Paying for tracking. Thoughts? Poll

[emersonsdad]

So people figured out that I can track our cars on BNSF and now I’m getting more and more requests to track their cars. Not a big deal when it was just a few that were in my build week but the word is out now. It is a pain in the ass to do it on my phone on a small screen and I also hit my throttling limit for cell service this month so I had an idea that might solve both issues. My thought is to hook the LTE service back up to my old iPad and seek a small donation for a few updates via Venmo to track their cars. And hopefully it would be enough to cover the monthly charge for service on the iPad. I’m guessing the requests will keep coming as Ford ramps up production. I don’t like the idea of asking for a donation but it is a little of an inconvenience and I would of donated a couple of dollars to find out mine. Let me know your thoughts. If everyone thinks it’s a bad idea, no biggie, I’ll still do it here and there but probably only when I’m on WIFi and when it’s convenient for me to do it. I usually do it while I’m at work with a lot of downtime sitting on a train in the middle of the desert.

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[Kamuelaflyer]

No. Just tell them no. You’ll end up with no free time otherwise.

“Here’s $100, update me 100 times over the next 3 days. I need to know where my car is in near real time!”

 

[emersonsdad]

No. Just tell them no. You’ll end up with no free time otherwise.

“Here’s $100, update me 100 times over the next 3 days. I need to know where my car is innear real time!”

Yeah. That’s why I do it at work currently. I can sit on a train with nothing to do for hrs. I don’t really do it at home where I’d be on wifi. Also I think limiting it to just 4 updates is fair.

 

[NJ_MachE]

I don't really have an opinion on the poll, but think it's strange that BNSF is the only one of the major railroads where railcar tracking via phone is not available at all. At the same time, some people in this forum have reported success calling one of the other railroads to track a BNSF railcar, while others don't. Seems weird that I can call Norfolk Southern to track a BNSF railcar (at least sometimes) but not BNSF itself. Norfolk Southern doesn't even cover the same territory as BNSF.

 

[emersonsdad]

I don't really have an opinion on the poll, but think it's strange that BNSF is the only one of the major railroads where railcar tracking via phone is not available at all. At the same time, some people in this forum have reported success calling one of the other railroads to track a BNSF railcar, while others don't. Seems weird that I can call Norfolk Southern to track a BNSF railcar (at least sometimes) but not BNSF itself. Norfolk Southern doesn't even cover the same territory as BNSF.

All I can think of is maybe they actually own the railcar.

 

[Pioneer74]

So people figured out that I can track our cars on BNSF and now I’m getting more and more requests to track their cars. Not a big deal when it was just a few that were in my build week but the word is out now. It is a pain in the ass to do it on my phone on a small screen and I also hit my throttling limit for cell service this month so I had an idea that might solve both issues. My thought is to hook the LTE service back up to my old iPad and charge $1 for 4 updates via Venmo to track their cars. And hopefully it would be enough to cover the monthly charge for service on the iPad. I’m guessing the requests will keep coming as Ford ramps up production. I don’t like the idea of charging but it is a little of an inconvenience and I would of paid a dollar to find out. Let me know your thoughts. If everyone thinks it’s a bad idea, no biggie, I’ll still do it here and there but probably only when I’m on WIFi and when it’s convenient for me to do it. I usually do it while I’m at work with a lot of downtime sitting on a train in the middle of the desert.

If the computer system you are using for tracking is owned by somebody else, and you start selling access to it, you may be opening yourself up to civil penalties if the owner of the system finds out and objects.

 

[Stanman]

Just give me your Venmo Id. I'll transfer money to you now! Whether you look up my tracking information or not. You should be compensated for your time and generosity. Thanks for the help.

 

[Avelli]

As a benefactor of your efforts, I appreciate the work you do.

Perhaps an unrelated "donate to my wheel fund" link (or whatnot) in your sig? I'm not sure if this site will allow that, but I'd be down for helping you out.

