Is Givego still in business?

[dchristman]

I submitted a couple videos for direct connect a month ago.  My credit card was charged.  I got automated messages for the submissions and automated messages asking if I wanted to reroute the sessions after a week of no response from the selected experts.  I attempted "reroute" through the automated email links but no response.  I sent a follow-up email to support hello@givego.io a couple days ago. No response.  I tried calling their contact phone number on the website. "The Google subscriber is not available...".

[Mastercrafter]

I had a video or two go uncoached but had some after those get coached. I'm not sure what's up. I contacted givego twice, got a reply once that it would get handled, and it never did. 

 

Thanks for the reminder to dispute the credit card charge, I'll do that right now. 

[disland]

I had a similar experience. I did have success if you post a video and not select a specific coach. They owe me $30

[Cnewbert]

I just used it maybe a week ago and had a FastPass response within the day from Chris Parrish.

[Mastercrafter]

The issues I had were when I requested a specific coach. the Fast Passes all worked just fine. Regardless, there should be a checks and balances for when a specific coach does not deliver. It sounds like GiveGo owes a few people a few bucks. 

 

[vtmecheng]

I have had a lot of hit and miss experiences with GiveGo. Last year I had some direct connect go uncoached but did get responses from Givego customer service that resulted in reassigning to new coaches a few times until one finally responded. This year I had much more success with the FastPass option, where any of the coaches can pick it up. It seems like there are some coaches listed on GiveGo who tend to not respond. It's definitely frustrating when a video just sits day after day (and set after set).

Addition: I had one session this year where it didn't let me give a tip and then deleted the session. I emailed GiveGo and they never responded to that one.

[Horton]

I briefly did business with GiveGo. It concluded in one of the most unpleasant business interactions I have ever experienced. I would not encourage anyone to use the service.

 

[vtmecheng]

On the plus side, my two direct connect sessions with Marcus Brown resulted in the fastest improvements that I have ever experienced. It is nice being able to try different coaches in order to find the one that fits you.

[ProStah_Skiah]

I've had good luck with the Fast Passes as they usually are picked up by someone that's motivated to coach right away. There are definitely some coaches on there that are not responsive.

[Hucklefin]

Dang, nice thread. I was really considering submitting a video to Joel Howely, but not so sure now.

[vtmecheng]

2 hours ago, Hucklefin said:

Dang, nice thread. I was really considering submitting a video to Joel Howely, but not so sure now.

I’ve had good luck first messaging the prospective coach on Instagram or sending an email, if the person has a website. Motivated coaches often respond to those messages quickly and will know to look for the video.

[Horton]

Be serious 

https://trainwithterrywinter.com/

[MDB1056]

+1 for Terry. Definitely 

[fernandofleck]

I’m still waiting for a video to be coached for 3 months now

[Mastercrafter]

Perhaps we should have started this thread earlier. 

[UCFskier]

I could be way off but I have to imagine that with a small sport like ours one could likely reach out directly to a coach and ask for video coaching.  by pass the whole Givego and get more funds directly into the coaches and skiers pockets.

[dchristman]

To answer my own question - "yes", they are apparently still in business. I got an email late last night and my sessions were rerouted as requested.

[TSki]

It’s a bummer to hear about the negative experiences some of you have had. I’ve only had good experiences. I have tended to select Direct Connect sessions with Chris Rossi or Trent Finlayson and they were both responsive and fantastic. I’m amazed at the ability to connect with skiers of that level and get feedback when I really need it. It opens up the door to coaching in a way that was not available just a few years ago.

[jhughes]

The app is clunky but I've had great experiences with it and the coaching. Incredible value.

[BrennanKMN]

This is a great reminder!

I submitted a direct connect (my first one) on July 8th that still hasn't gotten feedback. Frankly, I had forgot. I will reach out to GiveGo to cancel the session and refund me, no use getting coaching at this point with the course on the bottom of the lake for the winter.

