"It's free so you can't complain."

[Aragarthiel]

I hate this mindset. I have a game I've been playing in Facebook for a while, and right after they do a ton of events and sales to encourage people to spend real money, they say, "Oh, btw, at the end of the month we're not going to be on Facebook anymore. You can move your game to mobile, but if you don't have a mobile device, you're SOL." I didn't spend any real money but I've put real time and effort into it and I won't be able to play it anymore. But I'm not allowed to be upset about it because it's free.

I'm on another site that lets you get gift cards for watching videos, doing surveys, using it as your web search, etc. (Totally legit, btw, if anyone wants the web address PM me.) Lately, the surveys have been screwing up, and Support is totally unhelpful. But again, "You can't complain that you're only getting 20 points instead of your usual 100, because the whole site is free." Well, when I spend an hour on a survey and get disqualified at 90%, I feel I have a right to complain. When I spend ALL DAY going back and forth to see if there's anything new I can do and there never is, I feel I have a right to complain. Nobody else is having these problems as much as I am so I'm not sure support could help much anyway.

Breathing is free, am I allowed to complain if I can't do that? Taking a walk, too? It doesn't matter if I didn't pay money for it. I paid in time and effort, and wasting that, IMO, is worse than wasting money, because you can't get it back.

[Tama]

I HATE this mindset! Those freemium games especially. "It's free, don't complain"....maybe if they fixed the bugs and didn't require IGC for every little thing!

[Rageaholic]

GSN.com is like that. The ads pay for the games and prizes that the site offers (including a lottery every hour). It's a lot of fun and a good time waster, but some of the ads they make you watch get very annoying (particularly those damn "explore great content" ones). Even with ways around the ads (such as clicking out after 30 seconds), the ads themselves still annoy me to no end.

[Aragarthiel]

Pogo was like that too, the ads slowed things down so much I had to install an ad blocker just to play a game. I usually don't mind ads but when they start interfering with the actual site content, you have a problem. But you're not allowed to contact someone because you'd be complaining and it's free.

[Tama]

There's actually a free game called Bitcoin billionaire that I think doors the ad thing right. You are given the choice to watch ads, and if you do, you get rewarded for doing so.

More things need to do that.

[Rageaholic]

Come to think of it, the GSN and it's partner site, worldwinner, have their share of problems. The ads create lag which can really mess up the gaming experience. For worldwinner, sometimes the games won't even load. You'll get that spinning circle for several seconds followed by an error message. It doesn't count it against you and lets you play again, but to have it fail to load several times is very annoying. Also, sometimes the ads you're required to watch are 'not available'.

Those who say you shouldn't complain because it's free are missing the point; they still benefit from you watching their adds. It's in their best interest to fix any problems that prevent us from watching their content (or give us less incentive to).

[Aragarthiel]

they still benefit from you watching their adds.

This. If the ads are overwhelming the content to the point of making it not worth using the site, they lose revenue, so it's in everyone's best interest to complain.

I can only think of one website I'm a member of that penalizes you for using an ad blocker, but the ads consist of a single banner across the top of the page that changes occasionally, so I don't mind turning my ad blocker off for that.

[Andara Bledin]

Unless the ads are actually interfering with the content, using an ad-blocker is a bit ethically challenged. Since the site is supported by viewing the ads, viewing the site without the ads means that you're benefiting from their content, but not letting them benefit from your eyeballs on their page.

That said, most sites will be happy to deal with rogue ads if you take the time to document what's going on and tell them. Ars Technica regularly has threads created in the help section about rogue ads doing stupid things, and every report helps both the site and the ad service to make things safer for everybody, and that spills out across every other site that uses the same ad service.

[Aragarthiel]

Not every site has an obvious way to report ads though. The worst offenders are also usually sites that have paid, ad-free memberships, so you feel forced to either buy the membership, use an ad blocker, or give up using the site completely. They probably have rogue ads for a reason.

[Andara Bledin]

It's a rare site that doesn't have a "contact us" function.

And any site that doesn't have one is likely one I wouldn't trust with my email address to begin with.

Thankfully, Ars not only has a way to contact staff, but cares about their image, even from the free users despite also having a subscription model to remove the ads.

[Aragarthiel]

It's a rare site that doesn't have a "contact us" function.

More often, it's that "contact us" takes you to a form where your only options on the drop-down list are things that have nothing to do with ads, and there's no "Other" option.

[s_stabeler]

The way i' e always interpreted "It's free, so you can't complain" is that if something is free, there is no obligation for it to meet the same standards that something paid-for will ( which is why I get irritated when you are expected to pay simply to get rid of adverts- at least offer something more) However, it DOES have to meet certain requirements- specifically, it has to be useable, and it's not a good idea to make ti an exercise in frustration.

To give an example of when it is appropriate: you ask an artist for a free picture. They agree, but say their paid work will take priority. You can't really complain when it takes a while ( unless the artist agrees to a specific deadline for whatever reason)

a product that is non-functional ( for instance, if you ask for, and receive a free quilt, and it is actually falling apart, you could be rightly irritated. if your irritated because you don't like the colour? sucks to be you, you should have paid.Same for if it's taking longer than expected.)

[Aragarthiel]

To give an example of when it is appropriate: you ask an artist for a free picture. They agree, but say their paid work will take priority. You can't really complain when it takes a while ( unless the artist agrees to a specific deadline for whatever reason)

Exactly. My only issue with your metaphor, though, is that things like that take an indefinite amount of time, so even when it has taken longer than is reasonable (say, a year for a sketch of a tree), you really can't complain.

[Rageaholic]

^

In the case of the survey sites, I think that's a clear cut case of fuckery. I did some research (surveypolice) and a lot of reviews describe the following...

-Getting a message saying they don't qualify after they were already 3/4 of the way done with the survey, thus getting screwed out of the points they were promised. In some cases, they completed the survey when they got the message.
-Having their account terminated for little to no reason. When they call customer service to complain, they get little response (if any at all).
-Taking forever to get their money. And in some cases, not getting it at all while getting responses saying they were already paid (lost in transit?).

Some of the sites got good reviews (pinecone research, which I might try for some extra cash), but for a lot of them, over half of the reviews were complaints.

[Aragarthiel]

The one I use, Swagbucks (if anyone wants, PM me and I'll send you a referral link), gives you a point for any survey you're disqualified from, and another, Opinion Outpost, gives you an entry into their quarterly $10,000 grand prize drawing. The thing is, not all disqualifications are disqualifications. Sometimes the survey hits its quota before you finish, so not all of those complaints are valid. I haven't had a reason to contact Opinion Outpost support yet, but Swagbucks tends to be pretty reliable with their customer service. They usually get back to me the next day with complaints, and they reward you the full amount for survey errors (blank pages, can't continue, invalid fields, etc.) so I can't really complain.