Allan Meiusi, Vice President and COO of TruckStop.net did get back to me regarding my rant/rave (Nov. 2nd) over my attempt in October to use TruckStop.net's wireless service (see below).
First off: Allan, thank you for responding. I appreciate that.
Second, his message was informative. I may take minor issue with a few of his points, but over all, his attempt at setting the record straight as best he could is to be commended.
To date, I've yet to try TruckStop.net. I will make it a point to do so. Check back from time-to-time for my experience using TruckStop.net.
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To: chris@GoNowMail.com
From: Allan Meiusi
Date: 11/14/2004
Subject: Re: Article in iTrucker.net (Please pass on to Scott and Allen)
Hi Chris,
Thanks for the comments. Of course we're always appreciative of everyone's input and as with any effort there will be times that things run smoothly and others unfortunately there are times things slip. We care very much for the trucking market and positioned our service specifically for professional drivers. Our pricing reflects the realities and the cost of our infrastructure. First, we are at over 500 locations. Secondly, each location is back by a full TO-1 high-speed internet circuit; not a satellite system nor a frame relay. Thirdly, we use carrier grade equipment at each stop. That infrastructure is more expensive, but its been put in place in order to support future services like video-on-demand and Voice-Over-IP as well as other trucking applications. High-speed services are priced in many variations, in homes you'll see services anywhere from $25/month all the way up to $44 and beyond. In cafes, hotels, airports and so on, prices for wi-fi are more expensive then ours. We have thousands of subscribers who take advantage of the monthly or bundled discounts (i.e. quarterly or annual) and get the savings through those purchasing options.
As for the missed calls and the delay in getting your card to you, I'm sorry that happened. Perhaps there was a miscommunication with regard to your phone numbers. Give me your User ID and I'll make sure you get your card. We have many people that contact us regularly and appreciate that we get back to them promptly, if there was a problem getting back to you specifically; my apologies...that is not a regular occurrence.
On payment options we can take credit cards or pre-paid plans. We're working with T-Chek and Comdata to honour even more options however those do take time. Yes, we are pioneers in the industry and sometimes certain programs take longer to develop and we try our best to satisfy as much of the potential audience as possible. It hasn't got anything to do with our cash structure, it has to with coordinating the participation of partners and other industry service providers so that at the end of the day the industry can be serviced as best it can. However, we don't always have the choice of getting others to work on our schedule and, as such, we have to wait until they complete the integration that they need to get the services to mesh. I don't know what partner you may have, but they they are free to contact me at any time. Anything that is beneficial to the community of professional drivers that we can help pass on as a benefit, we're always open to those opportunities.
Again, sorry to hear that your experience wasn't the most pleasant, but I think you've acknowledged that we are the pioneer in the industry and we are available at a lot of places that benefit the industry.
Your truly,
Allan Meiusi
Truckstop.net
PS. As one of the co-founders, and a Canadian, I'm proud to say that we have representation in Canada and the United States at this time. We don't consider ourselves outsourcing since the folks that install, maintain and do most of the sales oriented work are based in the US. We actually provide much more work in the US, than in Canada. The Canadian and US economies are extensively tied together, and both countries have been trading partners for hundreds of years. Recognizing that so much of the freight that moves in North America crosses the border everyday (7,000 truck crossings in Detroit/Windsor each day alone), we wanted to make sure our network reflected both countries and eventually we will have more hotpots in Canada.
6:46:54 PM
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