September 27, 2013, 01:07:58 pm
We emailed as you mentioned and rather than your standard, bland “we regret that you are ineligible †letter; we received a response that appeared to reprimand us for even asking.
In contrary to the staff member above, the person who wrote the email (whose name I will not mention) questioned why we would need the software as a wedding design school, and seemed angered that a “for profit†institution would request the license.
We understand that the software was intended to be used as “architectural visualization tool for architects, urban planners and designers†(as the strident response makes clear); but we came into the forum prior to emailing to see if the software could be used for our purposes, so I'm not sure why the response was so forceful.
In fact, we only emailed for an educational license because of the suggestion above.
Similarly, we respect the policy that the educational licences are for not-for-profit institutions only. However, the staff member above simply said “recognized†institutions are eligible, and as I mentioned in my response a few days ago: we are accredited (which is why we emailed).
As is often the case – it's not so much what is said – it's how it said – and the tone of the response - strident, cynical and rebuking – was unnecessary.