Re: Software Subscription strikes again.

Hi everybody,

Two months ago I received a letter from IBM telling me that since I
'sneaked' in an upgrade from a 200/2031 to a 620 that my monthly support
line contract would be retroactively increased from the date of the upgrade
from $116/Mo to $463/Mo.  Included was a bill for $3,993 or such for the
back charges.  I was incredulous that such a price would be demanded for a
service which is used almost exclusively for problem reporting (and seldom
at that).  I grudgingly paid.  A week ago a young man called me telling me
that my support line contract was about to expire and I needed to renew it.
He started talking the $463/mo fee and I complained, whereupon he 'ran it
through his configurator' or whatever and exclaimed that it would only be
$116/mo.  I quickly signed and faxed back the contracts and resolved to
tackle IBM billing to try to get my nearly four thousand back.  Still in
progress...

    Has anyone had similar experiences?  What is the story?  At nearly
$500/mo I was nearly ready to do without bug reporting.  Which one is right?
Will I soon get hit with another retroactive bill?  I am trying to get hold
of IBM to discuss the four grand, but have as yet gotten only voice mail.

Puzzled
Rick
----- Original Message -----
From: <eric.delong@pmsi-services.com>
To: <midrange-l@midrange.com>
Sent: Wednesday, March 08, 2000 7:38 AM
Subject: Suftware Subscription strikes again.


>
>      I just had a rather frightening conversatioon with the VP of IS. It
>      seems IBM wants to charge us $70,000 or so to maintain our licensed
>      programs on our three as400s. He says he'd be interested in finding
>      alternatives to the as400s and is ready to sever all ties with IBM
>      over this issue. Kinda gives me cold chills........
>
>      As I understand it, we purchased one year of SS when we upgraded to
>      the 640 and 170 last year. It seems as though this years charge for
>      maintenance has more than tripled, though it's hard to know for sure
>      as he was raving mad when he told me this. Assuming that this is the
>      case, how does IBM expect anyone to remain loyal, let alone satisfied
>      with the cost effectiveness of the AS400. Am I missing something, or
>      is IBM intentionally trying to drive loyal customers away kicking and
>      screaming.
>
>      I'm very concerned about this as my job here entirely depends on the
>      as400. Is there any relief on the SS pricing? What (if anything) can
I
>      tell my boss to keep him from looking into a platform shift? Are the
>      charges he told me about correct, or could he have misunderstood the
>      account rep? YIKES!
>
>      I'm not too familiar with this aspect of the AS400, as I'm
technically
>      inclined, not administrative. Any comments or suffestions would be
>      very helpful.
>
>      TIA
>      eric.delong@pmsi-services.com
>
>
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