Reseller says printer firm's policy does not tally
A war of words has erupted between a Somerset reseller and Tally over the printer vendor's attempts to sell to the dealer's customers.
A war of words has erupted between a Somerset reseller and Tally over the printer vendor's attempts to sell to the dealer's customers.
Orchard Computer Services branded Tally as "duplicitous" and "underhand" after discovering the vendor had approached its customers and offered to renew their maintenance contracts, the reseller's main source of revenue.
Ian Terry, Orchard managing director, said all his Tally customers had received letters, including a price list, offering to renew their service contracts. Terry said the letters were mistakenly sent out because of a millennium bug-related bug, and that the vendor had obtained the customer information during site maintenance visits.
Terry was deeply unhappy about Tally's actions. "Firstly, they approached my customers without my knowledge," he said. "Secondly, I don't know what the benefits are of being a Tally reseller is if they sell services direct."
He claimed the issue will have a financial impact on his business. "I'm now restricted in what I can charge for maintenance because my customers have seen Tally's prices. Even though I offer a better service, I won't be able to charge for it," Terry said.
Robin Edwardes, Tally managing director, confirmed the letters were sent out in error. But he insisted that Tally's resellers were aware it sold its services directly.
He claimed he was"very surprised" by Orchard's complaint, the first one in his four years at Tally. "We do work with resellers, but in some cases we promote our own services," Edwardes said.
- Services become a battleground
- The battle to win services business has become increasingly desperate over the past couple of years, as vendors and resellers scramble to improve falling margins, say analysts. Services were once the preserve of VARs, systems integrators and the big consultancies, but now the entry of vendors and distributors has led to channel conflicts. IBM solved this by claiming larger service contracts and leaving smaller service contracts to its partners. But analysts argue that even guidelines like this do not avoid problems, as the dispute between Tally and Orchard shows.