Today is April 1st, but I'm being totally serious. No, really.
ScribeCount began billing for its service today - and, as expected, we had a few glitches. I'm happy to report that they were small in number and we solved them quickly.
But there were a few questions to go with them, so I thought I would write a quick post and hopefully clarify them.
How Does Our Tiered Pricing Work?
We have a tiered pricing structure at ScribeCount, which is based on a 2-month delay. In other words the charge you received today (April 1st) was based on your income in February. This allows us to be certain that refunds and other fluctuations haven't dropped you down a tier!
This confusion is on us. Philippa and I have been throwing out the phrase "last month's earnings" when speaking of this and we were wrong.
The tiers go both ways. If you started out free for a few months, then climbed into tier three for a couple, and then dropped back down to tier one, your billing will match your income in both directions. You do not climb up and stay there.
We did not feel it was fair to charge more forever just because you had one good month. While we'd certainly like you to climb to the highest tier and stay there (and it is our earnest hope that ScribeCount will help you get there!), we're not going to lock you in just because you made it there once.
Why Do We Need Billing Information If You're In the Free Tier?
When you signed up for the free trial we asked for enough information to create your account. Now that we’ve entered the period where we have started billing we require banking information to make the automated billing process work.
One note: this payment information is not on ScribeCount’s servers. The only thing we see is your account ID, the date you subscribed, your tier, and your next billing date. That's it. All of your banking information is at Stripe or PayPal.
Should you remain in the free tier you will not be charged, but we need to have the information on file at the processor for the day that you do move up the ladder.
Speaking of which...
Billing Receipts
Everyone receives a billing receipt, including those in the free tier! This receipt will come from either whichever payment servicing option you use, so that the company maintains its paper trail. A receipt for $0 is nothing more than the computer's way of telling you that you still have an active subscription and that you are not being charged for that billing period.
ScribeCount has no control over those messages, but we are glad that you'll have a paper trail of your own! If you ever have questions, problems, or concerns with your payment option, we are happy to help you resolve them, working with both you and the payment company.
If you have ANY questions regarding billing, the tier structure, or the way we process payments through Strip or Paypal, please let us know via the support tab and we’ll do our best to answer them.
Sorry for any confusion,
Randall
