Company Deactivates Customer's Smart Garage Door Opener over Bad Review

The developer of an internet-connected smart garage door opener has prevented a customer’s garage from opening by remotely bricking it following a poor review from the customer.

Ars Technica reports that Denis Grisak, the inventor of Garadget, a device designed to allow users to open and close their garage door using their smartphone, has bricked the device of an unhappy customer. A customer going by the name R. Martin who purchased Garadget left a comment on the community board which reads, “Just installed and attempting to register a door when the app started doing this. Have uninstalled and reinstalled iphone app, powered phone off/on – wondering what kind of piece of shit I just purchased here…”

After receiving no response on the community boards, Martin took to Amazon where he left a poor review for the device which reads, “Junk – DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY – iPhone app is a piece of junk, crashes constantly, start-up company that obviously has not performed proper quality assurance tests on their products.”

Posting to the support forum on the Garadget community boards, Denis Grisak informed Martin that his device would now stop working, saying:

Martin,

The abusive language here and in your negative Amazon review, submitted minutes after experiencing a technical difficulty, only demonstrates your poor impulse control. I’m happy to provide the technical support to the customers on my Saturday night but I’m not going to tolerate any tantrums.

At this time your only option is return Garadget to Amazon for refund. Your unit ID 2f0036… will be denied server connection.

The exchange soon gained traction across the internet as people marveled at Grisak’s hostile response to the poor review:

Grisak posted an update to the same thread which reads:

Ok, calm down everybody. Save your pitchforks and torches for your elected representatives. This only lack the death treats[sic] now.

The firing of the customer was never about the Amazon review, just wanted to distance from the toxic individual ASAP. Admittedly not a slickest PR move on my part. Note taken.

A quote from a random guy.

PS: Anybody has Streisand’s phone number?

When asked for comment by Ars Technica, Grisak simply stated, “There isn’t much more to add.”