One of the major benefits to buying a premium theme is the support. So off to the support forums on Studiopress I went and asked for some help on getting the plugin to work. I was then PM’d by one of the senior moderators over there offering to help me out. Which of course I gladly accepted.
Making a long story short….he couldn’t figure it out, so I asked for help from Kim over at What’s that Smell. She found out where the error had occured, so i posted that on the forum to see if maybe someone could help me undo that error. The next day, I received a PM from that moderator saying he had fixed it and then tried to charge me for it. I was pretty upset because I had already paid for the template and support that I thought came with it. So I questioned him and received a very rude, and unprofessional PM back.
Kim wrote a post about the entire situation here.
Brian Gardner, the owner of Studiopress, who became aware of this issue through the post, was quick to respond. He apologized in the comments on the post, but also personally apologized to me directly. He not only refunded the cost of the theme but he went above and beyond anything I had expected….trust me.
After talking with him for about an hour about this incident, it is quite clear to me that he truly does hold customer service and satisfaction as number one. And he was sincerely bothered by the treatment I received from one of his moderators.
I think that Brian Gardner did more than make up for what happened and I am very impressed by the way he handled this situation. He runs a very large team with over 20 moderators overseeing support, so its not fair to allow one bad apple to spoil the bunch.
Brian Gardner has proved that he is a stand-up guy and I will be standing behind him and Studiopress.
About Blondie
I am so glad this worked out for you. There is nothing worse than making a major commitment like you did to switch to WordPress and BUY a premium theme and then be faced with the problems that you did.
I am also impressed with Brian and his swift response to remedy the matter.
Nicole – thanks for taking the time to write a follow up post on the situation, and I do sincerely appreciate your ability to understand that you were just dealt a bad apple. For that I apologize, and hope that you continue to use and promote our themes. It is difficult to run a business with such an active forum, but I take full responsibility for all that occurs there.
I am so glad that Brian stepped up and followed through! Sounds like he is a great guy to work with. Sadly I wonder how many other people were had like that and actually paid for the support.
Gena, if you (or anyone that you know of) come across anything resembling what Nicole went through (heaven forbid this happens again) please contact me directly and I will resolve it.
Thanks Brian! I definitely think I will be buying my next theme from studiopress!!
I have dealt with Brian for a while now and I know he IS a stand up guy and worthy of the kudos you’ve given him.
Its good to see someone writing about the good things – we usually only see the bad reports online and in the media.
You’ll love all his themes – they are so clean and you wont be able to choose which one to go with so you’ll need the whole pack!!!
I can second that. I bought all his themes and had an issue with serious hack that messed up my SEO. Brian himself took time to log in to my wordpress, hunt down the offending code and help me out. Integrity is the word I would choose to describe Brian.
I am so glad to hear you got everything figured out. Brian sounds like a great guy who cares about his customers.
First of all, yes, I love your new theme! And congrats on kicking blogger to the curb! lol
Cross your fingers that I finally find a theme that I love and get it all changed quickly. I’ve been working on a couple for weeks and don’t like them.
Anyway, I think Brian handled the situation wonderfully! I really do like his themes and like you said, ‘one bad apple’ shouldn’t ruin it for everyone, especially him! He’s put a lot of work into his themes.
Congrats babe!
Looks great here!
This is a great story, tomorrow I have a post going out about the power of blogging featuring this story
Wow, I’d had very negative vibe after reading Kim’s post on Studiopress and frankly I was turned off from buying from them if I change my template in the near future. I am SO impressed with what Brian did for you, that says a lot for him as a person and for their company as a whole. I feel completely different about Studiopress now and will consider them in the future.
I couldnt find you for a few days but I was able to link back up so hopefully I can follow along again. Missed you! Hope you are well hon!
Thanks, Miss Blondie. Because of this post, I am adding StudioPress to my theme list. I wouldn’t want to have your experience before Brian stepped in. Brian seems like a stand up fellow (and knowledgeable) and I feel more comfortable now selecting his themes.