Peggy, You make some very valid points here and the renewal process definitely needs some serious work.
It's not that difficult to send out reminders for contract renewal. The contract info, including service begin and end dates should be entered in the hw database. From there it is a very simple matter to write a small computer to monitor these dates and automatically generate a "time to renew" letter a given number of days prior to the expiration date. This entire process should be automated with letters being automatically generated, mailing labels printed, and a notice of some sort being sent to the appropriate humanware person. I've written many such programs over the years for my various employers, and the only manual intervention required in the process was when someone wanted to change the content of the letter for some reason. But, you do it once and it's done for all subsequent notices. Sorry, but it's just not that hard to do. Unless, of course, hw doesn't have an accurate record keeping system which I seriously doubt. I think we're all actually there in the db and the information just needs to be accessed regularly. Don On Sat, 21 Feb 2004 19:48:26 -0800, Peggy Kern wrote: That's something that I wish we all know, although it differs from what Marlene Green told me. She said they send out letters a month or so before, but they're sent free matter for the blind. She also says we're sent a receipt or some kind of copy of the contract, or something to show it's renewed, but I know we didn't get anything when we renewed a couple years ago. I had to call PDH to make sure it had been renewed. But now that I know I can't depend on receiving something from them to know when it's time to renew, I intend to be more proactive in marking down the dates when I renew and calling when I think it might be time for another renewal. I wish it didn't have to be that way, but I know that, working for DMV and getting calls from people who suddenly discover their license has expired and they didn't get a notice from us, I need to take my own advice to them and monitor the contract renewal date myself, just because these things happen. But still, I wish that there were a more reliable way to send out renewal notices, and a more reliable way of letting us know our payments for a new contract had been received. I can't remember for sure, since it's been a while since I got a renewal notice, but it seems to me that nothing's mentioned about the option to call and renew over the phone with a credit card. It seems to me that I've always gotten a Braille letter telling me it's time to renew, along with a printed form or contract to be filled out and sent back with a check. I'm lucky in that I have a wonderful husband to do this for me, but I get the impression that many, if not most, blind people don't have this luxury. I would suggest that either the form be discontinued, or a duplicate of it be sent in Braille, or that the Braille letter saying it's time to renew give the recipient the option to call in with a credit card and renew over the phone. Just some thoughts from someone who was distressed to find out a service contract she valued and thought she had was in fact expired since December, 2003. Peggy <who already misses her BN, which she sent off today> At 04:03 PM 2/21/2004 -0800, you wrote: >Hello Don, >My dealer told me that no letter would be sent to me after my first year >with the service contract. he said that i would have to initiate a call. >www.helpinghands4theblind.com >----- Original Message ----- >From: "Don Bishop" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >To: "Braillenote List" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Sent: Friday, February 20, 2004 6:14 PM >Subject: Re: [Braillenote] Service contracts > > This whole discussion got me to thinking about service contracts also. >When my first year was up, (the one on the > > original purchase), I got a notice saying I could purchase the service >contract for a year or also purchase for 2 years. I > > opted for the 2-year agreement. > > > > On seeing the comments here, I just realized I do not recall having >received any notification that the contract was ready > > to expire and needed to be renewed. My contract should have been up for >renewal in December. Now I'm not sure just > > what will happen, but it really is disturbing that notifications aren't >sent out apparently. > > > > I'll need to call hw on this one too. > > > > So Peggy, you're definitely not alone. > > > > Also, a while after I got my bn, my wife also purchased one. When her >year warranty was up, she received a notice > > allowing her to purchase the service contract. I reminded her of my >2-year agreement so she asked for that, but hw > > acted as though no such thing had ever existed. She got the 2-year >agreement, but certainly no discounted price. Not > > really sure what all this is about, but it really is frustrating. > > > > Don > > > > On Fri, 20 Feb 2004 16:13:13 -0800, Peggy Kern wrote: > > > > Hi, all. I finally got through to PDH. Their phone lines had been down, > > but fortunately the voice mail was working and they were calling people > > back, and I was on their to-be-called list. Anyway, after getting an RMA > > number and everything, I said that I had a service contract, and the lady > > told me their records showed that it had expired last year. I don't think > > this is right, as every time my husband tells me that a renewal notice has > > come for a service contract for my BN, I tell him yes, I want to renew > > it. I don't remember one coming last year, and it seems like when we got > > the last renewal notice and I checked on it, it had been for a period of > > two years or something, but I'm not sure if I'm remembering right. I just > > know that my BN is so important to me that there's no way I'd knowingly >not > > renew a service contract. > > > > This got me thinking about the service contract procedure. We get a >letter > > in Braille telling us it's time to renew, and a printed form to be filled > > out, so it seems that even if we want to renew and think we have, if the > > sighted person doesn't fill the form out or doesn't send it in or >whatever, > > we might think we've renewed and really haven't. I remember renewing >once, > > and when I didn't get any kind of confirmation, I had to call and check >and > > find out that the contract had been extended. I wish there was a way, > > either online or by phone, that we could renew our contracts and keep >track > > of them. I'm not happy at all to think that I'll have to pay $100 an hour > > for labor if in fact they insist that I don't have a contract that I > > thought I had. > > > > Peggy > > > > > > > > mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > > http://www.home.earthlink.net/~kernsac > > MSN Messenger [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > > > > > > ___ > > To leave the BrailleNote list, send a blank message to > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > To view the list archives or change your preferences, visit > > http://list.pulsedata.com/mailman/listinfo/braillenote > > > > > > > > > > > > ___ > > To leave the BrailleNote list, send a blank message to > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > To view the list archives or change your preferences, visit > > http://list.pulsedata.com/mailman/listinfo/braillenote >___ >To leave the BrailleNote list, send a blank message to >[EMAIL PROTECTED] >To view the list archives or change your preferences, visit >http://list.pulsedata.com/mailman/listinfo/braillenote mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.home.earthlink.net/~kernsac MSN Messenger [EMAIL PROTECTED] ___ To leave the BrailleNote list, send a blank message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] To view the list archives or change your preferences, visit http://list.pulsedata.com/mailman/listinfo/braillenote
