Oct 21 • Wins 🌟
Agency charged client $890/month for "monitoring and maintenance." I asked to see the logs. Last login: 6 months ago. Last change: 11 months ago.
Agency charged client $890/month for "monitoring and maintenance." I asked to see the logs. Last login: 6 months ago. Last change: 11 months ago.
The subscription scam nobody talks about.
THE MEETING
Coffee with a potential client.
Small e-commerce owner.
Her: "I pay $890/month for automation maintenance"
Me: "What does that include?"
Her: "Monthly monitoring, updates, optimization"
Me: "Can I see your automation?"
THE INVESTIGATION
Logged into her n8n instance.
Checked activity logs:
- Last user login: 6 months ago
- Last workflow modification: 11 months ago
- Last execution: Running perfectly every day
- Errors in past year: 0
Her: "They send monthly reports though"
THE MONTHLY REPORTS
Pulled up 6 months of reports.
All claimed:
- "6-8 hours invested"
- "Multiple optimizations"
- "Issues resolved"
- "Proactive monitoring"
All completely fabricated.
Nobody logged in.
Nothing changed.
Reports were templates.
THE MATH
Her payments:
- $890/month × 12 months = $10,680/year
- Last actual work: 11 months ago
- Money paid for nothing: $9,790
She'd been paying for almost a year of nothing.
THE CALL
She called them on speaker.
Her: "Your last login was 6 months ago"
Agency: "We monitor externally"
Her: "Nothing's been changed in 11 months"
Agency: "If it's not broken, we don't touch it"
Her: "Then why am I paying $890/month?"
Silence.
Agency: "The retainer covers availability"
Her: "Availability to not log in?"
She canceled.
THE REALITY
Looked at what they built.
Simple workflow:
- New order triggers
- Send confirmation
- Update inventory
- Create shipping label
Runs perfectly.
Needs zero maintenance.
That's WHY they never logged in.
THE HONEST PRICING
Her: "Can you take this over?"
Me: "There's nothing to take over. It runs fine"
Her: "What if something breaks?"
Me: "I'll rebuild it in 10 minutes with Skada AI Charge you $500"
Her: "No monthly fee?"
Me: "Not for doing nothing"
THE PATTERN
I've audited 8 "maintenance contracts" now.
Average findings:
- Last login: 4-7 months ago
- Last change: 8-14 months ago
- Monthly reports: 100% fabricated
- Actual issues: Near zero
Total monthly fees: $6,200
Total actual work: Maybe 1 hour/year per client
THE TRUTH
Good automation rarely breaks.
If it needs monthly maintenance, it's either:
- Badly built
- Or you're being scammed
THE UPDATE (90 DAYS)
Her automation after canceling:
- Uptime: 100%
- Issues: 0
- Money saved: $2,670
Nothing broke.
She needed exactly zero maintenance.
THE WARNING SIGNS
You're paying for fake maintenance if:
- Monthly reports but nothing changes
- "Monitoring" but no alerts ever
- Payment auto-renews
- They resist giving you admin access
Check your logs.
You'll probably find nothing.
THE MESSAGE
If you're paying monthly for automation maintenance:
1. Check your login logs
2. Check modification history
3. Ask: "What would break if you stopped?"
If the answer is "nothing," cancel.
Who else has found "maintenance" where nobody does anything?
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21 comments
Agency charged client $890/month for "monitoring and maintenance." I asked to see the logs. Last login: 6 months ago. Last change: 11 months ago.
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