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List:       inet-access
Subject:    Re: Setup fee?
From:       <up () 3 ! am>
Date:       1999-05-30 19:18:54
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On Sun, 30 May 1999, Danny J. Blubaugh wrote:

> >  Two days later
> >they called back and we had to set them up all over again on the
> >phone.  Three days later they called back and said their hard
> >drive crashed and they needed us to set them up again.
> 
> We get this *all* the time (or so it seems).

<snip>

Yep...I've been thinking about a stand to take on this...

> We now take the stand that nothing is for free.  It has taken a long time
> to re-train our customers to respect our time.  We sometimes lose a
> customer who says if we don't fix their computer for free, they can't use
> our service.  We try to be polite, but our basic message is "When would you
> like that account termination to be made effective?".    Most people don't
> intend to leave (we do provide a very high quality service); they're just
> using a terrorist technique to try to get something for free.  I take the
> attitude that business is a two-way street.  I give you something of value,
> and you give me something of value (like money for services rendered).
> Otherwise, forget it.  Life is too short.
> 
> I'm sorry if this sounds like a rant.  We really do make efforts to treat
> our customers courteously, but we have to draw the line somewhere.  It's
> important to respect ourselves, too.

We publish setup instructions in both a plain text and a screen shot
format on our website.  In their welcome email, one of the first things
they see is a link to those instructions and a polite but insistent
request that they print those instructions out before they do anything
else.  I still get daily requests to re-setup people that have hosed their
settings, crashed and rebuilt their systems or bought new systems.

I'm very, very seriously considering instituting charging our normal $10
setup fee to anyone who needs to be setup like this again, for the reasons
you so susinctly outlined.

James Smallacombe		      PlantageNet, Inc. CEO and Janitor
up@3.am							    http://3.am
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