Post
by SwedaGuy » Thu Apr 19, 2007 11:12 am
I think you have exemplified in this post (more so than any other) why I wouldn't consider giving away a product for free.
As I have mentioned before, I think you are very generous to offer your product (and, apparently, technical support) free of charge. However, I believe, based on your comments, that you get a lot of stupid questions from people who are too lazy to learn basic computer operations. What is a folder? Seriously! Where is the "Any" key? This is the stuff tech support urban legends are made of...
You've produced a product, well fitted to a variety of retail applications. Because it is free, your client list consists of a bevy of people who are too cheap to pay for a product that is a value to them. Of course those people are going to ask dumb questions--the software is free, so your skills must be free, too, right?
If there were some impetus to find answers themselves, say a nominal support charge, they would check the free resources (ie, google) first.
I'm sure there are some very nice people who use your software because they genuinely feel it is the best solution to their needs. However, the vast majority of them use it only because it's free. I'm sorry, but people who want something for nothing irritate me...
I'm not trying to offend you, or stir up any particular trouble, but I really think your time is worth something. You've provided free software, a users manual, and an online forum for users to ask and answer questions. I'm sure people who are computer literate find these resources sufficient for configuring and operating the software. For those who don't really understand their own computer (and therefore shouldn't have one), I believe assistance should be provided on a pay-as-you go or yearly basis. That would certainly cut down on your nuisance calls.
Now, if you want us to act as a proxy supporrt organization, that can be arranged. I'll download the software again and thoroughly familiarize myself with it, so when someone calls I'm not scrambling for answers. I can set up a 900 number for technical support, or sell yearly maintenance contracts. You see, I don't work for free, and I don't think you should either.
I apologize for getting so far off topic, and for my lengthy ramble.
There are 10 types of people, those that understand binary, and those that do not...