I have previously mentioned Judysbook’s new home page design here. After looking at it some more I decided that the event deserves a special coverage. Judysbook traditionally has been a destination to get reviews for your local businesses and is competing with such web sites as Yelp and Insiderpages. On September 13 they announced a new direction which actually got them into a much busier market niche. The announcement produced 22 mainly negative comments at the usually scarce for comments company blog. Here are just a few:
UGH! It’s just awful. If I wanted a shopping site, I would go to Amazon, or eBay. I go to Judy’s Book intentionally to get insight into and opinions from MY community…
…Why change what was unique about book? There are better deal sites all around, and this concept won’t gain traction the way you are thinking. You’ve just lost a user fellas!…
…Ick. I hate it. What used to be a review website has turned into nothing more than a mechanism for commercialization.
So why the change? Well, the answer seems to be fairly obvious: money. Before you flame me off let me lay down my thoughts.
- Judysbook has been on the market for longer than Yelp and about the same time as Insiderpages yet it seems to be struggling to compete with the two in all aspects.
- Monetizing reviews business certainly takes more effort than living off of sales commission.
- “Social” is the latest buzz word and it is quickly spreading to on-line shopping. As Bob Tedeschi from N.Y. Times has put it “These sites are hoping to ride the MySpace wave by gathering people in one place to swap shopping ideas.”
The owners obviously got so sold on the “social” part that they rushed off to implement it without giving much thought as to how they are going to integrate it with the existing features.
As a company, we’ve had a bigger appetite for feature and scope than what we’ve been able to digest in terms of delivering users a quality user experience. I am aware of this fact and it is a flaw in our culture that I am working hard to correct.
The last quote is straight from Judysbook’s CEO Andy Sack’s blog.
I personally have nothing against a desire to make an extra buck or two – I just hope Andy has thought it through. Such drastic changes may very well send the old timers running to look for alternatives and I honestly don’t wish that to happen. Judysbook has built a devoted community which is their single biggest asset IMHO. My advice will be – don’t bet everything you have – no matter how green the pot may look.
well put. I frequented jb.com for their local reviews and sometimes internet sites reviews. now deals section has obviously been given right-of-way. and with most deals taken from fatwallet/slickdeals tandem – why would I visit jd.com at all?
just my $0.02 AR…
Many members have already run to find alternatives and found them, the majority of which are JB’s beloved City Editors. The deals portion of the site is only a fraction of what has sent members elsewhere. Factor in mismanagement, no replies to member’s questions and feedback, dwindling “rewards” (City Editors were “surprised” last month with a bag, t-shirt, and pens smothered with advertising for JB when they expected a $25 gift card) unfair “contests”, etc and JB is losing a lot of members.
Hi Yan,
Thanks for your thoughts and comments. Given your knowledge of the space, I’d love to get more of your feedback around our site. Shoot me an email if you have time to chat.
Erin Friedman
JB has been going down the tubes for some time now. They have consistently played “bait and switch” with the monthly CE awards, have removed employees without notice or explanation and now are awarding weekly prizes as they see fit. The site was much better a couple of months ago when they stressed quality over quantity and had a CEL, but since she has gone…things have gone to pieces and people aren’t happy. It seems more members have jumped ship and headed to gather where they feel they are being treated honestly. It may be all about the money, but with JB, it’s all about integrity as well…and they don’t have any!
The atmosphere at Judy’s Book has been bad for several months now. Management continues to deal underhandedly to its member base resulting in an atmosphere of divisiveness. Although they still have a handful of die hard zealots, quality people are leaving their site in droves. Today, the bulk of grammatically challenged, member-produced “reviews”, coupled with tempestuous infighting, gives the site a real black eye.
And now, rather than focusing their energies on what is dysfunctional within their review site, they’re instead branching out into a secondary “deals” site. As one would expect from their track record, they’re falling way short of their goal here, too. Not only is the deal site cumbersome and clunky for users, but completely outclassed by its competitors—of which there are many.
Thank you for your insight. I understand some of these comments are from people who regularly write (or wrote) reviews for Judysbook and are closely familiar with the web site inner-workings. Andy, are you reading this?
