WordPress (Automattic) has blocked and banned me before for writing reviews that weren’t positive about a plugin or theme. (Kinda sounds like fascistbook, right?) And now they’ve done it again when my review was very simple and clear – that a plugin doesn’t mention that it’s VERY limited unless you upgrade to their paid version. Of course I support developers making money on the code they write – but bait and switch should have gone out with greasy car salesman and wide ties. So why does WordPress think it’s bad to let others know BEFORE they install possibly untrustworthy code on their WordPress site? I think it’s simple – they don’t want bad press. They already showed their hand when they blocked WP Engine from using their “open source software” (which makes me wonder if WordPress really is open source?)
In this case, I posted a simple review that quoted directly from the plugin’s message on my website, when I tried to use their plugin – “The table is limited to 50 rows. Upgrade to Pro to show the full Google Sheet” – So I couldn’t even post THEIR language as a review. Here’s the response WordPress “support” wrote a few hours after I submitted my review:
Forum “Reviews” topic reply at WordPress.org Forums:
The table is limited to 50 rows. Upgrade to Pro to show the full Google Sheet
by Support Moderator@davetavres Do not use a review to extort a result again. Your review has been removed.
For pro or customer support, please contact the developer on their site. This includes pre-sales information.
As the developer is aware, customers may not be supported on this site.
I did not mention a competitor. I did not mention something I wrote. I literally copy and pasted the text from their code (on my site) and wrote that they need to mention the limitation in their description. So, whichever moron on their “support” team removed my review and responded this way must have been having a bad day. (Or they’re just a moron to begin with.)
The old saying is true – ‘you get what you pay for’ – It’s just unfortunate that others will be suckered into installing the bait & switch code when they’re working on their project. Hopefully the developer saw the review before WordPress took it down, and they’ll mention the limitation in their description so people know they can buy the full version – without having to find out after they spend time configuring and learning the plugin.