Flo refund

[minnhawkeye]

Saw this posted over on BWI thought most of you would appreciate it.

Mkoz @Mkosz1
@martinoflo I appreciate your apology, but how will you remediate?


Follow
Martin Floreani @martinoflo
@Mkosz1 besides getting better...we are offering up full refunds or two months free at support@flosports.tv

7:20 PM - 19 Feb 2017

 

[Chuck C]

My subscription runs out in April, I already cancelled earlier today. The thing is, this isn't an isolated incident, instead it seems to be the norm.

 

[rossel 33]

Saw this posted over on BWI thought most of you would appreciate it.

Mkoz @Mkosz1
@martinoflo I appreciate your apology, but how will you remediate?


Follow
Martin Floreani @martinoflo
@Mkosz1 besides getting better...we are offering up full refunds or two months free at support@flosports.tv

7:20 PM - 19 Feb 2017

Thx for the info!

 

[DonHawkeye]

If flo went away tomorrow I would be upset. They are awesome for the sport. They are not perfect but they are essentially a small team trying to pull off some big stuff. There will be some growing pains. I guarantee they were more upset about yesterday than anyone else. If you cancel your subscription over this I think you are being short sighted.

I am also aware that it is not the first time issues like this came up. But even with some of these slip ups, the value they provide for $20 a month is pretty amazing if you follow this sport seriously at all.

 

[Czech Hawk]

Flo, as much as I hate to say it is good for the sport. I don't know when I will go back, it will take something I really want to see or knowing that the streaming issues have been addressed. They definitely have guys on the payroll that cheer against Iowa. It's hard to tell how it effects some of the things they put out. I would say they cheer against our guys and hate most of our fans. I really wonder the ratio of Iowa fans that subscribe to flo. Fix it, prove it and I will be back.

 

[Pennstate1985]

If flo went away tomorrow I would be upset. They are awesome for the sport. They are not perfect but they are essentially a small team trying to pull off some big stuff. There will be some growing pains. I guarantee they were more upset about yesterday than anyone else. If you cancel your subscription over this I think you are being short sighted.

I am also aware that it is not the first time issues like this came up. But even with some of these slip ups, the value they provide for $20 a month is pretty amazing if you follow this sport seriously at all.

The truth is that Flo has failed its customers too many times. If it happens once in a while in different and small ways, that can be attributed to an employee or a poor middle manager of one area. Consistent failures that run the gamut point to the lead dog as being unfit to manage the vision (if there is one). He's just not up to the task, and it expresses itself in poor quality and/or service. Management 101 folks.

 

[hawkster03]

This is actually the first time I've had problems. I'm not changing anything. There's not a lot of money in wrestling, they do good with what they have.

Even though yesterday was very disappointing, it doesn't come close to everything else they provide to the sport of wrestling across the globe.

 

[AFHawk86]

I got my first FLO subscription this weekend to watch national duals

I know your opinions on the duals, yet many of you were obviously trying to watch some good wrestling the same as I was. Two takeaways: 1) national duals has value for wrestling because it matches up good teams that don't see each other during the regular season, and 2) FLO needs to do better with their live coverage.

 

[DonHawkeye]

The truth is that Flo has failed its customers too many times. If it happens once in a while in different and small ways, that can be attributed to an employee or a poor middle manager of one area. Consistent failures that run the gamut point to the lead dog as being unfit to manage the vision (if there is one). He's just not up to the task, and it expresses itself in poor quality and/or service. Management 101 folks.

Most times there is a point when a startup founder has to step aside to a CEO with a different skill set. Not sure flo is at that point but maybe. I am not even sure they haven't already done that.

 

[WWDMHawkeye]

If flo went away tomorrow I would be upset. They are awesome for the sport. They are not perfect but they are essentially a small team trying to pull off some big stuff. There will be some growing pains. I guarantee they were more upset about yesterday than anyone else. If you cancel your subscription over this I think you are being short sighted.

I am also aware that it is not the first time issues like this came up. But even with some of these slip ups, the value they provide for $20 a month is pretty amazing if you follow this sport seriously at all.

They've been around for the better part of a decade now. How long is the "growing pains" excuse valid? I think it's wearing thin.

