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iPhone App will not stay open - just flashes when trying to launch

community.garadget.com

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Re: iPhone App will not stay open - just flashes when trying to launch

#131

Post by itchyjunk »

Does 1 review make or break a company? I've been seeing a lot of "5 star vs 1 star" issues recently. One of them was on an Uber article where the customers were not getting 5 start for not tipping for example and this impacted their ability to get rides (or so I think based on what I read).

A lot of other smaller companies selling stuff online only and even Indi games seems to be very sensitive about reviews. Is the difference between overall 4 star vs 5 star so impactful?

Maybe there is a deeper problem somewhere in here. Or maybe this is a reasonable backfire for a bad customer support.

Re: iPhone App will not stay open - just flashes when trying to launch

#132

Post by gkya »

kelnos wrote: post #100
eps wrote: post #30

Not "for negative Amazon review", but for being an asshole. This guy forgot that there are people behind every product and the abstraction is as thin as it gets when it is in fact a smaller company or a startup. There are negative reviews and there are nasty reviews. He was nasty to them and they no longer wanted him as a client. No reason why a company should swallow shit that a person wouldn't. They certainly _can_…

I think the problem here is that they _disabled a home security product_ because the guy pissed them off. They can certainly fire the guy as a customer, and tell him to return the device for a full refund, but remotely disabling its ability to function is not only unprofessional, but irresponsible. Regardless of that, the support rep's response comes off as petty and childish. There are much better ways to get out of…

It's not a home security product if it connects to servers and can be disabled remotely.

Re: iPhone App will not stay open - just flashes when trying to launch

#133

Post by roystonvassey »

dqv wrote: post #84
atemerev wrote: post #72

"Throwing a tantrum"? The review in question is something along the lines of "the control app is flashing and doesn't work at all. This is junk, don't waste your money on it. 1/5 stars." If you make any public facing products, you will occasionally get such (and worse) reviews even if your product is a shiny perfection forged in heaven by angels themselves and wrapped in magic. Fact of life. On the other hand, the su…

>I am also quite surprised by the number of comments here at HN siding with Garadget. I don't agree with disabling the customer's device, but I also don't agree with customers somehow being absolved of having a minimum level of decorum.

If you operate a business in the Internet age and delude yourself that customers are required to have decorum, you are in for a rude shock, sooner than later.

Re: iPhone App will not stay open - just flashes when trying to launch

#134

Post by throw_this_away »

qume wrote: post #53

Dear customer, We are a small team who don't have the resources to test every single OS version on every device. Problems will happen. As such we're happy to issue you a refund, and you can keep the device. All we ask is that you let us update the app to make sure it's working on your device, and hopefully others. Thank you for helping us find the issue. We will work tirelessly until it is fixed. If at some stage you…

I get the sentiment, but why should a hardware company let the user keep the device and their money? Issuing a refund and finding a way to retrieve the device so it can be resold makes much more sense to me. Especially for a small company....

Giving away your product for free to every customer that complains seems like a quick way to go out of business.

If you buy a faulty ipad from apple, they'll certainly give you your money back, but they'll make you return the ipad.

Re: iPhone App will not stay open - just flashes when trying to launch

#135

Post by mirimir »

woof wrote: post #117
mirimir wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's an app, so virtual device, I guess.

The "Garadget controller" ( https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/softcomplex/garadget-ga... ) looks like a physical device to me.

You're right. I didn't look carefully enough at the Amazon page.

Re: iPhone App will not stay open - just flashes when trying to launch

#137

Post by pfarnsworth »

dangrossman wrote: post #95
victorhooi wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We are talking about the device that he sold him right? Not the iPhone? Lol. He offered a full refund (although he admittedly could be a bit more tactful). If he's said - I'm disabling it, too bad, I'd agree that's out of line. However, what was actually said was - You're a jerk - I don't want your business, give me back the device, and I'll give you the money back. Now they don't have to deal with each other, and no…

How would you feel if you bought a Tesla Model S, then a few weeks later they called you up and said "we don't like your online review of your car, so we're going to disable most of its functionality, but you can return it for a refund". $8000+ in option packages on that car rely on cloud functionality run by Tesla. If you don't -want- a refund, but -want- the car you already paid for that's sitting in your driveway,…

Musk did actually blacklist a someone for tweeting something unfavorable towards Musk.

https://cleantechnica.com/2016/02/03/sour-model-x-unveiling-...

Re: iPhone App will not stay open - just flashes when trying to launch

#138

Post by bschwindHN »

What's the right way to design an IoT product to not be dependent on a startup's cloud servers?

- Allow the app/device to point to a different host (running an open source version of the backend)? - Support LAN connectivity without round-tripping to a third party server? - Allow the user to load their own firmware onto the device?

I don't know where the line is for these things, it seems to be a balance of convenience, ownership, and security.

What's the ideal way to handle this so it works well even if the backing company disappears?

Re: iPhone App will not stay open - just flashes when trying to launch

#139

Post by usrusr »

jimmies wrote: post #41

I don't know why many comments about "the customer is clearly an asshole, therefore he deserves the lock not working/the company has the legal rights to do so blah blah" are modded so high right now. Even when the customer is an asshole, that has absolutely nothing to do with a security device betraying him or not. I'm very glad that the customer is now only denied access to the app. I can see one day a company that…

I don't really see that future where honest lockmakers would routinely pivot to selling access to the highest bidder, but I do see one where potential buyers would be even more likely than today to choose the devil they know (an overpriced incumbent with less innovative products, but who can be absolutely trusted to not trip into suicidal anti-customer vendettas) over the devil they don't (the charming startup that might hide a source of infinite childishness)

Re: iPhone App will not stay open - just flashes when trying to launch

#140

Post by jaclaz »

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #89
jlgaddis wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To be clear, he disabled the app , not the customer's device.

The device's primarily-marketed feature is opening your garage from an app. To do this, the app and the device talk through the company's server. This developer blocked the customer's app from the server. That breaks the device's primary functionality.

As a side note, I wonder about the original app design, I mean, Wi-Fi/Internet connection is down and I cannot enter my garage (unless I still have anyway handy the original garage remote or key), the company's server is down (for whtever reason) and I am locked outside the garage, there is a DDOS on (say) Cloudflare and I am locked out of the garage ... :(

Usually this kind of hiccups happen not in a sunny warm day, but when it is heavily raining, during a storm, etc.

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