Following is the actual email thread beginning with the most recent email message:

Firstly, thank you for letting us know about your experience and congratulations on making it into the news of the day here at BoxOnline.

Your threat of publishing this email thread was especially interesting since we are very transparent with our Clients, Customers and Partners. Hey, be sure to threaten everyone you meet – you will get more out of life that way for sure.

Let’s get into the details of why I want to thank you rather than punish you today.

We were under the mistaken impression that our text was crystal clear.
Thank you for showing us that it is not clear enough. We will address this.

We do not want folks to misunderstand our offer, our Ts & Cs or anything else
but, it happened and this indicates one of 2 things to us…
1) we will be improving our text next week.
2) we have no control over our user’s literacy level

You stated “I thought that the spreadsheet for the Mac is included.”
Dear Eilhard Wittlich, Nice try  ;-)
We saved your initial inquiry and here is what you requested (in your very own words):
“I cannot find any information/price for the computer based solution of your break-even analysis. Please provide information. Thanks + regards.”
We would have LOVED TO PROVIDE YOU WITH A PRICE and further information.
Oh wait…
We DID provide you with a price in our email response to your request
but you chose to threaten us rather than accept / ignore our offer.

You stated “Looking for the spreadsheet to better evaluate your product was a quite natural step.”
Actually, it is not natural at all since you have the COMPLETE PRODUCT IN YOUR POSSESSION ALREADY.
The computer based spreadsheet is NOT an integral part of this offering but for some users, they might find the spreadsheet features like ‘printing’ helpful.

You stated “My tests are still going on because there are other things of higher degree in the line of priority.”
Well, good for you!
We are delighted to hear that you have ‘tests’ and even happier to read that there are ‘other things of higher degree in the line of priority’   WOW!…. I can’t even begin to thank you for sharing that sentence with me.  Allow me to suggest that the computer based spreadsheet we offer should not be in your line of priority nor should it be one of your ‘other things of higher degree’… it is simply a business tool that we have sold for many years but… since you bought our iPhone App… you have that very same tool on your iPhone right now thus… forget about the spreadsheet and focus on the App that you purchased.  Testing it requires less than a minute but, of course… you will need to have ‘a higher degree in the line of priority’ if you wish to conduct those tests at all.

Eilhard Wittlich, it sounds to be as though you are trying to get something for free…
Your email today caused quite a stir over here and we discussed a variety of things to help us improve. Then we thought about the frequency of occurrence and the grand total was (insert drum roll here) one. So considering ’a higher degree in the line of priority’ for such a topic was rather moot.

That said, our staff still wanted to satisfy your request and – some folks on our staff thought it best to simply stop mentioning the computer spreadsheet from within the iPhone App.  Others had more colorful stories to share but hey,.. we have an open mind here… We also have a plan that our Customers are going to love but this is not the place or time to spill the beans.  and since you are the very first Eilhard we have ever encountered in addition to being the very first complaint that we have received in 2009… we decided that you will get special treatment after all.

Here are the facts as clearly and concisely stated as possible so that there is little room for further misunderstanding.

1) NO ONE ASKED YOU TO REVIEW OUR PRODUCT BEFORE
YOU USED IT OR EVALUATED IT. PERIOD…  I am shocked that you even considered this!

2) The computer based Break-Even Analysis spreadsheet costs $39.99 and it has been for sale online for more than eight years. Yesterday, because our sales page was taken offline for a few days – I thought… why not offer YOU Eilhard Wittlich the sheet for free… After all, you claimed to have reviewed the App…. and I was more than willing to reward you for taking time out to do this. THIS IS NOT OUR STANDARD POLICY HOWEVER.

3) YOU, Eilhard Wittlich… are difficult to please but you are correct.
A review of the spreadsheet is NOT required… but, as stated on our website the spreadsheet is for sale.. as it has been for the past 8+ years.
If you had left a simple review – it would have taken you less time than writing this email and you would have had the speadsheet from us for free by now.

4) Again, since YOU claimed to have already reviewed the App – we were more than happy to give you the computer spreadsheet for FREE.  When we checked the iTunes store, we discovered that YOU WERE NOT TELLING THE TRUTH – you did not publish a review at all. Keep in mind that we have no idea when you purchased the App, how often you use the App etc thus… we only know what you write us in your emails.  Today we know from your email that you did not understand the question and did not mouse-over the question to see the help text on the input field and this taught us a valuable little lesson – it is also something that we can improve… and we will do that.

5) How do you expect me to react based upon your email today?
- should I bend to your threat of publishing this thread online?
my personal view is – we have nothing to hide – publish it… please
If you would like to punish us for doing what we thought was a favor for you – go for it – that will always be a real winning strategy and it certainly will help you to get what you want.  (not)

- should we give in to your pressure and admit that we made a mistake?
well, YES, we did make a mistake, we admit it and we will continue to try & resolve it.
In fact… we invite you to go to the iTunes store and get a refund if that will make you happier.

- Eilhard Wittlich, you leave me very little room to satisfy a Customer like you.
Our experience has shown us that 99% of the time, people like you will never be satisfied no matter what we do.
Despite trying our best to give great Customer service, we know that a percentage of people will still not be happy… such is life we need to accept this.  Again, we invite you to go out and get a refund from Apple.

