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Thread: Faxed Signups

  1. #1
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    May 2001
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    Faxed Signups

    Do you think I'd get any customers if I required customers to fax a signed order before opening their account?

  2. #2
    Hi,

    You may lose a few impulse buyers by having them do more work to order. I know quite a few dedicated server companies who actually implement the need to fax in an order form to be able to use their services. They did it mainly to protect themselves from chargebacks and for merchant account purposes. If any disputes occurred, they would actually have a real signature on file proving the person did sign for service.

    I assume that's what you are looking to do? Have their signature on file proving that the user did indeed sign up for service?

  3. #3
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    Yes, you assumed correctly. Thanks for your opinion.

  4. #4
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    Sure, there are many online ventures that require faxed forms etc.. PaySystems and the like. Efax. Several hosts I've used over the years also.

    Generally it's with services you're pre-paying for like 12 months etc..,. In fact, I think for those types of services it should be a must. If a customer does a chargeback after 3 months saying they never ordered that service, there's not much you can do. But with a signature on a piece of paper, you've at least got proof that they did order etc..,.

    I think it also depends on your business model. If you're a budget provider, it may put some off. If you're a premium provider and possibly targeting the business market, it shouldn't matter (imho).

    --Josh
    Josh Powell.
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  5. #5
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    On second thought, having a signature that the customer actually did receive the service might not even prevent chargebacks. The customer could still claim they didn't receive the "quality" of service that they paid for, i.e., claiming the server was down alot, or that support didn't respond, etc., etc.

  6. #6
    Very true, it wouldn't stop chargebacks completely, but you would have more of a case than if you didn't have anything on file at all. Anyone can always claim that you didn't provide the service, but if you have emails saved, support tickets saved, or any transactions you had with the customer saved on top of the signature then you can dispute it with a slight chance. That's providing the emails, tickets etc show you did your best to work with the customer and provided all as promised.

  7. #7
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    Most orders we process without any kind of signed authorisation, however on "suspect" orders we always ask for a completed authorisation form and a copy of both sides of the card used to pay for the services.

    As stated above, this wont stop all chargebacks but it will help back up our case. We have not yet had to use these before so dont really know how effective it is.

  8. #8
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    Good point about fax machines. I don't even have one myself. I use a friend's.

  9. #9
    We actually required faxed signatures for our Dedicate Server Customers. I may seem like a bit too much at the time, and I am sure we lose some impulse buyers, but at the same time it has stopped sveral fraudulent orders from coming through our system. We get at least 4 or 5 each week, that were fraudulent.

    We actually had one guy copy someone's signature and then fax it to us one time.

    Fraud is on the rise on the net, and it is a good idea to protect yourself in anyway you can.
    Alvin Slocombe
    E-Insites - "Web services, simplified."

  10. #10
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    Originally posted by chrisb
    Good point about fax machines. I don't even have one myself. I use a friend's.
    You can get your own FAX number free of charge from http://www.j2.com/index.asp

    They email you the fax in tif ot jpg format...

  11. #11
    I know *****.com makes customers fax in a signed document and I am pretty sure they are a huge company.

    Regarding chargebacks, this is the most frustrating thing I have ever dealt with. Unbeknownst to me until a few months ago, American Express does not even call or email me when a customer asks for a chargeback against me. They just do it and then I get charged $15 on top of the money taken away from me. Soooooo annoying. Each time it has happened, the customer actually forgot about the purchase and just did not recognize my company name so they went ahead and asked for a chargeback.
    http://www.schooldebts.com -- Consolidate Student Loan Debt

  12. #12
    Whoooops, I've only been around here for 41 posts and I did not know they were banned from the forum. Anywho, it is a large hosting company in Texas that claims to have 175,000 customers worldwide.
    http://www.schooldebts.com -- Consolidate Student Loan Debt

  13. #13
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    faxed orders are most propbabaly for biger dedicated server deals . regular shared accounts shouldn't be sold by going through so much trouble for the end user / customer since the amount of money involved is less .
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  14. #14
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    Originally posted by VIPsNet


    You can get your own FAX number free of charge from http://www.j2.com/index.asp

    They email you the fax in tif ot jpg format...
    thanx for this info ..
    http://www.featuredhost.com | mailto: sales@featuredhost.com | ASP.NET-MS SQL-Cold Fusion hosting| Cheap domain registration | MSN : sales@featuredhost.com |

  15. #15
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    Is it unreasonable to require a faxed copy of a drivers license\bank account\or other form of id if they prefer to pay by check\money order?
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  16. #16
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    I’m currently considering asking future/current customers of mine to fax me their driver’s license or any other Photo ID to request SSH access. But I’m not sure how well this is going to go down with them

  17. #17
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    Originally posted by neufusion
    Is it unreasonable to require a faxed copy of a drivers license\bank account\or other form of id if they prefer to pay by check\money order?
    In that case, it is unreasonable. Just wait for the check or money order to clear your bank. It's a double-edge sword, we also have to consider that identity theft is on the rise, and people are more reluctant than ever to share their personal info.

    Thanks for the fax link. There are a few of those around; but wouldn't you still have to print it out to sign it, and then scan the signed version. What if the person didn't have a scanner?

  18. #18
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    Originally posted by chrisb


    In that case, it is unreasonable. Just wait for the check or money order to clear your bank. It's a double-edge sword, we also have to consider that identity theft is on the rise, and people are more reluctant than ever to share their personal info.
    The problem is, the services I offer are 'on-the-fly' based (tech support basically). If someones server goes down and they sign w/ me to help fix it, they can't afford to wait for a check to clear. So to me its basically: trust the person or don't take checks. But thats another question, who really pays w/ checks for online service these days?
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