As has been previously mentioned, JB has claimed to award “quality” reviewers in their contests. HOWEVER, if the following “review” is any indication of their definition of quality, then JB is bound for “dot.com h@ll” for sure. No site can survive with such articles published, claiming them to be of quality.
http://www.judysbook.com/membe...../8/428203/
What about this “quality” review by one of the JB darlings/ass kissers?
http://www.judysbook.com/membe...../8/428418/
Judy’s Book awards “trust scores” to its members based primarily upon their “quality” reviews. Users of the site are supposed to be able to gauge the “trustworthiness” of a member by the number of their trust score, 1 being the lowest and 10 being the highest. Pasted below are URLs from a random sampling of “reviews” that were posted by just one of the City Editors with a “10” trust score. There are more examples like this, some so grammatically-challenged as to give one stomach cramps. Can Judy’s Book really expect to be taken seriously??
http://www.judysbook.com/membe...../9/464787/
http://www.judysbook.com/membe...../9/460644/
http://www.judysbook.com/membe...../9/457921/
http://www.judysbook.com/membe...../8/451366/
http://www.judysbook.com/membe...../8/420402/
JB is supposed to be based on honesty and integrity. However, there has been suspicion for sometime that certain members actually have multiple accounts to accumulate more CE rewards. If you read the comments on the following article posted on the JB website, you will see where one member actually seems to forget WHAT ID she is posting under and makes a comment under her “alter ego” as though it is her primary ID. Then a bit further down the page you can see where she tries to cover with a flippant comment. If JB is so concerned with a good “name” and honest business practices, then why did they NOT check this out and take action about it when it appeared earlier this summer? Or do they turn a deaf ear when the duplicate posts are from some of their more “devoted” members?
http://www.judysbook.com/membe.....ment-67866 ass.
I don’t know or care about the goings-on within Judy’s Book, but I do know the site is useless with its confused navigation and spotty information. I stopped using it.
Earlier I posted some links here about questionable double memberships. Since that time, it has come to my attention that not only does JB suffer from poor management but they allow some of their “sacred members” to verbally assault other member’s posts as well.
In the following link you will see comments made by a member that are not only rude but socially unacceptable in terms of religious beliefs as well. She also seems to be “stalking” the member who wrote this post to the point of embarrassment both to herself and JB as well.
http://www.judysbook.com/membe.....ent-118418
In this post, the same member writes what seems to be a religious tirade on something pertaining to Halloween and the Celts.
http://www.judysbook.com/membe.....10/482963/
I wonder if JB knows that she is sounding her own religious horn on JB to the point of being completely obnoxious. Or are they too busy counting the “super deals” on their new site to realize that letting members post as this member has done will only cause JB’s early demise.
If xjbmember is going to post about the religious tirade regarding Halloween and the Celts, I believe s/he chose the incorrect link. Here is the link that started that nonsense and lost JB quite a few members:
http://www.judysbook.com/membe.....ons/12596/
While many complaints regarding posts of this type have been submitted to JB, there has been no response and certainly no action. I don’t think JB was meant for evangelism.
Your link leads to one person’s “opinion” on the subject of Halloween and religion. It seems to me that nowhere in JB’s TOS does it state that one cannot leave an opinion. In fact, several members have spoken quite frankly and in this case,
http://www.judysbook.com/membe.....10/482963/
rudely to others in their posts yet they have been allowed to remain on the site.
The comment left which many found to be unexcusable was as follows…
“Not mocking God…in fact, I’m mocking your interpretation of God and the hypocrisy of your approach”
how can this be in the best interest of JB to leave it in place? Does it NOT show how petty the original poster was to feel she had to get in the last word when she had already posted a reply? It seems to me that this is another example of the content of posts on JB going down the drain.
Thank you celitech for bringin this to the attention of myself and the readers of this BLOG.
