Re: [WISPA] Non-paying Subs
And if you have a way to send them to a captive page that says the account has been restricted due to billing issues we have found that the respond even quicker. Sam Tetherow Sandhills Wireless Mark Nash wrote: Hey everyone. I've recently cleaned up alot of billing/past due issues. My main comment here is that it's amazing how responsive people are when you turn their connection off due to nonpayment. They are generally not upset because they know they haven't been paying. Don't be afraid to get in the habit of checking your billing and turning people off for nonpayment. It's expected. Mark Nash UnwiredOnline 350 Holly Street Junction City, OR 97448 http://www.uwol.net 541-998- 541-998-5599 fax WISPA Wants You! Join today! http://signup.wispa.org/ WISPA Wireless List: wireless@wispa.org Subscribe/Unsubscribe: http://lists.wispa.org/mailman/listinfo/wireless Archives: http://lists.wispa.org/pipermail/wireless/ WISPA Wants You! Join today! http://signup.wispa.org/ WISPA Wireless List: wireless@wispa.org Subscribe/Unsubscribe: http://lists.wispa.org/mailman/listinfo/wireless Archives: http://lists.wispa.org/pipermail/wireless/
Re: [WISPA] Non-paying Subs
Incidentally, my experience is like others have mentioned... you should make plans to be available when you turn them off, because they will be making contact. I have on more than one occasion had people show up at my door, cash in hand, within 20 minutes of me having redirected them, and I live in the middle of nowhere. :) WISPA Wants You! Join today! http://signup.wispa.org/ WISPA Wireless List: wireless@wispa.org Subscribe/Unsubscribe: http://lists.wispa.org/mailman/listinfo/wireless Archives: http://lists.wispa.org/pipermail/wireless/
Re: [WISPA] Non-paying Subs
I have a web server that is set up on an internal IP address which has only one page which states that there is a problem with the billing on the account. The web server is set to give that page as the 404 (page not found) page. On my core router which is a mikrotik I have the following logic: If traffic is from a restricted IP and it is DNS then allow it If traffic is from a restricted IP and it is web traffic send it to captive web server. If traffic is from a restricted IP and not matching the above reject it. If you want the actual Mikrotik rules I'd be happy to send them along. This can also be done with iptables if you have a linux box acting as a router between your customers and the world. I'm sure most any stateful firewall/router will be able to do this sort of redirect. We use to just turn people off and it would work, but once we added the "There is a problem..." page we got a lot more people getting their bill caught up faster. I don't know if it is because they weren't sure if there was a computer/network issue rather than a billing issue or if it was just because it was a constant explicit reminder every time they tried to use the computer. Sam Tetherow Sandhills Wireless D. Ryan Spott wrote: Hey Sam, want to elaborate? How do you do this? Thanks! ryan -Original Message- From: "Sam Tetherow" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "WISPA General List" Sent: 11/23/07 5:01 PM Subject: Re: [WISPA] Non-paying Subs And if you have a way to send them to a captive page that says the account has been restricted due to billing issues we have found that the respond even quicker. Sam Tetherow Sandhills Wireless Mark Nash wrote: Hey everyone. I've recently cleaned up alot of billing/past due issues. My main comment here is that it's amazing how responsive people are when you turn their connection off due to nonpayment. They are generally not upset because they know they haven't been paying. Don't be afraid to get in the habit of checking your billing and turning people off for nonpayment. It's expected. Mark Nash UnwiredOnline 350 Holly Street Junction City, OR 97448 http://www.uwol.net 541-998- 541-998-5599 fax WISPA Wants You! Join today! http://signup.wispa.org/ WISPA Wireless List: wireless@wispa.org Subscribe/Unsubscribe: http://lists.wispa.org/mailman/listinfo/wireless Archives: http://lists.wispa.org/pipermail/wireless/ WISPA Wants You! Join today! http://signup.wispa.org/ WISPA Wireless List: wireless@wispa.org Subscribe/Unsubscribe: http://lists.wispa.org/mailman/listinfo/wireless Archives: http://lists.wispa.org/pipermail/wireless/ WISPA Wants You! Join today! http://signup.wispa.org/ WISPA Wireless List: wireless@wispa.org Subscribe/Unsubscribe: http://lists.wispa.org/mailman/listinfo/wireless Archives: http://lists.wispa.org/pipermail/wireless/ WISPA Wants You! Join today! http://signup.wispa.org/ WISPA Wireless List: wireless@wispa.org Subscribe/Unsubscribe: http://lists.wispa.org/mailman/listinfo/wireless Archives: http://lists.wispa.org/pipermail/wireless/
Re: [WISPA] Non-paying Subs
