Remove true-up validation for cloud licenses
Background
Today, when a customer tries to activate a cloud license activation code for a subscription they purchased, a validation is completed first to check for outstanding true-ups the customer has not yet paid for.
Validation Details
- The current true-up validation has a 10% buffer on paid true-up seats (NOT total seats in license) from 14.2+, prior to 14.2 there is no buffer.
- If the customer runs into this validation, they will not be able to apply a renewal license, instead receiving a rejection error.
More details can be found in #4852 (closed).
Problem
Customers often become frustrated at not being able to access their paid subscription as a result of true-ups. While ensuring customers pay for what they owe in overages is important, this should never prevent them from accessing their (already paid for) subscription or risk them being downgraded to a free plan.
A great example of this current logic having a huge negative impact on a customer:
This customer gave GitLab a 3/10 NPS score as a result of licensing issues. Specifically, they negotiated and signed a large renewal contract. When they went to apply it, they had issues as a result of having an outstanding true-up. While trying to get this sorted, their subscription lapsed and they were reverted to a free plan. There was a lot of frustration on the part of the customer, who stated (paraphrased) "we just finished signing a six-figure check to GitLab, only to lose all access because of a couple hundred dollars worth of unpaid overages".
This is an unacceptable approach to handling overages, which often end up getting waived by sales in the end anyways.
Proposal
- Remove the true-up validation entirely for activation of a cloud license.
Result
Customer is able to activate and access their renewal subscription without any blockers.
Bugs resolved by this implementation
- Cloud License activation failure when future da... (#4874 - closed) (linked to 9 customer support tickets)
- https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/361345+ (linked to 5 customer support tickets)
- Cloud licensing not working due to mismatch in ... (#6117 - closed) (linked to one customer ticket)
Support Priority Score: (-, -, -, -, -, -, -, -, -, -, -) => 15