Another vBulletin 5 forum has asked for a refund.

This was sent to me on Twitter, it's really a telling story for vBulletin 5 Connect.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=noVu8BXkCsw#t=4248s

This is about halfway through the video which can't be pasted into this forum, so just click the link and be amazed.

 

Wow, that's not good. You hate to see things like this happen, but I guess it could have been avoided.

 

This is a joke, right? They clearly were never the largest VB5 forum- vbulletin.com has 10 times as many posts. The claims in the rest of the video I find equally misleading/wrong.

 

It is sad to see that the attitude of IB is so bad.

It was really a telling moment when some VB supporters actually posted that it was all the customers fault for actually buying VB5. WTF!!!!!

Many large organizations seem to adopt the attitude that they will dictate to their customers what is best for them and then when the loss of income is so great with their customers leaving, only THEN do they start to wake up, but by then the damage has been done and is often irreversible at that stage.

The telling point is to see the mods and admins of VB remove and delete fair and genuine comments that are posted by the customers in an attempt to get the message through to the people who make the decisions.
The words "Sieg Heil!" springs to mind.

So on Vb.com, what happened to the poll where over 80% of those polled said VB% was crap? Strange, I cannot seem to find it anymore.

This tells the true story about how much IB cares about is customers.

 

There has been a lot of very hard work by some dedicated people on Vb to get VB5 up to scratch and they are to be commended for this, it could not have been an easy task.

However it is time to see the bleeding obvious and that is the fact that VB5 is ill conceived and a failure.

How long before the simple fact, that customers want an EASIER and more user friendly system, sinks into the consciousness of those in upper management?

Until the paid employees of Vb stop trying to flog a dead horse and refrain from posting misleading statements about how good VB5 is, it will be hard for any healing to take place.

Many very dedicated people over the years have freely contributed their time and expertize to aid VB. When they abandon ship in such large numbers, then it is time to re look at what the VB management is doing.

 

I agree with many parts of their statements, I wonder what vbulletin used to make that video since it doesn't seem like everything works like the actual video, especially since it's been up for 4 months.
Also I'd be worried about the moderators being able to make themselves admins, seems like a major bug there.

I think we're missing the point here, it may not be the largest, I just posted that because that's what the first part of the video said.

*edited the title*

Which claims are wrong in the video, I haven't messed with vb5 lately or enough to know exactly what works and what doesn't. I know the last time I did play with it there was a lot of stuff that didn't work.

 

And they switched to IPB. =P

Go team IPB. I am surprised they are not as huge... 19k members and only 189k posts?

Numbers seem off.

 

Hey Brandon, can I demand a refund from you then for my VB5 license? =P

 

I saw, the members seen happy.
http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/13013-addressing-and-correcting-recent-downtime/

Sorry, no refunds unless you make a video about it :p

 

Here is the thing, I know nothing about them, but they do not use any other ipb features.... they should of gone straight to XenForo... they have a perfect forum for it...

I honestly was surprised they went VB to IPB.... unless they have plans for using other add ons.

Right now there really are two choices...
IPB if you need a full solution, forum, marketplace, content, chat, blog, calendar, etc.
XenForo if you need a fast forum.

I am, as an IPB customer with 5 licenses, pleased.... however am surprised.

Brandon, I do really want to use the VB5 license... as soon as they have a few more patches, I will be doing a forum with it. Like I said, they have a ton of great features, and if I acquire the one vb4 forum I am thinking of, will switch it to vb5.

 

Not saying it is the reason, but most likely the reason for Linustechtips.com's to move to IPB is because IPB has a converter for vB5 now. A very, very smart move by IPB, if you ask me. And, I don't believe XF has a converter for vB5 yet. Please do correct me, if I am wrong though.

Scott

 

It's been a while since I saw it but if I remember-

1) Claimed to have entered hundreds of bugs in JIRA, like 300 or 400 IIRC.. If so under what username because I don't see them. I find it suspicious because there aren't many people with that many bugs not on the beta team or an employee.

2) Bug to turn moderators into admins - No one has been able to reproduce this- http://tracker.vbulletin.com/browse/VBV-8961 - looks like they simply mis-understood what they saw, there is no way to save changes. modcp hasn't changed since 3.x really, you could do the same in 3.x and 4.x, not a bug.

And 3 was of course their self appointed claim of being the largest VB5 forum.

Don't remember what else... I don't fault them for not liking VB 5, I don't like VB 5.0.1 the version they had, I don't fault them for wanting a refund, I would want a refund if I expected VB 5 to work like the video, but they clearly exaggerated beyond reason in their video (I assume they figued we did the same with ours) so I don't blame them for that either.

But what annoys me is when people who I know should know better repeat their nonsense as fact when it is clearly nonsense. More power to them they got their refund, but that doesn't mean their video was factual.

