RyanE

Given your investment and dissatisfaction / non-resolution with the original install/upgrade dealer, I agree.
Customer Advocacy isn't a miracle, and I'm sure they can't solve every problem, but yours sounds like the kind of thing they do.
RyanE

The guy also said:
"I personally reached out to the dealer who contacted us and asked for all the licenses in the project they needed transferred. As of this post we have not heard back."
RyanE

The "Blackwire guy" doesn't need to answer to anything, and what their policy "seems to be" according to this thread is unlikely to be correct.
He said / she said, but even stupider.
RyanE

I suspect for 95%+ of customers, this will never be an issue.
If your dealer works with Blackwire, and stays in business while they're your dealer, you likely will have no issues.  I don't think the whole story is being told here, and the only one who knows the full story is not going to comment on it.
RyanE

The "Blackwire guy" doesn't need to answer to anything, and what their policy "seems to be" according to this thread is unlikely to be correct.
He said / she said, but even stupider.
RyanE

I suspect for 95%+ of customers, this will never be an issue.
If your dealer works with Blackwire, and stays in business while they're your dealer, you likely will have no issues.  I don't think the whole story is being told here, and the only one who knows the full story is not going to comment on it.
RyanE

Seems to me it's a pretty good policy if a dealer just comes in unannounced, and says they should move over drivers from another dealer.
"I'm gonna need you to just forward all the licenses to me, without any kind of verification"...
Nope.
RyanE

Hello everyone… this thread is starting to get out of hand.  I have genuine respect for most people on this forum including individuals on both side of this debate.  And I honestly don’t think all of the mud slinging is doing anything for anyone… 
It would be really nice if we all just allowed this thread to die a natural death.

You sure about that? The comments following your first statement seem to contradict your first statement.
Or is petulance something taught in grad school?

I honestly have no idea why you guys are continuing on.
The policies were described and the licensing structure was explained to be given only to the dealer.
Certified Pro systems are handled much differently than regular consumer devices. It's obvious you guys don't like the model, but I doubt it will change.

Seems to me it's a pretty good policy if a dealer just comes in unannounced, and says they should move over drivers from another dealer.
"I'm gonna need you to just forward all the licenses to me, without any kind of verification"...
Nope.
RyanE

Seems to me it's a pretty good policy if a dealer just comes in unannounced, and says they should move over drivers from another dealer.
"I'm gonna need you to just forward all the licenses to me, without any kind of verification"...
Nope.
RyanE

Seems to me it's a pretty good policy if a dealer just comes in unannounced, and says they should move over drivers from another dealer.
"I'm gonna need you to just forward all the licenses to me, without any kind of verification"...
Nope.
RyanE

You're getting a few people mixed up here -- and its adding confusion to the conversation.
Original dealer wasn't on the job. New dealer called and was denied based on policy. Homeowner called and was rude to our tech support guys (yes we have the recording). We reached out to new dealer who ghosted or was busy or whatever to try and help fix. After not hearing anything back over the weekend we [Blackwire] proactively followed up with the original dealer and got everything squared away. Issues like this are extremely rare and we have the policy in place because the customers we service (dealers) overwhelmingly understand why its in place. 
You guys can keep bitching and moaning about nonsense you can't do anything about unless you own 1) Control4 or 2) Blackwire but everything is all good now because thats how we work at Blackwire. We're all former dealers here and we don't leave anyone hanging  -- including people who call and are not nice on the phone -- because we have all been there.
tl;dr everything was fixed because we are not assholes like the OP suggests but that won't matter here because there's a dead horse to beat 

The guy also said:
"I personally reached out to the dealer who contacted us and asked for all the licenses in the project they needed transferred. As of this post we have not heard back."
RyanE

The guy also said:
"I personally reached out to the dealer who contacted us and asked for all the licenses in the project they needed transferred. As of this post we have not heard back."
RyanE

The guy also said:
"I personally reached out to the dealer who contacted us and asked for all the licenses in the project they needed transferred. As of this post we have not heard back."
RyanE

The "Blackwire guy" doesn't need to answer to anything, and what their policy "seems to be" according to this thread is unlikely to be correct.
He said / she said, but even stupider.
RyanE

True - that´s why i pointed out that there´s an additional twist with handling software licenses as compared to just a hardware purchase.
I think what´s seen as "easy" and what not, depends on the customer´s point of view.
The customers i have would hate it if they had to deal with the purchase and license stuff related to 3rd party drivers themselves. 
The more hands-on type of customer wouldn´t have a problem with that and potentially even prefer it.
I´ve got the impression the real problem here is that some of the users here just don´t like the dealer model anyway, so of course they hate the "blackwire approach" anyway.

Lets go back in time a bit.
When writing programming for things like Crestron, it wasn't unheard of to buy code for a product for an application rather than write it all yourself. These modules became integrated into the software for the home, and their cost incorporated into the final programming charge to the home owner, and locked through compiling. Rather invisible to the end user.
Now it's visible. A dealer needs code to make a project work. He buys the code from a programmer and charges the end user. This is the same business model that's always existed. Since the end user isn't in a position to program the system themselves, rather by design of the system, or by the training and understanding of programming that would be required, therefor the dealer is the buyer.
Granted today there's a lot more visibility, and the days of code being held hostage by the original programmer are mostly gone. But the transaction processes is still code sold to a dealer to resell to an end user.
The process is the same as it's always been.
I do also believe that today a home owner shouldn't be held hostage by a dealer. Control4 has pretty much solved that, you need a dealer, but you can transfer a system to any dealer at will, and there's software to make tweaks.
Driver distributors are stuck in the middle, they need to appease both the dealer and the end user. Revenue to a dealer and allowing for end user dealer changes. Not an easy place to be, and I for one don't have a better way to suggest.
As mentioned, tied to a project has it's faults, tied to a Control4 account has it's faults, so currently it's tied to a MAC address, and the buying dealer is in charge of and allowed to make changes.
So lets agree it's not perfect. And if anyone has a better idea, lets hear it.

Yes, *if your dealer stays in business*.. potentially a pretty big "if" these days.  I wish something could be figured out that made a Control4 customer's experience less painful if and when this happens.

Such as.... an issue with your current dealer for example.

Big news today - looks like new improved deeper driver; better integration to Sirius and Tidal, and access to SnapOne distribution. Nice to see a deeper relationship here and hope the relationship continues to yield improvements and further integrations. 
 
https://joshdotai.medium.com/control4-extends-josh-ai-partnership-with-strategic-development-exclusive-distribution-19525e5c2811
 

this is a native way....

second on need a better dealer.
i have used dish remotes, harmony, urc, pro control, and control4. I am one of the dealers so i programmed each of those myself, and i can say without a doubt control4 has been the most reliable and feature rich solution. Also only one to pass the wife test didn't have to teach her how to turn on the tv.