Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!cs.utexas.edu!texbell!swbatl!george
From: george@swbatl.sbc.com (George D. Nincehelser)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac
Subject: Re: 900 numbers as support
Message-ID: <1990Jul1.233844.16200@swbatl.sbc.com>
Date: 1 Jul 90 23:38:44 GMT
References: <147138@felix.UUCP>
Reply-To: george@swbatl.UUCP (George D. Nincehelser)
Distribution: usa
Organization: Advanced Technology Laboratory - Southwestern Bell Telephone
Lines: 41

In article <147138@felix.UUCP> kehr@felix.UUCP (Shirley Kehr) writes:
>:
>:Any ideas on this?  Want do you think about a 1-900 number for technical
>:support?
>:
>:Andrei Herasimchuk
>
>Would you charge if you couldn't solve their problem? I almost always get
>answers like these:

[examples deleted]

>In other words, if it worked out that the user could not do what they
>wanted to do, would it cost them to find out?
>
>Shirley Kehr

From what I understand, the phone company does the actual billing, so
I guess there would have to be some mechanism for the tech support
support people to tell the phone company not to bill for that call.  
(ooooooooh!  I bet that's messy!)

Also, who would pay the toll for an unproductive call?  Better yet,
how do you explain the situation to the phone company?  (yeeeesh!
That would be even messier!)

I don't support the idea of 900 software support.  If people are really
sold on the idea of pay-as-you-go support, then I suggest they do it
with a credit card or some other billable account system.  That way
it would be much easier to customize the billing so that the customer
isn't paying for hold time, no solutions, or who knows what that would
make the call a waste.

DISCLAIMER:  THE VIEWS EXPRESSED ARE MINE, NOT SOUTHWESTERN BELL
             TELEPHONE'S.

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