I just learned of another BLOG that has comments from disgusted members about surprise surprise JUDYSBOOK. It seems many of these comments are much like the ones on this page but others are different enough to bear checking into. It might be worth your while to check this one out as well. Combined with this BLOG and the only below, it seems the truth is coming out about the inner workings of JUDYSBOOK and the members who are finally seeing the truth.
http://findaminute.wordpress.c.....udys-book/
I’m still around and am becoming very interested in the comments that are appearing all over the web about JB and their practices. You would think that if Andy were really as interested in creating and maintaining a quality site then he would check out seriously the comments made and do something about it. But having been a member since it’s Alpha days, I don’t see that happening. Maybe through the honesty written here others will see what is really going on and steer clear of sites such as JB.
why go to judys book deals when there are so many other reputable sites out there for deals? The deals there are second hand at best and obvious rip offs of other sites. Black friday should be informed that judys book is stealing their info and should block them from the site. they have lousy morals when it comes to ripping off other sites
I have just found that the story made it to the JB community.
http://www.judysbook.com/membe.....ons/12697/
Here is one of the comments left to that post:
“I have bookmarked these sites to read them further when I have more time and honestly can concentrate on it…. just in case it ‘disappears’.”
It tells me a lot about expectations people have towards JB stuff.
The following post just came to my attention. Apparently JB can delete members that hit too close to home when it comes to traffic numbers, but they let negativity about the homeless run rampant about the site. Note how some members try to come to the defense of the homeless mentioned in this thread but how the original poster keeps on with her ignorant rant. Does this seem like the content JB should be proud of posting on their site? Or is it the type of post they ignore because it pumps up the traffic count? You decide.
http://www.judysbook.com/membe.....11/484985/
When will the rules be enforced? Is this a quality review or a question that can be answered with a review?
http://www.judysbook.com/membe.....11/485218/
The first link on this page is a naked woman.
You be the judge if this is a quality website for the reviews of quality businesses.
http://www.judysbook.com/membe.....ons/12744/
I posted the wrong link. I liked this reply to the original post but the question that raised the comment is this one.
OK. So Judysbook’s idea of a quality review on its site is a search for friends with the name of Belinda? If this makes sense to anyone I’d like to hear an explanation because other than bringing traffic to the site, it doesn’t seem to make a bit of sense. But then again, Judysbook hasn’t been making sense for the past few months.
In reading xjbmember’s comments in this blog, I just realized that a link s/he posted now goes nowhere. I guess this is the JB “response”.
thank you annaconda. I checked and my sources tell me that the article in question was pulled from the site due to difficulties the comments JB received about it.
http://www.judysbook.com/membe.....ent-118418
in the above linked post the member in question insults the religious beliefs of a member, is inexcusably rude and disrespectful and in fact, tells him to leave the site, that he is “no longer welcome”. I guess this was fine with JB as long as people didn’t complain offsite about it.
My sources tell me this BLOG is being closely monitored by JB and when the link was posted, they became very uncomfortable and took action to remove it to delete any negative connotations from their site. I guess posts that fly under the radar are fine and we know ones that are glowing in nature are welcome, but those that show members true colors are not welcome at all. After all, why show the members in less than a positive way when the delete button works so well in Seattle.
I don’t get it. Alot have time to give jb members a hard time here. what was the problem with the post about not mocking god. i do not understnad.
If indeed there has been copyright infringement through their sale of receipes that they did not own, that would be a legal issue. As a lawyer, I would be interested in hearing from anyone who contributed to the recipe book but was not compensated by Judy’s Book for having done so. Also, if anyone could point me to a detailed description of how Judy’s Book was compensated for their sale of the recipe book, that would be invaluable.
It is much more than copywrite enfringement. It is an issue of honesty, decency and integrity. None of which JB has. It also appears that a link to this BLOG has appeared on JB itself. Be prepared for an onslaught of JB cheerleaders who think JB is the best thing since sliced bread! Too bad, they never realized Mom’s home cooking and downright good hard work are much more in demand these days.
BTW I did send in a recipe for the cookbook but since it was not used, I would assume they decided my contribution was not good enough. It’s a shame they didn’t think to edit some of the other contributions as well.
they were not compensated. the cd was free.
I posted numerous times in an effort to make sure I had included EVERYONE who emailed me a recipe. Here’s a copy of the first post:
COOKBOOK!