The "small team" excuse is wearing thin, too, IMO. They've had a lot of time to build their team. Also keep in mind that they stand to make a lot of money individually as a small team. I don't begrudge anyone filling a need and benefiting financially by taking some risk. That's the beauty of a free market and something to celebrate.

That said, they're like any news outlet. If I don't appreciate their biases, I'm not going to support them financially to hear their biased point of view. That's why you have a good number of Iowa fans declining. Maybe they'll win us over -- that's up to them.

Another nice thing about the free market is competition, and it looks like Track Wrestling is throwing their hat in the ring. They have Andy Hamilton on their team, and he's a true pro. I'm hoping to support them as an alternative to Flo. It will be good to have some competition in this arena -- ultimately, good for the fans and great for the sport.

 

[Jay on HR]

They've been around for the better part of a decade now. How long is the "growing pains" excuse valid? I think it's wearing thin.

The "small team" excuse is wearing thin, too, IMO. They've had a lot of time to build their team. Also keep in mind that they stand to make a lot of money individually as a small team. I don't begrudge anyone filling a need and benefiting financially by taking some risk. That's the beauty of a free market and something to celebrate.

That said, they're like any news outlet. If I don't appreciate their biases, I'm not going to support them financially to hear their biased point of view. That's why you have a good number of Iowa fans declining. Maybe they'll win us over -- that's up to them.

Another nice thing about the free market is competition, and it looks like Track Wrestling is throwing their hat in the ring. They have Andy Hamilton on their team, and he's a true pro. I'm hoping to support them as an alternative to Flo. It will be good to have some competition in this arena -- ultimately, good for the fans and great for the sport.

Very well said. Only thing I would compliment to your post would be Flo has received a multi-million dollar investment so I too see the "small team pulling off big time stuff" as not a good enough excuse.

 

[Jay on HR]

If flo went away tomorrow I would be upset. They are awesome for the sport. They are not perfect but they are essentially a small team trying to pull off some big stuff. There will be some growing pains. I guarantee they were more upset about yesterday than anyone else. If you cancel your subscription over this I think you are being short sighted.

I am also aware that it is not the first time issues like this came up. But even with some of these slip ups, the value they provide for $20 a month is pretty amazing if you follow this sport seriously at all.

I found their response to the incident laughable. They publish a "statement" about the PSU-OSU dual which really was a tweet from Martin.

Maybe I am old school but to use a Tweet As a statement for a company's failure seems lazy. I realize Martin was actually responding to customers on Twitter which is great, but rather than serving your clients one at a time it probably would have been much more efficient for Martin to draft a single email addressing all/most of those questions he received in his email and put that in the company's official statement. The fact that someone had to go through Martin's mentions to find how Flo is willing to correct the issue is another failure on their end.

 

[DonHawkeye]

I am no expert in this field but 200 people and 20 million dollars is probably still a small team in regards with what they are trying to pull off.

I am also not saying they don't need to be beat up over this. I am just saying that the value they provide for $20 a month is way to much for me to cancel over a thing like this. Most of their feeds work. They need to figure out their stuff with the big time events for sure.

 

[Jackhawk87]

I guess I am not ready to quit quite yet. How does one claim the two months free? Just e-mail them at the address on the OP?

 

[butchinmi]

Some people in Iowa couldn't watch the High School Wrestling Tournament. On flo, I got to watch our guys in Iran. I think I'll stick with the few hiccups.

 

[OpenWater]

How many of us are aware that the NCAA XC Championships were, for the first time this past fall, behind a pay wall? The paywall belonged to Flo. It is an interesting development. Up until this year, the event was streamed live (and streamed well) by the NCAA. Could the same happen with wrestling?

We can all decide our own course of action, we 'vote' with our feet, and Flo will or won't adapt. Their choice, and then we adapt in turn. Personally, I'm walking for now, and will jump back in when the quality is reliable. In the mean time, I'll rely on Twitter and updates here, as well as audio. This online community is awesome, though it is not the same as watching live, it sure is exciting.

 

[Chickenman Testa]

Very well said. Only thing I would compliment to your post would be Flo has received a multi-million dollar investment so I too see the "small team pulling off big time stuff" as not a good enough excuse.

The investment in Flo is relatively puny - their travel budget alone has to be pretty huge.

 

[Jay on HR]

I guess I am not ready to quit quite yet. How does one claim the two months free? Just e-mail them at the address on the OP?

