I feel really sorry to say but some start ups / companies from my own country have lost all dignity when it comes to minting money. I keep talking about companies who commit fraud while working for outsourced products but this case is entirely different.
If you’re in IT world, you’d probably be very much aware of the so called “Conferences” and “Contests” with “Sponsors”. These are the common jargons used by many start ups in IT industry these days who focus on making money by this channel. These conferences and stuff are less technical and more marketing these days.
A month ago I was invited to submit some of our mobile apps for a so called “Contest”. I usually never look into such time wasting things but since an old colleague and forwarded the email, I decided to go with the flow. The contest was called “App4India” where in they would select 20 best mobile apps in India and then shortlist 10 from them and finally pick a winner. I thought of submitting our “Story Time for Kids” app which is quite popular. A few days later I get a call saying the app was selected in top 20! They needed some app download statistics which was provided. A few days later again I get a call saying the app was in top 10 and I had to come to Bangalore(I stay in Kolkata) for a function and some event.
Mistake #1: Selection from nothing to top 20 was in week.
Mistake #2: Selection to top 10 was in week.
Mistake #3: They expected app owners to be in Bangalore in day’s notice. Do they really think that App owners would find the time to attend the event at such a short notice? Hello, we’re running a business here! Not minting money out of sponsors! Be a bit more organized next time!
And so I refused to attend. They emailed me that even though I couldn’t attend, they would still consider our app for 1st position.
But what they did next was something unimaginable. Its really shameful. They not only cut our app from the top position, but also removed our app from the top 10 list. Now that’s a very dirty and mean thing to do. Lets rewind a bit: I never applied, your guys called me like 2-3 times to apply. I take out time to fill all the forms, I give away my precious business app statistics, and in return I get this?
To make matters worse, the CEO of YourStory.in who has been in CC all the time for all mails doesn’t have a clue shooting out emails and trying to find out what’s wrong from the end user. Ok you’re a CEO, you’re always busy! But Is that what you people call Service and Quality? Sorry, but I am also a CEO, I will never treat my users this way, I will never treat my clients this way.
Here are certain screenshots from the email conversation.
Screenshot #1: Below is the email from them which states our app is on top 20.
Screenshot #2: Showing our app is in top 10 list
Screenshot #3: I told them I couldn’t attend.
Screenshot #4: I checked their site to see who’s the winner and I’m surprised out app is out of top 10! They blame Intel who were the sponsors. They could be speaking the truth too, but why did she have to “Thank a ton!” for it?
