The video on demand crafts and lifestyle channel, Bluprint, alerted instructors yesterday to a yearlong backlog of customer questions posted to their classes. These questions were, until now, inaccessible by the instructors many of whom now have a queue of thousands.
Bluprint instructors are not contractually obligated to respond to customer questions under the subscription model. Instead, the company encourages customers to seek support from one another and from the content itself or to contact customer service to answer their questions. Still, many instructors are dedicated to helping their students whether they’re obligated to or not, and discovering that hundreds of students have had their questions left unanswered for this long is mortifying.
Jacquie Gering has three classes on Bluprint covering topics such as quilting with a walking foot and improvisational piecing. “90% of the questions are addressed directly to me,” Gering says, “They start ‘Dear Jacquie…’ and there are thousands of them. I see more than thirty pages of questions here and that’s just for one class. To see my name over and over again is just devastating.” Gering visits her Bluprint page every day to answer student questions, often creating individualized sketches to help her students understand how to quilt their quilts. “Now I look like an idiot,” she says. “It’s shameful.”
Bluprint informed instructors of the situation via an email sent yesterday. “As we get closer to celebrating our first full year as Bluprint (where has the time gone?!) we’d like to share a few updates on how we’re addressing feedback we’ve received from our instructor community,” the email stated. “What we’ve heard: ‘With the transition into subscription, it’s difficult to see when a student posts a question in my class. Is there an easy way to see all questions in one place?’ Yes! We just released a ‘discussion dashboard’ feature, which you can now find within your profile.” The new instructor dashboard is where the questions from subscribers were revealed for the first time (questions from customers who bought their classes under the a la carte model were always visible). To answer the newly revealed questions instructors have to click on each one individually. The interface doesn’t include a way to mark which have been answered and which haven’t.
Wendi Gratz, who has two Bluprint classes, Fusible Applique Made Easy and Quilt-As-You-Go Applique Monsters, shared the response she wrote in the Bluprint instructor Facebook group. “The problem is you are not making it clear to your customers what they do and do not get with purchased/vs subscribed classes…I know I am not required to answer those questions. The problem is that your customers think I am required to do that. They are not looking in some buried notice in your support section. They are contacting me and they are angry. Understandably so…Your poor communication makes instructors look like jerks.”
Bluprint says they are working to make the distinction between the expectation for instructor interaction on a la carte classes versus subscription classes more clear. In the meantime, Gering says Bluprint should email those subscribers whose questions have gone unanswered to let them know that instructors were unaware and therefore unable to answer until now. “I’ve gone above and beyond for my students on this platform,” she says. “This feels like a stab in the back.”
EDITED May 23, 2019: Bluprint has issued a statement to instructors via email and in the Instructor Facebook group today addressing this issue. “Several instructors have expressed concern that we haven’t communicated clearly enough to Bluprint members that instructor participation is not required in the subscription platform,” the statement reads. “This was our mistake related to some technical issues and miscommunications.”
Bluprint has sent an email to all instructors acknowledging the error and has added a clarifying message to the comments section of each class. According to the statement, they will also be emailing all students with unanswered questions acknowledging that this was due to their mistake, not the instructor’s. The statement says they are also working to make instructor tools for answering questions more user-friendly.
how sad is this ..I stopped using classes after my questions went unanswered.. I also stop paying for classes and lost interest in Blueprint due to this .. total shame ..
I experienced the same problems and emotions, with the end result that I refuse to support this model.
I have 2 painting videos that I paid for and can’t view them.
$40.00 down the drain.
I think you should write them to complain. It is not right for them to receive payments and not deliver.
I have written to complain. I haven’t heard anything back; however, some of the emails have stated that they are going to try to figure a prorated refund to those of us who have paid for a specific amount of time (in my case a year). I am hoping they will come back to let those of us download the coupon classes in lieu of a refund. I’d be willing to do that.
I just got this email from Bluprint
“Dear Valued Member of the Bluprint Community:
We are excited to announce that your access to your subscription services and individually purchased classes will continue. In addition to classes, your access to course materials and course patterns will also continue.
Our friends at TN Marketing have acquired certain assets of the Bluprint business, and the Bluprint and TN teams are working together to ensure a smooth transition. As part of this transition, TN Marketing has agreed to honor previous customer purchases for classes and subscriptions and will preserve your access to Bluprint content.
The Craftsy/Bluprint team have spent the last decade working to build the world’s best learning content and community. We are confident that TN Marketing will continue this legacy and feel that their customer centric approach, deep understanding of content and hobbies, and technical acumen make them uniquely positioned to do so.
