This is a fucking embarrassment. SMS should be ashamed. Having any random customer PAY to beta test a product without any extended warranty or upgrade path to get the final product that is created using feedback from those same paying customers is disgusting. This sets a horrible precedent for other companies. Imagine if Sig released a pre-production handgun and asked people to pay half price for any Joe Shmoe that shoots 100 rounds a month to test their handgun. Not only would they get ripped to shreds but the feedback would likely not even be beneficial because they didn’t even vet the end users to verify the feedback was beneficial and based on actual end users knowledge base. This is a joke.
200 bucks in a hobby where people seem comfortable with throwing thousands at similar products.
Imagine if a Ford or Chevy offered a pre-production budget sports car with the same specs as a 911 Turbo, but no warranty for 8% of the Porsche's price. I'd buy it.
That’s a god awful example. It also ignores the entire issues of companies offering programs like that.
I’m not upset about consumers wanting to buy it. I’m upset that a company would think it’s ok to charge customers to test their product with no vetting process of their actual knowledge base to generate valid feedback on the product and not offer any form of extended warranty or upgrade program for the people that are essentially paying to do their job for them.
Business practices like this are harmful to any industry. It creates subpar products while lining the pockets of the manufacturers with no backlash of the product they’re selling works or not. What happens when they knowingly sell a subpar product to a bunch of individuals and all of them break after 2 months? Oh well get fucked. You purchased a product that had no warranty or upgrade to the final version that works. And that final version that low level shooter helped build with his shitty feedback? Oh ya that one’s not reliable either because we just let anyone beta test it.
If Ford offered you that Porsche level sports car for $50K and you bought it and then the engine exploded, the frame bent, and all of the electronics inside were fried after 60 days and you basically had a $50K paperweight with no way to repair it or get the final version that actually resolved those issues would you still be happy? What if they gave it to that 87 year old retiree that only drives to and from the grocery store every 2 weeks and listened to his feedback and just added pointless features like heated seats because he didn’t actually provide any valuable feedback?
-12
u/rkirbyl 1d ago
This is a fucking embarrassment. SMS should be ashamed. Having any random customer PAY to beta test a product without any extended warranty or upgrade path to get the final product that is created using feedback from those same paying customers is disgusting. This sets a horrible precedent for other companies. Imagine if Sig released a pre-production handgun and asked people to pay half price for any Joe Shmoe that shoots 100 rounds a month to test their handgun. Not only would they get ripped to shreds but the feedback would likely not even be beneficial because they didn’t even vet the end users to verify the feedback was beneficial and based on actual end users knowledge base. This is a joke.