I originally loved ACH, for the cost savings. Now I have realized that it is the only way that a customer can defraud us with our current billing method. They login and run an ACH on a delinquent account, get it turned back on automagically, and then it bounces, we add a fee, they repeat the process, we turn it off, add another fee, rinse, lather, repeat. Finally we give up and go get the equipment and now we're out like $250. Being a prepaid service we usually shut them off after 20 days and so that would be the most that anyone could possibly hit us for (20 days of service). With checks they can bounce the install and then play the re-activation game for two months before we get frustrated and pull out.
We have yet to start sending customers to collections. For those of you that are, how does it work out? Are the reclamation of these minor amounts worth the slanderous hate speech that is sure to come from that customer for life after you hit their credit? We have been eating the cost, cutting ties, and moving on. As far as how we push them toward ACH, I simply explain how bad bill pay sucks. It is like sending cash in the mail and it goes through a third party. If they are late mailing it then service gets shut off, and late fees get added. I also tell them that credit cards cost us more to process than checks. I basically just tell them that we prefer ACH, but we will take anything. I regularly question whether ACH is a good idea or not. We have more problem customers on ACH than any other payment method. On Wed, Nov 11, 2015 at 8:41 AM, Ken Hohhof <af...@kwisp.com> wrote: > Our bank wants a $25/mo minimum fee for us to process ACH payments, so we > don’t accept ACH. The per transaction fee is not bad, but the minimum is a > problem. > > *From:* Justin Wilson - MTIN <li...@mtin.net> > *Sent:* Wednesday, November 11, 2015 9:29 AM > *To:* af@afmug.com > *Subject:* Re: [AFMUG] Steer customers to ACH (vs CC)? > > Give them a discount. Much of it depends on the bank. We had folks who > absolutely hated ACH because their bank would charge an overdraft if the > ACH failed. They like the CC, even if it was a debit card, because if the > money wasn’t there it just declines it. No $30 fee or whatever. But, it > depends on the bank. This is what wasn’t attractive to us was banks treated > it different. Credit card either runs or it doesn’t. ACH typically is not > as smooth for a variety of reasons. > > Justin Wilson > j...@mtin.net > > --- > http://www.mtin.net > <http://t.sidekickopen27.com/e1t/c/5/f18dQhb0S7lC8dDMPbW2n0x6l2B9nMJW7t5XZs3N1JKKW1p8b7-63BmqTW64k9XR56dWxNf8vBN2802?si=5679648505069568π=E0BF5AA5-EFD6-40A2-B53F-749AC8A25C0A&t=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Emtin%2Enet> > Owner/CEO > xISP Solutions- Consulting – Data Centers - Bandwidth > > http://www.midwest-ix.com > <http://t.sidekickopen27.com/e1t/c/5/f18dQhb0S7lC8dDMPbW2n0x6l2B9nMJW7t5XZs3N1JKKW1p8b7-63BmqTW64k9XR56dWxNf8vBN2802?si=5679648505069568π=E0BF5AA5-EFD6-40A2-B53F-749AC8A25C0A&t=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Emidwest%2Dix%2Ecom> > COO/Chairman > Internet Exchange - Peering - Distributed Fabric > > > On Nov 11, 2015, at 10:21 AM, Christopher Gray <cg...@graytechsoftware.com> > wrote: > > For the people who accept both ACH and CC payments, do you do anything to > promote the use of ACH (to reduce your costs)? > > Thanks - Chris > > >