See this is a failure when customers aren't even sure how they are supposed to go about being compensated for a company's failure.

To answer your question, yes use that email and I would hope they make the process pretty easy for you. I.E. your email probably just has to say something like "Looking for a refund that Martin said was available if we contacted this email"

 

[Jay on HR]

Some people in Iowa couldn't watch the High School Wrestling Tournament. On flo, I got to watch our guys in Iran. I think I'll stick with the few hiccups.

Just my opinion, but maybe they should spend less time criticizing NBC Sports, and a little more time making sure their product is up to snuff for the "dual of the year".

 

[Stanley75]

When a company offers a product to a select audience. The product must be as advertised or better. If we buy a service, we shouldn't just expect a service, we should be guaranteed a service. It's just plain business 101. We also must understand the principals of supply and demand. Wrestling isn't golf and doesn't have the resources that big time sports have. So are we better off with no Flo and no possibility of coverage? This is the problem with a low demand product.

 

[CaliforniaGoldd]

FLO has raised prices recently to $30 a month or $180 a year for its most loyal customers despite churning out unreliable service. Its funny that the price changes based on whether you use a new account or an old account, or a new or old IP address. I really can't say FLO is such a great thing for the sport when they take content that used to be free or cheap and now have become an expensive tollway that has the audacity to gouge us with higher prices and worse quality. I have suggested to FLO to make single event watching cheaper (not more expensive) than $20 to grow the sport, but I never get a response back. There seems to be a lot of angry FLO customers on BWI and hopefully others who are frustrated with FLO can get them to listen to us for a change: (1) more reliable service (not having access to an event when you have paid for it is unacceptable and the constant freezeups with many of their streams is very annoying): (2) cheaper options for the many who may just want to watch an event from time to time and (3) better quality broadcasts (Trackwrestling provides riding time, why can't these guys consistently do that and I'm amazed at how often they can't even get the identity of the wrestlers correct).

 

[pumpdog20]

I think some of you are expecting a little too much. If the demand was there for them to invest in servers to handle the large loads, I'm sure they would have. The way I take it is that yesterday is an anomaly for them as far as website traffic. Do they invest in equipment that they only need once or twice a year? I don't know, but I imagine it's a fine line to toe. Like Willie has said, until the Ford's, P&G's, etc start sponsoring events, there's not a lot of money in wrestling.

Personally, I think FLO does a damn good job considering all things. I do wish they weren't so stretched thin with all their other non-mainstream sports, but evidently there's a market for that. I'll continue to support them until I feel my money would be better spent with TrackWrestling.

 

[CaliforniaGoldd]

I think some of you are expecting a little too much. If the demand was there for them to invest in servers to handle the large loads, I'm sure they would have. The way I take it is that yesterday is an anomaly for them as far as website traffic. Do they invest in equipment that they only need once or twice a year? I don't know, but I imagine it's a fine line to toe. Like Willie has said, until the Ford's, P&G's, etc start sponsoring events, there's not a lot of money in wrestling.

Personally, I think FLO does a damn good job considering all things. I do wish they weren't so stretched thin with all their other non-mainstream sports, but evidently there's a market for that. I'll continue to support them until I feel my money would be better spent with TrackWrestling.

They don't have to own or invest in a bunch of new servers, they can use a service like Amazon Web Services to deal with spikes in demands. This is not a novel concept. Ignorance or arrogance on Flo's part is not a good excuse.

 

[pumpdog20]

They don't have to own or invest in a bunch of new servers, they can use a service like Amazon Web Services to deal with spikes in demands. This is not a novel concept. Ignorance or arrogance on Flo's part is not a good excuse.

Take your word for it.

 

[2plus2]

They've been around for the better part of a decade now. How long is the "growing pains" excuse valid? I think it's wearing thin.

The "small team" excuse is wearing thin, too, IMO. They've had a lot of time to build their team. Also keep in mind that they stand to make a lot of money individually as a small team. I don't begrudge anyone filling a need and benefiting financially by taking some risk. That's the beauty of a free market and something to celebrate.

That said, they're like any news outlet. If I don't appreciate their biases, I'm not going to support them financially to hear their biased point of view. That's why you have a good number of Iowa fans declining. Maybe they'll win us over -- that's up to them.

