Tetra takes hard line with dealers

The vendor says it is encouraging dealers to remain loyal, not usinga big stick to force obedience

Tetra has denied that it is blocking dealers' efforts to sign contracts with rival firms.

The accountancy software vendor is understood to have issued several warnings, threatening to strip dealers of their customer base if they go ahead with deals with other vendors.

The reports come as the vendor is encouraging partners to be loyal by increasing discounts by up to five percentage points for those that are focused solely on Tetra.

Dealers are reported to be seeking alternative contracts with Navision, Multisoft and other vendors following Tetra's failure to bring a mid-range client/server product to market.

One Tetra dealer, who did not wish to be named, said: 'I'm very unhappy.

We don't have an upgrade and we're being strung along by promises of mid-range client/server products. In addition, we're being squeezed out of our target market but Tetra has warned us verbally that it is reserving the right to take away all our sites if we take on another product. There are a lot of disgruntled dealers out there.'

Another source confirmed there was dealer unrest.

'A lot of people are speaking to Navision,' he said.

'It all goes back to the maintenance year, when Tetra raised support costs, which started people looking around. It's painful for Tetra, because they want to develop the business but need to count on their revenue stream.'

Ian Knight, sales director at Tetra, denied the allegations.

'How can we lean on dealers?' he said 'We can't force anyone to have single status. People always worry if vendors don't have a product to deliver, but everyone has got issues and we are addressing them.'

Knight said the incentives will also be used to focus dealers on vertical markets to avoid conflict between its Tetra base. He could not say when a mid-range upgrade would be available.