HONOLULU - The customer service department of Grooby Productions, a producer of transsexual erotica, recently received an email about a customer who was unable to access Shemale Yum.
When the customer service department could not find a reason for the error, they contacted CCBill for technical support. It was discovered that the customer had re-billed 99 times, the default limit put into the CCBill software when it was created.
"I was totally surprised not only to discover that CCBill had a limit in place, but that we were the first to arrive at the boundary," Grooby Productions owner Steven Gallon told AVN Online. "Upon contacting Doug at CCBill, he informed us that we were the first website to have ever reached that limit. We then went back into the management interface and found over 20 more people reaching the limit this month and at least that much the following month on both our longest running sites, Shemale Yum and Ladyboy-Ladyboy.
"I was totally surprised to find out and that we were the first ones. We have great retention, but we never expected the numbers to be that great.
CBill adjusted its software to allow these customers to continue being re-billed without service interruption. Some of the sales were from affiliates who have been receiving referral fees from the original sale for more than eight years.
Gallon said the re-billing validates what he has said about quality websites that offer good value and customer service.
"When a customer is given a website that caters to what they need, they have no interest in looking elsewhere," he said. "We supply good-quality, original and unique content, as well as a virtual community that would be difficult for customers to find in the real world. Our customers have an invested interest in the website and its growth, which is why they remain members for so long."
Grooby Productions has worked with CCBill since 1999.
"Some of the members go back to the start of Shemale Yum in 1997 and switched billing companies with us in 1999," Gallon said. "It just goes to show that niche-related websites that target very specific categories might not get the numbers of some of the bigger players, but we experience a greater proclivity of customer loyalty."
Gallon said Grooby Productions sent merchandise, DVDs and a free year on a Grooby Productions website to the member who alerted the company of the problem.
