Let’s talk about a hard truth that too many software companies — especially those pivoting into SaaS — don’t want to hear:
Your support sucks. Your security is sloppy. And your community is leaving — not because of your product — but because of how you treat people who actually understand it.
As someone who’s worked in systems administration, nonprofit tech leadership, and community support for decades, I’ve reached my limit. This is a story about the downfall of once-great platforms, the decay of actual tech support, and the rare, golden unicorns that still get it right.
Google: The Data Pit You Won’t Let Us Throw Money Into
I get it. You love telemetry. You want to build the “smartest AI-driven search experience.” But here’s the deal:
Some of us — like security researchers, federal contractors, university admins, and weirdos like me who actually understand how search URLs work — don’t want our data vacuumed up every time we query something.
I would literally pay you for a non-tracked, stripped-down, clean search interface. Let me set udm=14, turn off ei, ved, sourceid=chrome, and stop fingerprinting my browser like it owes you money. But you won’t let me. Because the ads must flow.
You built a hole for us to throw money into, then locked it and walked away.
Chmod 777: The Permission of the Damned
There’s a moment in every admin’s life when an app says:
“Permissions issue. Try
chmod -R 777 ./.”
And for just a moment, you consider it. Then you realize:
- That’s a code problem, not your problem.
- You’re not paid enough to fix someone else’s garbage deployment process.
- If you wanted to live in a digital hellscape of writable-by-all folders, you’d go back to running cPanel in 2007.
I paid for your app. If it requires 777 on production just to function, you owe me an apology — not the other way around.
Invision Community: SaaS Rot in a Shiny Suit
I left Invision (IPS) because what once was a powerful forum platform became… a SaaS dumpster fire. I tried to have a candid conversation with their CEO about support quality and the need for actual server-level help when I’m paying $500 a quarter.
His response?
“You shouldn’t expect that from software providers. We don’t set up your system.”
Cool. I guess taking my money doesn’t come with responsibilities. It’s not like the original license was $150 and you’ve now upsold me into a tier that provides less value. And sure, I’ve only been doing this longer than you’ve been CEO, but what do I know?
I took my refund. I left. I won’t be back.
XenForo: The One Company That Still Gets It
Now contrast that with XenForo.
I submit a ticket about legacy encoding issues from a previous team’s botched database import. I explain what I’ve tried. Their response?
“Cool, we’ve seen this. Here’s a custom find-and-replace script — just drop it in your add-ons folder. Should fix it right up.”
[Mic drop. Ticket closed. Respect earned.]
This is the difference between:
- A company that respects technical users
- And one that’s just trying to appease clueless buyers with pretty dashboards
The Moral of the Story: Give Us Real Support or Don’t Take Our Money
We’ll pay for good tools. We’ll troubleshoot issues responsibly. We’ll even file proper bug reports, not just complain on Twitter.
But what we won’t do anymore is tolerate being gaslit, upsold, or treated like idiots when we know more than your tier-1 “engineer” who just follows a flowchart.
If we’re paying for support, we expect support.
And when we find the rare gem — like XenForo — that still understands how to support communities with technical depth, we stick with them. We evangelize them. And we leave the others behind.
To the SaaS Lords Who Forgot Where They Came From
If you’re a CEO, a product manager, or a developer reading this, please remember:
- The people who care the most about your product are often the ones you ignore first.
- If your answer to a real issue is “not supported” or “buy a higher tier,” don’t be shocked when we walk.
Good support isn’t a cost center. It’s your last lifeline.
—
Josh