I do thank you for bringing your situation to our attention.

One last item to note:
You seem to think that you paid a lot for a software application….
We believe that the price of an iPhone App should directly reflect the value that it provides.
Break-Even Analysis is not just a simple calculator tool – it is an iPhone based course designed to offer people involved in a business a basic understanding of the variables that influence profitability. This means that users will quickly learn what variables to tweak when they want to increase their earnings. B/E Analysis iPhone App comes with a built in profitability wizard. This means that after entering your numbers, the App will show you a way to increase your profit. For some of our Customers, this translates into thousands more per month.

As a side reference, here are a few iPhone Apps in the iTunes store with prices that you may find difficult to comprehend.
- MATG by CBR technology (2 apps selling today for $449.99 each)
- IRa by Lextech labs seling today for $899.99 for the pro version and $499.99 for the direct version

On Sun, Apr 26, 2009 at 6:25 AM, Eilhard Wittlich wrote:
BoxOnline
Attn.:    Ms. Pamela M.
Customer Support Team 2

Dear Ms. M.

Thank you very much for your quick reply.
The request for a review was rather confusing to me and therefore I answered the question wrongly.
I had purchased the Break-Even Analysis App but not reviewed at that time.
My tests are still going on because there are other things of higher degree in the line of priority.

Because you request a review to become eligible to receive the spreadsheet as a bonus I would appreciate an explanation why this is not stated in the information part of your programme. There I can read “Sure thing. … all you need is MS Excel or Apple Numbers installed on your machine. …” without any condition that a review is mandatory.

After having payed 15,99 EUR = 21,17 USD I thought that the spreadsheet for the Mac is included.
Looking for the spreadsheet to better evaluate your product was a quite natural step.
To review your product before evaluation has even started is a curious request, which I will not follow.

To insist on an evaluation is quite an interesting marketing move – to say the least, however, quite inacceptable after receiving payment comparatively high to other iPhone apps.
I consider to put our email correspondence on the WWW assuming it will be better than any review of your product.

Regards from an unsatisfied and misled customer.

Yours sincerely,

Eilhard Wittlich

On 25.04.2009, at 19:02, Pamela Meier wrote:

Hello Eilhard Wittlich,
We took the form offline for a few days to resolve some spam issues.
Sorry for any inconvenience.

We received thousands of requests for a computer based tool that makes Break-Even Analysis both simple and quick so we built a spreadsheet several years ago and sold it to thousands of people online. When we decided to create the same functionality in an iPhone App, we also decided to dust off our trusty spreadsheet and update it especially for our iPhone App Customers.

This is a tool that we have been selling online for $39.99 since 2001.
Since we released Break-Even Analysis as an iPhone App, we decided to give our Customers a special discount on the spreadsheet if they would be kind enough to leave a review on the Apple iTunes store that helps other users understand the value of Break-Even Analysis.

You responded that you had already reviewed Break-Even Analysis in the iTunes Store yet we were not able to look up your review!  This could be Apple’s fault and it could be some bug in the system but we wanted to let you know that if you were to write a review of Break-Even Analysis and post it on the iTunes store to encourage others to purchase our application, we would be glad to email you the Break-Even Analysis spreadsheet for free.

All you need to do is:
1) write the review and post it (if you have not already done so)
2) Tell us your:
- iTunes nickname
- The title of your review
- the iTunes store country that you used

with this information, we will gladly verify your input and email you the spreadsheet.

thanks in advance,

Pamela M.
BoxOnline
Customer Support Team 2

Below is the original request via our online contact form:
Your Name: Eilhard Wittlich

Your email address: Eilhard.Wittlich@

The Application: iPhone Break-Even Analysis

Reason for Contact: I want the B/E spreadsheet

Did You Review this App?: Yes

Message: I cannot find any information/price for the computer based solution of your break-even analysis. Please provide information. Thanks + regards.

To whom it may concern…

If you believe that $19.99 is too much to pay for a software application on the iPhone this post is for you.

We firmly believe that the price of an iPhone App should directly reflect the value that it provides to a given Customer base.

Break-Even Analysis is not just a simple calculator tool – it is an iPhone based course designed to offer people involved in a business a basic understanding of the variables that influence profitability. This means that users can quickly learn what variables to tweak when they want to increase their earnings.

The B/E Analysis iPhone App comes with a built in profitability wizard which means that after entering your numbers, our App will show you a way to increase your profit. For many, these suggestions are something brand new and for some of our Customers, this translates into thousands more per month.

iPhone lovers, I don’t want to sell you some unnecessary software that you use once and then throw away so please don’t buy this App unless you seriously like to grow your business and fill your pockets with more money. At the very least, this App will show you a Break-Even point and offer you tips on how to improve your bottom line but if you are not willing to put the suggestions to the test then perhaps buying a game might be a better choice for you. We seriously like helping people succeed and this App is one tool that can help you to get results but in the end, your actions dictate your success. Warning: This App will not be of much assistance to couch potatoes.