Using Iptables, it is fairly straightforward, and can be accomplished in Mikrotik as well. I set up rules in a separate chain to allow access to certain things, such as my payment server, DNS, and a couple of other things i wanted to let even the restricted people access but then direct all port 80 and 443 traffic (DstNAT) to my web server ip on port 88. The web server is set up to serve one page only at that virtualhost, but I think more importantly, it is also set up with ReDirect rules to catch all URI's and redirect them to the one page, and it is ALSO set up to instruct the browser to not cache those pages. e.g. http://yahoo.com/somthing/another/index.html is redirected (transparently.. their address bar still shows that they are at yahoo.com, but the page they see is my "you are restricted" page) as is http://yahoo.com/ or google.com, none of which gives a 404 error on my web server because of the ReWrite rules. However, my page is not stored in their browser cache, so that when I turn them back on, all they have to do is hit refresh and they immediately get the real page they were attempting to get in the first place, not my (cached) page. I also have a link to my payment gateway on the restricted page, and rules in ipchains to allow them to access it. Since I do NOT know who might be using whomever's computer, I do not specifically say on that page WHY they are restricted, as that might be a violation of the customer's privacy. It might be their visiting mother-in-law that was the first to see the "you haven't paid your bill" message. Instead, I have a list of several possible reasons why they are being restricted, including misconfiguration of their computer, spamming, worms, viruses, non-payment, I made a mistake, etc D. Ryan Spott wrote: > Hey Sam, want to elaborate? How do you do this? > > > Thanks! > > ryan > > -Original Message- > From: "Sam Tetherow" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: "WISPA General List" > Sent: 11/23/07 5:01 PM > Subject: Re: [WISPA] Non-paying Subs > > And if you have a way to send them to a captive page that says the > account has been restricted due to billing issues we have found that the > respond even quicker. > > Sam Tetherow > Sandhills Wireless > > Mark Nash wrote: > >> Hey everyone. >> >> I've recently cleaned up alot of billing/past due issues. My main >> comment here is that it's amazing how responsive people are when you >> turn their connection off due to nonpayment. They are generally not >> upset because they know they haven't been paying. >> >> Don't be afraid to get in the habit of checking your billing and >> turning people off for nonpayment. It's expected. >> >> Mark Nash >> UnwiredOnline >> 350 Holly Street >> Junction City, OR 97448 >> http://www.uwol.net >> 541-998- >> 541-998-5599 fax >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> WISPA Wants You! Join today! >> http://signup.wispa.org/ >> >> >> >> >> WISPA Wireless List: wireless@wispa.org >> >> Subscribe/Unsubscribe: >> http://lists.wispa.org/mailman/listinfo/wireless >> >> Archives: http://lists.wispa.org/pipermail/wireless/ >> >> > > > > > WISPA Wants You! Join today! > http://signup.wispa.org/ > > > WISPA Wireless List: wireless@wispa.org > > Subscribe/Unsubscribe: > http://lists.wispa.org/mailman/listinfo/wireless > > Archives: http://lists.wispa.org/pipermail/wireless/ > > > > > WISPA Wants You! Join today! > http://signup.wispa.org/ > > > WISPA Wireless List: wireless@wispa.org > > Subscribe/Unsubscribe: > http://lists.wispa.org/mailman/listinfo/wireless > > Archives: http://lists.wispa.org/pipermail/wireless/ > > > -- John Vogel - [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.vogent.net 620-754-3907 Vogel Enterprises, LLC Information Services Provider serving S.E. Kansas WISPA Wants You! Join today! http://signup.wispa.org/ WISPA Wireless List: wireless@wispa.org Subscribe/Unsubscribe: http://lists.wispa.org/mailman/listinfo/wireless Archives: http://lists.wispa.org/pipermail/wireless/
RE: [WISPA] Non-paying Subs
Hey Sam, want to elaborate? How do you do this? Thanks! ryan -Original Message- From: "Sam Tetherow" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "WISPA General List" Sent: 11/23/07 5:01 PM Subject: Re: [WISPA] Non-paying Subs And if you have a way to send them to a captive page that says the account has been restricted due to billing issues we have found that the respond even quicker. Sam Tetherow Sandhills Wireless Mark Nash wrote: > Hey everyone. > > I've recently cleaned up alot of billing/past due issues. My main > comment here is that it's amazing how responsive people are when you > turn their connection off due to nonpayment. They are generally not > upset because they know they haven't been paying. > > Don't be afraid to get in the habit of checking your billing and > turning people off for nonpayment. It's expected. > > Mark Nash > UnwiredOnline > 350 Holly Street > Junction City, OR 97448 > http://www.uwol.net > 541-998- > 541-998-5599 fax > > > > > > > > > WISPA Wants You! Join today! > http://signup.wispa.org/ > > > > > WISPA Wireless List: wireless@wispa.org > > Subscribe/Unsubscribe: > http://lists.wispa.org/mailman/listinfo/wireless > > Archives: http://lists.wispa.org/pipermail/wireless/ > WISPA Wants You! Join today! http://signup.wispa.org/ WISPA Wireless List: wireless@wispa.org Subscribe/Unsubscribe: http://lists.wispa.org/mailman/listinfo/wireless Archives: http://lists.wispa.org/pipermail/wireless/ WISPA Wants You! Join today! http://signup.wispa.org/ WISPA Wireless List: wireless@wispa.org Subscribe/Unsubscribe: http://lists.wispa.org/mailman/listinfo/wireless Archives: http://lists.wispa.org/pipermail/wireless/
