20 Days Lost Due to Poor Onboarding & Unprofessional Handling: A Startup’s Experience
In the startup world, time is everything. Every delay directly impacts growth, execution, and revenue.
Unfortunately, our recent onboarding experience with Outplay turned into a 20-day struggle filled with miscommunication, delays, and lack of accountability—ultimately putting our entire project on hold. Initially, their sales executive mentioned it would 10-15 min we weren't aware it would extend till 20+ days.
REAL SCREENSHOTS AND REAL VIDEOS WILL BE ADDED SOON
⚠️ 1. Wrong Guidance from Day One
At the start, we clearly informed the Team that we were using a new Facebook account and asked if it would cause any issues.
We were told:
👉 “No, any account can be used.”
However:
The account got suspended
We had to restart the process with another account
This alone delayed us by 4–5 days
This could have been avoided with correct initial guidance.
🔄 2. Repeated Setup Failures & Extra Charges
The challenges didn’t stop there:
The number assigned to us was already integrated with Facebook and couldn’t be reused
We were asked to pay again for a new number
After raising concern, another number was given—but that failed verification too
👉 Result: Another 3–4 days wasted
At every step, we were fixing problems that weren’t even our fault.
📱 3. WhatsApp (Hippo) Integration Delays
While the AI dialer eventually started working, the WhatsApp integration (Hippo) became another bottleneck:
Verification was pending without our knowledge
We discovered the issue ourselves—not from their Team
Even after raising it, it took 2 more days to process
Meanwhile, our work was on hold because we needed both systems running together.
📊 4. No Clear Instructions (CSV & Data Issues)
We faced repeated issues while uploading data:
No clear instructions on CSV format
Only vague replies like “follow sample format”
We had to figure out ourselves that:
“+” signs should not be used
Numbers must be formatted in a specific way
👉 This trial-and-error wasted 2 additional days
❌ 5. Messages Not Delivering (Another Hidden Issue)
Even after setting up:
Calls started working
But messages weren’t getting delivered to candidates
When we reported this, we were told:
👉 “WhatsApp verification is still pending.”
This again took 2 more days, with zero proactive communication from their side.
💸 6. Hidden Costs Revealed Late
After all this:
We created WhatsApp templates
Then suddenly were asked: “Did you add payment method?”
Only then we discovered:
There are Meta (WhatsApp API) charges
These were never clearly explained earlier
We even had to call Team members separately to understand this.
👉 This lack of transparency is a major red flag for any Business.
🔗 7. No Single Point of Contact = Total Chaos
The process was extremely disorganized:
Different people for different Tools:
Nikhil → AI Dialer
Gunika → WhatsApp (Hippo)
Gunika wasn’t even in the main group initially
We had to:
Ask one person
Request them to bring another
Repeat the same issue multiple times
Meetings were filled with guesses instead of solutions.
📉 8. Zero Accountability & No Follow-Ups
Throughout the entire 20-day Period:
No proactive follow-up from their Team
No ownership of issues
No urgency to resolve blockers
Everything depended on:
👉 Our effort, our follow-ups, our time
💼 9. Focus on Sales, Not Customer Success
One of the most disappointing realizations was this:
👉 The focus seemed to be on closing the Client—not supporting them after onboarding
High responsiveness during initial sales conversations
Minimal accountability after payment
No structured support for small Businesses
It felt like once the Client was acquired, the responsibility to deliver value was no longer a priority.
For startups and small Businesses, this approach is extremely harmful because:
We rely on Tools to scale efficiently
We don’t have bandwidth for repeated delays
Every day lost impacts growth and revenue
⏳ 10. 20 Days of Complete Work Disruption
Because of these repeated failures:
Our project remained on hold for 20 days
Team productivity suffered
Execution timelines collapsed
And despite all this…
👉 They started bringing up subscription & renewal discussions
😤 Final Verdict: A Frustrating & Unprofessional Experience
What should have been a 10–15 minute integration turned into:
20 days of delays
Miscommunication at every step
Hidden Costs
No accountability
Poor coordination
For startups, this isn’t just frustrating—it’s damaging.
📢 A Message to Other Startups
Before choosing any SaaS Tool, always clarify:
✔ Complete pricing (including hidden/API charges)
✔ Exact onboarding process & timeline
✔ Dedicated point of contact
✔ Technical requirements (accounts, formats, etc.)
Because in our case, lack of clarity led to 20 days of unnecessary struggle.
All Original Images, Screen Shots, and Videos will be added shortly in next Blog Post
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