I assumed the service was pretty good after all the positive experiences here, but I guess that wasn't the whole story. I really liked the 'instant feedback' idea. Submit a video on my Friday set so I can have feedback for my Saturday set.

[Horton]

On 10/25/2023 at 2:56 PM, Horton said:

Be serious 

https://trainwithterrywinter.com/

 

[Mastercrafter]

Guess I’m not getting my refund 🤷🏻‍♂️

[Horton]

they are the only advertiser I ever took to collection so I'm not terribly sad to see them go.

[vtmecheng]

10 hours ago, Horton said:

they are the only advertiser I ever took to collection so I'm not terribly sad to see them go.

That explains your opinion of them.

[Horton]

@vtmecheng Yeah the fact that I had to take them to collection plus some odd details I heard from the coaches that used the service. It was a hot mess. 

On the other hand I 100% believe in the idea. The day will come when this sort of service will be common. I am sure of it. Imagine how big this could be in golf. ( IDK maybe there is a service like this in golf ) 

For now check out https://trainwithterrywinter.com/ 

@twhisper  

[Octopus_Paxarbolis]

sucks

[MDB1056]

+ 1 again for Terry. Do it right

[KRoundy]

Interesting. Got the same email. I liked the service but had no idea of the background issues. The coaching I received via GiveGo has made me a better skier - no doubt about it. I now believe in water ski coaching and expect to do some research and make some choices in the 2024 ski season.

[Hucklefin]

In regards to online coaching with T Winter, without trying to be too harsh or anything, how well does the instruction go beyond "shoulders back, hips up, pull through the wakes, okay that'll be $20"? Anyone care to give a little bit better of a review?

[Rpc29]

@Hucklefin I've used Terry's video coaching service before. The video I received back several years ago is still something I can reference and find useful to this day. When I used Givego responses were generally less than 90 seconds emphasizing one element of your skiing. (this isn't necessarily a bad thing) My video from Terry was just shy of 20 minutes and a very comprehensive breakdown of how I could improve. 

[503Kento]

Terry is great at explaining things in multiple ways so you can understand. He also offers various levels of video coaching from a single pass to a whole set. 

[vtmecheng]

On 12/13/2023 at 12:40 PM, Horton said:

@vtmecheng Yeah the fact that I had to take them to collection plus some odd details I heard from the coaches that used the service. It was a hot mess. 

On the other hand I 100% believe in the idea. The day will come when this sort of service will be common. I am sure of it. Imagine how big this could be in golf. ( IDK maybe there is a service like this in golf ) 

For now check out https://trainwithterrywinter.com/ 

@twhisper  

Terry is clearly a good guy and a great coach. I firmly believe that matching the coach to the skier is important and not all coaches work for all skiers. I personally went through a few real good coaches that just didn’t convey information to me in the way that my brain could really act on.  It wasn’t until one specific coach that things started to click into place. That skier-coach match made a big difference to me.

[ALPJr]

TWTW video coaching is the real deal. Worth every penny and more.

[Hucklefin]

Thanks, that is helpful. Pretty much a no-brainer for me next year I think.

[Horton]

what was the best part of GiveGo? What did you love about it?

[Fam-man]

10 hours ago, Horton said:

what was the best part of GiveGo? What did you love about it?

I felt it was a decent source to access a coach and get a "tip" that would provide a performance gain. Sometimes that was a good refocusing when I was off-track or in a slump. I also like to re-watch video at the start of a season as a reminder.

The downside being the coach wouldn't see the whole picture like a multiple video program (Flow Point or TWTW) or an in-person clinic so they wouldn't have the opportunity to see a skiers trends, style or consistent deficiencies.

[MDB1056]

Trick question? Cheap, quick, easy, access to talent. 