I speak for myself and the entire Bluprint staff in saying that it has been a profound honor to be a part of this decade long journey, and that you are in good hands moving forward. With that, I’d like to introduce Cal Franklin, CEO of TN Marketing. Thank you, stay safe, and craft on.
Sincerely,
John Levisay
CEO, Bluprint (Craftsy)
From Cal:
I’m Cal Franklin, the CEO of TN Marketing and the new CEO of the wonderful Bluprint community. We are eager to serve you with new and exciting content and just as importantly keep the subscriptions and classes you purchased over the years available for you to enjoy. The TN Marketing and Bluprint community combined will now represent over 3.5 million hobbyists with over 17 million crafting classes sold, and will continue on as the leader in the crafts and hobbies education space.
My team and I have long been connecting passionate crafters with their hobbies and providing online learning and instruction. We understand your passion and are focused on continuing the excitement, enthusiasm and loyalty you have had for Bluprint, and previously, Craftsy.
There are many exciting things to come and our team is working fast in concert with the Bluprint team. Rest assured that access to your classes, and subscriptions will remain available.
We understand how important this community is to you and we are honored to be joining it. Stay tuned for more communications coming soon.
Sincerely,
Cal Franklin
CEO and President
TN Marketing”
I have read many posts on quilt forums and social media about class questions not be answered. When several posters say don’t waste your time or money on something, hundreds if not thousands do just that. If I was an instructor I would make it known it was Blueprint’s error not mine that the questions did not get to me. At least make it known it wasn’t take the money and run.
Frankly, this could destroy Bluprint’s business model. I thought the Craftsy model was excellent, have been reluctant to commit to Bluprint because I feared it was a money grab for some corporation. Looks like I might have been right.
Completely agree. Blueprint’s platform doesn’t allow me to watch classes I’d purchased through Craftsy. It’s a horrible company. The put the blame on my bandwidth and refuse to refund since more than 30 days have passed since I purchased. Duhhhh. I bought my classes from Craftsy. I see a class action in their future.
I’m so disappointed with Bluprint. I paid for a yearly subscription and had unused coupons. Suddenly, i heard it was shutting down in a few months and upon checking my account, my coupons had all disappeared. Wrote them and called, but haven’t gotten any response till now. Since Craftsy became Bluprint, it became a troubled enterprise. I hope to hear from them about all my purchased classes and how i can get my paid classes which I’ve spent so much money on. I am just unhappy with all these developments
I agree. I got an email stating that they would no longer be offering the coupons with subscriptions and they were letting me get the whole year’s worth now. I had until june 30th. Then I went to use them and they were gone. So disappointing. I messaged them regarding this also, but have not heard back.
This reply ended up under another reply. It still fits there except it has nothing to do with me:
I have written to complain. I haven’t heard anything back; however, some of the emails have stated that they are going to try to figure a prorated refund to those of us who have paid for a specific amount of time (in my case a year). I am hoping they will come back to let those of us download the coupon classes in lieu of a refund. I’d be willing to do that.
Sounds like many of us have the same story. I also paid for a subscription & had unused coupons. I read the notice that they were closing “in the next few months.” Then I was gone for a couple days and came back to the notice that we could no longer purchase classes and my coupons had disappeared. They haven’t responded to my attempts to contact them either. Sending me a form letter that doesn’t address the issue is NOT a response!
We should all receive a copy of our classes that we don’t have to download. I don’t have the time or disc space to do that for all my classes. We should ALL be allowed to use ALL the coupons we purchased as part of our subscriptions and add those additional classes to our Forever Class Library. We should receive copies of them too. That’s what I paid for. That’s what I want.
Yes, I still have not heard back. Just the…No Sales after May 31 generic, we are quitting and we have no time for you. Bluprint sure killed the Craftsy I loved. How long was Craftsy around? Was it eight years, or nine, before Bluprint took over and just ran it into the ground. In ONE year. Now they are quitting so disappointing. I know some of the instructors have YouTube channels and teach some of their skills there but I don’t think we will find the diversity that we had with CRAFTSY.
Are you aware that Craftsy/Blueprint was bought by NBC Universal?
I miss the Craftsy format. I enjoyed looking for things, and finding classes, both free and paid. This subscription format does not work for me.
Since Blueprint is using the original Craftsy videos, the instructors often encourage students to ask their questions in the comments section. There is no indication anywhere that those questions won’t be answered by the instructor. It seems like Bluprint could do some editing of the videos so that they no longer included these statements.
Does Bluprint ruin most things or everything?
Hell, they even screwed up Restaurant Wars in Top Chef.
When do you think they’ll go under?
