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Amazon flipped a default and made me thousands of dollars

expatsoftware.com

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Re: Amazon flipped a default and made me thousands of dollars

#31

Post by cmdrfred »

eganist wrote: post #28

Tangent: > I’d much prefer to keep those minutes for things like blowing off work for the day to go rock climbing because it’s sunny and I can do that because I run my own company. The less time I have to spend dealing with these customers, the better. This doesn't really instill confidence in the level of post-purchase support I'd get if I were to buy in. I can easily empathize with the mentality and can even apprec…

I feel the opposite. When I hear things like "Customer service is number one at Comcast" it sounds like a hollow platitude, mainly beacuse it is.

Re: Amazon flipped a default and made me thousands of dollars

#33

Post by cyanbane »

eganist wrote: post #28

Tangent: > I’d much prefer to keep those minutes for things like blowing off work for the day to go rock climbing because it’s sunny and I can do that because I run my own company. The less time I have to spend dealing with these customers, the better. This doesn't really instill confidence in the level of post-purchase support I'd get if I were to buy in. I can easily empathize with the mentality and can even apprec…

I like the honesty. I look at it as that he has automated the most frequent stuff and that his allotment of time can go to further unique cases of customer service. Automated surface breadth allows deepness with finite time.

Re: Amazon flipped a default and made me thousands of dollars

#34

Post by jasonkester »

eganist wrote: post #28

Tangent: > I’d much prefer to keep those minutes for things like blowing off work for the day to go rock climbing because it’s sunny and I can do that because I run my own company. The less time I have to spend dealing with these customers, the better. This doesn't really instill confidence in the level of post-purchase support I'd get if I were to buy in. I can easily empathize with the mentality and can even apprec…

Ah, but consider the support lag you get for most products, and the person from whom you receive a reply to your email (and their ability to actually do anything about your issue).

So yeah, you might have to wait until the next day for a reply. But that reply will be to say that your issue has been fixed (by the guy who built the product) and that no further action is required on your part.

People seem to like that. (And a guy can only really climb hard a couple days a week without injury, so it's entirely possible you'll find me in front of the keyboard.)

Re: Amazon flipped a default and made me thousands of dollars

#35

Post by eganist »

adontz wrote: post #30
eganist wrote: post #28

Tangent: > I’d much prefer to keep those minutes for things like blowing off work for the day to go rock climbing because it’s sunny and I can do that because I run my own company. The less time I have to spend dealing with these customers, the better. This doesn't really instill confidence in the level of post-purchase support I'd get if I were to buy in. I can easily empathize with the mentality and can even apprec…

Not telling you are wrong, but do you really need support if product just works?

Do I ever know if I will or won't need support?

The conditions predicating the technical success of this tool aren't immutable.

Re: Amazon flipped a default and made me thousands of dollars

#37

Post by eganist »

jasonkester wrote: post #34
eganist wrote: post #28

Tangent: > I’d much prefer to keep those minutes for things like blowing off work for the day to go rock climbing because it’s sunny and I can do that because I run my own company. The less time I have to spend dealing with these customers, the better. This doesn't really instill confidence in the level of post-purchase support I'd get if I were to buy in. I can easily empathize with the mentality and can even apprec…

Ah, but consider the support lag you get for most products, and the person from whom you receive a reply to your email (and their ability to actually do anything about your issue). So yeah, you might have to wait until the next day for a reply. But that reply will be to say that your issue has been fixed (by the guy who built the product) and that no further action is required on your part. People seem to like that.…

I appreciate this reply a bit more, though it's worth noting that this approach doesn't really scale all that well.

As you add customers, you'll eventually be stretched thin as you try to cater to different needs (assuming that's your goal—it might not be!). Assuming you eventually bring on other technical folks, I'd argue that you'd want to prevent this same language and mentality from persisting as a part of company culture.

But again, your goal might only be to reach a certain size and live comfortably. If so, then you're probably fine. I suppose my qualm was more with the image conveyed by your language more than anything else.

Re: Amazon flipped a default and made me thousands of dollars

#38

Post by bryanlarsen »

NeutronBoy wrote: post #2

EDIT: Well that will teach me to read more closely! Continue below if you want to see me make an idiot of myself. Turns out I missed the point So as I type this the votes are charging up the ranks (about 10 votes since I started typing this comment), so let me start off: I can't possibly see how this is Amazon's fault. You're arguing that you offer a service for free (for a little while anyway), and that more people…

It's easy to be an idiot. Everybody does that sometimes. Kudos for your graceful reaction to being called on it. I think I'll borrow your approach next time I'm in a similar situation.

Re: Amazon flipped a default and made me thousands of dollars

#39

Post by hueving »

eganist wrote: post #37
jasonkester wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ah, but consider the support lag you get for most products, and the person from whom you receive a reply to your email (and their ability to actually do anything about your issue). So yeah, you might have to wait until the next day for a reply. But that reply will be to say that your issue has been fixed (by the guy who built the product) and that no further action is required on your part. People seem to like that.…

I appreciate this reply a bit more, though it's worth noting that this approach doesn't really scale all that well. As you add customers, you'll eventually be stretched thin as you try to cater to different needs (assuming that's your goal—it might not be!). Assuming you eventually bring on other technical folks, I'd argue that you'd want to prevent this same language and mentality from persisting as a part of compan…

>I appreciate this reply a bit more, though it's worth noting that this approach doesn't really scale all that well.

That's OK for personal businesses. Not everything needs to be a billion dollar company.

Re: Amazon flipped a default and made me thousands of dollars

#40

Post by gadders »

jasonkester wrote: post #19
jrochkind1 wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> We were initially hoping to provide this service free of charge. Huh, the blog post doesn't make it seem like he was 'initially hoping' to do that at all. I guess it's good marketing to make it seem like you just "need some help to cover our expenses," and aren't actually making a profit?

That hope did indeed exist, but it faded after a month or two when the first big accounts started to sign up. If you dig around enough you can find a version of that silly pricetag graphic on the server from when I hoped to cover those server expenses for $1/month. But you're right. Sense prevailed, and I eventually started charging money in exchange for goods and services.

>>But you're right. Sense prevailed, and I eventually started charging money in exchange for goods and services.

MADNESS!

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