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

community.garadget.com

251–260 of 453 posts

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

#251

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Calling a product a piece of shit is perfectly acceptable behavior, it often is a reasonable and accurate opinion about a product and definitely meets the standards of the "level of decorum" expected for customer product reviews. Customers shouldn't be absolved of having a minimum level of decorum, but that minimum is at the level of (a) personal insults at specific people ("Bob in customer support is a piece of shit…

No, I'm sorry, that is not perfectly acceptable behaviour. It's not illegal - but it's also not helpful, or constructive, and nor is it desirable if you're trying to build a helpful community. There are other ways of getting your point across, without resorting to insults such as "piece of s*it". In Chinese, we might call this 家教 - or "upbringing". If you have no decorum, or class - it suggests that your upbringing w…

> It's not exactly like the developer didn't try to help.

In their first and only reply they perma banned the customers device ID. How are they helping?

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

#252
Garadget does not deserve to be in business. If you are a B2C company specializing in security IoT, you don't have the right to disable your clients hardware as you see fit...Garadget have engineered a common product, but they know little about business...

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

#254

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> the customer is always right This is a useful perspective to take if you're in sales. For a support engineer, not so much. When I did Tier 1 for credit cards, the mantra everywhere invoked was instead: "The customer is not always right, but is always deserving of respect." Which has always struck me as a much more balanced and sensible attitude to take, when the objective is to solve a problem. Sometimes that probl…

The two are exactly the same from the outcome perspective; you always treat the customer with respect and try to please them.

There is a slight nuance with this when it comes to support - support often doesn't have the ability to satisfy all customer wants, and sometimes what the customer wants is outside of the supported use cases or the scope of support.

For the topic at hand (Garadget), the rep was absolutely out of line; I don't know if this was a policy they were enforcing or just a bad day, but I've been called worse than that by my customers even on good days, and it should just roll off you at this point.

But, always trying to please the customer has a nasty effect of backfiring a lot of the time, since sometimes pleasing them means getting into support situations that are untenable.

Respect? Absolutely - usually customers are smart, and as long as you are reasonable and respectful, so are they. But aiming to please gets people into a bad mindset of not being able to deliver bad news or establish policy.

Edit: corrected spelling mistake.

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

#255

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A lot of brick and mortar shops actually have a sign that says "We reserve the right to refuse service."

Yes but they had better have a really compelling unique product if they choose to exercise that right.

I've worked retail. Pretty much every place that's worth working at has banned a few customers. Perhaps 1 in 1000 customers will be actively abusive towards other customers or towards employees.

I recall my first boss, who once had a customer push to the front of the line in a crowded shop. The customer rudely demand to be served. My boss was a very proper older southern lady, and she said, "Ma'am, you can also find [this product] at the grocery store across the street, and I encourage you go there." After the woman had stomped out, my boss turned the other customers and said, "Well, she wants us to have a bad day, and we're not going to," and she served the next person in line. I'm told the other customers practically cheered.

Of course, if you had told her that her product was a "piece of shit," she would have disapproved of your language but she would have refunded your money and replaced the product in an instant. She took quality seriously. If you were really rude about it, I suppose she might have "fired" you afterwards, though.

As a boss, you need to set limits about how badly your customers can act before they get (politely) booted. Anything less is inhumane to your employees. But this doesn't mean you should fire a customer over a bad Amazon review.

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

#256
post #153
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…

Which companies do the refund + keep-device if unsatisfied?

I got an offer for a refund + keep the device on a $7 electronic part that I posted a 3 star review on from a fulfillment-by-amazon seller.

I guess handling the return would cost more than the value of the item, and presumably they really don't want a 3 star review.

(I did not accept the offer, that would feel a bit dishonest)

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

#257
post #247

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, great analogy. But Amazon can nuke accounts and disable "purchased" books, video, etc, at will. So there's a gray area. I think what Amazon does ought to be illegal, but hey.

So, with a little shame I'll admit I've actually been "banned" from Amazon. The one thing I can still access is all the digital content such as books, videos, and like, games or game keys that are associated with my account. I can't get into half of the account settings, can't even view my stored payment methods, for example. But, to their credit, I can read my stupid Kindle books. Luckily their eBook DRM is terrible…

Sorry about being banned, bro.

But I am pleased to hear that Amazon is no longer (always, anyway) blocking access after account termination.

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

#258

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.

Since Garadget deliberately and maliciously disabled the device, can the consumer sue for compensation for the time wasted on it?

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

#259
post #51

Usually Internet (and real life) shitstorms are made when two assholes collide. Customer may be an asshole trying to stick it to the little indiegogo guy in a way he knows will have a disproportionate impact. On the other hand, the iPhone app does really suck and crashes constantly. Even big companies can't seem to make reliable software these days. All of that said, you went into business, so time to put on the big…

Well, he's also offering a refund. Not sure where the problem is in that case with the service provider's response. If you have sh*tty customers it's smart to drop them fast and focus on your good customers.

> Well, he's also offering a refund.

No, he isn't. He suggests returning the device to point of purchase, Amazon, who have no control over this situation.

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

#260
post #153
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…

Which companies do the refund + keep-device if unsatisfied?

Every company selling products via the internet in the EU.
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