[TSki]

@Horton I hope you’re asking because you want to create a reincarnation. I live far from most professional water skiers, but GiveGo gave me affordable access to regular coaching. I got coaching from Chris Rossi and Trent Finlayson for the first time ever through the app, and would say they are the best water ski coaches I’ve ever had. I sent Chris Rossi a video every couple weeks or so throughout the summer, work on what he said for 4 sets or so, then send a new video and would get feedback on my progression. A much more meaningful coaching experience than going to ski school once and then not having access to coaching the rest of the year. Of course, I’d prefer recurring in-person coaching, but that isn’t feasible and I felt like GiveGo was the next best thing, and at a very reasonable price. 
 

The amount of video that coaches viewed was small, just one pass per submission, but I feel like my faults are obvious for a high-level coach and, especially sending in videos over the course of the season, this perceived down-side proved negligible.

 

I also valued access to many coaches. I got slalom coaching from Chris and Trent, as well as Fred Winter, and all for $20/submission. An unbeatable price to be able to trial out different coaches and find who you gel with.

 

I also got trick coaching through GiveGo, again form a handful of coaches. Given the tricks I was working on, having feedback was invaluable. There are a few options for video coaching outside of GiveGo, but I felt the ability to trial different coaches, consistency in pricing, and quick feedback (my experiences with getting coach feedback were all extremely positive) were all huge pluses.

 

Finally, I was able to get feedback from multiple coaches to understand what everyone honed in on during their coaching replies. With trick, I tended to benefit from understanding what were the common threads among replies from coaches, and then focused intently on the feedback that was very common.

 

And I have all of the videos and can go back and rewatch them again and again. I feel like it was a revolutionary way to get coaching, and a high quality one too. It’s a shame that it won’t be available next season.

[Horton]

@TSki

That's really good notes. Lets just say I'm always looking for an additional business venture that leverages what I already have built.

The bad news is if something does come to market there's no way it's going to be $20 per lesson. My guess is GiveGo was losing money on every lesson and making up for it in volume.

[TSki]

@Horton I hear you on the price for lessons if something else came to market. I would certainly caution against prices comparable to in-person lessons, though. The ability to have a back-and-forth, ask clarifying questions, try to implement something and then get immediate feedback mean that in-person lessons are much better, and prices should reflect that in order to ensure a customer base.

$20/lesson was a very good deal for the value I felt it provided. I would have paid more, maybe $30? Maybe $40? Im not sure, $40 for 2 minutes of coaching and limited ability to have a dialog with the coach might be a tough sell. But if you reframe it and ask me if I’d have paid double for the coaching I got from Chris Rossi over the course of a summer, I’m sure I’d say yes, because I thought that experience was really good.

One other note, the coach only having something like 2-3 minutes to provide their feedback I think was actually a good thing. It prevented coaches from going overboard in terms of getting into too much detail, or throwing the kitchen sink at you regarding feedback. Maybe 5 minutes would be better because sometimes it definitely felt rushed. But I felt the spirit of it was: Get a small piece of professional-level feedback, take that and work on it, then repeat. If that can be done in a way where the repeat step doesn’t get prohibitively expensive, then I think it could be something really positive for the water ski community.

[BlueSki]

@TSki covered all the benefits of the format very well. An analogy I’ll add is that one video is like skiing a one day clinic where you might get a movement to work on, and consistent use is like the ongoing coaching of a week at ski school.  

Marcus and Jenny used it very effectively in their FlowPoint Method program and they found a replacement already with the OnForm app.  

[BrennanKMN]

I never got my lesson responded too, but I really liked the fact that I could get a tip or two vs. full lessons. Sometimes all I needed was that one 'ah-ha' moment to keep me moving. Other times not so much. 

I love the cost aspect and the quick nature. I could post a quick video from a set on Thursday and be working on the tip by Saturday. As someone who sometimes skis 3 sets a week or sometimes 1 set a month, I like the pay-as-you-go structure as well.

 

As a side note, I have not seen anything official on their website saying it's the end? The only thing I have seen was that screenshot posted earlier.