As developers trying to provide the best experience possible for OlyverApp users, we often check out other apps and platforms. We just tried Mindway, an app that claims to stop “overthinking”. The experience was so bad it left us wondering if Mindway is a scam. If not, it’s a great example of how not to engage with users. Let's learn from Mindway's mistakes.
Mindway's customer service was so bad that we immediately lost faith in its product, technology, and people.
Customers expect apps and platforms to be easy to use. They want seamless onboarding and self-explanatory features whenever possible. Users abandon technology that makes them work too hard.
Still, glitches happen (don't we know it!) and how you handle them says volumes about your company. Mindway's customer service was so bad that we immediately lost faith in its product, technology, and people. Except for airlines and banks, if you treat users like you're entitled to their business - like they're numbers, not humans - you'll lose them in droves.
Mindway advertises extensively on Instagram. We followed a 'Learn More' prompt and completed a lengthy questionnaire so the app could generate a "personalized program" to slow our overeager minds. Then we provided an email address and paid to get full feature access.
We received a confirmation email instructing us to download Mindway’s IOS app. The app then prompted us for a password we'd never been asked to create. The only option was to click ‘Forget Password’. We did that, created a password, and signed in. But we couldn't access any features without subscribing again. Mindway had no record of our payment, the questionnaire, or the personalized plan. It was presumably a glitch, a minor annoyance. Either the technology wasn't working or Mindway failed to provide adequate instructions. Easily fixable.
We contacted customer support expecting a prompt response. We were a new user who’d just paid and there was clearly a glitch. We received an email to expect someone to contact us within one business day. About 24 hours later, we received a second, one-sentence email asking for a “screenshot” of the problem. There was no apology for the inconvenience; in fact, the email was terse and aggressive.
More importantly, Mindway clearly hadn't read our email or tried to understand our issue. There was no error screen or code, no visually noticeable glitch. We couldn't sign in without creating another account. The "screen" was their credit card form. The "problem" was there was no record in Mindway's system associated with our email address. You can't screenshot that.
Almost two days after signing up for Mindway, we still couldn’t access the account. We asked for a refund and waited another 24 hours for a response. The customer agent canceled the subscription but claimed she wasn’t “authorized” to give us a refund. The agent escalated the issue to someone else who would notify us of a “decision” within three business days. Still no apology for the inconvenience.
After another 24 hours, a “Senior Support Specialist” denied the refund because “all sales of digital products are final and non-refundable unless the product failed to be delivered due to a technical fault on our end. Since the item was correctly delivered, we are unable to issue you a refund.” She further noted: “You may still use your plan until your current subscription ends.” Correctly delivered? Use until the subscription ends? We’ve never been able to log in. It's such a bizarre response we can't tell if Mindway is a scam or a really poorly run business. We’ll probably never know. And that's not the impression you want to give users or prospects.
Users don't expect perfection from technology. Errors happen. But customer interactions that cause them to lose faith not only in your product, but in your people and company as well, are entirely preventable failures. Don't leave users wondering if they’ve been had by Nigerian Prince 2.0. Don't do what Mindway does.
As for Mindway? If you're for real, hope the $40.00 was worth it.