#140: How NOT to handle customer payment problems

This was a painful episode to record. I had problems getting some customers to pay. How I handled it was a cascade of mistakes. I tell Ed the story, and he gives me advice on what I should have done.

Ed tells us about his recent effort to add a once-off pricing plan to his SaaS.

We also mentioned Ed’s appearance on the Slow and Steady podcast, where he shared 25+ practical tips for running your SaaS.

You can also listen to and download this episode here.

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This was a hilarious and terrifying listen!

When I get to the UPDATE part I had to stop what I was doing and pour myself a glass of strong liquor. I would smoke a cigar, too, if I was a smoker.

The seven years plan bit was also good :smiley:

P.S. Planning to visit Barcelona in Aug. Hope all restrictions are lifted by then.

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It certainly wasn’t hilarious at the time! But terrifying, yes… :slight_smile:

I hope you make it to Barcelona. It is actually magical at the moment, so I hear, without the usual flood of summer tourists.

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Some good stuff. I am always a little bit scared when dealing with the production database, always use a transaction/rollback for first run to make sure the results look ok.

Also interesting conversation on longer term subscription (7 years). We have recently stopped doing annual and now only monthly. The main reason is when people ask for a refund on annual or longer it can be a real hit. This really became in issue during COVID-19 when people on annual subscriptions emailed asking for a refund because they were closed. The last thing you want on a 7 year payment is 3 years in they ask for a refund on the last 4 years.

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Good episode to listen. I am landing in Barcelona this Friday 3rd/July.
Stay for 5 weeks and then off to Marbella for another 5.
Netwroking, discovering and yeah I am fedup with the weather and lockdown in Britain.

Sorry @SteveMcLeod I am now officially one of those summer tourists flooding your town ruining your magical moment but if you do let me know which areas cool bootstrappers hangout then I’ll make sure to stick to those areas and stay out of your way :wink:

Any recommendations for either cities?

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Well, the usually tourist-heavy areas are popular for good reason! I imagine there will be hardly any tourists in July, so you’ll probably have a great time.

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But there might be more pickpockets than tourists!

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:laughing:

Well I was hoping I could catch a networking event or something but I guess I am more likely to catch the virus at the moment :slight_smile:

:grimacing: the good news is it sounds like this was a thorough learning experience.

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