That’s happening right now…
Personally I never had an issue with the Craftsy, but I am not a fan of the Bluprint platform. I have heard this from several people. I think Bluprint missed the boat and lost a lot of dedicated crafters by messing with a proven formula. I do continue to watch my purchased videos but have no interest in subscribing and/or buying more. Such a shame and I do feel sorry for the instructors.
It sounds like they didn’t hire qualified IT engineers to handle the loads.
My thoughts exactly…
This is terrible. I was hesitant to pay for a subscription through bluprint so glad I didn’t. I still have my original Craftsy classes and they are the only reason I still go into the app. I understand the subscription service brings them more of a profit but the customers are the ones paying the price.
Sadly I paid for 2 art videos that won’t open. $20.00 each.
We instructors are LIVID!!
The change from Craftsy to Blueprint was a disappointment. I joined for a year, which will expire soon. After a few visits I stopped using the site and will not renew. One good outcome is that I have reconnected with local quilt shops. Craftsy was addictive for shopaholics. My stash kept growing because of the constant temptation to purchase bargains, most of which remain in my drawers.
I subscribe to many designer websites. It would be wonderful if they offered tutorials for their customers.
I’ve been following the Craftsy/Blurprint platform since the beginning. Craftsy was great. I bought a lot of classes even if I already knew how to do most of what was going to be covered in class because I knew I would still learn more from the instructor. The platform had/has experts in their field as instructors. I switched to the subscription when it became Bluprint. I still have the subscription but I don’t use it very often. I check every couple of weeks to see if there are new classes offered and I’ll click through something interesting in the newsletter when it comes out.
Of note: Everytime I go to the site I have had some kind of issue that an intern web designer would have observed and resolved. It was only a few months ago that they had an easy to see link to the supply store and a link that actually worked. My computer isn’t outdated so it isn’t an issue on my end. I’ve noticed quite a few times there have been issues with the videos. I’m not sure if I am using the correct subsidiary, but isn’t it a division of Universal, which is a division of NBC that owns Bluprint? How is it possible that a company with access to top talent can be so badly run? It absolutely infuriates me that they have been so negligent as to have this kind of elementary glitch in their web design.
I was a cheerleader for Craftsy because there are so many people who don’t have the opportunity to take classes in person either due to their geographical location or they aren’t in a position to be able to go to the big quilt shows, sewing expos, etc. Craftsy was (operative word – was) THE platform that could have worked. I don’t know if Bluprint can pull itself out of this one. It seems that the corporate culture and the people who actually run Bluprint don’t understand their market and they are sorely lacking in customer service, both to the instructors and the students.
I couldn’t have said it better, BeckyPB. Thank you. I would really like to have the old Craftsy platform back. The treatment of the teachers and designers is deplorable.
Amen!
I agree with both NancyG and BeckyPB. I much prefer the Craftsy platform. I do subscribe to Bluprint because, like BeckyPB, I can always learn something new, even from a class that I am already familiar with. I also preferred the original Bluprint format over the one they have now. I can never figure out how to get to the classes I am looking for. I usually spend 10 or 15 minutes searching through the “suggestions” and “picked for you” stuff before I find the link to get to the classes I want. Now I understand why I just got an answer from a Craftsy class that I asked, maybe, over a year ago. I was a little irritated with the instructor. Well, I apologize for the irritation as I now understand. I had already had found an answer elsewhere.
Also Annie’s Attic, I think it may be just Annie’s Crafts now, does some classes where I have seen some of the same instructors. I think Craftsy’s format was a little more user friendly, but if Bluprint continues to irritate the customers AND instructors, they will loose a lot of patrons
Yes, they are owned by NBC, who also owns Comcast. Comcast consistently wins the dubious honor of worst customer service in the country so I was heartbroken to learn they now own Craftsy. I see they’re maintaining the same level of customer service here. Way to lose customers NBC/Universal. Unlike Comcast who I have NO alternative to, I can choose to not subscribe to Bluprint. Now to figure out how to download my purchased classes so I can still review them when Bluprint goes belly up.
SoozB, Somewhere in this thread there is a reply to a couple of us who asked if we can download our classes. The answer is no, unfortunately. We used to be able to download an “apps” portion of the class via the app to your tablet or iPad but since the Craftsy app converted over to the Bluprint app that can’t be done either. :^(
Just for fun I tried a little experiment. I still have the Craftsy app installed on my iPad so I opened it and tried to download one of my classes. I was able to download it to the app and watch it with my WiFi turned off, so it is still working. However…Bluprint has repeatedly said they will no longer support the Craftsy app and I suspect that at some point it will just stop working. You can only watch through the app though. You can’t download the file to your laptop as you can when you purchase a digital version of a class on Great Courses, for example.
