I have grown accustomed to living in the ‘now’ generation when it comes to technology. I like Amazon’s one-click ordering button. I like the fact that if my phone is stolen or lost, I can call Vodafone and, after agreeing to a 25 pound charge, get a new phone and sim card sent to me by 10am the next morning. I like how I can walk into a mobile phone store and walk out 5 minutes later with a new handset on contract.
Generally speaking, the mobile industry is pretty quick at responding to customer needs. There are exceptions of course, but if you think about your recent interactions with your operator or mobile phone reatiler, chances are, they probably solved or responded to your demands quickly. They have to. There are far too many competitors ready to eat their lunch otherwise.
I like immediacy. I’m particularly bad when it comes to buying stuff on-demand. I got a phone call last year from 3UK asking if I’d like a new Nokia E65 sent out to me the next morning. In a weird immediacy-trance I agreed right-away 😉
Well, last night I thought I’d setup a shared server with WebFusion. I’ve used them a few times before and in fact I’ve got two other accounts with them that I’ve been meaning to switch off. I wanted a new one though, for hosting some other domains.
Click, click, click and woosh! I ordered. It took less than a minute, I think. From experience I knew that WebFusion don’t normally setup accounts immediately so I was happy to wait until the ‘here are your account details’ email arrived the next morning.
I was a bit put out by the confirmation email I got. I thought I’d signed up to a @14.99/month price plan. Turns out that was excluding VAT and the real cost is toward £20/month. Obviously this is in their terms and conditions. It doesn’t actually explicitly say ‘excluding VAT’ next to the prices, no. That’s hidden right at the very bottom of the page – have a look.
Anyway. No biggie I thought. As long as it’s setup right-away I’ll forget it.
Well I did get an email from WebFusion the next morning. Here it is:
Thank you for placing your order with WebFusion part of the WebFusion
group of companies.So we may proceed with your order please fax the following details to us
on headed note paper:-– Your full name
– Full company name
– Your address including post code
– Your order tracking number XXXXXX
– Fax and phone number
– A clear photocopy of each side of your credit card.
Clearly showing the number, expiry date, name on card and signature.
– Your signature.Our fax number is +44 115 877 0206
Unfortunately we can not proceed with your order until we receive these
details.Best Wishes,
Credit Control
hosting-creditcontrol@webfusion.com
Total bollocks. I wonder what spanner approved that ordering process?
I replied to the email immediately saying not to bother. I also need to contact them to close my other accounts.
Next.
If you can’t take my order ONCE nice and simply, then I can’t be arsed. I MOST CERTAINLY cannot be arsed to go and photo my credit card and ‘FAX’ (What the hell is a FAX machine? I think I remember them. Perhaps I should Wikipedia that.)
So if you’ve got a good recommendation for a web host who supports Plesk, do let me know.
Otherwise I think I’ll just go and get something from ServerBeach or ThePlanet. I was just trying to spread my purchasing around a little bit and show a bit of revenue love to a UK company.