Another nice thing about the free market is competition, and it looks like Track Wrestling is throwing their hat in the ring. They have Andy Hamilton on their team, and he's a true pro. I'm hoping to support them as an alternative to Flo. It will be good to have some competition in this arena -- ultimately, good for the fans and great for the sport.

Are you saying that Andy doesn't go on live broadcasts with a big wedge in his lip and spit cup sitting next to him?

Also where are they putting their federally funded grant money they got last year. In their payroll pockets or improved technology?

 

[hawkster03]

Some of you are CRAZY. That $20M isn't just going to FloWrestling.

It's to FloSports:

Network

• Wrestling
• Track & Field
• MileSplit
• Gymnastics
• Elite Fitness
• Softball
• Grappling
• Boxing
• Cheerleading
• Basketball
• Varsity TV
• Volleyball
• Combat
• Tennis
• Fighting Games
• Climbing
• Marching Band
• Swimming
• Hockey
• Rodeo
• Professional Wrestling

Do the math. Once again, at least in the United States, there's virtually zero money in the sport of REAL wrestling. They do pretty damn good. There's SO many wrestling events that would have ZERO COVERAGE if it wasn't for them, ZERO.

 

[purescurve]

A

They don't have to own or invest in a bunch of new servers, they can use a service like Amazon Web Services to deal with spikes in demands. This is not a novel concept. Ignorance or arrogance on Flo's part is not a good excuse.

As I was watching the complaints come in most were due to increased usage beyond what was expected. How does Amazon Web Services work? Cost for say 50,000 subscribers? Only other answer to me is to lay it off to bigger network and still get their beaks wet.

 

[Mendoza77]

Please excuse the long post - scroll past it if you want - this is an email that I sent to Flo in January due to a subscription issue. They responded by saying "tough, it wasn't our fault, we won't refund you anything." My feeling is that they essentially stole $40 from me.

Here's the email that I sent to Flo:
I'm an active member of the Rivals/HR message board for Iowa wrestling and people often mention FloWrestling. I decided to subscribe, particularly for the live streaming of the recent Iowa-Oklahoma State dual. I first went to your site to know the subscription price. I was required to provide a username and email address, and I just made up something in order to see your pricing. Later, when I decided to subscribe, your system automatically signed me up according to the username and email address that I had previously provided, and of course I didn't remember or have access to. At the time of the dual I was frantic to gain access and so had to subscribe a second time (another $20, so essentially I was billed twice, with the first subscription being inaccessible for me).

This situation didn't bother me much, since I trusted that Flo would understand and refund me the duplicate $20 subscription. However, the situation became much worse when I was unable to view at least half of the dual due to constant buffering issues (including at the crucial moment of the Sorensen-Collica match, the feed just froze). In each match, every thirty seconds or so there would be a buffering pause and I ended up missing a substantial portion of each match. Please don't try to lay the blame on my end - I do NOT have a bad server, outdated computer and software, or any other issue on my end. People who post on Rivals have also complained that there were many problems with the streaming.

Due to the subscription duplication issue, and the live streaming problems, I request that FloWrestling cancel my subscription and refund to me both $20 subscription fees. I was looking forward to using FloWrestling as a great source for my wrestling interest, but at this point in time it's not something I care to pursue - hopefully in the future the streaming technology will improve. Thank you for your consideration in this matter.

 

[Mendoza77]

Does anyone have the email address for Martin? I'd like to try again to get at least a partial refund for the problem that I had in January.

 

[WWDMHawkeye]

Please excuse the long post - scroll past it if you want - this is an email that I sent to Flo in January due to a subscription issue. They responded by saying "tough, it wasn't our fault, we won't refund you anything." My feeling is that they essentially stole $40 from me.

Here's the email that I sent to Flo:
I'm an active member of the Rivals/HR message board for Iowa wrestling and people often mention FloWrestling. I decided to subscribe, particularly for the live streaming of the recent Iowa-Oklahoma State dual. I first went to your site to know the subscription price. I was required to provide a username and email address, and I just made up something in order to see your pricing. Later, when I decided to subscribe, your system automatically signed me up according to the username and email address that I had previously provided, and of course I didn't remember or have access to. At the time of the dual I was frantic to gain access and so had to subscribe a second time (another $20, so essentially I was billed twice, with the first subscription being inaccessible for me).

