When to charge for phone support

[Robt]

So.... I have a friend that sells farm machinery... a farmer has bought one of his machines out of a farm sale. Since buying it he has phoned my friends technical guy about 20 times including when he has known that technical guy is on holiday.... the farmer won’t pay for his local dealer to come out and show him around his farm sale purchase. My friends technical guy has offered to come out to train the guy but has said he will have to charge if only to cover his costs... he has said he doesn’t need that much help and will figure it out himself.... as I told my friend. His technical guy has to keep stopping what he is doing to help this guy. The calls are often in the evening or at the weekend. When should my friend say no support without the farmer paying.
I have advised my friend but want to see what you guys think?

 

[TomD]

How old is the machine and how likely is the customer to upgrade any time soon? What sort of machine is it?

 

[Chae1]

Stop answering the phone.

I remember speaking to a chap that sold manufacturing machines, some customers took up so much time for technical support they used to give them uncompetitive quotes for new machines.

 

[Clive]

So.... I have a friend that sells farm machinery... a farmer has bought one of his machines out of a farm sale. Since buying it he has phoned my friends technical guy about 20 times including when he has known that technical guy is on holiday.... the farmer won’t pay for his local dealer to come out and show him around his farm sale purchase. My friends technical guy has offered to come out to train the guy but has said he will have to charge if only to cover his costs... he has said he doesn’t need that much help and will figure it out himself.... as I told my friend. His technical guy has to keep stopping what he is doing to help this guy. The calls are often in the evening or at the weekend. When should my friend say no support without the farmer paying.
I have advised my friend but want to see what you guys think?

How did he get the tech guys out of hours number ? If he gave it out he only has himself to blame

He shouldn’t answer work calls out of hours really

 

[Dry Rot]

Your friend should buy him a manual for the tractor for Christmas and a call blocker for himself.

The latter are brilliant! I couldn't live without mine.

 

[milkloss]

Depends on a lot of things such as how likely he is to be a customer of value.

I would offer a training session for a fixed fee or your regular hourly charge for phone support with a minimum Fee of 15
Minutes.........take it or leave it.

 

[njneer]

How did he get the tech guys out of hours number ? If he gave it out he only has himself to blame

He shouldn’t answer work calls out of hours really

Sounds to me like a top notch technical support guy , trying his best to support His product ,obviously believes in the product , and has the work ethic and personal motivation to try and support a customer .
On the other fooot and at the same time sounds like a typical penny pincher,who bought on the cheap but expects top notch manufacturer support , clearly looking to exploit the guy for information on the cheap to his own benefit with no regard for the tech guys personal time or costs.
Many manufacturers get stick for lack of support and many the time it’s a guy like this who starts a forum thread about “poor support” when in fact they have been indulged, over and above the call of duty, and eventually told “enough” now you have to pay which suddenly morphs into bashing the manufacturer for sh#t customer support .

 

[David.]

If you make and sell a machine it must be incumbent upon you to offer basic advice as to its operation, if only because you hope to sell some spares or a replacement machine one day to a happy user of your kit.
It sounds as though your mate has done all that is reasonable, and that the farmer might be erring towards a bit of a cheapskate p155 taker.

 

[kiwi pom]

If its a new machine training and a good handbook with a few follow up calls should be included in the price but he bought it from a farm sale so I'd say offer him a handbook if he hasn't got one and offer to visit for a fee (although you might struggle to get paid) that's all you can really do.
What the hell's the machine 20 calls! he's just not getting the hang of it is he?

 

[jonnieboy]

Sounds very much a farmer is taking liberties
If it’s set up enquiries then he either is out of his depth and should offer to pay for instruction or should download the manual and sort it himself

 

[Pennine Ploughing]

Sell him an instruction manual, tell him all is in there and more to get best use out of the machine
If he won't buy a manual, then stop all phone support
Simply because that's how it works with tight customers

 

[stevedave]

It kind of depends on what the machine is if its a roller then he is tacking the pee. If its a combine then maybe not especially if he doesn't have a book.

 

[Robt]

Thanks for all the replies. The farmer has a manual. The tech guy is very passionate about his products so always goes the extra mile. I’ll pass this thread to my friend.

 

[quattro]

How did he get the tech guys out of hours number ? If he gave it out he only has himself to blame

He shouldn’t answer work calls out of hours really

Just cos he gave his no out and is a conscientious worker, it’s the farmer taking the mick you can’t blame the guy for been good at his job and trying tohelp

 

[Paddington]

I had this at work, an American client would ring me for help in setting up his own company, what equipment to buy, testing etc. The calls would go on for an hour. My boss said we would have to charge him for this help. The guy agreed, but the calls went on and after months he was owing thousands and hadn't paid a penny (or cent). A standard letter for non payment of fees went out to him. He countered with a lawyer's letter saying because of the letter his credit would be affected and his company (himself) would lose customers, he was therefore suing our company !
I had stopped answering the phone to him, but well meaning people would answer my phone and promise him that I'd ring back.
After months he sent a cheque for part payment, our sales office enlarged it and hung it on their wall showing how persistence finally pays off.
Sometime later an intrigued customer peering at this wall mounting noticed that the "cheque" had expired, as had the original as no one had paid it in !

 

[Chae1]

While on this subject make sure and tell the employers of these conscientious people how much you appreciate and value them.

I've several guys i can call 24-7 for help/advice and i would struggle to go past there product again for that reason.

Robt himself was/is very good at this. He helped a friend install a topcon system he bought second hand at a farm sale. No monetary value or gain for himself.

 

[Blue.]

Shame you can’t divert certain numbers on a phone,in this instance a premium rate line.

 

[Dry Rot]

I have to confess that I have, in the past, kept a list of helpful technicians I could rotate so I didn't annoy any particular one too much. But I did also read the manuals or I don't think I could have lived with myself!

Isn't learning how to deal with nuisances one of life's skills we acquire with age?

Up here, the reply will be "I'll phone you tomorrow", but tomorrow never comes. Whenever I hear that, I assume they won't but are too polite to say what they really mean!

 

[Oscar]

I would tell the farmer that enough is enough and he has been advised and helped . If he wants further support then he either needs to get the nearest dealer to help for which he will be charged or the tech guy will visit him himself but that there will be a charge.

 

[Martin Holden]

Good on him for helping. I answer my phone out of hours when not busy on something else. I also have taken calls from customers of machines I no longer represent - happy to pass on any useful advice where I can. What’s the point of having knowledge and not using it when asked?