After spending a few hundred dollars on an iPhone, some of you may be under the impression that "All iPhone Apps should be free" and I hope you’ll allow me to address that issue. We invested 10 years of our business building experience and several months worth of full time development to bring you this App. We know it will add value to your life if you put it to good use. We ask you to invest not only in our product but also in yourself and in additional educational material to Sharpen Your Saw a few times each year.

If you put just one of the suggestions we offer to use in your business and it works as described, the cost of this App will be insignificant. In fact, we priced the App to be close to the cost of your weekly dose of coffee. Now granted, some of you drink less coffee than others and for you folks, I offer the alternative comparison – the price of an average hard cover business book.

Hey, once you launch Break-Even Analysis and input just four of your numbers, there is no turning back. You will discover a way that has helped us to increase our Client’s profits 98 out of every 100 times we used the method.

If we can add value to a person’s business and even put some extra cash into their pockets with our advice, then we believe that asking $19.99 for our software is well worth the cost and from what we hear from our Customers… They are both relieved and delighted to know that we don’t charge them a percentage of their gains. Hey, If you don’t increase your earnings by at least $100 after following the tips offered in Break-Even Analysis, please request a refund. For those of you still reading this post that translates to 5x ROI – my attorney just notified me that I just triggered an alert on his end and I absolutely must insert an earnings disclaimer here so…

EARNINGS DISCLAIMER:
THERE IS NO GUARANTEE THAT YOU WILL EARN ANY MONEY USING THE TECHNIQUES AND IDEAS IN THESE MATERIALS. EXAMPLES IN THESE MATERIALS ARE NOT TO BE INTERPRETED AS A PROMISE OR GUARANTEE OF EARNINGS. EARNING POTENTIAL IS ENTIRELY DEPENDENT ON THE PERSON USING OUR PRODUCT, IDEAS AND TECHNIQUES. WE DO NOT PURPORT THIS AS A "GET RICH SCHEME."  WE CANNOT GUARANTEE YOUR SUCCESS OR INCOME LEVEL. NOR ARE WE RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY OF YOUR ACTIONS. MANY FACTORS WILL BE IMPORTANT IN DETERMINING YOUR ACTUAL RESULTS AND NO GUARANTEES ARE MADE THAT YOU WILL ACHIEVE RESULTS SIMILAR TO OURS OR ANYBODY ELSES, IN FACT NO GUARANTEES ARE MADE THAT YOU WILL ACHIEVE ANY RESULTS FROM THE IDEAS AND TECHNIQUES IN OUR APPLICATION. IF YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND OF AGREE WITH ANY OF THESE CONDITIONS, DO NOT BUY THIS APPLICATION.

As a side reference, here are a few iPhone Apps in the iTunes store with prices that you may find difficult to comprehend.
- MATG by CBR technology (2 apps selling today for $449.99 each)
- IRa by Lextech labs seling today for $899.99 for the pro version and $499.99 for the direct version

"I’m earning thousands more per month thanks to the wizard in this App.  It’s cool to think that an App can have such a profound effect on a store owner like me but this certainly got my attention and I’ve only used it a dozen times or so"

“If You Want To Grow Your Business Even Faster, This Little App Is Like Helium For A Balloon.”

“We frequently need to price our products to sell well. Break-Even Analysis is one way to be sure that you are on the right track before you make a costly mistake.”

"I used it and decided to go with a 4% price increase. Customers didn’t even notice, my sales numbers stayed the same and it looks like this thing helped me to double my profits. I am blown away”

"For an iPhone application, this thing is pricey but if you’re in business, you’ll probably figure out how to earn more money by using it just once."

"Breakeven is a no-brainer. Used properly, it’ll help your business. Thanks again for the free bonus"

"Knowing the elements of break-even analysis focused me on managing the costs that maximize our bottom line.  We definitely make more money today."

“This little App works beautifully with the Apple iTunes Store rev share model. I love what you did with Sales Calc and Break-Even is even better – keep it coming”
 

Thanks to all our loyal Customers for checking out this new App and thanks for all your emails.

I know you’re all quite busy but, perhaps a few of you could find the time to submit a review on the iTunes App store?

We’d really appreciate it.

Also, we will be awarding a special prize to the person that finds the most bugs in this App. This prize is generously sponsored by our beta testers who so confidently claim that there are no more bugs to be found in this App. Hey, one can never be too sure  ;-)

A new application has just been submitted by BoxOnline to the Apple iTunes store. The App is called Break-Even Analysis and allows users to conduct a simple B/E Analysis in less than 30 seconds using only 4 input fields. “When a person needs to make a business decision on pricing or project profitability, break-even analysis is a very helpful tool to have installed on your iPhone” stated Dr Box, Director of BoxOnline. “Understanding the number of units you need to sell in order to cover your costs is one element that you could expect to find in such an App, but we went one step further in producing this iPhone tool – We empowered users by including algorithms, information and suggestions needed to easily increase profit in most business models. For those new to the concept of break-even, we also provided key definitions, descriptions of usage and examples of best practices.” As with all iPhone applications, this App is available in the iTunes App Store on your PC, Mac or iPhone. Read more about the Break-Even Analysis iPhone App here.