Re: [WISPA] Non-paying Subs
I usually look when I'm going to be in the office for a while and cut them off when I see them using it. Phone rings within a couple of minutes. Dave Hulsebus Portative Technologies > Hey everyone. > > I've recently cleaned up alot of billing/past due issues. My main comment > here is that it's amazing how responsive people are when you turn their > connection off due to nonpayment. They are generally not upset because > they > know they haven't been paying. > > Don't be afraid to get in the habit of checking your billing and turning > people off for nonpayment. It's expected. > > Mark Nash > UnwiredOnline > 350 Holly Street > Junction City, OR 97448 > http://www.uwol.net > 541-998- > 541-998-5599 fax > > > > > > > WISPA Wants You! Join today! > http://signup.wispa.org/ > > > WISPA Wireless List: wireless@wispa.org > > Subscribe/Unsubscribe: > http://lists.wispa.org/mailman/listinfo/wireless > > Archives: http://lists.wispa.org/pipermail/wireless/ > WISPA Wants You! Join today! http://signup.wispa.org/ WISPA Wireless List: wireless@wispa.org Subscribe/Unsubscribe: http://lists.wispa.org/mailman/listinfo/wireless Archives: http://lists.wispa.org/pipermail/wireless/
Re: [WISPA] Non-paying Subs
With a system that lets them do this anonymously, without the embarrassment of a phone call or office visit, it should get cleaned up even quicker. Mark Nash UnwiredOnline 350 Holly Street Junction City, OR 97448 http://www.uwol.net 541-998- 541-998-5599 fax - Original Message - From: "Sam Tetherow" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "WISPA General List" Sent: Friday, November 23, 2007 6:09 PM Subject: Re: [WISPA] Non-paying Subs I have a web server that is set up on an internal IP address which has only one page which states that there is a problem with the billing on the account. The web server is set to give that page as the 404 (page not found) page. On my core router which is a mikrotik I have the following logic: If traffic is from a restricted IP and it is DNS then allow it If traffic is from a restricted IP and it is web traffic send it to captive web server. If traffic is from a restricted IP and not matching the above reject it. If you want the actual Mikrotik rules I'd be happy to send them along. This can also be done with iptables if you have a linux box acting as a router between your customers and the world. I'm sure most any stateful firewall/router will be able to do this sort of redirect. We use to just turn people off and it would work, but once we added the "There is a problem..." page we got a lot more people getting their bill caught up faster. I don't know if it is because they weren't sure if there was a computer/network issue rather than a billing issue or if it was just because it was a constant explicit reminder every time they tried to use the computer. Sam Tetherow Sandhills Wireless D. Ryan Spott wrote: Hey Sam, want to elaborate? How do you do this? Thanks! ryan -Original Message- From: "Sam Tetherow" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "WISPA General List" Sent: 11/23/07 5:01 PM Subject: Re: [WISPA] Non-paying Subs And if you have a way to send them to a captive page that says the account has been restricted due to billing issues we have found that the respond even quicker. Sam Tetherow Sandhills Wireless Mark Nash wrote: Hey everyone. I've recently cleaned up alot of billing/past due issues. My main comment here is that it's amazing how responsive people are when you turn their connection off due to nonpayment. They are generally not upset because they know they haven't been paying. Don't be afraid to get in the habit of checking your billing and turning people off for nonpayment. It's expected. Mark Nash UnwiredOnline 350 Holly Street Junction City, OR 97448 http://www.uwol.net 541-998- 541-998-5599 fax WISPA Wants You! Join today! http://signup.wispa.org/ WISPA Wireless List: wireless@wispa.org Subscribe/Unsubscribe: http://lists.wispa.org/mailman/listinfo/wireless Archives: http://lists.wispa.org/pipermail/wireless/ WISPA Wants You! Join today! http://signup.wispa.org/ WISPA Wireless List: wireless@wispa.org Subscribe/Unsubscribe: http://lists.wispa.org/mailman/listinfo/wireless Archives: http://lists.wispa.org/pipermail/wireless/ WISPA Wants You! Join today! http://signup.wispa.org/ WISPA Wireless List: wireless@wispa.org Subscribe/Unsubscribe: http://lists.wispa.org/mailman/listinfo/wireless Archives: http://lists.wispa.org/pipermail/wireless/ WISPA Wants You! Join today! http://signup.wispa.org/ WISPA Wireless List: wireless@wispa.org Subscribe/Unsubscribe: http://lists.wispa.org/mailman/listinfo/wireless Archives: http://lists.wispa.org/pipermail/wireless/ WISPA Wants You! Join today! http://signup.wispa.org/ WISPA Wireless List: wireless@wispa.org Subscribe/Unsubscribe: http://lists.wispa.org/mailman/listinfo/wireless Archives: http://lists.wispa.org/pipermail/wireless/
