I totally agree with you. These people, via their laziness or lack of basic common sense, tend to fail horribly and make it harder on the rest of us that are making it happen.

So what can we do in ways of “quality control”??

You do a great job so you should not need to worry. Just noticed a large scale
company advertising proudly in the underground that they have “90%” happy customers. What is that to advertise, would anybody purchase anything from a eBayer with less than 99% positive feedback?
To wrap it up there is always a small minority not happy even if you would stand on your head. This group is approximately 1% or perhaps 0.5% even if your product is perfect and you deliver as quickly as possible. For some it is a habit to complain, some try to haggle by complaining. I make the decision from case to case of how to handle these. Usually we havwe been able to turn these customers to loyal ones promoting us instead.

I couldnt agree with both of you more,

definitely the comment that those that spend so much time complaining about
it could probably make it work if they exerted the same effort to “doing it”

Makes me think to really go back to any products that i have TRULY valued and
give a big 5 stars, because i’m sure somewhere someone will be slating it!

Great post

Cher

There are always two sides to a coin and any clever marketer would know how to protect their reputation and that of their products/services. Turn that negative into a positive, in fact, flood the positive so it’s overwhelming.

In any line of work, you’ll have your support cases where people whine and complain. The trick here (IMHO) is to take the ones that you’ve provides solutions to and get those out into the open. For every 1 complainer there should be 9 to 19 happy customers out there who are willing to attest to that fact.

Here are just two small things that I do with my user base that makes a world of difference:
I send out surveys to my user base frequently and take all of their feedback (good/bad) and amplify the good ones by writing them personally and thanking them for their gratitude. I’ll also through a few bonuses, discounts or other unadvertised things their way for their contribution and then (with their permission) i’ll submit, print, display their comments anywhere I can where my product or service is mentioned.

The second thing that I will periodically do when/if I get a hint of negativity out there that is gaining traction amongst the fringe.. I’ll engage the concern head on at whatever forum my detractors are at with professionalism and courtesy to bring a resolution or at least address the problems at hand. I’ll also contact my user base and present them a copy or a link to the forum/post/articles/etc and gather their feedback to see if i’m off kilter. Of course, what happens then, my faithful and happy customers counter those negative posts with post of positive stories of their own… all without any encouragement or sponsorship from me.

Web 2.0 is a two way street. Those that complain about complainers and those that take action and turn coconuts into Pina Coladas.

Cheers

Ah! …to be despised by the nincompoops of the end-users world! Unfortunately, you can’t completely ignore them if they are maliciously attempting to sabotage you. All the more important reason to secure your team and your inner circle of loyal fans around you. Fooey on the nincompoops of the world! Let your fans and inner circle be your guard.

And for those who are simply “lashing-out,” well, you never know what’s going on in their lives. No one can be all things to all people. Besides, the world is full of whiners and complainers, so what else is new? Now they have a venue where they believe they make a difference.

Furthermore, the older you get and the more mature you are the less you care about what nincompoops say, the easier it is to deal with them (often ignoring, sometimes confronting with stated observations – which by the way, they are usually not prepared to hear nor face).

Consider someone who is in their 8th or 9th decade and could care less about what others say. They are only interested in what those closest to them thinks or feels.

Your good reputation Precedes you, Brad, so keep up the good work!

I think part of the problem is that “everyone” on the internet is suddenly an “expert”, expecially when their chosen niche has to do with online or internet anything.

The job I’m currently trying Oh-So-Hard to lose is as a tech support engineer for a small software company. We make a product used by Human Resource departments all across the country (USA). I have learned 1 thing from this line of work – No matter HOW hard you try, no software is going to be 100% compatible with every computer on the planet. It’s simply not possible.

Between Macs and PCs and Linux/Unix boxes, desktops/laptops/netbooks/tablet pcs, a zillion different internet browsers with Pop-Up blockers and other security utilities, spam/malware/adware, etc, etc… Most computer operators really don’t know EVERY script, applet, utility that is running on their computer. Many applications will automatically check for updates and download stuff that you may not be aware of.

If I don’t know what all is running on my computer, how is Brad in Indiana going to be certain his software is going to be compatible with everything on my machine?

Unfortunately these “nouveau-experts” forget that piece of the puzzle. “Brad made it, so he should be able to fix it, and if he can’t…” (this is where you picture a senile old man ranting at no one in particular and shaking his fist in the air. VERY menacing! LOL)

So, under the guise of “Helping out” or “Protecting other Consumers”, the nouveau-experts tell all 4 of their friends on Twitter, and the 2000 other “Friends” they never met, about all the problems they are having with X software.

I guess the trick is to make sure you have more supporters than detractors. And keep putting out the killer products we’ve come to expect and enjoy from you, Brad!

I have TWO statements here…

(1) “You’ll lose at least $500/month by using this product for your business!”

(2) “You’ll make at least $5000/month by using this product for your business!”

In my opinion…there will be more people to echo the 1st statement than the 2nd as psychologically people will pay more attention on ‘Not to Loss’ than ‘How to Gain’.

Regards,

Ray