OK, the formatting is almost finished…not as easy as I had anticipated! So here’s a list of those who EMAILED me recipes. If you sent more than one, I used the first. If you posted in one of the numerous threads about the cookbook, I tried to cut and paste your recipe, but I don’t think I got them all. If, however, you emailed me as requested, it should be here! Here’s the list of folks who contributed. The problem I’m having is that some people didn’t sign their recipes so all I have for a signature is an ambiguous email addy. If you would like your recipe signed in a way other than what is listed, PLEASE let me know no later than Thursday morning. The proof goes to Sydney at JB on Friday! If I don’t hear from you, your recipe will go to print with the signature listed. Also, if you don’t see your name listed, and you emailed me a recipe, please contact me ASAP!
Thanks for your patience!
Misty
Kathy Bennett
Afton Nelson
Stacy T. (Maine)
Audrey
Tessa C
Vicki
Pat Bennett
Denise DiFalco
Sarah
Randi Gold
Erika
Barb
Holly
Stephanie
Mary
Penny T
Denise Wilke
Candice
Kathleen
Patty Erb
Julie Waters
Stacy
Lisa (Slush Cake)
Sorianord
Lisa (Easter Pizza)
Traci
Kathy Hartz
Aya Nakazato
Sue Smith
Robin G.
Kris
Olivera Jackson
Lori Flanders
Daniel
Mary Honaker
Trish
Nancy
Melissa White
Christina C.
Shannon W.
Pat Davis
Annamarie Rutschke
April H.
Msbooch74
Amy (Pesto Pizza)
Amy G. (Brownie Bars)
Here’s the second:
Last Question for Tonight I SWEAR–About the Cookbook
If you submitted a recipe (and the list is included here again, alphabetized by FIRST name), and you are NOT a City Editor, please email me as soon as possible at arielyn211@aol.com! Thanks!
A
Afton Nelson, 35
Amy, 27
Amy G., 44
Angie, 24
Annamarie Rutschke, 9
April H, 38
Audrey, 33
Aya Nakazato, 13
B
Barb, 34
C
Candice, 26
Christina C., 51
D
Daniel, 16
David N., 28
Denise DiFalco, 5
Denise Wilke, 36
E
Erika R., 7
H
Holly, 18
J
Julie Waters, 42
K
Kathleen, 20
Kathy, 15
Kathy Miller, 32
Kris, 49
L
Lisa, 10, 40
Lori Flanders, 39
M
Mary, 50
Mary A. Honaker, 48
Melissa W., 17
Msbooch74, 11
N
Nancy, 43
O
Olivera Jackson, 47
P
Pat B., 41
Pat Davis, 31
Patty Erb, 8
Penny T., 25
R
Randi Gold, 21
Robin G., 23
Roxanne S., 12
S
Sarah, 6
Shannon W., 19
Sorianord, 22
Stacy, 46
Stephanie, 29
Sue S., 45
T
Tessa, 37
Traci, 14
Trish, 52
V
Vicki, 30
And there were THREE MORE. Either you missed all five; ignored all five; or decided not to respond. Whatever the case, ALL submitted recipes were included. “They” didn’t decide which recipes were included and which weren’t. The recipes were forwarded to ME, and I put ALL of them in. If yours never made it to me, you had FIVE opportunities to fix that.
Perhaps you’s were the ones removed for no
“apparent” reason. I like your determination in trying to thwart people from going to JB but I feel strongly that
this will backfire on you. Anyways, I find
it quite hyprocritical that all of you choose to remain anoymous (lack of courage)
Would unveiling your true identity ensure
further rejection from your need for online
reinforcement? Just to let you know, last
month (without you’s there) JB had it’s most traffic & revenues. If you had stayed
or were allowed to stay you would be profiting from the enhanced reward benefit
given to those who stay and continue to
contribute. Yes, it’s well worth being deemed the Bleach Blonde Bimbo. It is utterly ridiculous that you can’t leave in
class and move on however I have an inkling
there is no other websites that will allow
you to take up their precious space either.
Just a quick note here. Be constructive. Rude comments with a sole purpose to insult the other party are deleted.
