?
The worst that can happen would be them saying no and you switch over to another platform, or maybe they will extend the grandfathered price to you since you have been sticking around for so long. 
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I understand the point OP was trying to make and still believe the forum was the wrong place to bring up a unique customer billing issue.
My big point is OP doesn’t see the value because he doesn’t plan to use the features that TR recently added. If he doesn’t plan to use those features/functions, he probably is better off with one of the less expensive apps. For those of us who take their training more seriously than using it for the occasional indoor workout, it’s a bargain.
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I can’t believe the attempts by some people in this thread to turn something that was supposed to be an expression of gratitude for your continuing subscription into a weapon to use against the TR team.
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I don’t think it’s a matter of ‘taking their training more seriously’, BMAC615. It’s that someone taking their training seriously probably already has options in place that do those things (WKO/TrainingPeaks etc).
I have been a scriber for years, maybe from the beginning of TR. Though I am not exactly sure when TR started. I think TR is a huge value. I love the outdoor workouts, they"re great.The podcast is fantastic. I am totally excited about the coming features. Keep up the good work guys
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Like others I’m glad I’m grandfathered in but as a non-racer who was looking for something a little more structured than Zwift could offer, this pricing would have been too much to attract me into TR. I wouldn’t have subscribed at that price. I guess the people at TR have done their sums and are looking to differentiate by going at the Training Peaks market.
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Now U have good reason for another increase 
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Kinda playing devil’s advocate here, because I would be pretty upset if I was in your shoes too, but just throwing a thought out there.
TR is in the business of making money. Marketing, messaging, content, everything they do is a service to their users which ultimately is to make money.
You have the choice to spend your money on their service or not. Despite your long standing subscription you chose to forgo that loyalty and not pay them for a month. When you come back through you’re technically purchasing the product again.
You can’t just be loyal when it’s convenient to you.
TR could make exceptions to every single person that says “it was just a month”, but where do they draw the line? A day, three months, etc., it’s going to make people upset regardless.
In any case, I think lack of communication was a mistep and the extra $5 a month when comparing with Zwift is going to make a difference in that there will be fewer new subscriptions, although that still might end up being more actual revenue for them and only TR will know that when it’s all said and done.
I wonder if changing up how the “trial” is offered would help combat that subscription hesitation a bit given the higher monthly cost. I could easily see a “30 day free trial” and a “30 day money back guarantee” A/B test in the future to determine what structure would help not just increase initial sign-ups, but longstanding users.
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I’m in for the head unit sync but the analysis isn’t really an analysis. It’s no more then a TSS calendar.
Price increases aside, what is mostly strange is that you don’t expect that from the TR boys. At least an announcement up front would be in line. Speaking about announcements, they can do announcements on the Wahoo sync but no way they can tell a date when finished. It could take several months from now.
Come on TR, don’t become bully like Strava did…but what do I know, they will give a 30 min talk about in the next podcast.
What about a family membership. When I pay for my wife, 2 accounts? Make a “parent” account and a 50% off for family members. (Like Spotify did)
I admit, a crack in the relationship.
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Perfect use of gofundme. Maybe kick starter? I mean, I bought into the skunk lock for my kids bikes. Two now drive and the skunk lock hasn’t arrived. Power meter pedals anyone? Yeah, never seen those.
Why not pay for your membership? Some one start the page. I’m all in!
Hope you get a chance to get back on the bike soon.
I’m not gonna second guess Nate and his team’s decisions, but IMO DCRainmaker is right in pointing out that the benefits of TR accrue as you use it over time. So as a initial customer, it might not be a super attractive option. But as a long time user, I see how the data moves, know all the workouts and plans - why would I switch (especially since I’m grandfathered in at $99/year).
Starting out - I don’t know I’d choose TR a second time. It’s expensive and doesn’t have a lot of doodads and whatcamacallits like the others do. It seems more basic. Just an IMO, hope it helps you guys (TR guys)…
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I think a ‘lite’ version would be a good option. I have often pointed friends & colleagues who are new to indoor training in the direction of TR but I can’t see those paying the new subscription fee for analytics they wouldn’t understand initially.
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A heads up would be appreciated (and really? +25%?). I was planing to renew when I get the Elite Suito, but I don’t think I use enough of the features to justify the price. It would be nice if you wen’t with a more modular approach to the pricing (eg.: basic pack: plans and calendar; advanced: ride analysis, outside workouts,…) .
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This. Spot on. 100%.
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I am not sure what I think.
I do not expect TR or anybody else to forewarn me re a price increase and they are sticking with the grandfather rate which is very fair.
I think the OP was an edge case which I am sure he could have managed on the quiet and come to an arrangement.
Personally I am a sucker for annual subscriptions. I have them with Xert, TR, Fulgaz and I use WKO5.
Out of those TR is the one that I could release the easiest. I know what the plans look like and how sessions are built up and I have a massive history of the sessions I have done previously which would be easy to recreate.
On the other hand I get massive value from this forum and the podcast and I do feel ‘part of the family’. I also like how they run their business model.
So I think I am saying that as long as grandfathering remains I will stay with TR.
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It’s worth it, and a part of me prefer it, since this will translate in better service in the future.
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