Or could it all be a misunderstanding?

Note: Of all the articles I've written, I've enjoyed writing this the least. But there's a lesson for us all so here goes.

18/04/20 Update: Victor from Jobbie has reached out to me and said that they are taking the feedback contained in this article, and continued to say, "I appreciate (the) feedback and everything is an opportunity to learn."

"What?! They're still here?" Stunned, I said to my wife as we were driving through the Tropicana backroads to Ara Damansara. "Moving out sale!" Screamed the banner on the window of the furniture shop. "Stock clearance up to 70%" Screamed another. It's never a good feeling to see a business go under, let alone one that looked this nice. That was 2017.

"They're still here?!" I commented to my wife again in 2019. How long does it take to move out? It felt like they were pulling a fast one on us. By the mid of 2019, the banner was still there. "Moving out sale!" It screamed. They must've been moving one item out at a time if it's taking them two years.

Then they were gone. It took them more than 2 years to move out and I couldn't help but feel that it was a marketing ploy to drum up more sales. We never supported them because the signs felt a little fishy. By taking so long, they've lost all credibility, it seemed like they were lying, and we didn't trust them anymore.

Fast forward to 2020 and we have the Jobbie Nut Butter folks. In April 2020 they posted an FB post and subsequent ad that said that they were going bankrupt very soon.

Then shit hit the fan when the Vulcan Post wrote about their suspicions after covering Jobbie in their previous post. Turns out Jobbie had used the same "We're going bankrupt," strategy in the past to drum up sales. Albeit in a, "I'm going bankrupt, nah just joking" post on April 1st two years prior.

Then when people started questioning their sincerity, they did the most self-destructive thing a business could do. They tried to explain themselves by kamikaze.

Then they proceeded to try to explain themselves about how they weren't trying to be deceptive. And how they really could go out of business. And that they will not be issuing any refunds to people who felt cheated. This whole drama is pretty long, so here's a TL;DR version:

Jobbie said, "I'm going bankrupt, help us."

1. After lots of pre-orders, Jobbie continues FB ads effectively saying "I'm still going bankrupt."
2. After lots of online fury at what people thought were deceptive marketing practices, Jobbie put up a middle finger to all their detractors while thanking all their supporters. They refused to offer refunds to people who felt that they were cheated.
3. They started issuing refunds. Here's an excerpt of what they sent to a friend:

4. They continued to use the sympathy card even in a refund email by saying, "I've personally used my own money to refund your money."

Okay, so you're caught up on the whole thing. Here's my take on the whole fiasco.

They weren't lying. They were going out of business. But then again, so were almost every other business that's trying to weather the pandemic. Every restaurant, every car manufacturer, every property developer could very factually say, that unless they innovate, or change, or unless the situation gets better — they're going out of business. But nobody else took an ad out like Jobbie. Why? Because it's dangerous.

And to continue the ad campaign once they've gotten a large number of pre-orders smacked of profiteering off of people's goodwill.

But the Jobbies believed in their justifications. They weren't telling a lie. The Jobbies didn't think that they were con men, they still don't. They believe that they've been telling the truth. To the Jobbie folks, they see this in black and white. It's a lie, or it's not a lie. It's the truth, or it's not the truth. It's a con, versus it wasn't a con. But that's not the world that we live in. We don't live in black and white, we live in grey. And in a grey world, their actions come off as morally ambiguous.

Is it true that they're going out of business? Sure. In the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, everyone's going out of business, Jobbie included. But there's a big difference between,

"Help, I need your support this one time to get back on my feet."

Vs.

The boy who cried wolf.

"WOLF, WOLF! The little boy screamed at the top of his lungs."

Did the boy think he did anything wrong? Of course not. It was a joke. It was fun. It was nice a nice feeling to be cared for. It was harmless. Right?

Right?

Right?

Help everyone, WOLF, WOLF! Arggggggh the boy cried with his last breath as the wolf went for his jugular. And this time nobody showed up to help the boy.

For Jobbie, this is the second time they cried wolf. What happens the third time?

I'm a big supporter of the fact that you don't have to please everyone with your opinions. And it's good to have detractors because it means you have real opinions. But it's different when it comes to integrity. If people think you're being dishonest, the best thing for a business to do is to understand why people think this way. Then remedy the situation.

So here's what Jobbie should have done instead:

1. When people started calling them out on their continuing "We're going bankrupt" ads, they should have listened, stopped those ads, and apologised that the ads have continued longer than it should have. That they got carried away with all the support that they were getting.
2. Then thank their supporters and their detractors and say that they'd do better next time.

That's it. Problem solved. Jobbie would have come out of this stronger, they'd have gained a larger number of supporters who'll continue to vouch for them. Then when the peanut butter arrives, the same people will sing praises for them and recommend their peanut butter to their friends.

It's far better than saying, "Sorry, not sorry, too bad, we didn't do anything wrong."

Let's hope Jobbie learns a lesson here. And let's hope that they never have to cry wolf a third time. Because when the third time comes around they'll find that the community will no longer run to their aid.

The good news for Jobbie? It's not too late to make things better. They'll find that people are a forgiving lot — especially to people who are humble enough to admit their own mistakes.

Since you've been put off buying peanut butter. Here's a recipe that you can use to make your own peanut butter. Have fun, stay sane, stay safe.