Fish I don't think too many people are crying foul or saying bonuses are really what are doing these guys in. I hear people act like it is a sign of trouble, but I sure don't agree with that. And yes I totally agree customer service is important but damn so many scammers and angle shooters out there that in being fair sometimes you have to piss off someone. But still don't you agree that books would keep more customers around if they made a conscious effort to draw in long-term customers from day one? They certainly could treat you right, but minimizing the bonus upfront but paying more on the back-end is just a solid idea IMO to attract and keep valued customers around. Not to many books seem to do that from day one and a muddled strategy and execution can be fatal as Panam showed. I think a book needs to decide before it even starts getting close to opening everything they will target in terms of customers, service levels, bonuses...and let the strategy play out for some time with investors well aware of what exactly they have in mind.