RE: [WISPA] Non-paying Subs
In the glory days of dialup we had customers that this was the ONLY way for us to get them to come in and pay. Pretty funny the few times we did have problems we always had a good turn up on customers that was paying their bills (same crowed that normally would only come in and pay once they got shutoff) many time no matter if it just been a week or two since they paid. They just gotten so much into the habit not to pay on time so when they couldn't access the internet they knew it was time to pay. We shut them off day after their due date. Occasionally we had a person that complained loudly because they had gotten shutoff especially if they normally paid on time. But we generally played along that we where sorry but it's an automated system and if we do not have their payment on the next business day after due date the system automatically shut unpaid accounts. Usually put the fight out of them. / Eje -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Mark Nash Sent: Friday, November 23, 2007 12:55 PM To: WISPA General List Subject: [WISPA] Non-paying Subs Hey everyone. I've recently cleaned up alot of billing/past due issues. My main comment here is that it's amazing how responsive people are when you turn their connection off due to nonpayment. They are generally not upset because they know they haven't been paying. Don't be afraid to get in the habit of checking your billing and turning people off for nonpayment. It's expected. Mark Nash UnwiredOnline 350 Holly Street Junction City, OR 97448 http://www.uwol.net 541-998- 541-998-5599 fax WISPA Wants You! Join today! http://signup.wispa.org/ WISPA Wireless List: wireless@wispa.org Subscribe/Unsubscribe: http://lists.wispa.org/mailman/listinfo/wireless Archives: http://lists.wispa.org/pipermail/wireless/ WISPA Wants You! Join today! http://signup.wispa.org/ WISPA Wireless List: wireless@wispa.org Subscribe/Unsubscribe: http://lists.wispa.org/mailman/listinfo/wireless Archives: http://lists.wispa.org/pipermail/wireless/
RE: [WISPA] Non-paying Subs
Another incentive is to add on a re-connect charge. There is a cost involved in locking and unlocking a customers account. We have collected a fee for this process for some time and it makes the process much more palatible for us. The customer is accustomed to paying a "late", "overdraft", etc fee elsewhere if this is habitual. If it is a first time and the customer asks we will waive the fee, informing them that it is a one time option, and look like the good guy for doing so. If they are hit a second time they have been warned in advance. Larry -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Eje Gustafsson Sent: Saturday, November 24, 2007 9:44 PM To: 'WISPA General List' Subject: RE: [WISPA] Non-paying Subs In the glory days of dialup we had customers that this was the ONLY way for us to get them to come in and pay. Pretty funny the few times we did have problems we always had a good turn up on customers that was paying their bills (same crowed that normally would only come in and pay once they got shutoff) many time no matter if it just been a week or two since they paid. They just gotten so much into the habit not to pay on time so when they couldn't access the internet they knew it was time to pay. We shut them off day after their due date. Occasionally we had a person that complained loudly because they had gotten shutoff especially if they normally paid on time. But we generally played along that we where sorry but it's an automated system and if we do not have their payment on the next business day after due date the system automatically shut unpaid accounts. Usually put the fight out of them. / Eje -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Mark Nash Sent: Friday, November 23, 2007 12:55 PM To: WISPA General List Subject: [WISPA] Non-paying Subs Hey everyone. I've recently cleaned up alot of billing/past due issues. My main comment here is that it's amazing how responsive people are when you turn their connection off due to nonpayment. They are generally not upset because they know they haven't been paying. Don't be afraid to get in the habit of checking your billing and turning people off for nonpayment. It's expected. Mark Nash UnwiredOnline 350 Holly Street Junction City, OR 97448 http://www.uwol.net 541-998- 541-998-5599 fax WISPA Wants You! Join today! http://signup.wispa.org/ WISPA Wireless List: wireless@wispa.org Subscribe/Unsubscribe: http://lists.wispa.org/mailman/listinfo/wireless Archives: http://lists.wispa.org/pipermail/wireless/ WISPA Wants You! Join today! http://signup.wispa.org/ WISPA Wireless List: wireless@wispa.org Subscribe/Unsubscribe: http://lists.wispa.org/mailman/listinfo/wireless Archives: http://lists.wispa.org/pipermail/wireless/ WISPA Wants You! Join today! http://signup.wispa.org/ WISPA Wireless List: wireless@wispa.org Subscribe/Unsubscribe: http://lists.wispa.org/mailman/listinfo/wireless Archives: http://lists.wispa.org/pipermail/wireless/
