Search the CONFOCAL archive at
http://listserv.acsu.buffalo.edu/cgi-bin/wa?S1=confocal

Well, this is very interesting, because routinely mobile phone contracts are
"pay in advance".  Some contracts require you to pay it out in full anyway
if you quit within a given period - and not just the ones that "give" you a
phone.  And even for the landlines here, it's always pay one month in
advance, and it's certainly before the service has been rendered.  Maybe
these types of contracts don't exist in the US?  And what about the service
contracts we have on our instruments?  That's pay in advance.

Bit off-track, perhaps, but I'm just having a similar wrangle here - I need
the users to think ahead about their microscope time, and figure the only
way to force the issue is to oblige them to budget properly and pay in
advance.

If only we could change human nature!!!

cheers,
Rosemary

Dr Rosemary White               [log in to unmask]
CSIRO Plant Industry            ph.     02-6246 5475
GPO Box 1600                        fax.     02-6246 5334
Canberra, ACT 2601 
Australia



> From: Tina Carvalho <[log in to unmask]>
> Reply-To: Confocal Microscopy List <[log in to unmask]>
> Date: Fri, 1 Jun 2007 09:31:23 -1000
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: core facility user charges
> 
> Search the CONFOCAL archive at
> http://listserv.acsu.buffalo.edu/cgi-bin/wa?S1=confocal
> 
> We used to have a pre-pay system. Federal auditors came in and praised our
> record-keeping, noted all the adavantages mentioned below, said it was a
> great idea, and then said it was completely illegal because paying for
> services before they are rendered is fraud. Insinuated jail time if we did
> not agree. So we're back to hourly charges, monthly billings, tons of
> paperwork, no way to help clients encumber funds for upcoming work, and
> we're always behind on our pay-in-advance service contracts on our
> electron microscopes. Be careful what you set up!
> 
> Aloha,
> Tina
> 
>> Instead of "annual" charges I think of trying a Pre-Pay system: Groups
>> buy large chunks of usage hours in advance at discounted rates, hours are
>> then taken off their credit.
>>   Advantages: reduced paper work with billing, clear hourly records for
>> facility management and funding bodies, cheaper rates for users - and
>> prepaid money in our account. And it's only one calculation system for
>> all charges (hourly & prepaid), so easier to handle.
> 
> ****************************************************************************
> * Tina (Weatherby) Carvalho               * [log in to unmask]           *
> * Biological Electron Microscope Facility * (808) 956-6251                 *
> * University of Hawaii at Manoa           * http://www.pbrc.hawaii.edu/bemf*
> ****************************************************************************
>