It's unfortunate, even if MiLife+ turns out to be everything as described, my and most others experience with WakeMate was terrible. From poor hardware, to a buggy app, to the general indifference of their customers' suffering, does not instill confidence in any future products related to WakeMate.
Shouldn't there be an extensive apology blog post that apologizes for the failures of WakeMate and contrasts that with what MiLife+ will be in both product and quality of service?
Don't forget just abandoning the Android version completely, without bothering to tell anyone. I really don't believe they are going to support the new Android app any better.
Seems slightly unethical to use you former companies twitter account (and email list it seems, based on the ad I received) to market for your new company.
Exactly, this is weird. Till march, @wakemate twitter account was asking saying its email address is arun at wakemate.
I was about to order one, even though I had to wait a long time for my wakemate. However, after reading this thread, I've decided against it. Too much drama.
It's still taking an account that was used exclusively for things relating to wakemate and using it to market a completely different product. Look at the history for the account, it's pretty clear it's not just a personal account that had been used for wakemate stuff.
I couldn't agree more. This company stains the name of YC in my opinion.
I bought a WakeMate in Jan 11, it stopped working within 3 mos. So I emailed support, they asked me to fill out a Refurbishment Request Form (a Google doc). I did, but they never responded. I emailed again... no reply. $100 down the tube... just threw it in the trash last week in fact.
I defended these guys when they had the bad USB plugs that caught on fire. I'm an entrepreneur too, I get that hardware is a pain... support is a drag. But I also know I've absolutely bent over backward to help paying customers... I've easily spent several hours helping customers paying for a $29/mo account on many, many occasions. It's just inexcusable to completely ignore customers.
Many of you received an email this morning concerning a new product called MiLife+. I want to make it clear that WakeMate is not affiliated with this product in any way.
Today was the first time I have heard of this product and I am shocked at the way it was promoted to WakeMate customers. Our mailing list was used without our knowledge by a former WakeMate employee, Greg. Fortunately no other user information was compromised and I am deleting the mailing list.
For those of you who have donated to the Indiegogo project I have contacted Greg and Indiegogo and it is being taken down. You will all receive your money back.
What’s Next?
I poured my heart and soul into this company and though we stumbled along the way I believe that we provided something of value to our customers. However, as many of you have guessed, we have exhausted our capital and will no longer be making any more WakeMates.
Currently our plan is to keep the service going while we work on open sourcing the technology. Hopefully this will ensure that you can continue to enjoy the product and its benefits even after the company no longer exists.
I am very sorry for the unsolicited emails. This email list will not be used again.
Comments
It's unfortunate, even if MiLife+ turns out to be everything as described, my and most others experience with WakeMate was terrible. From poor hardware, to a buggy app, to the general indifference of their customers' suffering, does not instill confidence in any future products related to WakeMate.
Shouldn't there be an extensive apology blog post that apologizes for the failures of WakeMate and contrasts that with what MiLife+ will be in both product and quality of service?
Don't forget just abandoning the Android version completely, without bothering to tell anyone. I really don't believe they are going to support the new Android app any better.
It's not exactly giving me confidence when there are tweets like this one: http://twitter.com/wakemate/statuses/218007015379845120
Seems slightly unethical to use you former companies twitter account (and email list it seems, based on the ad I received) to market for your new company.
Exactly, this is weird. Till march, @wakemate twitter account was asking saying its email address is arun at wakemate.
I was about to order one, even though I had to wait a long time for my wakemate. However, after reading this thread, I've decided against it. Too much drama.
Twitter account now changed name from "Wakemate" to "Greg":
https://twitter.com/#!/wakemate
It's still taking an account that was used exclusively for things relating to wakemate and using it to market a completely different product. Look at the history for the account, it's pretty clear it's not just a personal account that had been used for wakemate stuff.
Is MiLife a new company? If so, did they buy the assets of WakeMate? Or is it the same original entity that YC has equity in?
Yes, it is a new company: http://twitter.com/wakemate/statuses/218002374436995077
I couldn't agree more. This company stains the name of YC in my opinion.
I bought a WakeMate in Jan 11, it stopped working within 3 mos. So I emailed support, they asked me to fill out a Refurbishment Request Form (a Google doc). I did, but they never responded. I emailed again... no reply. $100 down the tube... just threw it in the trash last week in fact.
I defended these guys when they had the bad USB plugs that caught on fire. I'm an entrepreneur too, I get that hardware is a pain... support is a drag. But I also know I've absolutely bent over backward to help paying customers... I've easily spent several hours helping customers paying for a $29/mo account on many, many occasions. It's just inexcusable to completely ignore customers.
I got this email from Arun this morning:
Hello WakeMaters!
MiLife+
Many of you received an email this morning concerning a new product called MiLife+. I want to make it clear that WakeMate is not affiliated with this product in any way.
Today was the first time I have heard of this product and I am shocked at the way it was promoted to WakeMate customers. Our mailing list was used without our knowledge by a former WakeMate employee, Greg. Fortunately no other user information was compromised and I am deleting the mailing list.
For those of you who have donated to the Indiegogo project I have contacted Greg and Indiegogo and it is being taken down. You will all receive your money back.
What’s Next?
I poured my heart and soul into this company and though we stumbled along the way I believe that we provided something of value to our customers. However, as many of you have guessed, we have exhausted our capital and will no longer be making any more WakeMates.
Currently our plan is to keep the service going while we work on open sourcing the technology. Hopefully this will ensure that you can continue to enjoy the product and its benefits even after the company no longer exists.
I am very sorry for the unsolicited emails. This email list will not be used again.
all the best, Arun Gupta co-founder of WakeMate