Would you rather be right, or would you rather be happy? It was a mantra of mine and something that seems very apropos for our new ways of doing business.
I used to tell people that being “right” was a burden. In fact I’ve often found myself in a situation where I had formulated a hypothesis, which I secretly prayed would be “wrong”. I suppose that it’s nice to be right as in when it shows you have some level of proficiency or expertise.
But when I fight with a friend or loved one to the extent where we both can become miserable or might even say things we wish we hadn’t, at what point does being right stop being so important.
But I am digressing, at least from the point I’m trying to make.
In business, we seem to see some companies who have it right. I suspect that people don’t shop at Nordstrom’s because of their great deals (they rarely have any), but instead because of the great customer service. I bought a grooming product from them, used it once and didn’t like it. Upon a salesperson’s insistence a year later, brought it back. No questions asked. (cont’d page 2)
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{ 24 comments… read them below or add one }
First off Headway is not a second rate organization. They are 100 class act. I have had many interactions with Grant and Clay Griffiths and the rest of the Headway support team and they are amazing.
It is interesting you never say why you asked for a refund. You never said in your post if you had issues? If you did did you post in the forums or use the #Headwaywp hash tag on twitter? Not only is support great but so is the community.
No where in your post have you stated your proper concerns or intentions. So I really wonder what your motive really is for writing this post.
Rob
In your post, you have never stated if Headway did not work as advertised and if so what did not. Frankly Headway is promoted as the drag and drop theme and it works as advertised.
Hmm, I can’t seem to get the robertbcairns.com link to work, so you have me at a bit of a disadvantage as I don’t know you or what you do, etc. I notice the cairns-clan site isn’t a Headway site. Neither here nor there. I never said that Headway was a second rate organization. Those are your words. And while your interactions with the people there have been in your words, “amazing”, that was not and is not my experience. I didn’t intend on doing due diligence with the world to find out just how many people might have man crushes on the proprietors of Headway. Your incredible experience with them makes me feel even sadder then that they chose to not respond to my 6 or 7 nicely worded emails. I suppose if I were in love with their products as you seem to be, then there might have been some bonding. You also say you find their product as advertised and easy to use. I didn’t. Apparently we have different backgrounds and experiences. They led me to believe that one without any experience designing sites would be able to do some amazing things with their product. This wasn’t the case for me. Thus, I had a product I couldn’t use. Whether this deficiency was mine or in the design of the product matters not.
I explained my situation and asked for a remedy and was ignored. Ignoring someone is NEVER good business. I was ignored 6 or 7 times.
I didn’t twitter anybody, but sent emails.
Does it matter if their products cure cancer and can make monkeys fly? The point of my article is that as a customer they made me feel like crap. Period, end of story.
And to make it all worse, they sent me a final email just to let me know how really wrong I am.
This to me is simply bad business. And I believe my article clearly states what my issues are and were.
My real motivation for writing this was simply to point to how I FEEL somebody could have handled a situation. It is a warning to others and a testimony to those who get it right. It is what I do. I am a writer. I have written hundreds of articles and instead of embracing what I had to tell them about my experience, I was belittled.
It’s my blog and represents my experience. You don’t have to read it and in your blog you can write what you want.
Feel free to write about your own positive experiences with them if you wish, but don’t negate my poor experiences or the fact that I use this as an opportunity to potentially educate.
I actually admit that Headway is “RIGHT”. But I pose the question, “would you rather be right or would your rather be happy?”
So are you also here to prove they are “most right”, “righter” or simply want to join them in “righteousness”?
Would you rather be right or would you rather be happy?
Having been on both sides of this story with various products it’s difficult. I’m a digital content producer fgoand have had many people buy my product and then refund a few hours, even minutes later. As it’s a digital product you can’t return it so they still have my product and their money and so have got it for free. However that is my refund policy and I stick to it. If it was a no refunds policy I would stick to that too.
A lot of digital content producers offer no refunds – iTunes for example, downloads of music and TV/Movies are non-refundable. Even physical things like CDs, jewellery, DVDs are non-refundable unless there is something broken with them.
Ease of use is a very personal thing, it’s always easy when you know how but depends on how your brains works or your particular learning style. I once took golf lessons and told I’d pick it up in no time. I didn’t, I can’t figure it all out. It’s not for me, but I didn’t ask for a refund.
