Should I Provide Free Support for Sometime

Question

I completed one of my Android App Recently, I provide him with Free Support of 1 Month after going live on play store, and then I will charge him after the free period. Is it the good practice. Should I provid that free support or Should I extend the time of support, I would Like to Know from the experiance developers on here how they manage the support phase of the app development after going live on google play store.

Answer 1

No you should not. Support should be a package they pay for, under your terms.

You build an app. It is tested by the end user, signed off and paid for, and only then does it go live.

If bugs become apparent after they have signed it off they need to have purchased a support package of some sort from you. You cannot be retro fixing your app and implementing version changes every five minutes for free. If they find a bug after go live, then that is their fault for not testing it properly before sign off.

It adds clarity. Post launch support is a paid for service - end of story. Then, you are not getting into arguments about 'that is a change, not a bug'.

Once something goes live, often new ideas, or things you told them and they ignored become apparent to the customer, and they want it, in fact it becomes critical - "But without it our system is useless to us so it is a bug in that it does not do what we need it to do".

Believe me when I say that your best intentions for 'bug fixing' post launch will just open a bucket of problems for you, an unhappy customer, and tears all round.

Answer 2

I always recommend against free anything. You can't pay bills with exposure. Charge for your services accordingly. Otherwise you may be underselling yourself, devaluing your skills and your profession, and undercutting colleagues. Very best of luck to you!

Answer 3

Offering support is a worse case scenario approach.

Proposal

1) I will do the job for $x.xx amount and once it is signed off the contract ends.

2) I will do the job for $x,xxx,xxx.xx amount and once it is signed off I will provide a set time of support. The extremely large dollar amount encompases the fact that you define support as "how do I change the color from cobalt blue to navy blue." They define support as "redesign the whole thing." IF they say the support package seems to high. Offer to lower it by limiting it to 5 minutes of consultation, 1 hour of consultation, or whatever is the worse case scenario for the amount of money you are getting.

I have found I do not mind If I have already been paid for work I still have to do. I do mind being expected to do work I was not paid for, and does not fall within the original agreement.

Answer 4

I agree that the word 'Free' is problematic. I would work task by task after the initial project is completed. Clearly define the tasks and their worth and have the client decide if it's worth continuing.

Answer 5

I prefer to offer a free support for my client for some time because it adds some credit to my profile and helps to build good and long relation with him.

But if they want to add extra function for software/app. In this case, I will charge him.

Answer 6

I think a month of support is good. After the initial playing around with the app clients tend to change "support" into change requests. If another real support/bug request does come through, and you feel strongly that it should have been part of the original app I would suggest you fix it, and let the client know you won't bill them for that. They will appreciate it and not mind paying in future because they know you have a moral sense when it comes to billing.