Re: [WISPA] Non-paying Subs
All sounds good but... So what happens when the customer, sends the check for the monthly fee, but refuses to send the check for the "reconnect or late fee"? To charge someone a monthly fee, you are obligated to deliver services. If you purposely disconnect services, the customer is not obligated to pay for the survices during the time it is disconnected, and you are indirectly authorizing the decission to choose not to get paid for that time. Sure if its residiential, and you say, "I wont turn you on, until you pay", you can make sure payment is received before turning on. But most businesses would never condone, service being left off, while waiting for payment to arrive. Cutting someone's service off, is a great way to make sure the customer places an order with a competitor. The customer doesn't tell you that, but the order gets placed. It may work for residential underserved areas, but I challenge whether that tactic works for served areas or businesses. The only way a business puts up with it, is if they really are in financial distress, with the mentality that it would be a greater financial hardship to buy a new service and pay associated isntall charges. But we have found that most businesses, when they are behind on payment, its rarely because of financial hardship. Its usually just a temporary cash flow issue, or what ever justification they may have. I guess my point is... if you have a client that is guaranteed to pay, based on their history, is it worth taking the risk, just to get payment a little bit earlier? For us whats more important is to make sure a client does not get to far behind. If they get far behind, its to hard to collect, as their is a cost incintive for them to walk, stiffing us on a larger sum of unpaid bills. What has helped us the most is realizing reality that people don't pay on time, and allocating a certain amount of time each month for collections. Its a necessary cost of doing business. If someone is late, we get on the phone and call them, and ask for payment. We are considering a cut off policy... But ONLY after a call has first been made to attempt collection of payment. So it gives us the option to work with the client, if they have a legitimate hardship. The other thing, is that you ahve to be prepared to give someone a method to pay you, promptly. Nothing worse that cutting a customer off, and then not being around to get their call, to reactivate. There is a cost to that as well. That is one of the reasons that I like, Captive Portal type methods of payment. When someone is cut off, they have a way to re-activate immediately. I jsut think that shutting someone off that is less than 30 days, is not advantageous all things considered. Tom DeReggi RapidDSL & Wireless, Inc IntAirNet- Fixed Wireless Broadband - Original Message - From: "Larry Strittmatter" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "'WISPA General List'" Sent: Sunday, November 25, 2007 8:01 AM Subject: RE: [WISPA] Non-paying Subs Another incentive is to add on a re-connect charge. There is a cost involved in locking and unlocking a customers account. We have collected a fee for this process for some time and it makes the process much more palatible for us. The customer is accustomed to paying a "late", "overdraft", etc fee elsewhere if this is habitual. If it is a first time and the customer asks we will waive the fee, informing them that it is a one time option, and look like the good guy for doing so. If they are hit a second time they have been warned in advance. Larry -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Eje Gustafsson Sent: Saturday, November 24, 2007 9:44 PM To: 'WISPA General List' Subject: RE: [WISPA] Non-paying Subs In the glory days of dialup we had customers that this was the ONLY way for us to get them to come in and pay. Pretty funny the few times we did have problems we always had a good turn up on customers that was paying their bills (same crowed that normally would only come in and pay once they got shutoff) many time no matter if it just been a week or two since they paid. They just gotten so much into the habit not to pay on time so when they couldn't access the internet they knew it was time to pay. We shut them off day after their due date. Occasionally we had a person that complained loudly because they had gotten shutoff especially if they normally paid on time. But we generally played along that we where sorry but it's an automated system and if we do not have their payment on the next business day after due date the system automatically shut unpaid accounts. Usually put the fight out of them. / Eje -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Mark Nash Sent: Friday, November 23, 2007 12:55
