Just today I received a very polite mail from the Best of the Web directory that I booked a link in last year saying

WTF – I did not cancel! and I don’t want my matured link from that 1994 domain go down!

Just when I checked it, the link WAS down… so that’s that “within” word …

I mailed back that I want to keep that listing and that I did not cancel…

hours later (euro timezone vs. US timezone) I got a mail saying, that I cancelled my paypal subscription back in April and that I can gladly signup for the new rates (which are a lot higher than last year as BOTW improves it’s authority and trust status)

well – that was kind of a canned text in that mail and I was really setup… I felt threatened.

Just because the paypal service sucks, the BOTW service should suck as well… that kind of finger-pointed really turned me off.

PayPal once again cancelled a subscription, just because I changed the credit card info back in April… ok – does anyone by the way UNDERSTAND why paypal sucks so much in changing billing info to cancel all payment obligations in advance, before trying to rebill them ? it sucks – for me, my clients and now it sucks for BOTW

Well, after mailing them back about my disappointment something unexpected happened.

They called me back ! Yes, somebody did care. And we spoke.

And apparently the folks at BOTW weren’t aware to that extend that PayPal subcriptions get cancelled all the time when payment info changes…

I spoke to the account manager we both found ourself in a position to understand the other’s point. In fact I made some suggestions on how some days of coding for the BOTW system could improve their customer retention rate… all they need to do is handle that paypal cancel notification and mail their clients what I usually mail mine…

not less than 50% of my own clients get back and say Hey – I want to keep that .. I wasn’t aware that PayPal cancels my subscription…

well… long story short, BOTW gave me a nice promo discount for re-signing up – not for one, but for FIVE sites – which was a really nice gesture… and I could use it not only on the annually subscription, but on the one-time fee- which actually pays for itself in the second year according to their new pricing model…

Expecting a bad customer service, I already prepared for a hate-post about BOTW today – but as you can see – a prompt reaction, fast clearup of positions and a nice gesture and I’m back in… with MORE business than I was before…

That’s how you should do it… right – did you read that

VOIPBuster ?