I think it’s a little late for that…
Thank you probargain hunter for your common sense and for giving the chance to voice publicaly the distaste many of us find lingering in our mouths from the unsavory business practices of JB. I noticed that though Misty listed the members who contributed to the list, she also did not include the fact that at the creation of said cookbook, several members were ignored all together. I honestly don’t care at this point whether I was included or not, or whether my recipe was listed under another’s name. What I do care about, and others have repeatedly commented on, is the obvious disrespect JB has shown it members throughout the last few months.
Allowing negative, disrespectful posts and comments onsite is not only demeaning for those parties attacked but shows a lack of class on JB’s part. Of course it all comes back to numbers and the importance of them in the whole scheme of things. And as the days go by I think we are all realizing that numbers are the new name of JB.
Sadly, Judy’s Book as a company appears to be taking the “path of least resistance”. Rather than giving every member freedom to express their points of view through reviews, comments, questions, etc. they seem to be allowing the majority to dictate the terms to everyone else.
Judy’s Book needs to take a proactive approach rather than a reactive approach to their members content. I’ve seen far too many instances where members have contributed valuable content only to be publically humiliated for their views because they weren’t in the mainstream. Judy’s Book has been remiss in failing to intervene. They refuse to stand up and formally say that the minority point of view is also entitled to a voice on their website.
In a recent post regarding Wal-Mart policies, Judy’s book COO Chris Devore had this to say: “Great post, wys – thanks for standing up for what you believe in, and for what we all want Judy’s Book to be about.”
By his comments, Chris not only applauds the actions of this member who applies a public beating to the orignal poster but also extends the alienation of the original poster. Bravo Chris!!
This thread is just more evidence of the limited understanding that the managment at Judy’s Book possesses for how to run a successful “community” orientated site.
http://www.judysbook.com/membe.....11/486657/
Actually, Denise, it was SYDNEY who originally referred to you as the “bleach blonde bimbo.” It hurts, doesn’t it? Time to start seeing the people at JB for who they really are!
xjbmember, I still do not understand how several members were “ignored” in the creation of the cookbook. I did it, I compiled it, I wrote the reminders. I ignored NO ONE! Please be specific.
No, it doesn’t hurt at all. People are human and I see no harm in being human. I
am a manager at my real work and yes, I have been called worse. I actually think
it quite amusing that some here would think
it would fluster me. Maybe you will all realize that I am not the kiss ass you say
that I am. I never said I was in love with
the JB staff; what I said is I love writing
and I never labeled myself a professional -
for one JB did not screen for professionals. Ironically, I have been
writing on a very professional website because of being noticed on JB. And if trying to see the good portion of everything makes one an “airhead” than so be it, don’t you think there are much more
constructive concerns in life to become so
passionate about. And all this for what
a lousy giftcard? You could never make a
living on JB but rather than waste precious
moments here…try getting a real job!
Perhaps Andy’s moving on??
http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.....108267.asp
Denise, attacking others and telling them “get a real job” is not only not decent commenting but also is counter productive. You say you don’t care what anyone on the BLOGS think but yet you come back here and comment for all to see. Why is that Denise?
You have no idea what anyone of us do for a living. I, like many others, have a well paying job as well as many other activities. To assume any of the writers on these BLOGS are persons who have nothing better to do than to write and complain is laughable.
I for one, write here to be a voice for those too beaten down and/or disillusioned by JB to feel comfortable writing for themselves. It is my way of giving back to others and helping the healing begin. Many of the individuals you comment so negatively on most likely are here commenting as a way to salve a wound caused by JB’s indifference and shoddy business practices. As for those who are calling JB out on their use of nicknames for others and such, they seem to be doing that in order to break the rose colored glasses JB cememted to so many members faces. I don’t know where the nickname for you originated but I do know my sources say it was used time and time again in the Seattle office and with much glee attached. I’m sorry to be the one to tell you this, but JB isn’t perfect and in fact, has an office full of persons who are disrespectful of others in many ways.
Learn as I have learned Denise not to let names bother you, they are just words and learn from them. Consider the source and go from there. You may grow as a person in the process and in my experience, that is always a good thing.
Two things were/are wrong with Judy’s Book: Bad management and a big glom of members who were/are too grammatically challenged to be taken seriously. Now those very members are branching out to the blog sites in defense of their beloved JB and it isn’t any more attractive here—or “even very interesting”, as Chris DaVore might say.
