As the question suggests…
Plex has terrible ratings on Trustpilot from a lot of disgruntled Plex subscribers. Why dont Plex address paying customers concerns?
I have been using Plex for years and have not had very many issues with it. Most problems stem from people not understanding what Plex is and how to properly set it up. I know some clients have issues/bugs but most client/server issues are due to hardware limitations that the client/server is running on. For example you have a 4K Smart TV with the Plex Client installed and expect it to direct play any 4K video file and that would be the wrong expectation. Due to limitations of most TV’s the movie may need to be transcoded and that requires a powerful Plex server or have HW transcoding and if running on a Windows platform then you still need a powerful server as tone mapping is done by the CPU.
All in all you need to build a Plex server for the type transcoding that may be required as well as using devices such as the Nvidia shield that is powerful enough to play anything you throw at it. Do your research on what you plan to run your Plex client/server on and see what that device supports so you know ahead of time what to expect and how powerful of a client/server you may need. Proper planning will save a lot oh headache in the future.
I have been using Plex for only 4 years (3yrs Plex Pass) and I find it very good for what I want it to do. I think “opinion sites” like Trust Pilot give more people (the squeaky wheel gets the grease mentality) a soapbox than an actual honest review of products. Most companies do have a direct “customer service” contact system, but I knew when I spent my money on my Plex Pass that this wasn’t one of those typical companies.
Have I had issues getting acknowledgment on a post? Yes. Does that mean Plex as a company doesn’t care? No.
The biggest problem I see on these forums is people wanting to have something that “just works” and/or does exactly what “this other app does” but not wanting to understand how it works or that (gosh forbid) you may have to do some work yourself.
If you want Netflix, pay for Netflix. If you want all the Broadcast TV you had with your over-priced cable company, keep your cable company. But people want everything without any of the work, that getting everything might require.
I don’t trust sites to tell me if I’m going to like something or not. I will use sites like Trust Pilot as a tool, but not the end all be all of my decision.
One of the larger parts of the “Internet World” we live in now is people don’t talk to friends and family who might have actual real time knowledge of a product and can help you 1. Understand it 2. Work with it 3. Trouble shoot it, if things go awry. This is the way Plex has chosen to handle their support. I would rather have this method and only have paid what I did for the program, then see the cost shoot up (as it did with cable companies) just to have “someone else” fix the issue (without learning why/how) and be at the companies mercy to save me!
