So I got a note from Stephanie from Auctiva last week and it went to my spam bin which is why I only noticed it today (sorry about that!).

In light of my post about Auctiva’s sudden fee increases, I had written this post and Stephanie wrote to ask the following:

Hi Hillary:

So, we realize the error of our way and want to earn back the trust and confidence from our Community. Can I answer any questions or provide more information?

Stephanie

My answer? You didn’t really lose my trust, though I know I am not speaking for everyone as you did lose the trust of a lot of other people. Frankly, I’m not sure you ever had my trust to begin with as I always saw you as just a free service so my expectations (and therefore trust) in your service weren’t all that rock solid to start with.

But look at the note you wrote me. You want to earn back my trust so you want to know if I have questions? Asking me that implies I don’t understand your offer. Are you trying to earn back my trust by calling me stupid because I am not sure that is cool. I understand your offer just fine, I just liked it better when it was free. For others, they are feeling betrayed that this came so suddenly and was such a huge increase. All of the following statements would have earned you a little more of my trust than the above:

We want to earn back your trust so. . .

  • we are going to take feedback from our valued members and reevaluate our pricing plans.
  • we are going to extend an additional discount/free whatever to loyal long time members such as yourself.
  • we are grandfathering you into some discounted rate or special extra feature that new members won’t get.

This isn’t a comprehension issue, Auctiva. If you were serious about winning back our trust, then you are already going about it a bad way. Appologize and then figure out how to make it right. That is going to involve more than answering questions.

But, you know, I wasn’t badly burned by the change. So let me turn this over to my readers. I know some of them are really ticked about the change and I also know that some are “eh” about it like I am.

What do you think Auctiva can do to earn back your trust or is it lost for good? (If you respond in your own blog, trackback this entry or post the link so we can see your reply.)