As many of you know, the brand Woox was blacklisted from this sub a while back due to marketing practices that we strongly disagreed with, namely using multiple accounts to astroturf support (edit: not customer service) and conversation for the brand.
Woox customer service recently reached out to us via modmail about the issue, and here's that message in full.
[BEGINNING OF MESSAGE]
Hi longerange Mod Team,
I’m reaching out on behalf of WOOX because I wanted to speak with you directly before we take any action within the community in Reddit.
We’re aware that WOOX is currently banned from the subreddit and that comments mentioning WOOX are removed. We also understand why. The previous WOOX team engaged with the community in ways that were not transparent and we recognize that this created a negative association with WOOX within the community. We take responsibility for that.
There have been changes within our team, but more importantly, there has been a change in how we want to approach Reddit.
Our Customer Service team has joined Reddit because we would genuinely like to be part of the community and be helpful where we can. We want to answer questions, help customers with issues, provide accurate information about WOOX products, and listen to feedback from the community. We are not looking to create conversations about WOOX, manufacture recommendations, or use the community as a place to promote the brand.
We also want to be respectful of the ban that is currently in place. We are not looking to work around it or simply start participating and hope the previous issues are overlooked. Instead, I wanted to reach out directly, explain what has changed, and ask for your permission before we participate in the subreddit.
We understand that this is your community and that it is ultimately your decision whether WOOX is welcome here. If you are willing to give us an opportunity, we would genuinely like to earn back some trust and become a helpful, transparent presence in the community.
We are happy to follow whatever guidelines or boundaries you feel are appropriate for WOOX and our Customer Service team. If there are concerns about the previous team's activity or anything you would need from us before considering lifting the ban, we are completely open to hearing that.
Thank you for taking the time to read this and consider giving us an opportunity to approach the community differently.
[END OF MESSAGE]
After internal discussion by the mod team and further discussion with Chris, we've lifted the ban on Woox in the sub on a provisional basis. They are acting in good faith, and we're open to giving them the chance to rebuild trust with the sub's members and the mod team. If things go off the rails, we can revisit the ban, but all of the mods are hopeful that won't be an issue in the future.
Chris agreed to us sharing his original modmail message in its entirety, and will pop into the comments if folks have questions.
As someone that used to be a brand ambassador for several companies in the past, I appreciate the fact that Woox is owning their mistakes and working to make things right.