 

[generaltso]

I don't know. I spend an awful lot of time looking up details in FDRS for people, but I wouldn't feel right charging money for it. When I get tired of doing it, I'll just stop.

 

[emersonsdad]

I don't know. I spend an awful lot of time looking up details in FDRS for people, but I wouldn't feel right charging money for it. When I get tired of doing it, I'll just stop.

I would def pay you because I know it’s a lot for FDRS. But I’m sure you bought it regardless for personal use. I really have no use for turning on the LTE iPad other than it passes the time on the train by tracking peoples orders. I’ve watched everything on Netflix already! Idk. I’ll just go by whatever the poll says.

 

[RyZt]

I voted "yes" because I think you should be compensated for your service.

However, my actual thought is "no, you should charge more". Charging $1 just isn't worth it. People's attitude toward you would change if they paid you. Many people won't understand that the amount they pay you is so small that it just barely covers your extra cost. Today, people feel grateful for your act of kindness. Once you start charging, people will believe that you're just doing what they paid you for. Whether people intend it or not, they'll treat you differently: e.g. they may complain that you're too slow, or their language might be more rude.

Therefore, I recommend that you either keep it free, or charge at least 10X what you proposed ($10 for 4 updates, or more).

You're helping people track their $50K purchase. $10 is just pocket change.

 

[Quethas]

I agree. And this will also keep the number of requests down to something more reasonable.

 

[mdpmdp]

I voted "yes" because I think you should be compensated for your service.

However, my actual thought is "no, you should charge more". Charging $1 just isn't worth it. People's attitude toward you would change if they paid you. Many people won't understand that the amount they pay you is so small that it just barely covers your extra cost. Today, people feel grateful for your act of kindness. Once you start charging, people will believe that you're just doing what they paid you for. Whether people intend it or not, they'll treat you differently: e.g. they may complain that you're too slow, or their language might be more rude.

Therefore, I recommend that you either keep it free, or charge at least 10X what you proposed ($10 for 4 updates, or more).

You're helping people track their $50K purchase. $10 is just pocket change.

Pretty much agree with this, and also wanted to add that most updates are uneventful. There's so much information on these forums about timelines that it's fairly easy to determine (approximately) when your car should hit its destination milestones, give or take a few days. Outside of extreme cases, I feel like tracking to that level is not that productive. OP generously offered to track me in the original thread in the very beginning - I didn't (and still don't) have a railcar on BNSF but I mentioned at the time that I wouldn't bother taking up his time to track it because I knew it would take ~1-2 weeks to arrive from that point and I'd just wait it out. I recall seeing one other fringe case where the railcar was showing that it was backtracking from Minnesota to Wisconsin on the way to Washington (state) or something, other than that all the other updates have followed what the established timelines are.

 

[theok029]

So people figured out that I can track our cars on BNSF and now I’m getting more and more requests to track their cars. Not a big deal when it was just a few that were in my build week but the word is out now. It is a pain in the ass to do it on my phone on a small screen and I also hit my throttling limit for cell service this month so I had an idea that might solve both issues. My thought is to hook the LTE service back up to my old iPad and charge $1 for 4 updates via Venmo to track their cars. And hopefully it would be enough to cover the monthly charge for service on the iPad. I’m guessing the requests will keep coming as Ford ramps up production. I don’t like the idea of charging but it is a little of an inconvenience and I would of paid a dollar to find out. Let me know your thoughts. If everyone thinks it’s a bad idea, no biggie, I’ll still do it here and there but probably only when I’m on WIFi and when it’s convenient for me to do it. I usually do it while I’m at work with a lot of downtime sitting on a train in the middle of the desert.

I’d still send you a tip if you allowed for it!

 

[emersonsdad]

If the computer system you are using for tracking is owned by somebody else, and you start selling access to it, you may be opening yourself up to civil penalties if the owner of the system finds out and objects.

I agree with this!

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