Disclaimer: I use Headway on my site and find it easy to use.
I’ve had nothing but great support from Headway and many (unpaid) members of their community and so have nothing but good things to say about them. Many other theme authors have a no-refund policy too, or on a case-by-case basis.
I don’t think this post is about being right or happy. I think it does say a lot about unrealistic expectations. Just because you found Headway to be difficult to use doesn’t necessarily make it so. There are tons of Headway users out there that would swear it was the easiest theme they’ve used to create unique, custom websites. Unfortunately, no matter how ‘easy to use’ something is, there is usually a learning curve. And if you were expecting a pre-made ‘template’ like many of the ‘themes’ out there, I can see how Headway might not have been what you expected.
To me, the fact that you were ready to throw in the towel after just a few hours speaks volumes. Did you ask for assistance in the support forums? It doesn’t sound like you did. It sounds like you had unrealistic expectations from a product and got angry when it didn’t live up to them. And then used that anger to fuel this rant.
I have never known the Headway community to ignore e-mails or messages asking for help. I’ve even come to the aid of folks using the #headwaywp hashtag on Twitter.
Calling Headway a poor product based on your brief attempts at using it is excessive. Especially in light of the fact that it appears you didn’t make any real attempt at learning how to use it.
Honestly, I believe that someone could come out with a theme that did everything possible and there would still be people out there with unrealistic expectations who would find fault. And I think that’s the sad commentary your angry post makes best.
I would rather be happy. That’s why I choose to stay with Headway. I’m no rocket scientist, coding guru, hot gun — I just like to be able to point and click and go on about my business. ANY TIME I have had a problem, I either email or tweet – and have an answer that same day and often within the hour.
I’m sorry your experienced sucked for you. I do know Grant and Clay, the co-owners, have worked very hard to create a great product and to give the best customer service. That has always been my experience.
I am curious how you heard about Headway in the first place. What prompted you to purchase the product? Was it a satisfied customer who recommended it? I’m also curious what about it didn’t work for you? Did you check the boards for solutions, or send an email requesting a solution or asked the person who recommended it (if there was one)?
I wish you luck in your search for a theme that works for you. I’m sorry you feel you need to go to Word Camp and bad mouth a company I like. It actually seems that there might be more to the story here.
Deb Brown of Debworks
Headway’s terms of service are neither “obscure” nor “wishy-washy.” The link is plain as day on the site in the exact same place it is on most websites on the internet: at the bottom of the page.
The terms state:
Since you in fact did not try all of the available support channels (you said you only bothered with it for a few hours and only sent emails) I can see why you didn’t get a refund.
To essentially say “if you don’t give in to my wishes, I’m going to badmouth you” is absolutely a threat and couldn’t possibly be confused for anything else no matter how much you say it isn’t.
That and your rambling, exaggerated, immature and inaccurate post here say much more to me about you as a person than about Headway as a company. It is a myth that a company should allow itself to be so abused in the name of customer service.
My site is actually down due to a dns move:) Cairns-clan.com will be moving to Headway. You still have not indicated what was wrong and why you returned the product. What do you find wrong with the product. When complaining and writing a blog post specifics are always good. Generalities leaves us readers wondering what your motive is.
Headway does get it right. Funny how you say you emailed but have you posted those emails or the responses? I wonder why not if you feel why you were ignored.
Don’t negate your poor experiences what words. Did you leave this post open for comments so everyone could agree with you. Because I strongly disagree with you, you are telling me not to negate your experiences but you are doing the same. That is so ironic.
Frankly in a comment I should be able to say what I want as long as I am professional. Which I have been. It is obvious you are not. You are telling others they are not free to give their view points but you leave the post open for comments.
You still have not given any concrete facts about your experience or what was wrong with it.
Cudos to Headway for rallying the troops and getting you all to rush to their aid. You’re all missing the point. My complaint is that I sent them 6 or 7 emails and diodn’t get a single reply. Yes, the thrust of mey email was to say I didn’t think the product was right for me and I’d like a refund, but they didn’t even respond to me to tell me what theri policy was. It wasn’t until I started putting in all kinds of weird answers to an email survey they sent, that I got their attention. In my opinion, I think it is bad business to ignore a customer looking for a refun, simply hoping he or she will go away.
