Verified purchaser
I am shocked
My observations are devastating at this point but I honestly hope its the sum of countless misunderstandings and a lack of experience of the vendor.
I judge against their promise & their slug (Mission/Vision) and was not able to find any improvement over other tools I used or use and not a single reason why I would make myselve dependable on a least trusted vendorr nor why I wold risk any of my data to live in AITable - not even talking about compliance and potential penalties for not having done my due dilligence.
There are many things the founders do great and only a few (easily avoidable/ easy to correct) things they do wrong. However, the things they do wrong do violate trust, impact confidence and do harm my business.
1.How can they be GDPR compliant and even certified with the HQ in Canada, a Privacy Policy not telling anything - especially not about what data is accessed by who, what they do with it, where my data is stored ... - while leaving me no choice where to actually store my data? In the meantime I found from a public responses, they store everything in Singapore only.
2. A person using his/her work email to sign up for a trial or even paid account, does not make the company he/she belongs to a referenceable customer whos logo you should used (which by itself requires permission as well BTW). I can tell for at least one company listed that they are not a business customer (not as company at the very least) and likely not even know their logo is (ab)used.
3. "AITable.ai simplifies workflow automation with a visual database; connects to 6,000+ apps via Zapier, Make, Pabbly, and Activepieces."
- This statement is true for ANY service connecting to e.g. Zapier and there it already ends. Unfortunately that is a statement that not even is met onor seem anything they offer be devoted to their own slug. There are 5 or six built-in workflow automation triggers you can use to initiate simple actions. For anything relevant you will need any of the workflow automation tools they integrate with - to then rely on another third parties implementatio fo that integration, their availabillity and reliabillity.
- What exectly got simplified now and how is related to AITable if its all done in the Third Party automation tool anyway?
- Compared to anything else a potential customers would have used prior switching to AITable (Notion, gSheets, Aitrbale, whatever): What is it that I gained now making the switch?
In best case, AITable is a contender to Airtable but then they should compare to Airtable. Looking at feature parity thats not the case. Even worse, they abuse well defined terminolgies and try to give them a new meaning rather sticking to terminology people know. (Try to define multiple sets of different filters and combination to create "Views". Now give me a reason why I should adopt to their thinking when the result not even makes sense other than to fit in their pricing model).
- When working with data / tables we all are used to sort of the same UI. Unless they'd come up with something groundbreaking, I do not want to stear at the screen and search for the settings/toolbar item/button I got to press. They only add complexity and slow me down in the way the present things on the UI.
- f you dont let me view my own data from multiple different perspectives without creating copies of the source, you just made yourself completely obsolete since the last thing ANYONE ever worked with data will want is another copy of the same but a single source of truth that can be viewed from different perpectives/angles.
- Automations? I can't even trigger a connect to a gDrive to autoload .csv files added to a folder without using a thrid party and if I do, I end up with the limitations of that third party.
More than 30 years ago I learned that "selling" follows one of the following mindsets:
A. Build trust. Where confidence to achieve/get/receive something (physically or spiritually) for the one is a reliable revenue stream for the other.
B. Making money. Fast.
At the moment I couln't tell if any of the two options applies to AITable but hope they turn to option A.
Gary_Bika
Jun 13, 2024Hi nl8,
Really thank you for
1. About GDPR
I want to clarify that your concerns do not impact GDPR compliance, particularly the location of the headquarters is irrelevant to GDPR compliance. If it were related to the headquarters, then most of the software you use would be non-compliant with GDPR, or would need to relocate their headquarters to Europe. To better address your concerns, I've provided an official article from the European Commission for your reference: https://commission.europa.eu/law/law-topic/data-protection/reform/rules-business-and-organisations/obligations/what-rules-apply-if-my-organisation-transfers-data-outside-eu_en
Our GDPR compliance was achieved through an independent third-party, AssuranceLab, who audited and certified us after a year-long process. If you have any questions, you can reach out to AssuranceLab, and I have also provided their website here: https://www.assurancelab.cpa/. Data security and compliance is a meticulous process, and through our extensive work with the auditing firm, we are well aware of its complexity. I understand the concerns users may have, both before and after receiving Attestation. We appreciate the attention to this matter, which reinforces its importance to us. We will continue our efforts to meet compliance requirements and earn user trust.
2. About the issue with customer logos
Thank you for your reminder. We did not intend any offense, and unlike many companies, we did not just randomly use the names of well-known large corporations. Instead, we showcased logos from SMEs and even lesser-known companies because we truly want to represent our actual clients.
Over the past six months, we've gained thousands of paying customers, so we have many logos to show. I say this to express that we did not intend to deceive or offend. If there are any issues as you mentioned, I would greatly appreciate your understanding, as we are still a small team and may not have the operational capacity you might expect. Please email any information you have to our support at support@aitable.ai, and I will address it immediately.
3. About your disapproval of our marketing
While I may not agree with your view, I respect your feedback. AITable is a visual database category, with excellent API capabilities and compatibility with structured data, making it a great bridge for data between different systems. That's why we say it connects to 6000 apps. It's true that any software integrated with Zapier could say the same, but I believe that doesn't align with most software's positioning; we've just chosen this positioning. We can't just criticize McDonald's for any discrepancies between their advertised burgers and the actual product, or boycott them, can we?
So far, those who like AITable genuinely appreciate the innovation it brings. Indeed, we have made many UI and UE changes that differ from Airtable. Regarding your mention of us changing some terminology, although I am not sure specifically what you are referring to, it should be relatively limited. In fact, similar situations often occur between different products. If you look at Zapier, Make, Pabbly, Activepieces, they all have many inconsistencies in terminology and UI, which might make them feel unfamiliar when used alongside each other. This is quite normal since they are different products.
You've pointed out areas where AITable can improve, such as automation and integration. These are precisely the challenges a new product needs to address, and we hope for some patience. We are very grateful for your valuable suggestions and feedback, which we will study carefully and strive to improve upon. Thank you.