Author: Tom Likens
Date: 11:58:30 08/24/04
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On August 24, 2004 at 14:29:24, Hristo wrote: Hello Hristo, A couple of comments interspersed below. >"C"-Mandatory membership payment will open the gates for the users to tell you >how they want you to run your site. Just look at the opinions of those who want >to control your actions and decisions based on the imaginary future payment that >they might have to make. It is beyond belief. While I understand their >argumentation for eliminating CTF, I can not understand the ultimatum style that >they are using to convince you of closing off CTF. This being the case if you go >with "C" people would bitch and moan more than you can imagine, because they are >now paying something. I would characterize the opinions expressed as "unsolicited free advice" rather than "bitching". Steven is of course, free to ignore anything that doesn't fall in line with his proposed business model. You're quite right though, as a paying customer I would (justifiably) expect a certain level of quality and service. I don't doubt that Steven and his fine organization would supply it. But if they didn't then I would vote with my feet, by going elsewhere and in addition, withhold the fees I would otherwise have paid. Eventually, if enough people were dissatisfied then Steven would go out of business and that would be that. On the other hand, if Steven can separate CTF and CCC and thereby offer me, and others, a better service at a cheaper price than he is more likely to attract new customers and hence be more successful, (everyone wins). >Further more the logistics of handling the monetary >transactions and rules will occupy a considerable amount of your time. Keeping >track of who has paid, refunds, expiration dates, .... endless money handling >problems. Depending on the amount of money we're talking about, I bet Steven is praying for this "problem". Unfortunately, the amount of money is not likely to be more than break-even, but you never know. >You have provided a free service to all of us for all of these years and I >wonder how many would be capable of doing the same for you; contribute whatever >they can afford (or are willing to afford) to help you out in keeping this place >alive, without at the same time telling you how you should live your life or run >your business. Actually, customers tell companies how to run their businesses all the time, by their buying habits and patterns. Steven has the added advantage of getting direct customer feedback, which is a big plus. Ultimately, how he decides to respond is his and his company's decision. regards, --tom
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