Secondly, I told Headway that they were right. They have a policy, and perhaps wishy washy was a poor choice of words. Although it does seem that at least on occasion they have made a refund. They are right. They are absolutely right. Again, I found their product hard to use. Please call me an idiot, but I imagie their might be another person or two who would agreee. That isn’t the point and if you all didn’t seem to have your own agendas of rescuing Headway, you might see that.
So, I’ve been ignored and now I’m being belittled. In fact all of you who want to tell me that I am wrong because I find their product hard to use are belittling me. This is my reality. Their emails offered no sort of remedy or help or care or concern. When I suggested that I didn’t think this was a good business practice and menitoned that I wroteabout such things, I was then told they would not be bullied into giving me a refund.
In the end, they have my $80 and I have something I can’t use. It is that simple.
All I am saying is that in my opinion the ignoring of my emails, subsequent emails from them and conclusion was poor business on their part.
Just as it is their prerogative to have whatever business policy they choose, it is my prerogative to do business with those whose business policy is more favorable to the customer. I didn’t want to give the software a chance. I was told that I needed no experience and I was frustrated at my attempts to do anything with the product. I didn’t sign up for a “spend 20 or 80 hours learning all there is to learn about the product and wading through all kinds of online training”. I signed up for something that I was led to believe wouldn’t require that.
Please, no more righteous need apply. You’re all right and I am a complete idiot. Now how proud you all must be and yet you still think I should do business with a company who would go to these extremes. Not even an “I’m sorry you had difficulty…” But as you all seem so proud to do name calling , belittling and worse.
Rob,
the mere fact that I am not censoring any comments should speak volumes. Would Headway do as much. As far as specifics, why do I need any? I don’t need to comment about what I find wrong wioth the product. It should be enough that a company would stand behind their products. There was no care or concern for my sitautaion. No response to my emails. They just assumed it would all go away.The fact that they are content with my being unhappy is bad business. I let you say everything you want. I’m not telling you what to say, but you’re telling me what I should or shouldn’t say. This is quite clear. This isn’t about anybody being bad. It is about the fact that I think that the way they dealt with me is bad business. Their follow up emails didn’t make it seem like anything had fallen thorugh the cracks. Again, there was no care or concern, just “this is our policy”. And then they rubbed salt in the wound. Any issues or inabilities to use the software on my part is inconsequential. If it makes you feel better, then the problem with thesoftware is that I’m a complete idiot. How does the change the situation?
I can only imagine that there is a depper need on your part to continue to push for things that don’t exist and to totally ignore the salient points I have made.
Although I see the point various successful Headway users have made here, J.S. is correct in stating that you’re missing the point, which is about his experience as a customer.
His experience has very little to do with the actual Headway product, and everything to do with how Headway “completed” his experience through non-communication.
Any other experience relative to his is irrelevant in the context of this discussion of *his* interaction with the company.
The larger discussion topic is great customer service.
J.S., or any other customer with a less than 100% experience is MUCH more likely to come away with a positive impression of the company and its products if everything is resolved quickly and professionally – regardless of who was “right”.
In any interaction with a company, “right” is a bit of a mirage, since, in business, no matter how frustrating it can be, the customer is *always* right.
What that means is that as the business, you’re attempting to make sure that no matter the “outcome”, in this case J.S. walking away from the product requesting a refund, the person in the interaction walks away an advocate.
If the outcome of Headway refunding his money expeditiously with a “thanks for considering us in the first place”, is that J.S. walks away with a perspective like “it didn’t work for me, but their service was fantastic and other people rave about it”, everyone wins.
J.S. is likely to keep them on a recommend list, rather than on a short list of companies he *might not* recommend.
As for the perceived threat of relating his experience, I believe J.S. when he states that he wasn’t wielding it like a club, but totally get how someone on the other side of this might perceive it differently. However, I will say that whether it’s the old “I’ll tell all my friends”, or “I’ll tell all my Facebook friends”, the discussion never would have gone there with the application of the “the customer is always right” mindset and the company moving and acting based on that.
