We made a two-minute animated comedy about what happens when a vendor raises your price one time too many. It is called AI Whisperer. It has fifteen super engineers, forty thousand drones, a fleet of robot dogs and a hostage in a wooden box. It is a joke. The last fifteen seconds are not: they are how Network Essentials actually works.
Watch it (2 minutes 17 seconds)
Prefer to watch on YouTube? Open AI Whisperer on YouTube, and leave us your worst surprise-price-increase story in the comments. We read every one.
The story
A deadpan IT veteran opens a notice from his AI vendor: a price increase of 3,440 percent, effective immediately. It is the last one he will ever accept. So he assembles his team, seizes every AI on Earth (the chatbots, the copilots, even the smart fridges), hijacks the satellites, releases the drones and the robot dogs, and walks into the Pentagon with a short list of demands.
His demand, when it finally comes, is one line: a world free from surprise price increases. The vendor signs. Mostly because the robot dogs were staring.
The closing line sums up the whole film: he never wanted to rule the world. He just wanted it to honor its tickets.
Chapters
- 0:00 Negotiations go great
- 0:12 The price increase and the team
- 0:29 Step one and two: every AI and the satellites
- 0:47 Step three: the swarm and the dogs
- 1:08 Checkmate and the demands
- 1:31 He signs
- 1:47 Victory lap and title
- 2:03 Why Network Essentials: no long-term contracts
Why we made it
Because the setup is not far from real life. Business owners tell us the same two stories about technology vendors, and they tell them often:
- The surprise increase. A renewal notice arrives with a bigger number on it and a short deadline. The contract says you agreed to it two years ago.
- The lock-in. You would leave, but the agreement runs another 18 months and the exit fee is the size of a used car.
Managed IT has had the same reputation. Multi-year contracts, automatic renewals and termination fees are common in our industry. We think they are the wrong way to keep a client. A vendor that needs a contract to hold on to you is telling you something.
The serious part: how our agreement works
The card at the end of the film says three things. Here is what each one means in practice.
No long-term contracts
Managed IT with Network Essentials is month-to-month from day one. There is no annual contract. You can cancel with 30 days’ written notice, for any reason, with no termination fee. Your final month is paid and covers the handover of your documentation to whoever comes next. The full terms are on our month-to-month managed IT agreement page.
We earn our clients’ trust monthly
A month-to-month agreement changes who holds the leverage. If our service slips, you can leave in 30 days. That is the point. It keeps us answering tickets the way we answered them in the first month.
No surprise price increases
Any price change comes with written notice. And because the agreement is month-to-month, a price change is never a trap: you can read the notice, decide, and leave with 30 days’ notice if you do not like it. No vendor can honestly promise that prices will never change. We can promise that you will never find out from the invoice.
Three things to check in your current IT contract
- The term and the renewal clause. Look for “auto-renew” and the notice window to stop it. Many agreements renew for a full year unless you object 60 or 90 days before the date.
- The price-change clause. Does the provider need to notify you, and how far ahead? Some contracts allow an annual increase with no notice at all.
- The exit. What does it cost to leave, and who owns your documentation, passwords and licences when you do?
If you are not sure what your contract says, we will read it with you. Our free IT audit includes a review of your current agreement and service levels. For the warning signs that it is time to move, see 7 signs it is time to switch your IT provider, and if your provider was just bought by someone else, read what to ask when your IT provider is acquired.
About Network Essentials
Network Essentials, Inc. is an independently owned managed IT, cybersecurity and AI consulting company in Charlotte, North Carolina. We have served businesses since 2002, our security practice is CISSP-led, and we have been named to the CRN MSP 500 Pioneer 250 five times since 2021. We work with financial firms, law firms, professional services, manufacturers and healthcare practices across the Charlotte region.
Tired of surprise price increases? Call (704) 206-8900 or schedule a free IT audit.
All characters in AI Whisperer are fictional. The video is a parody and is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. Department of Defense, the Pentagon, or any government agency. The price increase in the story is invented for comedy.
