4 ms·

As I said in a comment just posted, the user who wanted satisfaction, no pun intended, created that page on GetSatisfaction forums. If anything, the failure was

As I said in a comment just posted, the user who wanted satisfaction, no pun intended, created that page on GetSatisfaction forums. If anything, the failure was technical, since GS did not notify 37Signals that a page has been created for their company. Matter of fact, same can be said for any third-party service that lets users create pages/forums for companies they have beef with.

mdasen 18y ago
See, but most third-party services aren't also trying to sell themselves as a legitimate, official thing too. Sure, I can post links to Amazon releases here, but HN isn't trying to offer itself to Amazon as "pay $X and you'll have your press releases up here" at the same time. The difference is that anyone can post things on here and there's nothing any company can do about it. I could post, "Amazon's new MapReduce is a plot to steal my data" and people could vote it up. Likewise, I could post that on GS, but it's different: GS then has this option for Amazon to stop comments/posts they don't like (for a fee). That's the difference. Most third party sites have this: "we'll let users post bad things about you". GS has this: "we'll let people post bad things about you. . .unless you pay us." That's morally hazardous.
- batasrki 18y ago
  Yes, but had they not had their pages looking semi-official, there would be no reason to use GS, now would there? As I've said somewhere lower in the comments, two things would have made a world of difference here. 1. GS should have had an e-mail notification system in place. They should notify any company, much less 37Signals, that there's been a question posted on their forums. Same can be said for UserVoice and any other third-party site who wants to get into this game. Had they notified the support people at 37Signals, none of this would have come to bear. 2. Jason, no matter how angry he is/was, should have NOT used a public forum for dealing with this issue immediately. Had he talked to GS's admins/support through e-mail privately, there'd be no need for this hubbub. If the e-mail route did not work, then I agree with denouncing GS publicly. All I'm alluding to here is maturity. There are good ways of handling issues and then there are bad ones. Even if Jason has a good point about GS's business conduct, it's lost, not just on me, based solely on his approach to it.
  - tptacek 18y ago
    If the only way to make your product work is to co-opt the branding and identity of another company, you have a business model problem. Are you sure you're really advocating for GS here?
    - batasrki 18y ago
      No, they can advocate for themselves. I'm advocating for maturity in the resolution of such problems. I've never denied that what GS was at best misleading, however, I don't think that going public without trying to resolve matters privately is very mature. In this case, GS has responded positively, but things could have shaped differently had there been another Jason Fried on the other side.
      - tptacek 18y ago
        Just a guess, but I think if GS had a Jason Fried, the "conversation" would look more like this: 37s: The Get Satisfaction business model is dangerously close to extortion. GS: We didn't realize it, but you're right. We're doing X, Y, and Z to fix it right now. We're sorry. 37s: Also there's 10x more 37s branding on your pages than GS branding, which is misleading. GS: You know what? You're right about that too. We thought the branding would help our users, but it's turning out to be misleading. We're doing X, Y, and Z to rebadge the pages, and we're sorry. 37s: ... Peanut Gallery 1: GS misled the whole Internet? Peanut Gallery 2: Yeah, and they apologized. That all you got? Peanut Gallery 1: ... Peanut Gallery 2: ... Instead, because GS apparently doesn't know how to concede a point cleanly and end the discussion, they're going to remain the center of attention for awhile. And while all publicity is in a sense good publicity, the people they make money from are hearing nothing except "trademark infringement" and "customer service horror story".
        batasrki 18y ago
        I don't that that's how it'd go, for the simple reason that if Jason Fried was so outraged at the GS's behaviour, it only stands to reason that had there been another JF on the other side, he'd be outraged by the 37S's one that he'd flame him back. You know what this is just getting too complicated.

mdasen 18y ago

See, but most third-party services aren't also trying to sell themselves as a legitimate, official thing too. Sure, I can post links to Amazon releases here, but HN isn't trying to offer itself to Amazon as "pay $X and you'll have your press releases up here" at the same time. The difference is that anyone can post things on here and there's nothing any company can do about it. I could post, "Amazon's new MapReduce is a plot to steal my data" and people could vote it up. Likewise, I could post that on GS, but it's different: GS then has this option for Amazon to stop comments/posts they don't like (for a fee). That's the difference. Most third party sites have this: "we'll let users post bad things about you". GS has this: "we'll let people post bad things about you. . .unless you pay us." That's morally hazardous.

batasrki 18y ago
Yes, but had they not had their pages looking semi-official, there would be no reason to use GS, now would there? As I've said somewhere lower in the comments, two things would have made a world of difference here. 1. GS should have had an e-mail notification system in place. They should notify any company, much less 37Signals, that there's been a question posted on their forums. Same can be said for UserVoice and any other third-party site who wants to get into this game. Had they notified the support people at 37Signals, none of this would have come to bear. 2. Jason, no matter how angry he is/was, should have NOT used a public forum for dealing with this issue immediately. Had he talked to GS's admins/support through e-mail privately, there'd be no need for this hubbub. If the e-mail route did not work, then I agree with denouncing GS publicly. All I'm alluding to here is maturity. There are good ways of handling issues and then there are bad ones. Even if Jason has a good point about GS's business conduct, it's lost, not just on me, based solely on his approach to it.
- tptacek 18y ago
  If the only way to make your product work is to co-opt the branding and identity of another company, you have a business model problem. Are you sure you're really advocating for GS here?
  - batasrki 18y ago
    No, they can advocate for themselves. I'm advocating for maturity in the resolution of such problems. I've never denied that what GS was at best misleading, however, I don't think that going public without trying to resolve matters privately is very mature. In this case, GS has responded positively, but things could have shaped differently had there been another Jason Fried on the other side.
    - tptacek 18y ago
      Just a guess, but I think if GS had a Jason Fried, the "conversation" would look more like this: 37s: The Get Satisfaction business model is dangerously close to extortion. GS: We didn't realize it, but you're right. We're doing X, Y, and Z to fix it right now. We're sorry. 37s: Also there's 10x more 37s branding on your pages than GS branding, which is misleading. GS: You know what? You're right about that too. We thought the branding would help our users, but it's turning out to be misleading. We're doing X, Y, and Z to rebadge the pages, and we're sorry. 37s: ... Peanut Gallery 1: GS misled the whole Internet? Peanut Gallery 2: Yeah, and they apologized. That all you got? Peanut Gallery 1: ... Peanut Gallery 2: ... Instead, because GS apparently doesn't know how to concede a point cleanly and end the discussion, they're going to remain the center of attention for awhile. And while all publicity is in a sense good publicity, the people they make money from are hearing nothing except "trademark infringement" and "customer service horror story".
      - batasrki 18y ago
        I don't that that's how it'd go, for the simple reason that if Jason Fried was so outraged at the GS's behaviour, it only stands to reason that had there been another JF on the other side, he'd be outraged by the 37S's one that he'd flame him back. You know what this is just getting too complicated.