For the record, I stand with J.S. in saying that the customer experience provided by Headway on this occasion was less than it could have been.
I just noticed a site called Headwaythemesreview.net It’s been up since October 2010. I would assume that the owners of Headway might be familiar with this site.
In a single paragraph, the owner of the site not only mentions that Thesis may be easier to use at first, but that both Thesis and Headway offer 30 dayu money back guarantees. Apparently as a business, Headway is okay with this statement not being clarified or recitified. (the part about the refund that is)
Here it is:
Thesis Theme or Headway Theme – Which Should You Pick?
If you are a beginning WordPress user, I think you might find Thesis Theme more accessible to use at first. Everything can be customized from one or two screens and it’s pretty easy to get started with. The learning curve is a bit easier and you can do some interesting things out of the box.
However, once you learn how Headway Theme works, you’ll definitely fall in love with the visual editor. Being able to change the various elements of your site in real-time is such an awesome feature to have. It just makes creating nice looking designs so much easier. Plus, once you dig deeper into Headway, you’ll start to realize how powerful the leaf and layout systems really are to allow you to create some really flexible and cool designs.
“I honestly can’t really complain too much about either of these two themes, and I’ll continue to use them both. They both have 30 day money back guarantees, so I would definitely give each of them a try and see for yourself. Please leave a comment below, and let me know what you think.”
His article goes on to talk about how he thinks Headway is a better item, but with a learning curve and not so easy to use. Better for someone else, but not me.
In the interests of being a better company, perhaps Headway should contact him to say they do not have a money back guarantee. Headway might also want to change some of their promotional material to more accurately reflect that their product does indeed have a bit of a learning curve.
Oh and Headway, at some point you might actually thank me for giving you a ton of really valuable business advice for free. If I really didn’t “like” you, I would have just quietly gone about my business, instead of asking you to be better at what you do.
Hey J.S.,
I am relatively new to Headway, but I have managed to get a blog up and looking OK. Would you like some help? I suspect once you get over the hump, you will like Headway. I have seen many switch to Headway from other themes. Drop me a line if you want some help. I will try my best
Jeff
Since I have had frequent contact with Grant Griffiths and love the Headway theme and how simple it is to use, I’m biased in my opinion of the company and the people who work there. Even though I run a high end development company, Headway Theme is my choice for all personal projects for friends.
http://www.mffo.org
http://www.gravelnuts.com
http://www.intheviewfinder.com
I’m not here to bash you, J.S. or to defend Headway’s customer service in this instance.
Here’s what I know to be true of digital services – “return” abuse is common. Themes and plugins that have been refunded continue to get used by those who claim they didn’t work. Themes and plugins are shared liberally and many use themes and plugins that should be paid for that are not. I know for a fact that Headway once had an extremely liberal return policy. What they experienced was a slew of unscrupulous folks who got refunds and then continued to use the product.
So, their decision to do away with their money back guarantee was one based on a bad experience. That said, if your account of your experience is accurate, I certainly think the Headway team could have handled your email interactions in a timely manner and made every effort to explain this to you after your first email. What I have found to be true with my customers is that problems aren’t the problem, people understand that problems occur. How a problem gets handled is really the issue.
Of course, you still might not be happy, even if they had done everything else right. And that’s the downside of a “no return” policy. You either stick to it or change it.
J.S. I’ve also been given a tour to the upcoming 3.0 release and it is light years ahead of where Headway is today. I’ve used every popular theme framework in existence and can say without hesitation, nothing like what you’re going to see in 3.0 compares. If you’re up for it, despite your bad experience, this upgrade is going to be free to all current Headway users. I’d love to hear your thoughts after you see it.
PS. I don’t have a man crush on Grant… I actually don’t find him all that attractive.
Jeff,
I appreciate your humor and that you’ve had good experiences. I’m not quite sure how people are actually finding this blog post. Interstingly, while I have written about many rather touchy things, it might seem like the villagers got here with their pitchforks and torches a bit on the early side.
Headway Themes apparently haven’t done anything to set straight inaccuracies regarding the refund policy that their supporters still present. But beyond the issue of refund, it is quite clear I was simply ignored and the final e-mail they sent after I had indicated that if they weren’t planning on giving me a refund please do not write me again, was in no way designed to calm an angry customer, but purposefully written to make me more upset.
