An open letter to the management

• This is an open letter that I posted on my blogs on AFF back in August 2023, which was one of the reasons that prompted the site to reach out and organize a group chat with bloggers. 

We . Are . Frustrated

No, I'm not talking about the one stemming from the lack of sex.

I'm very well aware that this will most likely fall on deaf ears, but if a bug's fart penetrates the wall of silence, maybe there's hope yet.

Ever since Penthouse bought out the site, we've been witnessing the site go downhill. Marketing has been pushing sex first and foremost (because sex sells) and has been trying to get away with literally pimping out the women as free whores. We have seen it with our own eyes, so there's no denying it.

We are frustrated because the site went from a sex-positive social media site for like-minded couples and individuals in alternative lifestyles to a site with quality no better than third-rate porn

We are frustrated because the site marketing gives off the impression that the site's a whore warehouse, that the women on the site are free whores, and Gold membership comes with the entitlement to get laid, regardless what the other party thinks

We are frustrated because scammers are continuingly allowed to operate on the site if they're Gold members, despite the numerous reports lodged against them

Along with that push, we've seen the site continually divest from human capital. Tier 1 customer services were outsourced to Asia, along with some programming. Tier 2 has been pared down. There is no longer a staff liaison. Tier 2 is working with a skeletal crew.

However, credit where credit is due. There is a small handful of staff in the programming department and Tier 2 who are competent and try to be as helpful as they can, but they are a small number and can only do so much. We do appreciate the effort they put in to try to help us and keep the site working.

We are frustrated that premium features are not working seamlessly

We are frustrated that new features are rolled out without proper beta testing, thus disrupting working features

We are frustrated how bugs get fixed, then unfixed on a constant basis

We are frustrated that we get form letters that do nothing to address serious issues

We are frustrated at the lack of literacy, comprehension skills, and overall command of the English language at Tier 1

In the old blog format, the Site Support blog was updated pretty frequently, then it went down to once a month. The blog started to censor posts, approving only select posts and responding. The updates went to once every two months, then to once every three months, then to none at all until the new Community went live.

While Andrew was still at the forefront, we have seen active responses to our comments in the Site Support blog. That tapered off to either nothing or canned responses that do nothing to address the issue since Andrew went incognito.

We are frustrated at the lack of response from Site Support, or when we do get a response, it's a canned form letter not addressing the issue

We are frustrated that we're told to clear out cache and cookies when the issue has nothing to do with the browser

Now, while we understand that it's a whack-a-mole game, social media/dating sites vs scamming organizations and that it's an uphill battle, the Community side is much, much smaller and should be easier to control, especially since Andrew split it from the Dating side last year.

We are frustrated that posts and comments by Level 8 and above have to go through the review queue when we were told that our posts would go live immediately in the new Community. That's been revoked for some cockamamie reason, which I don't have the resources to verify the validity of the said reason

We are frustrated that posts that do not violate the TOU get denied constantly[i]

We are frustrated that select bloggers get targeted and their comments and posts get denied for no reason

We are frustrated that posts that have outside contact information clearly spelled out or soliciting outside contact information get approved, especially if the post is accompanied by a photo of a hot chick

We are frustrated that images in our posts get pulled no apparent reason

The management has been sensitive to criticism and put in measures to suppress them. Since Various is a private company, it's not as if we can scream First Amendment rights and free speech. However, it does give the impression that the management is more concerned of people saying mean things to them than address the issues the criticisms stem from.

Is it too much for the membership to ask that the management demand literacy, comprehension skills, and competency from their staff?

Is the membership expecting too much for wanting the premium features to work as they should?

Is it too much for the membership ask that their issues get addressed in a consistent and timely manner?

Is it too much for the membership to ask that bugs get fixed?

There is a group of us Club7 members who are more than happy to assist with beta testing new features and overall site improvements. We have worked with Andrew and we will be happy to work with the current management. Our reward would be a working site.

What say you?

Now let's listen for the bug's fart ...