This blog post is from the "never let a competitor's mistake go unnoticed" school of thought.
i would rather say it's from the 'never let a competitor's dishonesty go unnoticed'
that you call it a 'mistake' speaks very poorly of you
When “free forever” means “free for the next 4 months”
101–110 of 267 posts
Re: When “free forever” means “free for the next 4 months”
#102Earlier quoted context omitted.
They should at least grandfathered any users on the -free forever- plan
Or tell them it may stop being free in X years, where X is large enough that it’s aways off but close enough that some decide to switch. And then stop new signups but never actually take away the free plan. The “good work Wesley, I’ll probably charge you in the morning” plan.
That Princess Bride reference evolved well. Top form!
Re: When “free forever” means “free for the next 4 months”
#103If a company gets rid of my free forever plan with them, there is a 0% chance that they're getting any money or positive word of mouth from me in the future. It's incredibly scummy behavior. If you're not willing to actually offer it forever, just call it a free plan instead of lying about it.
you’ve never made a mistake in your future predictions? youve never committed to something you couldnt deliver? i understand the outrage but remember the people on the other side of that screen are just humans too. many things dont turn out the way the initial intention was (im not excusing this specific instance, im just hoping for less vitriol when i someday make some over promising mistake in future). let he who i…
It should be illegal to offer 'free forever' plans and tiers. No company is actually capable of delivering on that promise. It's not a mistake if its blatantly obvious at the beginning that your company is unlikely to last forever.
Re: When “free forever” means “free for the next 4 months”
#104Oh hey, it’s like the mIRC rugpull.
Re: When “free forever” means “free for the next 4 months”
#105If a company gets rid of my free forever plan with them, there is a 0% chance that they're getting any money or positive word of mouth from me in the future. It's incredibly scummy behavior. If you're not willing to actually offer it forever, just call it a free plan instead of lying about it.
Not trying to be funny, but if you're on a 'free forever' plan and happy with it there's already a close-to-0% chance they'll get any money off you...
You might be happy, but then hit a free limit and decide to pay to be even more happy
The chance is low, but not that close to 0%
Re: When “free forever” means “free for the next 4 months”
#106This blog post is from the "never let a competitor's mistake go unnoticed" school of thought.
Not sure I totally agree. Capitalizing on a competitors mistake is kind of slimy; calling out their poor business practices is not. Users will invest their time and resources into using your product based on the promise that it’s free forever. Changing your mind later puts the burden on them to figure out how to move forward. Even if I was a free user and I was considering a paid plan that type of dishonesty would ma…
Yeah, I disagree. It dosnt seem right to capitalize on another's mistakes by calling them out on it, and then offering a competing plan.
Re: When “free forever” means “free for the next 4 months”
#107> Zulip’s support strategy is, as much as possible, to solve the reported problem
> it’s not how most companies handle their support load
This is so sad, Alexa play despacito. If "most companies" no longer actually solve issues through customer service, what is even happening to the world?
I'm starting to feel like the purpose of customer service is actually to waste the customer's time with the impression of helpfulness until they no longer have any energy and give up pursuing other avenues.
Presumably to prevent upset customers from leaving bad reviews, trying to contact anyone else at the company, or threatening legal action.
It's just de-escalation and exhaustion.
Re: When “free forever” means “free for the next 4 months”
#108What I would have done is removing the free plan for new subscription, but the existing free subscription should not be terminated.
Re: When “free forever” means “free for the next 4 months”
#109If a company gets rid of my free forever plan with them, there is a 0% chance that they're getting any money or positive word of mouth from me in the future. It's incredibly scummy behavior. If you're not willing to actually offer it forever, just call it a free plan instead of lying about it.
you’ve never made a mistake in your future predictions? youve never committed to something you couldnt deliver? i understand the outrage but remember the people on the other side of that screen are just humans too. many things dont turn out the way the initial intention was (im not excusing this specific instance, im just hoping for less vitriol when i someday make some over promising mistake in future). let he who i…
Actions always have consequences. If your bad decisions aren't affecting you, they're affecting other people.
You want absolution for your mistakes, go to Confession.
For the rest of us, back pressure is what makes our giant distributed system called Civilization work.
Re: When “free forever” means “free for the next 4 months”
#110Earlier quoted context omitted.
> This is well written, but it doesn’t really explain how or why Zulip will maintain its free plan forever. i don't see anywhere zulip has made that claim, merely that it is currently free. in fact, it explains that they're careful about what promises they make, so that they don't end up having to break them.
In the conclusion: > We fully expect to continue offering the Zulip Cloud Free plan indefinitely,
And their broader thrust in the post is less the forever and more of the "own your mistakes". Don't pretend like you never had a free forever plan.
Their promise seems to be less "we'll ACTUALLY be free forever" and more "we're free right now, but if that's going to change, we'll communicate with you".