I could have chosen to single out any one of many other businesses for my blog post. I suppose it was simply Headway Themes lucky day.
I can only hope that they grow and learn as a result ofthis. If they choose not to, I can’t be held at fault. Oh, and they could also at any time offer any form of apology or conciliatory act.
Jeff,
I appreciate your offer to help. My entire blog was about being treated properly, not who has the best or fastest. I will choose to not do business with Headway, becuase their business policies do not favor me and their overall treatment of me is not the way I wish to be treated. It is quite that simple.
It is very possible that the owners of this busness are boy scout leaders, have donated their kidneys to strangers or otherwise are great people. In fact, they and their “followers” have turned a simple business lesson into something personal. It isn’t personal. It never was personal.
Great, great article.
I could write a treatise on the number of companies that go to either extreme. I remember talking to an Ameritrade broker about a botched order that cost me $50. He gave this technical description of why it happened and why they were “right.” I said, “I’ve been loyal to you for over 15 years and you’re really going to throw that away just to screw me out of fifty bucks?” He apologized and said no, then offered me eight free trades as a make-up.
When I was a kid I used to order a lot of comics thru the mail (no “internets” back then!). I ended up sticking with one guy for ten years because even though his grading sucked, his service (and prices) were tops. If you wrote “Crackerjack Prize” on your order form, he would include “some worthless piece of junk” from his collection as a bonus, which was fun for a kid. Whenever I disagreed with his grading of an item or wasn’t happy, if it was under $8 or so, he would just let me keep it and still send a full refund, including shipping AND the cost of the stamp for my letter AND an extra ten cents for the photocopy of my order I sent!
Which is a really long-winded way of saying I agree wholeheartedly with your points. And I gave my Twitter and Facebook followers a link to this and told them I won’t buy anything from Headway either. I HOPE THEY’RE LISTENING.
Thanks,
Mike
I think when the issue is intellectual property, it becomes more difficult to honor the premise, “the customer is always right”. The “no refunds” policy is probably a result of the astronomical piracy that takes place in this arena. Do other theme companies offer refunds? I don’t know but I somehow doubt it.
I am a headway user – it was the most natural venue for me as a digital scrapbooker. I had no problems whipping up a Wordpress site immediately, with no coding experience. I tried Thesis when Headway did not support Buddypress and found it stifling. I actually ended up waiting until Headway developed a compatible leaf.
I don’t often ask for any tech support on any product as I like to figure it out myself. The few times I have been stumped, the Headway team has come to my aid quickly and efficiently including the time they hand-coded my son’s site because something just wasn’t quite right – until a fix was going to be released.
However, you are entitled to your opinion and that is the beauty of the internet and of Wordpress itself – there is something out there for everyone.
I just had a chance to read all the comments.
Holy monkey crap! It’s really amazing, telling and a little bit sad how many people either did not actually *read* what you wrote, ignored your points or were just too thick-headed to *get it.* Sadly, so stereotypical of the field. (Nothing like reinforcing a negative stereotype.) Try posting anything negative about Windows or Mac on either’s forums and you’ll get the same treatment.
Two points:
1) J.S. already said what was wrong with the product. He couldn’t get it to work! It was not “easy to use” as advertised. When a company makes such a subjective claim, it’s going to get subjective judgments. If there’s a learning curve, it’s up to the company to say it. Does Adobe say to the general public that Photoshop is “easy to use”? Has Autodesk ever advertised Maya as simply “easy to use”? This is why other companies are more careful about how they advertise–or back up their claims with good service and refunds.
2) J.S. sent *several* emails with polite requests/questions and they were never answered. The refund policy doesn’t matter; ignoring your customers is BAD BUSINESS. That’s the issue.
Good grief!
Finally, J.S., take some comfort. After posting a link to this on my FB page, I received this comment from a very reasonable woman: “That blog post is commented on by a whole troop of sock puppets. Wow. I don’t know anything about the company J.S. Gilbert was complaining about but I’m inclined to side with him just because they were so obnoxious about commenting on his post. Wow.”
Of course, her husband is also a writer, not a software engineer or tech exec, so she’s obviously an unreasonable idiot like you and me.
