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hm. how do customers feel about you changing the pricing without their input? I mean, it sounds like the guy is clear ahead of time, but if he thinks he will

by lsc 16y ago

hm. how do customers feel about you changing the pricing without their input? I mean, it sounds like the guy is clear ahead of time, but if he thinks he will lose customers if he reminds the user that they are paying, uh, doesn't that mean that he is basically acknowledging that he is not providing a service the user values at full price? that he is just hoping they forget to cancel? It's related to something I've struggled with; I mean, I make users take active action every bill... I don't support recurring billing, just 'cause I feel weird about just hoping you won't remember to cancel your account. And yeah, I'm probably loosing out on a lot of trailing months... but what do you think that does to customer goodwill? I'm not saying I know the answers... however, my opinion would be that long term, you are better off providing enough value that the customer is willing to take active action to stay. On the other hand, I've had several customers ask me for recurring billing, so it's quite possible that the convenience factor is the operative issue here, rather than the value provided by the service. It's possible that the service is worth the money, but not worth the hassle of positively acknowledging another bill.

MicahWedemeyer 16y ago
doesn't that mean that he is basically acknowledging that he is not providing a service the user values at full price? Well, the users seem to like the service, and they're willing to pay full price. That's good enough for me. long term, you are better off providing enough value that the customer is willing to take active action to stay. Good luck with that. I take the stance of provide something of value AND make it easy to pay. I guess you could say I want to have my cake and eat it too.
- lsc 16y ago
  right, but my worry would be that if you increase your revenue a lot when you switch from sending a bill and waiting for them to give you money to taking money automatically until they ask you to stop, I would question how much of that increase was due to people forgetting to tell you to stop until after they've been billed. As I said elsewhere, I think the problem could be solved, for a pre-paid service, by giving an automatic refund if the user cancels within X days of getting billed.
drm237 16y ago
how do customers feel about you changing the pricing without their input? I would assume they feel the same way anyone who has ever had phone, cable, or internet service feels. Outside of a contract, prices go up over time. You send out an email 30 days in advance, tell them it's going to happen, and then do it. If they want to cancel and get a refund, ok, no big deal. Virtually everyone is familier with recurring billing so I think offering it is entirely for the customer's convenience and in no way a bait and switch or any other kind of attempt to rip-off a customer.
- lsc 16y ago
  >I would assume they feel the same way anyone who has ever had phone, cable, or internet service feels. If I treated my customers as poorly as comcast does, I'd be out of business, and I say up front that you should only be my customer if you can tolerate poor service.
  - MikeMacMan 16y ago
    The point is that everyone is used to this pattern: free trial that will switch to paid subscription unless you cancel.
    - lsc 16y ago
      'everyone? Personally I associate those billing patterns with, uh, less than reputable businesses. Now, I may be very unusual, but we have at least one counterexample. Edit: I sound like I'm calling you a fraudster, and that is not my intent. I really want to hear about the other side of this, in part because some of my customers have asked me to setup recurring billing that doesn't require action on their part. As it is, most people who cancel do so right after I bill them. if I was just taking the money rather than sending the bill, then for the same thing to happen, they'd have to ask for a refund. Which, I seems kinda bad to me- I mean, negotiation is waste. However I could automatically gave a refund if they cancelled within X days of me charging them, that would solve the problem. Anyhow, I really would like to know more about what you think of how 'normal' people think of it. It's not obvious to me.

by lsc 16y ago

MicahWedemeyer 16y ago

doesn't that mean that he is basically acknowledging that he is not providing a service the user values at full price? Well, the users seem to like the service, and they're willing to pay full price. That's good enough for me. long term, you are better off providing enough value that the customer is willing to take active action to stay. Good luck with that. I take the stance of provide something of value AND make it easy to pay. I guess you could say I want to have my cake and eat it too.

lsc 16y ago
right, but my worry would be that if you increase your revenue a lot when you switch from sending a bill and waiting for them to give you money to taking money automatically until they ask you to stop, I would question how much of that increase was due to people forgetting to tell you to stop until after they've been billed. As I said elsewhere, I think the problem could be solved, for a pre-paid service, by giving an automatic refund if the user cancels within X days of getting billed.

drm237 16y ago

how do customers feel about you changing the pricing without their input? I would assume they feel the same way anyone who has ever had phone, cable, or internet service feels. Outside of a contract, prices go up over time. You send out an email 30 days in advance, tell them it's going to happen, and then do it. If they want to cancel and get a refund, ok, no big deal. Virtually everyone is familier with recurring billing so I think offering it is entirely for the customer's convenience and in no way a bait and switch or any other kind of attempt to rip-off a customer.

lsc 16y ago
>I would assume they feel the same way anyone who has ever had phone, cable, or internet service feels. If I treated my customers as poorly as comcast does, I'd be out of business, and I say up front that you should only be my customer if you can tolerate poor service.
- MikeMacMan 16y ago
  The point is that everyone is used to this pattern: free trial that will switch to paid subscription unless you cancel.
  - lsc 16y ago
    'everyone? Personally I associate those billing patterns with, uh, less than reputable businesses. Now, I may be very unusual, but we have at least one counterexample. Edit: I sound like I'm calling you a fraudster, and that is not my intent. I really want to hear about the other side of this, in part because some of my customers have asked me to setup recurring billing that doesn't require action on their part. As it is, most people who cancel do so right after I bill them. if I was just taking the money rather than sending the bill, then for the same thing to happen, they'd have to ask for a refund. Which, I seems kinda bad to me- I mean, negotiation is waste. However I could automatically gave a refund if they cancelled within X days of me charging them, that would solve the problem. Anyhow, I really would like to know more about what you think of how 'normal' people think of it. It's not obvious to me.