This situation didn't bother me much, since I trusted that Flo would understand and refund me the duplicate $20 subscription. However, the situation became much worse when I was unable to view at least half of the dual due to constant buffering issues (including at the crucial moment of the Sorensen-Collica match, the feed just froze). In each match, every thirty seconds or so there would be a buffering pause and I ended up missing a substantial portion of each match. Please don't try to lay the blame on my end - I do NOT have a bad server, outdated computer and software, or any other issue on my end. People who post on Rivals have also complained that there were many problems with the streaming.

Due to the subscription duplication issue, and the live streaming problems, I request that FloWrestling cancel my subscription and refund to me both $20 subscription fees. I was looking forward to using FloWrestling as a great source for my wrestling interest, but at this point in time it's not something I care to pursue - hopefully in the future the streaming technology will improve. Thank you for your consideration in this matter.

I think your main problem was informing them that you're an Iowa fan.

 

[whejoe]

Who was the poster who tried for over a year to cancel and would start a thread saying that Flo was fraudulent? I wonder if he will try and get 2 months free.............

 

[Leepe]

Who was the poster who tried for over a year to cancel and would start a thread saying that Flo was fraudulent? I wonder if he will try and get 2 months free.............

I don't know, but that is the reason that I will only subscribe to flo with a prepaid credit card rather than any of my personal credit cards.

 

[CradleKing26]

This is the first trouble I've had with Flo's streaming services and I've been a FloPro member since they've first offered it. I'm on their site almost daily and I use their streaming services almsot every weekend.

While yesterday was frustrating, I can't comprehend canceling subscription if you are a wrestling fan. There are TONS of events they cover that would otherwise get zero coverage. I tend to think that if you are willing to cancel that easily, you aren't really a wrestling fan anyway. I like can't imagine not having Flo.

I also don't understand the claimed bias against Iowa. They've done awesome specials on Terry, Dan Dennis and Mark Perry. But thats another discussion.

 

[123jayhawk]

Is there any chance they will give refunds for the last 5 years of horrible reception and glitches while I've waited for them to improve.

 

[Knight563]

As they say, "$&*! Happens"


At least they're trying to grow the sport - their heart is in the right place. I, for one, will give them another chance. Hawks will be on top in a few years with all their recent recruiting of studs.........so we need to make sure we keep supporting Flo so we can see CP talk about the multiple national championships for Iowa. I live for that day.

 

[JonesHawk125]

I have an annual subscription and emailed them about the 2 free months... They emailed me back and said I will get my 2 free months when I pay my annual renewal in October. LMAO! I have to renew in order to get my refund from this year's mess? What a crock.

 

[2plus2]

I have an annual subscription and emailed them about the 2 free months... They emailed me back and said I will get my 2 free months when I pay my annual renewal in October. LMAO! I have to renew in order to get my refund from this year's mess? What a crock.

Lol wow! Well, their customer service and billing dept has always been a bunch of frauds so are you really that surprised?

Make sure you always use a prepaid CC with them or else they will keep billing you after canceling. Frauds.

 

[Jackhawk87]

I have an annual subscription and emailed them about the 2 free months... They emailed me back and said I will get my 2 free months when I pay my annual renewal in October. LMAO! I have to renew in order to get my refund from this year's mess? What a crock.

I e-mailed them about the 2 free months as well.

Crickets.

 

[bphawkeye_Rivals]

I e-mailed them about the 2 free months as well.

Crickets.

I emailed them about my 2 free months as well - I don't have a subscription and I'm pissed too.

 

[Czech Hawk]

As they say, "$&*! Happens"


At least they're trying to grow the sport - their heart is in the right place. I, for one, will give them another chance. Hawks will be on top in a few years with all their recent recruiting of studs.........so we need to make sure we keep supporting Flo so we can see CP talk about the multiple national championships for Iowa. I live for that day.

Too funny, their hearts are in the right place. They hate Iowa fans with their whole heart!. Your head is in the wrong place because its up their A$$. I kid about that part.. so don't take it personal as I do appreciate your optimism. They hold many of the cards, but I will not purchase until I know they are capable of handling the event. Until then they will not get more of my money unless they produce something Iowa related. Yes, they did make Terry... I mean come on, it was a great thing for them too. and got many of us to purchase just for that. Make something else like that and I will purchase again. Hoping track or something else comes along and gives us another option with decent customer service and unbiased commentary.