The key to cancelling your Salesforce subscription is to ask your account manager to help you, but this can be quite difficult, according to customers (complaint to the Better Business Bureau in December 2017): “Try calling Salesforce if you want to have a hole in your head,” says Steve Meitzen, president of SCM Consultants, a current Nutshell customer. who have used Salesforce in two previous companies. After leaving a company where he had worked as a sales consultant, Meitzen tried to cancel his Salesforce subscription and was blocked by the CRM giant`s customer team. They kept saying they would charge my credit card when renewing, and I kept trying to tell them I wasn`t there anymore,” Meitzen told Nutshell. They made it very difficult to get them on the phone. The impression I got was, “Salesforce is big and wonderful, and you`re very lucky to use it. In fact, I always get promotional emails from them. It`s like sprinkling salt in a wound. Aside from billing issues, Meitzen struggled to convince other members of his team to learn the product.
“I remember a phone call with a production manager who didn`t know the product, and just signing him up was a test and a tribulation. Salesforce has all the advertising and the cute cartoons, but if you don`t know exactly how they do things, you`ll run into real problems. “Originally, we used salesforce minimally for email marketing automation, and they convinced us to switch to Pardot, their marketing platform. Naively, we signed a three-year agreement on Pardot for a fixed amount of about $12,000 a year. The problem was that we also had to sign additional user contracts. And that`s where they really get you into the whole process because you`re locked in those seats now. Our business is somewhat seasonal, so while we need five or ten extra users during the summer months, we don`t need much in the other months. Let`s say you`ve been in negotiations with Salesforce for weeks or months trying to resolve a disagreement over the terms of the contract.
If you`re in arrears, perhaps because you believe your agreement has been violated in some way, Salesforce can provide notice of termination of your contract – and all of your data. This is stated in Salesforce`s agreement in Section 11.2, “Duration of Purchased Subscriptions”: “I think sales reps only have incentives to engage more users in contracts. That`s all it is from their point of view. While Salesforce remains the most recognizable name in CRM software, its billing practices, one-sided contracts, and minimal user support can make it a poor choice for small businesses. Many Salesforce customers face significant financial hardship and incredible frustration simply because they didn`t know what they were getting into. (We`ll share some real-life horror stories in this article.) That`s why it`s so important to check their user agreements from all angles before committing to the agreement. MSA 5.1: “Fees. The customer pays all the fees indicated in the order forms. Except as otherwise provided herein or in an Order Form, (i) fees are based on subscriptions purchased to the Services and Content and not actual usage, (ii) payment obligations are non-cancellable and fees paid are non-refundable, and (iii) quantities not reduced during the applicable Subscription Term may not be reduced. “THEN, on January 10, 2019, we received an email stating that we were responsible for paying the unpaid bill of $40,000 within 5 DAYS, otherwise our organization would be closed. Knowing full well that if our Salesforce account were down, we would be bankrupt, we are now manipulated to pay the full balance, under the threat of being shut down within 5 days. We negotiated for more than 5 MONTHS without a solution, who could believe that we would arrive at a solution within 5 DAYS???? Essentially: negotiate, negotiate, negotiate.
The good news here is that Salesforce is willing to discuss some of the terms of the contract, at least in advance. But once you`ve signed, you`re at the mercy of Salesforce`s legal team. “Salesforce wasn`t as expensive at the first signing as it was at the last deals we had with them,” said a former Salesforce user who spoke to Nutshell on condition of anonymity. “They were reasonable at first and just raised our prices.” MSA 11.2: “Except as expressly stated in the applicable purchase order, promotional or one-time subscriptions will be renewed at SFDC`s list price in effect at the time of such renewal. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary, any renewal that reduces the subscription volume or subscription term of the Services from the previous term will result in a revaluation at renewal, regardless of the unit prices of the previous term. In other words, if you`re tied to an agreement and find that you need fewer features or users than what was originally sold to you, you`ll have to pay for them anyway. Before you sign in to Salesforce on the dotted line, you should be aware that these integrations may be discontinued at any time in accordance with Section 4.2 of the Salesforce Terms of Service. The “Integration with non-SFDC apps” section states: A Salesforce subscription is usually not cheap. To compensate for this, account managers will most likely offer you a discount if you commit to a contract that includes more years, more seats, and/or more products. The Salesforce agreement officially states that a written period of 30 days is granted, but most of the actual complaints we`ve heard or might find mention 5-7 days instead. In short, if you want to cancel your Salesforce subscription, set reminders, contact them in advance, and get ready for an uphill battle.
We tried to adapt the contract, but they always tried to turn it in their favor. It`s always been like, “Okay, you want to drop two users, we`re willing to do that. But we have to sign a new obligation for another two-year agreement for the four users you keep. “If you`re a new Salesforce customer, make sure you don`t buy too much at first,” says Dan Kelly, president of SF Negotiator, a contract negotiation team that specializes in Salesforce.com. Adoption is always slower than expected when launching a new CRM platform, and it`s all too common for the Salesforce sales team to overweight your contract for the first year, as they only focus on getting as much revenue as possible from your account. “I wanted to try the software and activate an online account. After a few months, I found the software too complex and slow and wanted to cancel the subscription. There is no online option, after all, I contacted the sales department who told me that I had to contact “my” seller to cancel ?!?! No one called back, no follow-up. Today, 4 months, various calls, chats/emails Did I finally receive an email response that my contract would be terminated. It`s not an approach for 2019 or anything you`d expect from a customer-centric business. “Other people report that account managers (AEs) disappear or stop responding once you sign the Salesforce agreement, they report that the AEs are replaced by other AEs claiming that they are not responsible for the original agreement, and so on. MSA 11.2 “Unless otherwise specified in a Purchase Order, Subscriptions will automatically renew for additional periods corresponding to the expiring Subscription Term or one year (whichever is shorter), unless either party gives the other written notice (by acceptable email) at least 30 days prior to the expiration of the applicable Subscription Term.” “Except as expressly stated in the applicable purchase order, promotional or one-time subscriptions will be renewed at the applicable SFDC list price in effect at the time of applicable renewal.” MSA 5.3: “Overdue expenses.
If an invoice amount is not received by SFDC by the due date, (a) such costs may be incurred without limiting SFDC`s rights or remedies to default interest equal to 1.5% of the outstanding balance per month or the maximum rate permitted by law, whichever is lower, and/or (b) SFDC may attach payment terms to future subscription renewals and order forms; that are shorter than those specified in the “Billing and Payment” section above. Have you ever been included in a cable or internet package at a low introductory price just to get a serious shock sticker when renewing your contract? This is an extremely effective way to attract new customers while ensuring the future growth of the business, so it`s no surprise to learn that some Salesforce customers have experienced similar situations. If you don`t pay all the fees you committed to (maybe automatically) on the due date, for example, because you`re waiting to pay the fees while discussing them, you`ll start charging interest fees very quickly. This is done at a rate of 1.5% per month, or about 20% per year. .
