Anybody else ever work customer service?

[KEW]

We sell a software package for member management(Check in, billing, point of sale etc).

Invariably an aquatics facility will call. We are only open 4 out of 12 months of the year. How much is your software then?

I ask how much was the installation of the pool and pumps discounted for them vs a center that is open all year around.

You can't fix stupid.

I can understand their asking for a discount if your software is renewed on an ongoing basis (like Windows 365), so it is essentially rented.

 

[markw]

OK, as long as we're sharing war stories, here's another goodie.

In the mid 80's I was working for a small consulting firm that sold software and computers to go with it.

One of our computers was the Honeywell DPS-6. One thing about this is that had removable hard drives, which is a round phenolic platter that one can fairly easily remove and replace. That's what our clients (were supposed ) to use for daily backups.

Well, one morning I come in and I get a call d=from one lady, who is well known to be a ditz, frantically asking us to call.

So, I call her and she asks me if the manufacturer's service contract covers discs that were damaged by a head crash. I said that's not a problem.

Now, she asks me if it would cover more than one disc. Now, my spidey sense is tingling and I say, I'm sire it'll cover two since it takes that many to actually determine it's a hardware problem.

Now she asks if it would cover more than two. Now, I'm really nervous. I ask how many we're talking about.

She says "thirteen" Now, while banging my head on the desk, I ask how she could go through so many.

She says she thought they all went bad.

We covered three discs and she had to explain the other ten to her boss who got hit for the replacement costs.

 

[jinjuku]

I can understand their asking for a discount if your software is renewed on an ongoing basis (like Windows 365), so it is essentially rented.

The only issue with that is we clearly indicate purchase prices.

 

[herbu]

That was very interesting to know. If you don't mind saying, how many additional years is the HHG warranty and what was the brand and nature of the failure?

I think the HHG extended warranty is for 3 years. The appliance is the top of the line KitchenAid dishwasher. The failure was the circuit board. One of the functions/cycles, (different each time), quit working.

The last tech, (also different each time), said he knew what the problem was. The electrical connections on the board corroded from the heat/steam within the dishwasher. He said he'd seen it many times on that model. He covered each connection on the new board with some kind of sealant goo, (maybe silicone?). He said that would fix it forever. He commented the company knew about the issue, but chose not to apply the sealant because of the additional cost.

Don't know how much of that is the truth. It's been about 3 months since the last fix. So far, so good.

 

[herbu]

You didn't read the paper work. That's on you... Yes there is paper work for that stuff.

You, sir, are exactly right!