Chris DeVore… yes, he does like to slap down his members and offer up no apologies for doing so, only encouragement for others to do the very same. There have been uncounted opportunities for him to make a positive comment that would inspire unity rather than division, but he refuses to step up to do so.
I think he must have majored in “Creating a Divisive Atmosphere” in college.
Since this site is SUPPOSED to be a mean-free zone per the blog owner’s request (not that the followers of Judy’s Book can be expected to read), keep the discussions here reasonable and rational. If you want to post no holds barred, come to my blog. It’s unmoderated and nothing is too nasty.
Denise, I don’t believe for a MOMENT that you aren’t hurt by Sydney referring to you as a bleach blonde bimbo. Anyone would be hurt to find out someone they considered a friend or at least a colleague would be so rude and mean-spirited. The fact that the entire Seattle office had this nickname for you, when in your heart you believed you were working hard to make the site a better place, has to sting.
Denise, I agee with Judy’s Book Blows, having someone call names isn’t pleasant and in fact it hurts. Come clean here and tell us that it DID hurt. It is the first step to healing and may open your eyes to the injustice’s JB put upon you.
Denise, I know you are still reading this blog waiting for more information to take to JB, but before I give you more fuel for your gossipy fire, answer my question. Tell us honestly, doesn’t it hurt that JB talked so badly about you behind your back and you have to come to a BLOG to find out the truth? Admit it and move on and in the process you may learn even more about JB that will not only surprise you but make you apologise to others here for your outburst as well.
Ironically the staff at JB have written me
a letter of apology and have asked for me to please stay on although I was not moved
by the bleach blonde nickname. Here’s why-
I really did not have any “intimate” type of contact with them. What hurts me to the
bone is when I feel I can trust someone as
a friend as I have with many of the members
at JB and than they deliberately debase me
(as with the above links here). I can understand your beef with the staff because
of broken promises but why drag innocent
members into the picture? Bridget… what
did she do to you? The very public and
rude attack on Kristen at Gather where Misty was brave
enough to come in and defend her – What
was that all about? TD swears she is innocent but we all seen her share of musings, yes even Kristen so I hope that makes you very proud. Perhaps if I had a
more direct dealing with the staff on a more consistant basis than I would be more
offended with the doings there. I feel that someone I had the deepest respect for
and had really looked up to for advice ext
has put a blade in my heart here. If I personally had offended you why not email
me?
Denise,
You repeatedly have stated that you were not at all bothered by the comments that were reportedly made by the JB staff but the fact that you repeatedly post about it says otherwise. It is understandable that you would be bothered by those comments and the lack of professionalism displayed by the JB staff. It is why many have left the site. What I don’t understand is why you don’t respect yourself more and just walk away even if they did send you an apology letter. Do you think that means the inter-office comments have stopped?
I think that many of the links that have been posted are not “personal attacks” but rather criticism about a site which supposedly prides itself on having quality reviews. To quote Chris DeVore directly, “It is not about how much money can we spend on Super Bowl advertisements so people hear the words Judy’s Book,’ he said. ‘It is how good is our content, how trustworthy is our content and how much are we solving the consumer’s problem.’” Do you honestly think that reviews about pumpkin seeds, divorce rates/longevity/etc. (which in some cases were just cut and pasted articles from other sites) and religious tirades fit within the definition of quality, trustworthy content? Many of the links posted here have actually been removed after they were received public attention and it seems that JB is now keeping an eye out for situations like these that will lead to bad press for them. By the way, you posted about how you have been let down by many of your friends at JB but continue to look at Bridget as a friend. If you knew much about her, you would know that she is far from innocent or trustworthy.
You also addressed the so-called personal attack on Kristen. The thread you are referring to did not start out as an attack at all. A member asked a legitimate question about whether Kristen was employed by JB. I think it is a question many had wondered about but that few were willing to come out and actually ask. Kristen ended up answering the question herself on the JB site by stating that she was not employed by JB, but that they provide many of the prizes for the contests that she sponsors. It appears obvious that Kristen has a link with the management at JB as she essentially unveiled their new requirements for reviews for November (having a website) in her contest before the new requirements were announced by JB. Many people posted frustrations about the volume of messages that they receive from Kristen. That has been an ongoing frustrations posted about many members by many members for several months now.
