I found a high proportion of people would pay the bill, ignore the late fee.
Then you would have to decide whether to void it or enforce it. Paperwork
hassle either way.
From: Jeremy
Sent: Tuesday, June 28, 2016 1:05 PM
To: af@afmug.com
Subject: Re: [AFMUG] Postpaid vs Prepaid / Bill in Advance?
Our late fee is $10....I thought that was low. I really would prefer the
people who pay late and constantly need special attention for billing issues go
elsewhere.
On Tue, Jun 28, 2016 at 9:25 AM, Lewis Bergman <lewis.berg...@gmail.com> wrote:
Very good point Ken.
On Tue, Jun 28, 2016 at 8:40 AM Ken Hohhof <af...@kwisp.com> wrote:
If you bill for the previous month, count on not getting the last month for
at least half the customers who leave. I’m talking about renters who move
every 12 months, people who sell their house, etc.
That does affect your bottom line.
Also, if you turn someone off for nonpayment, and now they already owe you
for last month plus part of this month, it can become tempting to just stiff
you and find a new provider. I know one ex customer that has gone through us
plus 2 other local WISPs plus Rise Broadband twice. I compare it to people who
are under water on their mortgage, they are actually money ahead to walk away
or get foreclosed. You don’t want your customer to owe you so much money that
it is in their economic best interest to switch providers and not pay you what
they owe.
From: Jim Bouse [Brazos WiFi]
Sent: Tuesday, June 28, 2016 7:23 AM
To: af@afmug.com
Subject: Re: [AFMUG] Postpaid vs Prepaid / Bill in Advance?
In the end, it doesn’t matter if it is pre or post billing. It may give
you heartburn to see non-pays getting something for nothing for a month but in
the grand scheme of things, it makes no difference because we have fixed
monthly costs. If they pay or not doesn’t affect our OPEX.
Jim Bouse
Owner
Mobile IT Pro - Brazos WiFi
979-985-5912
j...@brazoswifi.com
From: Af [mailto:af-boun...@afmug.com] On Behalf Of Lewis Bergman
Sent: Tuesday, June 28, 2016 6:15 AM
To: af@afmug.com
Subject: Re: [AFMUG] Postpaid vs Prepaid / Bill in Advance?
Prebilling would be the preferred method I would think. We billed on the
first and wanted to prebill. In the end, it probably didn't make a hug
difference to the bottom line. I just liked the thought of limiting weekday
someone got for nothing.
On Mon, Jun 27, 2016, 4:50 PM Ken Hohhof <af...@kwisp.com> wrote:
Exactly.
And most communications services (phone, cable TV, etc.) are prepaid for
monthly charges and postpaid for usage based charges.
-----Original Message-----
From: Larry Smith
Sent: Monday, June 27, 2016 2:41 PM
To: af@afmug.com
Subject: Re: [AFMUG] Postpaid vs Prepaid / Bill in Advance?
If you do not "pre" bill for service, such as internet access,
there is little to no chance of collection after the fact if
they decide not to pay... We pre-bill for the "next" month
on the 20th, due by the 1st, suspend services on the 6th
for CC, ACH, etc (auto payments) that fail, then suspend
cash, check customers on the 10th.
Our billing system handles this without issue (Freeside).
--
Larry Smith
lesm...@ecsis.net
On Mon June 27 2016 14:35, Christopher Gray wrote:
> I've setup my billing so everything is expected to be paid before
service
> is provided (prepaid). I send invoices in advance of a service cycle and
> they are due by the beginning of the service cycle. Early on, I
convinced
> myself this was a good idea so I would never have to deal with
collections
> and it seemed fair.
>
> I'm working on switching billing systems, and the new system does not
> really operate that way. This has me wondering if my method is really a
> good one, or if there are good reasons to bill at the start of a service
> cycle. I've gone through my bills and others I have available to me, and
> very few actually bill in advance of a service cycle.
>
> Is there a good reason to avoid prepaid service or that companies tend
not
> to do it?
>
> -Chris