Re: [WISPA] Non-paying Subs
First off, we don't disconnect until the customer is 90 days past due (and a notice has been sent in the 60 days past due bill to that effect). If a customer calls and makes arrangements for payment I am usually very flexible (small town not so great economy you have to be flexible). However chronic late payers usually get shut off at the 60 days past due. I have one business in particular that only pays about half time if I don't shut off his service. He has to have internet service to do his job, but if I don't shut him off, the bill will not get paid. I never worry about delinquent accounts switching to another service. If they want to they can go with Qwest. An account that doesn't pay is just a waste of service and I can put the equipment to use somewhere else. Besides Qwest will shut them off just as quickly as I will and they are not as flexible in terms of payment. Heck, I've taken service in kind from another business if that was the only way they could pay the bill. Sam Tetherow Sandhills Wireless Tom DeReggi wrote: All sounds good but... So what happens when the customer, sends the check for the monthly fee, but refuses to send the check for the "reconnect or late fee"? To charge someone a monthly fee, you are obligated to deliver services. If you purposely disconnect services, the customer is not obligated to pay for the survices during the time it is disconnected, and you are indirectly authorizing the decission to choose not to get paid for that time. Sure if its residiential, and you say, "I wont turn you on, until you pay", you can make sure payment is received before turning on. But most businesses would never condone, service being left off, while waiting for payment to arrive. Cutting someone's service off, is a great way to make sure the customer places an order with a competitor. The customer doesn't tell you that, but the order gets placed. It may work for residential underserved areas, but I challenge whether that tactic works for served areas or businesses. The only way a business puts up with it, is if they really are in financial distress, with the mentality that it would be a greater financial hardship to buy a new service and pay associated isntall charges. But we have found that most businesses, when they are behind on payment, its rarely because of financial hardship. Its usually just a temporary cash flow issue, or what ever justification they may have. I guess my point is... if you have a client that is guaranteed to pay, based on their history, is it worth taking the risk, just to get payment a little bit earlier? For us whats more important is to make sure a client does not get to far behind. If they get far behind, its to hard to collect, as their is a cost incintive for them to walk, stiffing us on a larger sum of unpaid bills. What has helped us the most is realizing reality that people don't pay on time, and allocating a certain amount of time each month for collections. Its a necessary cost of doing business. If someone is late, we get on the phone and call them, and ask for payment. We are considering a cut off policy... But ONLY after a call has first been made to attempt collection of payment. So it gives us the option to work with the client, if they have a legitimate hardship. The other thing, is that you ahve to be prepared to give someone a method to pay you, promptly. Nothing worse that cutting a customer off, and then not being around to get their call, to reactivate. There is a cost to that as well. That is one of the reasons that I like, Captive Portal type methods of payment. When someone is cut off, they have a way to re-activate immediately. I jsut think that shutting someone off that is less than 30 days, is not advantageous all things considered. Tom DeReggi RapidDSL & Wireless, Inc IntAirNet- Fixed Wireless Broadband - Original Message - From: "Larry Strittmatter" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "'WISPA General List'" Sent: Sunday, November 25, 2007 8:01 AM Subject: RE: [WISPA] Non-paying Subs Another incentive is to add on a re-connect charge. There is a cost involved in locking and unlocking a customers account. We have collected a fee for this process for some time and it makes the process much more palatible for us. The customer is accustomed to paying a "late", "overdraft", etc fee elsewhere if this is habitual. If it is a first time and the customer asks we will waive the fee, informing them that it is a one time option, and look like the good guy for doing so. If they are hit a second time they have been warned in advance. Larry -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Eje Gustafsson Sent: Saturday, November 24, 2007 9:44 PM To: 'WISPA General List' Subject: R
