Reading the metrics. If you were an executive and were given the following snap-shot, what would you think? This is from a world renowned and respected software vendor of anti-virus/spam ware.
When I attempted to "chat" this morning with them,the wait time was 34 minutes at 10am and a reply to my email was 48 hours. If I was an executive of this company and if customer support was important to me and the business and ultimately my P&L, then I would think that "everything needs to be green" and would employ more support staff. If your customers are having to wait 34 minutes and you deem that unacceptable, then solve the situation. It's just like in metalcasting, if you have a casting that is running 34% scrap, you have to decide if that is acceptable or not. I would hope that most metalcasters would deem that level of scrap unacceptable and take corrective actions.
What all brought this on is that the anti-virus software had renewed without prior notice or confirmation. They just took it upon themselves to renew as they had my credit card on file and I hadn't checked some box to "turn off autorenewal". I can get the antivirus software less expensive on the open market from a brick and mortar retailer. I had another vendor do this to me a while back and I didn't know about the auto renewal until I got my credit card statement.
I've been seeing this "auto renewal" and "auto ship" trend lately and I find it as a disturbing trend of vendors revenue enhancement. Just because a vendor has your credit card information on file, and I always "opt out" of having my information stored if there is an option for that - or pay with PayPal, doesn't give them the right to "abuse it".
I have noticed that on some online vendors, they want to "auto ship" to you every xyz weeks UNLESS you uncheck the "auto ship" option. I order items when I need to and or want to and most times it is a one-off order. Same goes with software products that want to install "tag along" software applications unless you "uncheck the option".
The Number One FAQ on their website is "What do I do if I didn't want auto renewal and it was auto renewed". That should certainly tell you something. Perhaps their wait time would be reduced for support if they got rid of auto renewal. "Why would I want to renew something a week in advance when credit card transactions are instantaneous?" This puts money into their account so that they can use it instantly, before the renewal takes effect. Don't think that makes a difference? Think again.
A cousin of mine works for a major overnight shipping company. His sole job is "parking money" overnight and on the weekends/holidays to get the overnight interest on the money. At the close of operations on a day, they have all of this "cash" sitting around for operating expenses. The money is moved to a financial institution for about 10 hours overnight and then moved back. Weekends are obviously longer time frames. Even though the interest rate is very low, the amount of money for the interest is huge and this is a nice revenue enhancement for the company to the tune of millions of dollars a year.
One of the most disturbing and frustrating experiences with an online vendor, whom I had an annual subscription with, is that they went out and changed my credit card expiration date in order to get the transaction to go through. They had notified and called me that my credit card had expired. I did not want the service any longer and did not update my credit card information. So, on their own they started plugging in expiration dates until the credit card company processed the transaction. This was a fiasco as they refused to refund my money and until my credit card company got involved with a disputed transaction, they were holding firm. I finally got "most" of my money back, but they refused to credit back the amount that had been "used" in the month of the credit card transaction as well as the "month" that it took to resolve the dispute.
Let me assure you in no uncertain terms that these type of dis-gracious business practices are not used at Synchro ERP. We do not automatically renew your account when paying by credit card. We provide outstanding rapid response support. Support is the mainstay of Synchro ERP and we pride ourselves on it every day all day. The terms of business / contract for Synchro ERP is one page with no fine print. We do not believe in unscrupulous business practices with smoke and mirrors and fine print. We wouldn't have it any other way.
When I worked for EDS, Electronic Data Systems, under Henri Ross Perot, we were taught that we always did business in the center of the playing field. Meaning, that your business practices were always above reproach as if you started playing towards the edges, it was a slippery slope and would get you into trouble.
Until next time, see you on down the road.
Shane Allen
Head of Synchro ERP North American Operations
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