Denise, how nice for you that JB decided to apologise for their comments. If this email is indeed genuine, then I for one would like to see it posted here for the rest of us to see. I find it increasingly hard to believe that JB would write a personal letter, and apology yes, but personal, no. I suspect the letter is but another one of their form letters. Well, will you post it or are you afraid that we will see it for the canned letter that it most likely is?
By the way, who do you refer to in the last sentance of your post? “I feel that someone I had the deepest respect for
and had really looked up to for advice ext
has put a blade in my heart here.” I would be interested to know the identity of this person.
Here’s the email I received from Erin:
Hi Misty,
Sarah forwarded your response to me. We of course are aware of all that’s been going on outside of Judy’s Book and it’s always disappointing to hear that we have let down some members. We are however responding by more strictly enforcing our TOU—you were unfortunately on the receiving end of that and while we do feel you have been an especially strong contributor to Judy’s Book, we need to be objective in our enforcement of the rules. We are working very hard to be more consistent and diligent in this area of customer service.
As for the comments regarding Sydney and Sarah–they simply are not true. We do not feel that it is a constructive use of our time to continue to respond to rumors or false allegations but rather are focusing our efforts on making improvements to the site and on responding to our valued members. I have worked with both Sydney & Sarah for over a year and it’s disheartening especially for them to read this information. They have worked tirelessly in their respective areas of Judy’s Book to respond to members and manage the City Editor program and the Judy’s Book staff has nothing but respect for all of their efforts—especially during a period of evolution for Judy’s Book.
I hope you can understand how we are approaching this situation and while it sounds like you will no longer be with us, we thank you for your contributions and if there’s anything else you’d like to chat about, feel free to get in touch with me directly.
Thanks,
Erin Friedman, Director of Marketing
Well, I guess we know now that Erin is a liar as well. Or maybe it was someone besides Sydney & Sarah who were referring to certain members whose names all begin with “K” as the “three little pigs?”
BTW, here’s the email I sent that prompted the response. Sarah had written asking me to be sure I wanted to leave.
Sarah,
Thank you for your response, but I am not reconsidering. I have looked at several of the blogs out there about JB, and the ones that mention Sydney’s “nicknames” for many on the site truly upset me. The three pigs? That’s just horrible. Had this been the first time this was mentioned, I would have taken it with a grain of salt, but this has been alluded to in the past as well. I was told through a private email from someone whom you would consider an “insider” that the staff at JB “laughs” behind my back. That just hurts. I don’t think my “transgressions” rise to that level of entitlement.
Good luck to you, Sarah. It looks to me as if members are fleeing in great numbers. I hope that is cause for concern and that JB will rethink it’s approach. I’m not leaving because I was “reprimanded.” I’m leaving because JB refuses to take a public stand against those who are blatantly abusing the TOS.
Misty
This is my last post here, in case it was
misunderstood. I received a letter from
Erin apologizing for the grief I have encountered here with yous, there was no mention of
name calling and also for the jb members
who are straddling the fence. Since I never heard the comments directly (insinuated by you’s) that the staff made
I have a most difficult time believing it.
With that said, I have more important things to do. I will not be posting ever
again.
thank you Denise for making your last statement here such a telling one. I don’t think there is any doubt in the minds of the reader what is actually happening now with yourself and JB.
What’s that, xjbmember? My personal interpretation of the relationship between Denise and JB is like an abusive marriage. JB dishes out abuse, and Denise takes it because she is codependent on JB for validation, acceptance, and gift cards. Is that what you were thinking?
Exactly! It seems my sarcasm (like Denise’s intelligibility) got lost somewhere in cyberspace. So sorry for the misunderstanding. I wouldn’t support her convoluted comments if they were the only ones on JB!
Since the discussion has mostly turned into an exchange of personal attacks I think it will be the proper time to finish it at this point. If you wish to continue please use the email or do so at the above mentioned blogs.