Cancellation Fees and OnForce Policies
Recently one of our Clients was refusing to pay Client cancellation fees to service providers. According to our “policies”:https://www.onforce.com/view/useragreement/:
As a Client, you are obligated to complete the transaction with the Service Provider if you:
…
3. In the event that a Work Order is cancelled after acceptance, but prior to a technician taking any action, the Work Order is subject to a cancellation fee if the Client cancellation occurs less than 24 hours prior to the end of the response timeframe or a set appointment time.
A number of providers were understandably upset with this Client for not following these policies, and with OnForce for seemingly not enforcing them. So they posted about it in our “Forums”:http://forums.onforce.com. Until we read about it there we didn’t know about the issue. Thankfully, our Providers brought it to everyone’s attention and felt comfortable enough to discuss it.
We have policies for a number of reasons, but one of the most important ones is to ensure that providers using the OnForce platform can feel confident in their expectations for the work orders they receive. In addition to accelerating the response rate to Work Orders, it cuts down on miscommunication and establishes a base level of service that can be expected both by Providers and Clients.
In this case, the Client was not abiding by our policies. At least some of the blame belongs with us, for not properly enforcing them with this Client from the start. We have addressed this issue with this Client, requiring them to follow our policies (i.e. pay Client cancellation fees) for all past and future Work Orders that are sent out through our general marketplace. We will be moving this Client to a Preferred Provider Network where they will be able to have Providers agree in advance with their policy not to pay client cancellation fees.
We want to highlight this situation and its resolution because we feel our Providers handled things well. The community found an issue and highlighted it so that we could address it, and they felt safe enough to talk about it publicly. Their discussions drove much of our thinking about how to resolve the matter. So if you are a Provider, log into our “Forums”:http://forums.onforce.com and participate. Its the best way to have a voice in how our marketplace operates. And if you are a Client, your participation and voice is equally important.
When lines of communication are open and public discussion takes place, problems are solved to everyone’s benefit.
January 10th, 2006 at 1:03 am
Bravo OnForce! I’m really happy to see you are enforcing this policy for everyone. I think the PPN solution is the correct way to handle this. Thanks for listening.
January 10th, 2006 at 11:32 am
Thank you for taking the time to listen and respond to those techs that have spoke on this subject.
January 10th, 2006 at 11:39 am
Thanks OnForce. Please remember without us (the providers) you have nothing but a nice web site. We are the final cog in the machine that completes the cycle. Clients can post all of the jobs in the world but without qualified techs to complete those NO-ONE wins!
January 16th, 2006 at 12:06 am
Once again Jeff and the people at OnForce have shown their dedication to their providers, and their willingness to back us(the providers) up
February 2nd, 2006 at 11:27 am
I read the blog entry but still am not sure of the resoultion. From the work orders I receive I assume the resoultion was the client has to put “We do not pay any cancellation fees” on the part of the work order we actually see before accepting. I also notice the minimum work order is now at $15.75 as a “no cancellation fee” client also states they pay a half hour minimum based on $35/hr. I won’t accept a work order where an EU no show will not be reimbursed, but am curious if what I still see in work orders is actually by the book ?
February 2nd, 2006 at 4:10 pm
Mike,
For any Work Order that gets routed through our general marketplace, our policy is that cancellation fees will be paid. If you are receiving Work Orders that state “We do not pay any cancellation fees”, please contact customer service, and they will help you.
Also, all Work Orders should pay a minimum of $30. If you receive a Work Order that is $35/hour, but might pay you only $17.50 since it only takes 30 minutes to complete, please contact customer service and they will help you.
February 2nd, 2006 at 5:22 pm
Thanks Dana, I see them a few times a week I’ll forward the next one to CS. The client used to state a 1/2 hour minimum, then switched it to 1 hour and then about a month ago switched back to 1/2 hour with the “We do not pay any cancellation fees”, that is the wording too.
I don’t really care about what a client’s cancellation policy or minimum fee is, just as long as it appears on the part of the work order I see before accepting, not hidden in the extra pages of terms and conditions you see after accepting.
Thanks Again.
February 9th, 2006 at 4:16 am
I know this is not the forum, but if MR looked a little closer, the Eu bill may only be for the halfhour but the tech is still putting (billing) in for and getting the 1Hr minimum. allways worked that way for me with that client anyways.
May 15th, 2006 at 6:55 pm
No David nowhere does it state the tech bills a one hour minimum and they still send WO’s that state “all jobs pay a 1/2 hour minimum” and “no cancellation fees”, I see dozens of these a week and wish I could stop them from routing to me.