Re: [WISPA] Non-paying Subs
An account that doesn't pay is just a waste of service Depends... On whether I got the full setup fee upfront, and the calculated ROI on the install. Ironically, because I charge a $500 setup fee, if I have the subscriber 6 months before default, moving the radio to a new subscriber, means I get the new install fee, with a free radio. Thus a more profitable first year. In those situations, it makes it much easer to play hardball on collections. I agree, shutoff after 60 days, is reasonable for just about any type of client. Tom DeReggi RapidDSL & Wireless, Inc IntAirNet- Fixed Wireless Broadband - Original Message - From: "Sam Tetherow" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "WISPA General List" Sent: Sunday, November 25, 2007 6:50 PM Subject: Re: [WISPA] Non-paying Subs First off, we don't disconnect until the customer is 90 days past due (and a notice has been sent in the 60 days past due bill to that effect). If a customer calls and makes arrangements for payment I am usually very flexible (small town not so great economy you have to be flexible). However chronic late payers usually get shut off at the 60 days past due. I have one business in particular that only pays about half time if I don't shut off his service. He has to have internet service to do his job, but if I don't shut him off, the bill will not get paid. I never worry about delinquent accounts switching to another service. If they want to they can go with Qwest. An account that doesn't pay is just a waste of service and I can put the equipment to use somewhere else. Besides Qwest will shut them off just as quickly as I will and they are not as flexible in terms of payment. Heck, I've taken service in kind from another business if that was the only way they could pay the bill. Sam Tetherow Sandhills Wireless Tom DeReggi wrote: All sounds good but... So what happens when the customer, sends the check for the monthly fee, but refuses to send the check for the "reconnect or late fee"? To charge someone a monthly fee, you are obligated to deliver services. If you purposely disconnect services, the customer is not obligated to pay for the survices during the time it is disconnected, and you are indirectly authorizing the decission to choose not to get paid for that time. Sure if its residiential, and you say, "I wont turn you on, until you pay", you can make sure payment is received before turning on. But most businesses would never condone, service being left off, while waiting for payment to arrive. Cutting someone's service off, is a great way to make sure the customer places an order with a competitor. The customer doesn't tell you that, but the order gets placed. It may work for residential underserved areas, but I challenge whether that tactic works for served areas or businesses. The only way a business puts up with it, is if they really are in financial distress, with the mentality that it would be a greater financial hardship to buy a new service and pay associated isntall charges. But we have found that most businesses, when they are behind on payment, its rarely because of financial hardship. Its usually just a temporary cash flow issue, or what ever justification they may have. I guess my point is... if you have a client that is guaranteed to pay, based on their history, is it worth taking the risk, just to get payment a little bit earlier? For us whats more important is to make sure a client does not get to far behind. If they get far behind, its to hard to collect, as their is a cost incintive for them to walk, stiffing us on a larger sum of unpaid bills. What has helped us the most is realizing reality that people don't pay on time, and allocating a certain amount of time each month for collections. Its a necessary cost of doing business. If someone is late, we get on the phone and call them, and ask for payment. We are considering a cut off policy... But ONLY after a call has first been made to attempt collection of payment. So it gives us the option to work with the client, if they have a legitimate hardship. The other thing, is that you ahve to be prepared to give someone a method to pay you, promptly. Nothing worse that cutting a customer off, and then not being around to get their call, to reactivate. There is a cost to that as well. That is one of the reasons that I like, Captive Portal type methods of payment. When someone is cut off, they have a way to re-activate immediately. I jsut think that shutting someone off that is less than 30 days, is not advantageous all things considered. Tom DeReggi RapidDSL & Wireless, Inc IntAirNet- Fixed Wireless Broadband - Original Message - From: "Larry Strittmatter" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "'WISPA General List'" Sent: Sunday, November 25, 2007 8