Here’s Why I Refunded 100% Of Our Revenue To Every Single Paying Customer, For Four Months
A LESSON ON CUSTOMER SERVICE DURING THE MOST DIFFICULT OF TIMES:
I’ve just spent the last several hours personally emailing (original email at the very end of this post) and refunding every TuneRegistry customer who made a subscription payment since my departure at the top of March 2018.
I’ve refunded each and every one of these wonderful music creators and rights-holders for every day that my co-founders and I were unable to oversee the operations and support of the technology that we sacrificed 3 years to build and grow.
For four months, we were unable to perform the quality service and support that we pride ourselves in providing. For four months, we were unable to deliver on our promise shaped by the value proposition that attracted our customers. For four stressful months, we were unable to push forward our mission to empower music creators and rights-holders.
And while returning over 4 months of subscription revenue is something no entrepreneur would ever volunteer to do, I do not believe that any customer who supports you, who believes in you, should have to pay the price for changes in upper management that impacts the service.
Today, hundreds of refunds were sent out. Here’s a few customer reactions:
“Hello Dae, Thanks for reaching out that was a great thing to do. The refund would be cool, however, I still want to keep the service. Thanks again.” – Dean
“Dae, Congrats on winning TuneRegistery back! Must feel good. I look forward to getting back on the platform and utilizing your updated services. Loving your work!” – Amishar
“I am glad things will be restored back to normal.” – Octavia
“Thank you for your honesty.” – Kristen
“Good afternoon Dae. I really appreciate your concern with regaining rapport with your customers and thank you for offering the refund!” – William
“Thanks Dae! I’m stoked you’re back at the helm and am looking forward to using the new platform!! Thanks!!” – Andy
“Thank you for your courtesy!” – Tiffany
“Thank you for taking over again. ” – Aleisha
“Welcome back, I’m looking forward to working with you and the renewing platform.” – Sadiq
“I am very happy that you are back hoping to continue working together as it is a great help for us independent producers and composers.” – Ricardo
“Hi , I kept my faith and you guys prove me well.” – Jabari
“Thank you SO much. I really wanted to enjoy this service, and I hope to continue to work with your program! ” – Eugene
“Thanks you for this email I was very upset with the service I am so glad you reached out to me about this.” – Wayne
“Dae, Truly grateful for your response. And look forward to moving forward with you guys. I appreciate this heartfelt message and thank you for touching bases and working to right what you feel are the wrongs. Bless. Thank you” – Allen
“I wish you all the best of luck! It’s great to hear that you’ve gotten back behind the wheel and I look forward to seeing you soar!” – Donny
“I’m glad to hear you are all back and on it. I’m praying the best for you on this endeavor.” – Jesse
“Hi Dae, I accept your apology and refund with open arms! Can’t wait to see what the new services are. Thanks.” – Sean
“Hey Dae, Appreciate this- I have been aware of your situation and completely understand. A refund would be appreciated, but I would love to give the platform another shot once you have things back to your standard. I wish you and your team the best in this, and I appreciate the insight you’ve given me in the past, thanks man!” – Tom
“I accept and would love to use your service with you back in charge again.” – Zachary
“Welcome back, Dae, Shane, and Kara!” – Jordan
Honesty is the way to begin building back rapport with frustrated customer base.
Subject: A huge apology from the co-founders of TuneRegistry
Hi Greg,
My name is Dae Bogan and I am the founder of TuneRegistry. I am contacting you in regards to your experience with TuneRegistry over the last four months.
Unfortunately, the TuneRegistry co-founders (myself, Shane and Kara) have not been apart of the TuneRegistry operations and support for the last nearly 4 months.
TuneRegistry was acquired by Haawk in November of 2017. Due to circumstances, the TuneRegistry co-founders, known for our excellent customer support, departed Haawk in early March 2018. Consequently, we have not been able to provide the great support and service that we take pride in providing. To make matters worse, the TuneRegistry platform was not properly maintained during our absence, making it impossible to complete tasks.
The good news is, we just acquired TuneRegistry back a week ago and now have the reigns once again. We will be working to restore operations and support over the next week or two and in the coming months, we will be launching a revamped platform with new features and service offerings.
I apologize for the the poor experience you’ve endured during our absence and would like to offer paid users a complete refund of the last four months. To claim your refund, simply reply to this email or contact us through the in-app messenger.
Kind regards,
Dae Bogan (CEO), Shane Zilinskas (CTO), and Kara McGehee (CPO)