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This is the sort of thing that sounds reasonably nice and we all wish we could do. However it stops working really fast. I also have a web service and we used
by danielpal 13y ago
This is the sort of thing that sounds reasonably nice and we all wish we could do. However it stops working really fast.
I also have a web service and we used to let people get away with this sort of stuff. First year it worked. Second year, the amount of fraud was impacting bottom line and some of this users turned out to be the ones that used "support" the most. So we started banning bad users and blocking their support requests. The overall impact to the "good" users is pretty noticeable now. Not only can we reply to their support e-mails faster, but the overall system is also faster.
My mentality shifted. Now I think you "owe" it to the "good" users to remove/ban the ones who steal. They are most likely not zero sum, but pretty negative.
- ibudiallo 13y agoI think the best thing to do is to remove that Scholarship program. In the long run it will be a something people will use just to avoid paying you. Let those who are struggling figure out the system on their own. When they get better financially they will pay you (hopefully).
- gknoy 13y agoCould you simply consider forums/support as a non-free upgrade?
- hahla 13y agoI like the way he approached the problem with the "scholarships" its really clever. But I want to agree with you, as word gets out that its easy to receive the product for free your going to have a large portion of your user base free riding off of the paying ones. Then it comes down to at what point do you continue providing the service when its not profitable to do so.
- michaelstewart 13y agoIf that happens here they can easily remove the scholarships.