4 ms·

My guess as to why, is that the kinds of people who are paying the higher tiers are companies. The person(s) interacting with support are on the payroll of the

My guess as to why, is that the kinds of people who are paying the higher tiers are companies. The person(s) interacting with support are on the payroll of the company experiencing problems. So it's all a very professional conversation.

bryanrasmussen 3y ago
right, I might consider that a large number of the services my employer has paid for are crap, but when I talk to representatives of those services I can't say why in hell did you decide to do this idiotic crap because their HR would complain to my employer's HR and thus I am forced to be polite. Definitely a win for professional etiquette. I believe, based on other comments I have seen on HN, that my view is a pretty widespread one.
nordsieck 3y ago
> My guess as to why, is that the kinds of people who are paying the higher tiers are companies. That may be a partial explanation, but I've also heard this frequently from people who sell to only retail customers. If you're the low cost plumber, pressure washer, or lawn care, you're going to have a headache compared to the people who operate up market.
- xen2xen1 3y ago
  Who's gonna complain and argue more over $5, a poor person or a rich person? If you concentrate on the "value" market people will concentrate on getting value out of you. That totally includes rich but cheap people, which are very much a thing.
dahart 3y ago
Seems like a reasonable guess if you assume most or all of the paying customers are companies, but that might be unrealistic to assume, and individual consumer behavior has been studied a lot; it’s widely known in retail business that people often don’t value free things. The relationship between price and product engagement is complicated. Having run a site myself that offered a free tier and a paid tier, I experienced exactly the same thing: free customers were noticeably more demanding and less patient than the paying customers. Initially I sold paid plans almost entirely to individuals, not companies, and still saw this behavior. So my guess is that people who invest financially in their tools are willing to work to improve them, hence interested in having a polite and productive relationship with the company that makes their tools. Free users want the product to work right now, and because they’re not paying, they don’t expect it to change. There might be a bit of free users acting more aggressively out of fear that they won’t be listened to because they’re on the free tier, and hoping that public shaming, instead of money, will get the company to act. At least that what it feels like on the support end of this.

bryanrasmussen 3y ago

right, I might consider that a large number of the services my employer has paid for are crap, but when I talk to representatives of those services I can't say why in hell did you decide to do this idiotic crap because their HR would complain to my employer's HR and thus I am forced to be polite. Definitely a win for professional etiquette. I believe, based on other comments I have seen on HN, that my view is a pretty widespread one.

nordsieck 3y ago

> My guess as to why, is that the kinds of people who are paying the higher tiers are companies. That may be a partial explanation, but I've also heard this frequently from people who sell to only retail customers. If you're the low cost plumber, pressure washer, or lawn care, you're going to have a headache compared to the people who operate up market.

xen2xen1 3y ago
Who's gonna complain and argue more over $5, a poor person or a rich person? If you concentrate on the "value" market people will concentrate on getting value out of you. That totally includes rich but cheap people, which are very much a thing.

dahart 3y ago

Seems like a reasonable guess if you assume most or all of the paying customers are companies, but that might be unrealistic to assume, and individual consumer behavior has been studied a lot; it’s widely known in retail business that people often don’t value free things. The relationship between price and product engagement is complicated. Having run a site myself that offered a free tier and a paid tier, I experienced exactly the same thing: free customers were noticeably more demanding and less patient than the paying customers. Initially I sold paid plans almost entirely to individuals, not companies, and still saw this behavior. So my guess is that people who invest financially in their tools are willing to work to improve them, hence interested in having a polite and productive relationship with the company that makes their tools. Free users want the product to work right now, and because they’re not paying, they don’t expect it to change. There might be a bit of free users acting more aggressively out of fear that they won’t be listened to because they’re on the free tier, and hoping that public shaming, instead of money, will get the company to act. At least that what it feels like on the support end of this.