3 ms·

I'm generally a slack fan, but isn't that just plain ol' illegal false advertising?

by quirkot 10y ago

grepthisab 10y ago
It kind of reminds me of cell network "unlimited data" where they just start aggressively throttling customers after a certain amount of data use.
- pbtflakes 10y ago
  This being distinct from that by being entirely undocumented, instead of burying the data limitations somewhere deep in the contract.
  - grepthisab 10y ago
    My understanding is that in cases like this below, there was no limitation anywhere in the contract. Hence the FCC fine: http://www.theverge.com/2016/10/19/13330158/t-mobile-unlimited-data-settlement-fine-discount-free-data http://www.theverge.com/2016/10/19/13330158/t-mobile-unlimit...
    - pbtflakes 10y ago
      Whoops, hadn't heard about that case. Nice to hear the FCC is addressing deceptive marketing/contracts.
lilbobbytables 10y ago
It sounds like more of an engineering issue. I'd imagine that unlimited-up-to-the-capacity-our-system-can-handle is reasonable. The biggest takeaway from this should be: if you think you might be pushing a system, you should probably talk to a human first to get confirmation on how it will work for your specific scenario, and not just use their sales page. Particularly when that tool is so important to your operations.
- quirkot 10y ago
  >> The biggest takeaway from this should be: if you think you might be pushing a system, you should probably talk to a human first Two things: a) I wouldn't blink at 10k if my line in the sand was "Unlimited number of people" (would I similarly ask a human if Amharic glyphs are supported if the advertisement suggested "chat in all languages"?) b) It may behoove me to verify claims before jumping in, but it is absolutely 100% the responsibility of the organization to set expectations in line with what it can deliver
mattmanser 10y ago
To be fair to slack, the quote is "there's no limit to the amount of people you can add to your team". They're saying that as you team grows, there's no limit. Not students or subscribers. Not "public channel", or "chat room", or some sort of phrase that indicates a large mass of people. If someone decided to sue them or something, I'd assume they'd have an easy defence saying they clearly meant a team of work colleagues. As many others are saying here, slack simply doesn't seem to be aimed at this use case.
- lmm 10y ago
  I have worked for companies with 25000 "team members", so that seems pretty unconvincing.
Ensorceled 10y ago
It might if they were paying for 10000 users but only some power of 2 less than 10000 could actually sign up. And Slack refused to refund the difference. False advertising regulations aren't a company destroying "gotcha" like felony theft, they are designed to protect consumers from fraud. Having some technical issue that doesn't impact the vast majority of consumers isn't what it's designed for.
drfuchs 10y ago
Not if the "customer" paid $0. If I give you something for free, you have no recourse if I didn't describe it to you properly.
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]

I'm generally a slack fan, but isn't that just plain ol' illegal false advertising?

by quirkot 10y ago

I'm generally a slack fan, but isn't that just plain ol' illegal false advertising?

It kind of reminds me of cell network "unlimited data" where they just start aggressively throttling customers after a certain amount of data use.

pbtflakes 10y ago
This being distinct from that by being entirely undocumented, instead of burying the data limitations somewhere deep in the contract.
- grepthisab 10y ago
  My understanding is that in cases like this below, there was no limitation anywhere in the contract. Hence the FCC fine: http://www.theverge.com/2016/10/19/13330158/t-mobile-unlimited-data-settlement-fine-discount-free-data http://www.theverge.com/2016/10/19/13330158/t-mobile-unlimit...
  - pbtflakes 10y ago
    Whoops, hadn't heard about that case. Nice to hear the FCC is addressing deceptive marketing/contracts.

lilbobbytables 10y ago

It sounds like more of an engineering issue. I'd imagine that unlimited-up-to-the-capacity-our-system-can-handle is reasonable. The biggest takeaway from this should be: if you think you might be pushing a system, you should probably talk to a human first to get confirmation on how it will work for your specific scenario, and not just use their sales page. Particularly when that tool is so important to your operations.

quirkot 10y ago
>> The biggest takeaway from this should be: if you think you might be pushing a system, you should probably talk to a human first Two things: a) I wouldn't blink at 10k if my line in the sand was "Unlimited number of people" (would I similarly ask a human if Amharic glyphs are supported if the advertisement suggested "chat in all languages"?) b) It may behoove me to verify claims before jumping in, but it is absolutely 100% the responsibility of the organization to set expectations in line with what it can deliver

mattmanser 10y ago

To be fair to slack, the quote is "there's no limit to the amount of people you can add to your team". They're saying that as you team grows, there's no limit. Not students or subscribers. Not "public channel", or "chat room", or some sort of phrase that indicates a large mass of people. If someone decided to sue them or something, I'd assume they'd have an easy defence saying they clearly meant a team of work colleagues. As many others are saying here, slack simply doesn't seem to be aimed at this use case.

lmm 10y ago
I have worked for companies with 25000 "team members", so that seems pretty unconvincing.

Ensorceled 10y ago

It might if they were paying for 10000 users but only some power of 2 less than 10000 could actually sign up. And Slack refused to refund the difference. False advertising regulations aren't a company destroying "gotcha" like felony theft, they are designed to protect consumers from fraud. Having some technical issue that doesn't impact the vast majority of consumers isn't what it's designed for.

drfuchs 10y ago

Not if the "customer" paid $0. If I give you something for free, you have no recourse if I didn't describe it to you properly.

deleted 10y ago
[deleted]