Weekly Sponsor Concerns Update - Dec 15, 2023

[Other James]

Hey everyone, just popping in real quick with a couple of sponsor updates from the past week.

UGREEN
There was a post on the forum that drew our attention to the app associated with the PowerRoam we featured in a recent video. Currently, there is no app available on the App Store or Play Store, and for certain functions, you would have to download an APK file. The individual who brought this to our attention also shared the results of a virus scan on said APK. While most scans came back safe, and the PowerRoam doesn’t require the app, we have followed up with UGREEN regarding this, primarily trying to understand why one would need to download an app from a third-party site and if there are any plans in the near future to have it available on mobile storefronts soon. 

ASUS
We finally have another follow-up with ASUS. Our team sat down for another call after putting together a sizable document that outlined every concern we had seen on the forum. We didn’t just send it to them; we went over it with them in detail to try and paint a much clearer picture. On top of breaking down every complaint, we also created a list of patterns we saw within all of the complaints. This included looking over our subreddit, as well as ASUS’ subreddit. We believe that some of the issues are simpler and easier to address and could go a long way to restoring trust in ASUS. Things like adhering to timelines, properly following up and communicating rather than just leaving people wondering what is happening, or improving their RMA testing process to prevent products from being sent back in worse condition. Obviously, some larger issues need to be addressed, but for now, we want to see how they handle these easier fixes. So far, we’ve seen them extend the warranty period on their motherboards. They are listening, and we hope to see them follow up with actions.

Wicked Cushions
Somebody brought to our attention that the CEO of Wicked Cushions uses their business Twitter account as their personal account as well. We aren’t going to weigh in on the conversations they have on their own social media accounts. We’ll keep an eye on things, and depending on if it escalates, we may politely encourage them to create a separate account. For now, this is more weird than concerning.

Thanks again everyone. One last thing before I go: a friendly reminder to keep the forums civil. We are here to help fix issues of different sizes with our partners where and when possible. Name-calling and arguing with one another tend to do more harm than good. We hope you all have a wonderful week, and we’ll be back next Friday.