So I opened my Sage this lovely Sunday morning to quickly check if the duplicate invoice issue Sage is "working on" has been resolved so I can finish other tasks that need doing - only to be faced with an "Accounting Registration EXPIRED" screen!
"Oh no!" I thought, how is it possible, I am sure I saw the payment went off the bank and off I go to log into the bank to check - lo and behold there it is - duly taken by Sage on the 4th of July - no send backs, same amount as per the recurring payment notice I received from Sage on the 1st of July. ( I prefer a monthly subscription at this stage - (I am sure most will understand why)
So I follow the screen for payment as I did in the past and what do I find, Sage has upped their prices - well that is fine, prices increase but ...... I only owe another R83!!!! - 6% of my subscription - clearly the increase, of which I HAVE NO KNOWLEDGE!
What??? They block my access for R83??? I am currently having multiple issues that need fixing, their servers crash every month, their email addresses have never been "clean" again after they were hacked some years back, this month clients received incorrect statements after phantom duplicate invoices appeared on some of their statements. And my service gets blocked without so much as a NOTICE!?
It is not so easy as to just go and make the payment - ON A SUNDAY - because it it a company credit card, so I have to contact the director to give me all the details and approve the transaction. So what would have been maybe 10 mins of my time on a Sunday morning so I can start my week with a little more clarity is turning into yet another example of Sage's absolute lack of service!
What could / should they have done - perhaps do in future...
1) inform clients when price increase is due
2) DO NOT send the recurring payment notice on the OLD amount - do a little effort and send it on the CORRECT amount - now I must go through several steps to make a payment for R83 - PLUS an additional bank charge (I should be compensated BY SAGE) and a waste of time to get this sorted
3) DO NOT give me feedback that it is a system setting - then change it. If I can tick a box to filter clients by amounts owed ON YOUR SYSTEM, then surely you can figure a way to do the same and NOT BLOCK clients who technically have paid the AMOUNT YOU SAID WAS DUE 1st via your email notice AND THEN YOUR DEBIT ORDER. You can send them an email informing of increased amount or to please follow the system steps to adjust the DEBIT ORDER for future payments.
I say again - ALL THIS could be avoided if you care enough to think, but no - SAGE will take their pound of flesh and more while providing the bare minimum of service!
