I have been a big supporter of Salesforce.com until today. I have recommended that my clients use this CRM for many years until today. I have sold dozens of systems for them.I am collecting stories for my 3rd book, Crazy Customer Service and this is one that will be recited.
Salesforce has a special promotion for a 5 user system for $695. I currently pay $780 for a 1 user system. I called today to see if I could move to that system which has more users but less functionality since I only use the basics of the system. They said no. They said that this special promotion was not available to current customers and that I was committed in my contract until September. At that point, I could end my contract, extract my data and start over with the 5 user system. Ugh!
The sales rep gave me an excuse that since they are a publicly traded company they recognize revenue for the entire year of the contract when it is signed. Last time I took accounting, a company only recognized revenue after they had earned it…
This is bad customer service and all for $85 a year. I am wondering why as a loyal customer for two years, I need to pay more than a new client. I understand the risks of special promotions. But crazy customer service would allow me to switch systems at anytime, not be forced to live out my existing contract and then start from scratch my migrating all my data.
It saddens me that as a loyal salesforce evangelist, I will now be a salesfarce detractor.
