Gordon Murray

We use Springloops to version control our ewrite software. I’ve been using it for a number of months now with excellent results. I can easily get the latest version of our code when Im on the road using my laptop, update some aspect of one of our apps and commit the changes to Springloops which deploys it out to our customers, automatically if needed. Not once have I had any form of tech problem using Springloops, the service has always been rock solid.

I use the ‘Field‘ account which entitles a user to 12GB storage, 100 projects and 20 servers. Far more than I need for our eWrite applications. One thing I did need was more servers to allow me to deply our apps to many clients servers.

I contacted Springloops to ask if I could have more Servers. After asking nicely a couple of times they gave me 50 servers for absolutely nothing!

Recently our account was up for renewal so I began the process of paying for another few months of service. The cost for the Field account is 48 USD + 22% VAT, brining up the cost to 58.56 USD. When paying with Paypal another 22% was applied bringing it up to 71.45 USD. Total cost per month 56 Euro. The first couple of times I paid this and forgot about it but this time I wondered why I was paying 22% VAT twice.

56 Euro each month isn’t going to break the bank, especially for a very reliable service that works very well and I continue to enjoy using but I wanted to know more. I emailed Springloops to enquire about the 22% VAT being applied a second time. They told me to ask Paypal. Paypal told me to ask Springloops. After a short game of email tennis with no answers I considered my options.  I know about alternate SVN options such as Beanstalk and GitHub. I began using each one in the evening for other hobby projects to get a feel for their services. Beanstalk is remarkable similar in its ease of use. GitHub still confuses me but I’ll still play around with it.

After few days I emailed Springloops again asking what were my options. During all of this they deferred my payment which was now overdue for a few days until the matter was resolved. I said more than once that I very much enjoyed using their service and that I did not want to change but this double VAT payment was getting annoying.

Springloops responded and saved the day once again.  They have told me that my next payment will have just 1 VAT payment, the way it should be. Beanstalk SVN and Github are probably great but I’ll be stick with Springloops. Thanks guys!

One a side note, I see a lot of referrals to this blog from Google for terms such as ’svn springloops’ or ‘Using springloops with tortoise SVN’ . To any developer who might read this post from future referrals, I highly recommend you try out Springloops. They have a free account to allow you to get started.

Filed under:
business, development by Gordon Murray