Warning: Those cheap task management apps almost cost me a $1,200 project last week

I've been using this free kanban board app for like 2 years because I'm too cheap to pay for Asana or Trello. Last Wednesday I got hit with a nasty stomach bug and couldn't get out of bed, figured I'd just check my tasks on my phone the next morning. Turns out the app glitched and marked a big client deliverable as complete when I hadn't even started it, so I missed the deadline by 3 days. Client was not happy and I had to comp them $200 off the next invoice to smooth things over. Has anyone else had a free tool screw them over like this or am I just unlucky?

3 comments

3 Comments

miaprice14d ago

Oh actually I read through that thread and I think you might be mixing up two different apps there, the free kanban one you mentioned is a totally different thing from what oliver and mitchell are talking about. The one that's been messing with people's sleep is that other popular free tool with the loud notification chimes, not the kanban board you were using. But honestly your story hits close to home because I've had similar glitches with free project trackers where they'd randomly archive cards or mark things complete without me touching them. It's like these apps figure once you've been using them for free long enough you're stuck, so they stop caring about bugs. $200 off a project stings but at least you caught it early, I know someone who lost a whole retainer because their app synced wrong across devices.

mitchell.thomas15d ago

$200 is cheaper than the therapy you'll need after using that app for two more years.

oliver_baker4915d ago

Ha, you might be onto something there! The app's been messing with my sleep schedule so bad I could probably use both the refund and a therapist. At this rate I'll save up $200 just by not paying for coffee to stay awake reading those notification pings.