 

I personally think what is right or wrong with their facts is irrelevant. The fact the condition of vB5 gave them the motivation to even create such a video says enough. IB has a really long haul now to get back to any resemblance of normality.

Scott

 

vBulletin / Internet Brands should be sued for that video... do they really claim that vBulletin 5 Connect is "powering more than 100,000 sites across the internet?"

I asked on vb.com a few weeks ago for a list of sites running vb5 and I only got back about 10 sites. We are 99,990 sites short of 100,000.

 

I wouldn't be surprised if they got sued soon. All it'll take is one big company to buy vBulletin 5 and believe the claims in the video, and then they'll probably get taken to court over it.

All we need is someone/some organisation (likely a fairly well off one) to actually start legal action agains tthem.

 

Motivation? Claim you are the biggest and you get people to listen, then you throw up a 2 hour YouTube video to get people to go visit your site.

They had 15k members when they converted.... They now have 19k..... How is that for motivation?

As far as the vb claim.... I took it to mean vb forums of all versions, not just vb5.

 

Hmmm....so you think they did the video to make PR for their new site?

If so, it was totally the other way around. Linustechtips already had 300,ooo+ subscribers to their Youtube channel and they wanted to start a forum for these people. So they decided to go with vB5 in January. The site got 15k users in a few weeks and had a ton of activity and vB5 went bonkers. So, you could say, it was vB5's fastest growing site at the time and vB5 failed miserably. I think that was actually their point too. Their forum was the most active forum on the Internet running vB5 and vB.com was the second most active (not the largest) and I bet that was actually true.

My point is, they felt bad enough to make a scene about it to their 300k+ subscribed Youtube fan base. And, it wasn't just about the software. It was also how they were handled in the end by support and not getting their refund. (which they actually did get after the video was released).

Some of the claims and opinions they voice are most likely spot on too.

Like....

Functionality shown in the "super vB5 video" isn't there at all or doesn't work. (I still love the raining letters.)
The "super video" of vB5 is probably done in flash, so it is a fake video.
It (vB5) is horrible, it barely works, it dies all the time.
The database schema is terrible and huge.
100+ queries to the database for every page load, let that sink into your minds.
The thing is just messed.
The page thing doesn't work (referring to the pagenation)
The development process pushing bugs from version to version.
Stupid worthless software.

One thing they do say is definitely wrong. vB5 never "hit gold". Well, at least not according to IB. LOL! That was also the main issue they had. They thought vB5 was released as a gold version and ready for live sites. Well, too bad they misunderstood IB's "not beta" release.

The other facts they mention, which might not be completely correct, are just not relevant. vB5 and IB failed for them. That is the over-encompassing and undeniable fact in this whole story.

Scott

 

Scott, thanks... I never heard of them prior to this, just looked at it from the point of how many videos views they had there and the forums.

 

*The great VB5 debacle*

Without prejudice.

VB5 was ill conceived, I think it was rushed out in an attempt to overshadow the launch of a competitors system. (My personal opinion) You are welcome to prove me wrong if you can.

As for the support staff? I can understand that as a paid employee it is only right that they look after their jobs (they too have families to feed) and to follow the company line of supporting VB5, However when they post misleading and deceptive posts to do so, it calls into question their own personal integrity.

When they then compound the lack of integrity by removing posts and banning members for asking valid questions they are only antagonizing the very people who pay their wages. Some members do have long memories.

IF they had ethics, they would reinstate all the posts, reinstate any who were banned and apologize to them for wrongfully taking action against them and also apologize for the sarcastic and unfounded comments they have made in public against said members.
To abuse their powers and hide behind their positions are the acts of cowards.

Here is a note to the staff. The internet is large, but the group of people who are concerned with this matter is not so large that they cannot post in other places and be heard.

To ban a member and give as a reason the message that VB do not support a particular program, is the height of stupidity.

To the mods and admins who have overstepped their authority and behaved like little hitlers and abused their powers, Remember, the very people who you are maligning may be the same people who in the future could be in a position to aid YOU if you lose YOUR jobs and positions, as is happening to others who were employed by IB.

Due to the attitude of IB it is possible they could look for scapegoats in the future.

It is a known fact that VB are employing staff whose integrity is proven to be bad. And who actively support known scammers on their personal website. Such is the deplorable reputation of VB.

It is interesting to now see indications of the VB staff starting to distance themselves from this debacle.

NO, not all of VB customers will sit back and take the crap that is being dished out by VB.

A class action against IB for misrepresentation and deceptive practices is always a possibility. And would stand a VERY good chance of succeeding.

 

You mean like the way VB staff keep telling us that VB5 is great And then ban those who disagree or point out the truth?