Playbook, online course
Asked before buying, and a wrong answer becomes a refund
This arrives from somebody deciding rather than from somebody stuck, which changes everything about how it should be answered. They are picturing where they will actually watch this, and it is usually not at a desk. A hedge costs the sale, and an overconfident yes costs the sale plus a refund argument.
Why this is not the general answer
The handling pattern for compatibility questions holds across every trade. What follows is the part that does not.
- The question is pre purchase, so the failure is silent: an unclear answer does not produce a support message, it produces somebody closing the tab, and you never learn which sentence lost them.
- The device that matters is often not a computer at all. An older tablet kept for reading, a phone used on a commute, a television in a living room: each has a different answer and none of them is covered by a browser list.
- A work machine is not the learner's to change. Restrictions on installing anything, a network that blocks video and no appeal against either mean the only honest advice is to test at home before relying on it.
- Where downloads exist they answer the whole question, because they remove the network from it, and whether they exist is a commercial decision rather than a technical one and has to be stated either way.
How it arrives
- can i watch the lessons on an old tablet
- will the videos play on a work laptop
- can i save the videos to watch offline
- can i do the whole course on my phone
- do i need any software to open the workbook
- will the live session run on a locked down work computer
What has to be indexed for this to work
| What was actually tested, and on what | The browsers and device types somebody checked rather than the ones you assume work. An honest short list beats a long one nobody verified, because a buyer forwards this answer to whoever manages their machine. |
|---|---|
| The download position, stated plainly either way | Whether any material can be taken offline, which parts, and for how long. This is the answer to the commute question and the work network question at the same time, and a no is more useful than an unanswered maybe. |
| What a restricted work machine or network needs | Written so it can be forwarded to somebody else's technical team, because that is who actually changes it. A paragraph addressed only to the learner is unusable in the situation it describes. |
| What the workbooks and handouts need to be opened | The format, and whether anything has to be installed to read or fill them in. Buyers on a work machine cannot install things, and finding that out after paying is a refund request rather than a support ticket. |
The reply
The devices and browsers we have actually tested are listed on the requirements page, and it says which of those were checked rather than assumed [1]. The honest warning is about work machines: a corporate network can block video and there is usually nothing you or we can change about that, so it is worth watching a free lesson on the machine you plan to use before committing. Whether anything can be downloaded for offline viewing is on the same page [2], and that is the practical answer if you are planning to watch while travelling. I cannot test your device or tell you what your employer's network allows.
It leads with what was tested rather than what usually works, because the buyer is going to forward this. Suggesting a test on the actual machine turns an unanswerable question into something they can settle in five minutes. And it declines to speculate about an employer's network, which is the claim that would come back as a refund request.
Where it stops
The trigger. The visitor describes a specific device, network or restriction and asks whether the course will work on it, or is deciding whether to buy on the answer.
I cannot tell you whether a particular device or work network will play the videos, and I would rather not guess before you spend money. Leave your name, an email and what you would be watching on, and somebody will tell you straight.
It stops answering before it guesses, says who will pick it up, and asks for the one thing that makes a reply possible. Nothing about it reads as a dead end.
Never say this here
Out of bounds
- Never say the course works on a device, browser or network that is not on your tested list.
- Never tell somebody to change a setting on a machine or a network their employer controls.
- Never say material can be downloaded unless your own page says so, since that is the promise most likely to be relied on before purchase.
- Never characterise a device as too old or unsupported without pointing at the published list that says so.
Questions
- Why separate this from troubleshooting a video that will not play?
- Because nobody has paid yet. Troubleshooting starts from a fault and works backwards; this starts from a decision and has to be answerable in one reply. The same words in the wrong order lose a buyer who would have been perfectly happy.
- Should we really tell people to test before buying?
- Yes, if you have anything free to test with. A refund inside the window costs you the sale and the processing; a learner who checked first and bought anyway costs you nothing and never writes to support about it.
- Can it tell somebody whether their company blocks our video?
- No, and it must not guess. It has no view of anybody's network. What it can do is hand over a paragraph written for a technical team, which is the only version of this that ever gets fixed.
Keep reading
- Everything for a online courseWhat is included, how long access lasts, refund and cooling off rights, and the honest limit that it cannot see a learner's own progress.
- Handling compatibility questions in generalAnswerable only if you publish a list. Inferring compatibility is the failure, and the price of a wrong yes is a return and a refund.
- The sales page is fine and the course will not loadThe page that sells and the platform that serves fail separately. What may be said when a session starts in an hour.
- One person, one purchase, and a clause they have just read properlyNot what I expected, a module withdrawn, an instructor who never replies. Where a learner complaint goes, and what is never conceded.
- The list is for a date, and the material is available nowJoining the list is a notification, not a place. And the self paced version is on sale today, which is what half the list actually wants.
Try it on your own material
Upload a document or point it at your site, paste one line of HTML, then ask it something only your business could answer.