Feeling disappointed is what I'm feeling now. After a huge expectation from a new website platform service called The Grid, I got underwhelmed for what they did to me. I sucked into their persona and promises when the first time I signed up in December 2014. Yes, I still remember the time when I pre-ordered the service without any doubt, ended up with spending $96 for nothing. I never thought it was a scam (and I don't want to till now) for a reason that they might just make an unstrategic plan for the whole they did since the beginning. I even wrote a special blog post to promote their website, which I thought it was a "breakthrough" website platform. But, I was wrong. It was NOT as GREAT as I thought at the first time.

They Failed to Deliver On Time

As they said on their website at the time I signed up to pre-order, they prompted to deliver their product by the end of Spring 2015, But it didn't happen. They rolled the survey and private beta testing for selected 100 founding members and got the result that they were not ready to launch the product in the expected time frame. As the beta testing rolling, they keep opening the pre-order until they got more than 65.000 founding members. In my opinion, this was a HUGE mistake as they said their product was not ready yet.

Another update from The Grid

They postponed The Launch

If they talked they are in the healthy financial environment, backed up by a handful of investors, it's better to get their product ready first before trying just to achieve a milestone which backfiring them after. They hold people's money; they can't do that. If they want to get more people on the ship before their product ready, give it for free. They dissented in understanding the startup term. Now, they need the PR term, "Crisis Management".

They Were Over Promises

Have you seen The Grid website? It's beautiful and unique, isn't it? But, Are we going to have that kind of look, font and feel? Hmmm... I don't know! I tried the platform once, and never want to go back again. Since they always say AI technology all the time, I didn't feel it there. It's still a baby like they said or even embryo?! The font, the look, the UI and the UX are something I care about since I saw their website for the first time. But now I expect nothing. I will recommend Squarespace or just go with Wordpress and Shopify (for E-Commerce), or even Blogger with less effort on building your website. Forget the AI! For now, let's just see the final product of The Grid.

Take a look at this mind-blowing video that was made me spent $96 without any doubt:

But then it turns me down...

They Are Good on Writing, But They Are Poor on Delivering the Message

I always get their newsletter regularly. Hmmm...Not so regularly, actually. The Grid skipped some months, maybe they were busy, or I assumed that they didn't have something to tell, and they want to shut "the situation" down. The newsletter which was fun at first became emotional and tense. Those made me surely believe that their product isn't ready yet to launch.

They Invited Me As a Beta Tester, And It Was Just Wrong

I never had a problem to be a Beta Tester, but in this case, I didn't want to be that way for something that I bought or pre-order before. It was a fraudulence. Let me describe it when you buy a new iPhone 6 in the market; you will get the final product, right? Whether you find the features or specifications which not as good as you thought before, you just suck it. But, how about, if you buy an iPhone 6, and you got a plastic iPhone, and since this is a beta product, then you suggest to make it in the metal body. After that, they take it back and make your suggestion happen. Vuala...As the result, now you get the final product. Is it sounds ridiculous?

I was upset with this situation, and send an email to the Support Team as down below:

Dear The Grid Support,

I'm really disappointed with The Grid. First, you made me waiting for more than a year to get me into your platform. Second, I'm not expecting myself to be in "Not Ready Product" since you put me in as a Beta Tester. You must be clear in the first place about that, coz why I have to pay $96 to be a Beta Tester? Because actually, you need to pay us for that. Third, at the first time I paid for this, I was believed it will be a revolutionary product due to your "sparkling" advertisement. But it becomes nonsense now.

So, please I want to get my refund. Have a nice day!

Regards,

Hafiz

They Accept to Give Me A Refund And Failed (Again) to Deliver On Time

Well, it was not easy to get your money back. It took me several emails, started from my "friendly tone" to my very "sharp sound" since they didn't follow up me back. It took me waiting for more than 30 days to get my refund in hands. The first time, I was handled by Betty B, but then she just went with the wind (No Follow Up). Luckily, I was assisted by Jordy Webb. He was nice and helpful until I got my refund. I knew it's not easy to handle more than 65.000 members with even no final product yet. I have been in their position as a customer service, and it was not their fault – they just did their day job. 

This blog post is genuinely my point of view about The Grid without any force from any party to write about this. In fact, I hope the company can improve their service in regards to customer satisfaction and loyalty. They need to prove to their founding members that The Grid is not a scam.

If you have the same thought or any comment you like to share, please write down below. I appreciate your comment and share.