Re: a.s.d. and life.......

naneklund@xxxxxxx wrote:

Just had the granddaughter of a very good client call and cancel an
appointment next week because she "didn't want to wait that long". She
went to Block. Good. Serves her right.

Some clients you don't need.

I run a consulting business. One client gave me a cheque before I left
on the first occasion I worked for them. The next time I had to ring a
couple of times to get paid. The third time I turned up to find that
they had moved and nobody working on the new building going up on the
site where they used to be knew where they had gone to. There was no
fourth time because they rang at about 4pm and left a message on my
voice mail saying that they wanted some training for a new employee. I
rang first thing the next morning and was told that as I hadn't rung
back immediately they had found someone else to do this very
non-urgent work.

Another almost ex-client wasted my time for most of yesterday. The
software I base my business on has a 30-day trial period and won't
work after that unless a registration code is entered. I have a
clearly stated policy that I do not release the codes until I have
been paid (because I can't get the codes from the distributor until I
have paid them). Part of this project was to connect the software to
the client's BlackBerry device. The first time I arrived to do this
there was no SIM card in the BlackBerry, making it a little difficult
to connect it to the mobile phone network. The next time, the battery
in the device was flat and there was no charging cable available. The
next time, I found that while the client still had a phone service
with Vodafone, the BlackBerry data facility had not been activated.

Last week I mentioned to them that the trial period was about to run
out and getting paid would encourage me to provide the unlock codes.
On Wednesday I received many panic calls to my voice mail and several
emails asking what I was going to do about the messages saying "Your
trial period has expired" appearing on their screens. I replied that
they had the details of my bank account (from the invoice given to
them on the first day I went there) and deposit of payment would speed
things up. I received some specious reply about how the bookkeeper
wasn't coming into the office until later in the day and nobody else
knew the password for online banking. (I don't think I have ever been
there when the bookkeeper has also been in the office, but on at least
one occasion I have seen the Westpac online banking screen open!)

Yesterday, they rang the office of the people who make the software to
complain about how I wasn't giving proper service and how the
distributor wouldn't give them the codes. They were told that the
wholesaler doesn't deal directly with the public. This generated
another phone call to me in which I was told that there had been a
cheque waiting for me to collect for several days. I politely forgot
to mention the Post Office.

Ain't self-employed life grand?
--
Peter Bowditch aa #2243
The Millenium Project http://www.ratbags.com/rsoles
Australian Council Against Health Fraud http://www.acahf.org.au
Australian Skeptics http://www.skeptics.com.au
To email me use my first name only at ratbags.com
.

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