Dan, in my last role as VP Operations of a dotcom, I used to joke that "if it weren't for these **** customers, we could get something done." But gosh, I never said that to them!

I realize you don't know me and don't give a rat's ... what I think, but since this is a free venue, I'm gonna talk anyway

FewMiles touched on the right way to look at this "free service". Because of the high volume of users, and the quality of information they provide, FT is really akin to your cost of goods sold for the other revenue generating divisions. Precisely because of the traffic and content we provide, your other operations have both more credibility and muscle.

If you resent the fact that you have to maintain a free service, then change that. But FT set the bar. FT provided the service, FT made the decision to make it free, FT made the decision to suggest that performance was going to be better. So FT can hardly get defensive because the users it asked to come are complaining about performance.

There are a lot of us here with experience in web-based ventures, databases, middleware, hardware, etc. We are curious because we will understand what you tell us. And when we get answers like "it's not working like we thought it would", it's in our professional nature to ask more questions.

So I'm sorry if you had a bad day or week. But don't look at us as less than valued customers because we follow FT's established policies. You want we should send you a check??

edited to correct typo..

[This message has been edited by svpii (edited 12-06-2001).]