Are you living under the yolk of a software provider that really doesn’t want you to leave? What do we mean by an “Oppressive Contract” and would you know what to look for? Well the following are all examples of what we at BTCSoftware consider to be underhand practice at the very least. All seem to have been designed to lock you in and make it as difficult as possible to leave.
- Notice Periods
Nearly all providers operate on an annual contract basis which applies regardless of whether you pay monthly, quarterly or annually. This means you can only leave at the anniversary of your contract which is fair enough. What is definitely not fair is that in far too many cases the actual notice requirement is far from obvious and can be as much as 3 months prior to the renewal date. Lots of practices have been caught out this way – thinking they could simply leave at the end of the year only to find themselves locked in for another 12 months.
- Non-aligned renewals
If you have a number of different product licences with the same provider do not assume they all renew at the same time. The thinking seems to be that a widely spread range of renewal dates will further discourage you from leaving. At BTCSoftware we simply “absorb” these different dates into your new contract – at no additional cost to you – and ensure that all future renewals share the same date.
- “Alleged” contract breaches
This is a real shocker in our view and seems to be driven by a sudden push to increase revenues. Whether or not your renewal is due it typically involves a call from the customer team checking on your software usage which uncovers features or additional users you are using without payment. This is regardless of any free offers (by them) you may have enjoyed previously and results in a demand for increased payment or withdrawal of these “extras”.
- Less than obvious contract changes
If your long-standing provider has been swallowed up by one of the bigger outfits do look out for new software updates that innocuously require you to accept a change in your contract terms. Ticking that box without reading the small print could mean you being stuck for a year longer than you’d have expected (see item 1. above).
- Auto collection of renewals
If you’ve previously paid by card or direct debit do look out for renewal payments being taken early.
Yes really! As underhand as it sounds we’ve seen plenty of examples of renewal payments being collected this way without any prior warning.
- Data access
Just because you’ve spent years inputting client data into their software don’t assume they’ll let you keep it. Most decent providers like BTCSoftware will provide you with free read-only access when you leave, but others are far less amenable and may insist on removing everything when you leave.
If you think you might be effective by any of the above, please do not hesitate to contact us on freephone 0800 612 7650 or email Sales@BTCSoftware.co.uk
