This is a fine idea, HOWEVER, you did not consider that there is a cost increase to the account holder for ink and paper, maintenance on printer, etc. and the control of these costs is not in the hands of the account holder. Any approved sender can set this up with out any communication, approval, configuration or knowledge of the account holder.

I liked this idea and considered setting up a new family Facebook account just to do the once/day delivery from a family pool of photos. This application of the new feature helps to control costs somewhat, and if the account holder sets up this Facebook account, at least we can manage it.

Two critical requirements are not addressed today - 1) Control of this function must be owned by Acct Holder: perhaps an approval flag at minimum; 2) frequency of delivery should be configurable. Once per day, once per week, once biweekly, etc.

By not addressing #1, you put me in the very uncomfortable position of having to discuss this cost situation with a family member who has set this feature up already. This is not cool.

Can you let me know of any plans to address these? And in meantime, any workarounds?

I am dreading this discussion as I do not want to discouarge anyone from staying in touch with Gramma.

Thanks
K

Hi Peter,

Thanks for the reply. I am disappointed. I must not have communicated very clearly, so will try again.

I totally agree with you that it is great to have Gramma hear from the family, of course. I am a Presto evangelist, having shared this wonderful idea with many friends. Gramma really enjoys it.

As I explained, I considered setting up a new Facebook account to provide a family "pool" of photos that we can all post to, that would then send one from the pool per day. This would manage costs of ink (and other maintenance). But I "decided" against this for the time being because I pay for all expenses of this account and am the "on-site" service provider, refilling paper and ink, fixing paper jams, etc. I just renewed for a year at $150, I figured that ink for normal traffic plus once/day added for the family pool idea may cost close to an additional $40/month, based on history. So I decided NOT to do this now. While I am gainfully employed, my expenses spike in the summer in Arizona (it is 115 degrees today), and my income is curtailed by furloughs and other cost containment outside my control. I have to manage my expenses, as we all do.

So, I respectfully disagree. The decision to spend my money should be mine, no one else's. You may "consider" and opt to err in any direction, but the cost of this decision is not born by you, whatsoever, Peter.

I maintain that it is not appropriate for Presto to open this cost exposure to me, especially without my knowledge. As the Presto account manager, I did not even know this was set up. It may not seem like a lot to you, but think about it. If all Gramma's Presto friends decided to opt into this feature, I would not know about it, and I would still be responsible to pay for the ink, paper and make the trip to Gramma's house to take care of the refills and any printer problems. And I still have the unpleasant task of sorting this out with the family and friends. Your message offers only that I can stop them from being Presto friends. This is not a very gracious (people-focused) or graceful (technology-focused) approach, in my opinion.

Two things help me continue to manage this Presto account and provide a "balance" as you describe:
1) approval from the account manager: why not enhance the existing pre-approval of "friends" function to recognize the Facebook interface as an additional "friend" interface. One nice added feature here would be to send an automated email to the acct mgr when someone wants to set this up, then acct mgr can "add" Facebook friend as an attribute of the original friend or as a new friend. At a minimum, the account manager should be notified and have the opportunity to (low tech solution) discuss this option on the phone with the person that wants to set it up, perhaps to agree to send their own ink periodically, etc.

2) In conjunction with #1, it really could eliminate the issue by allowing optional (configurable) frequency of delivery. Once a week or biweekly does not cause much of a spike.

I hope you see my points here. I really am in an uncomfortable position right now with other family members wanting to set up once/day photo delivery, and one having done it already. I'm sorry - there was a better way to introduce this great new feature.

I would also like to offer to beta test any new features you may introduce in the future. I am absolutely a Presto fan and will continue to promote this service. This puts my trust in you and also underscores the responsibility on your side to consider the user experience carefully as you expand the service.

Thanks and Best Regards,
Siberianpeachpie

I'm a little confused. What would you have done if someone (without creating a facebook photo a day), had simply decided to start sending a photograph every single day to your recipient? You have no control of that aspect. This is really no different beyond making it easier for your family and friends to be a little annoying. While I recognize that it does run up the costs for you, I would instead just ask the person to chip in a gift of ink (as suggested above), explaining that with you being out of work, it would be much appreciated.

Now, that said, I would certainly encourage everyone to use that presto daily smile instead to upload pictures.

Neat service and I'm glad it's offered. Makes it way easier for the family to ensure something is actually sent every day instead of sporadically. I think family members are far more likely to do it when they can just do a photo dump up front that will pull one each day.