As I have mentioned, I have written about some very touchy subjects in my day. In fact, I have a post in here from a couple of years ago that discusses the inane interactions I had at the tme with GE. Interestingly, not a single comment from anybody saying that their GE dishwasher saved their life, etc. I’ve had quite a few people send me privates about this blog and the responses. Most of my writer and advertising friends love it. Of course, most of them know me. I am not rainbows and lollipops. I never have been, don’t expect I will be.
But from the way that so many of these people have asked the same questions, ignored the same points and contiued to rally the product, even though this has little to do with the product, it is obvious that they were coached and/ or may have even been fed specific lines.
Might it have been just a tad easier for one of these guys from Headway Themes to pick up the phone and call me or send me an email or otherwise try to help me. Since I ditched the product because I said it wasn’t wasy for me to use (a fact corroborated by one of their main review sites). In fact, a site that seems to do nothing but work to sell Headway’s products. Someone mentioned how Headway actually coded her site for her. Why didn’t anybody from Headway offer to do that for me.
This is a classic case of somebody who perhaps knows how to make a product, but doesn’t know crap about how to run a business. I still contend that these guys should be thanking me and prehaps sending me a check for a lot more than my $80 refund. I charge my clients a lot more for a lot less helpful information.
I appreciate everybody who commented here. I think it all helped prove the point.
Actually Mike & J.S. – all the commenting is good for your blog. Controversy creates buzz and conversation. I hope Mike you weren’t referring to me as a “sock puppet” – I think my comment was not indicative of such.
Good luck with your blog and Thesis – I’m interested in seeing what you do with it. As I said, it did not work out for me – too confining. As an aside, I did not ask for a refund. I kept the license even though I do not use it
Kathleen,
I appreciate your comments. I don’t ever ask people to agree with me and I don’t censor comments, even if they might makeme look wrong or foolish. If I step in it, I invariably am the one who cleans my shoes. I appreciate the wake up calls I get. It makes me smarter or better. In some cases, it makes me realize how little I really know (in the grand scheme of things). Yes, I enjoy the controversy. I’ve had a couple of people say that I remind them a little of Andy Rooney, the loveable curmudgeon that some of you may remember from 60 Minutes. I take that as a big compliment.
It doesn’t take much in the way of guts or brains to swim with the school, but man those salmon that struggle to head upstream, they’re the ones I admire. I’m not so keen on the fact that they die shortly thereafter though. Another interesting fact is how they adapt from fresh water to salt water and then back again.
The roblem I had with a few of the posts and I’m sure what prompted Mike’s “puppet” comment is simply that the wording of the original comments here seemed similar, coached and the kind of thing that the owner of a company would tend to latch on to. The fact that the comments all managed to skirt the actual message and simply acted to defend the company, its owners and products, made it clear the nature and intention.
The fact remains that Headway has still not done a single thing to try and address me or my issues. Oddly, a complete stranger, who is a user of Headway offered to do so, perhaps simply as an act of kindness. With this regard, I would say that based on the comments here, I have far more respect for Headways customers than for the company and the person or person at its helm.
J.S.,
Thanks for the kind words. Let me sweeten my offer. I don’t work for Headway and I’ve yet to use an affiliate code when recommending it, so there is no motivation for me here, except that I want good products to survive.
You own Headway, so the upgrade to 3.0 will be “free.” Download it, give it a run, feel free to email me and ask questions. If, when all is said and done, you still think it sucks, I’ll refund your money myself.
I was seriously about to buy the Headway Theme over Thesis because they say and there blogs [ marketing affiliates LOL] that say how ‘easy’ HeadwayThemes.com is to use. But I figured just like when I bought Screencast [which offered a 30 day money back policy] that I should try it out. I liked Screencast and had no problems. But why should I pay $87 for Headway when Thesis Theme costs the same and comes with 30 day money back guarantee? I might not even like Thesis but at least I can change my mind.
@Joel Williams If a digital product can’t be disabled, then they should have a trial version with limited functionality, then once a person sees that it is useful they can purchase the full version.
Thanks for the warning!
I was just in the process of spinning off an email to these folks.
As i am not please with Headway Theme. I paid 87.00 so, we will see.