4 ms·

Acting out in retributive ways when your customers (justifiably or not) have issues and leave negative reviews is a pretty terrible way to build and run a busin

Acting out in retributive ways when your customers (justifiably or not) have issues and leave negative reviews is a pretty terrible way to build and run a business. Is the spite towards that one person really worth it?

Hydraulix989 10y ago
I honestly sympathize with Garadget a bit more in this case. Some people are just "assholes" that are all too quick to give a one-star review over the slightest thing, and it looks like this customer was one of them. The customer is not always right. EDIT: Sorry for being inflammatory here.
- jimktrains2 10y ago
  > The customer is not always right. "The customer is always right" never meant that customer service should be a door mat, but rather comes from advertising and the idea that consumers will spend their money on products that best fit their needs at the best value. If you sell something noone wants, or at too high a price, you'll gain little to no market share.
  - deleted 10y ago
    [deleted]
- onion2k 10y ago
  This customer may have been an asshole in this situation but that isn't really a good reason to state he's an asshole. For all we know he might spend the rest for his time reading bedtime stories to sick kittens. Judging someone's character based on a single incident isn't a great thing to do.
  - mod 10y ago
    In the context of this thread, what is the difference, really? Should we really have to caveat the accusation with "maybe he's a really nice guy" or something?
  - deleted 10y ago
    [deleted]
  - cyberferret 10y ago
    > Judging someone's character based on a single incident isn't a great thing to do. By the same token, publicly castigating someone because you couldn't get their software to work on your device isn't a great thing to do either. Perhaps the developer sells his gadgets so he can house sick kittens, and he was up all night trying to nurse a particularly sick kitten when the angry email came through??
CaliforniaKarl 10y ago
Look at the timing. This was an Amazon purchase. The developer mentions Saturday, and how the Amazon review was left around the same time as the forum post, so presumably the the item was delivered on that same day. That's gonna be a bad experience for both sides: The purchaser has to wait until Monday to return, and the developer has to deal with (what I expect is) a drive-by flame. It's a Saturday night, and each side reacted poorly. Honestly, I doubt the guy was going to continue attempting to use his device after leaving such a review, so the developer bricking it doesn't have any effect. In addition, the customer will get his money back via the Amazon return, so the developer was losing there anyway. We don't know anything else, so I don't know what the actual problem would be. It could've been build quality, or shipping, or software, or the purchasers mobile device, or who knows what. To be honest, based on what I see here, and speaking as someone who is just a customer, I believe the customer started the boulder running with his negative review and drive-by flame, and I feel lenient towards the developer.
- robryan 10y ago
  I bet the guy would be happy to continue using the product, they just want it to work. You work out what their problem was and fix it, if they explain the issue. Regardless the attitude should be "how do we make sure the next buyer doesn't have an issue". You are going to get bad reviews no matter what, some entirely unfair. All you can do it focus on making the product as good as it can be.
- yunolisten 10y ago
  > I doubt the guy was going to continue > We don't know anything else It's almost like you treat your 'doubt' as a matter of fact, rather than pure opinion.
- HelloNurse 10y ago
  Apart from the effect of being unable to trust a security-critical product? As mentioned in other comments, Garadget is able to open the garage doors of its customers remotely; this incident implies that they could actually do it, should their decide that a customer deserves an even worse punishment than denied service.

Hydraulix989 10y ago

I honestly sympathize with Garadget a bit more in this case. Some people are just "assholes" that are all too quick to give a one-star review over the slightest thing, and it looks like this customer was one of them. The customer is not always right. EDIT: Sorry for being inflammatory here.

jimktrains2 10y ago
> The customer is not always right. "The customer is always right" never meant that customer service should be a door mat, but rather comes from advertising and the idea that consumers will spend their money on products that best fit their needs at the best value. If you sell something noone wants, or at too high a price, you'll gain little to no market share.
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
onion2k 10y ago
This customer may have been an asshole in this situation but that isn't really a good reason to state he's an asshole. For all we know he might spend the rest for his time reading bedtime stories to sick kittens. Judging someone's character based on a single incident isn't a great thing to do.
- mod 10y ago
  In the context of this thread, what is the difference, really? Should we really have to caveat the accusation with "maybe he's a really nice guy" or something?
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
- cyberferret 10y ago
  > Judging someone's character based on a single incident isn't a great thing to do. By the same token, publicly castigating someone because you couldn't get their software to work on your device isn't a great thing to do either. Perhaps the developer sells his gadgets so he can house sick kittens, and he was up all night trying to nurse a particularly sick kitten when the angry email came through??

CaliforniaKarl 10y ago

Look at the timing. This was an Amazon purchase. The developer mentions Saturday, and how the Amazon review was left around the same time as the forum post, so presumably the the item was delivered on that same day. That's gonna be a bad experience for both sides: The purchaser has to wait until Monday to return, and the developer has to deal with (what I expect is) a drive-by flame. It's a Saturday night, and each side reacted poorly. Honestly, I doubt the guy was going to continue attempting to use his device after leaving such a review, so the developer bricking it doesn't have any effect. In addition, the customer will get his money back via the Amazon return, so the developer was losing there anyway. We don't know anything else, so I don't know what the actual problem would be. It could've been build quality, or shipping, or software, or the purchasers mobile device, or who knows what. To be honest, based on what I see here, and speaking as someone who is just a customer, I believe the customer started the boulder running with his negative review and drive-by flame, and I feel lenient towards the developer.

robryan 10y ago
I bet the guy would be happy to continue using the product, they just want it to work. You work out what their problem was and fix it, if they explain the issue. Regardless the attitude should be "how do we make sure the next buyer doesn't have an issue". You are going to get bad reviews no matter what, some entirely unfair. All you can do it focus on making the product as good as it can be.
yunolisten 10y ago
> I doubt the guy was going to continue > We don't know anything else It's almost like you treat your 'doubt' as a matter of fact, rather than pure opinion.
HelloNurse 10y ago
Apart from the effect of being unable to trust a security-critical product? As mentioned in other comments, Garadget is able to open the garage doors of its customers remotely; this incident implies that they could actually do it, should their decide that a customer deserves an even worse punishment than denied service.