Darla, Thank you for trying and succeeding to download the class on the Craftsy App. I am going to have to see if it will work on my tablet, also.
I don’t know why this won’t let me reply to your comment. There is not a reply next to your comment. So I am replying to mine. (In case anyone wonders why the comments seem mixed up.)
Oops. I didn’t realize that I am replying to the whole section. It came out ok anyway. Disregard the silly comment about the mixed up comments. Thanks.
This is the type of action that give “big business” a bad reputation, along with a great failure to respect the integrity and reputation of dedicated teachers who care about their students. Blueprint has a PR problem, and loss of customer confidence. Expecting the teachers to “fix” this is not reasonable. I am curious as to how Blueprint is doing financially…. attention will be paid only if this is viewed as harmful to profits.
See that’s the thing – as an instructor I actually received the highest payment yet on the most recent quarter, but yet, I can’t sit on the sidelines anymore while they mess up so badly like this. We instructors are horrified and mortified that there are so many questions or comments we never even saw. Bluprint says these should be student led discussions, yet many of them address us directly and the students think we are ignoring them. So Bluprint is not making that clear distinction in their communication and it ends up making us instructors look bad.
On Craftsy we knew Free classes were student lead and paid classes we could ask a question of the instructors. If they were going to change this they should have done some sort of announcement to everyone. To not give the instructors visibility to questions is ludicrous. I am really concerned Bluprint will pull the plug and I am sitting here with over 80 paid class and over 200 patterns I have from the Craftsy. Never joined the Bluprint family as I didn’t care for the platform itself.
We want to ask experts, not a peers opinion. (We can do thst on Facebook!) We pay for teacher input.
A student lead discussion is great, but clarification from the instructor that we as students are on the right track is priceless.
Thank you for being outraged on our behalf
Well how can a student answer in some instances when they are learning too. As a student I don’t want advice from those who my be know it all, but I would want it coming from the expert. I have a different platform where I have a student who always tries to teach over what I have taught and they always get it wrong. So yes many questions address us as instructors directly.
I was an instructor on Craftsy, and when they stopped sending questions, I looked and saw there were several in the queue. So I put up a notification on each segment of my class, letting students know that their questions were not getting to me, and giving them direct contact information so they can ask me questions. I checked my class again yesterday and there were questions waiting, which I answered, even though Craftsy/Bluprint (thankfully) released me from my contract. But I still care about my students.
Many instructors, myself included, have moved to our own teaching platforms. You can find many of us on Teachable, where we have control over the content and how/when/whether we are paid for our knowledge.
My fear is that if we instructors speak out about this publicly, more of us will be released from our contracts as well. It’s a very scary thing that I’m willing to risk. I really don’t want them to go away. I just want them to fix the issue.
Anne Steeves – when I go to teachable it seems to be just the platform for setting up your own courses, but there is no list of available courses for those of us who are interested to sign up for. How does one find these courses being taught by those who left craftsy/bluprint. When craftsy changed over I never felt comfortable with the whole thing and now I know that it was probably a good thing that I never got connected to that community. I don’t see it long for this world, especially after this!
Teachable is a platform that each instructor can personalize and customize. So each teacher owns their own ‘real estate’, rather than have to be on the same platform. For instance, you can find mine at the bottom of my website, gorgeousfabrics.com (direct link: https://gorgeous-fabrics-university.teachable.com). I’ll be integrating it more closely and adding more classes later this year, after I move into a larger space. There are other, similar platforms out there. There’s no one ‘clearinghouse’.
I would suggest contacting any instructor whom you are interested in following directly to see where they have listed their classes.
HTH!
Ann
Most of my questions are answered during the course. Sometimes I read what others have asked and find my answers. However, where are some of the patterns that I have purchased or were free? I usually don’t download the patterns but I guess I need to start doing that.
Aside from feeling very badly for the instructors, who may have had their reputation slightly tarnished from the unanswered questions, the fact that Bluprint has obviously disregarded a full years worth of customer complaints about their “new” business platform makes me cringe. It certainly is not the fault of the instructors!
I bought classes on Craftsy but have not been even a little tempted to look at Bluprint. Sad to see a good thing (Craftsy) go by the wayside.
Great. I just subscribed for a year only last week. I liked Craftsy and have not used it due to moving across the country. Finally getting to it only to learn it’s now Blueprint and then I read THIS.
Guess I’ll just have to suck it up.
I seem to be one of the many who used & enjoyed Craftsy, but have not been interested in trying Blueprint. Looks like I made the right choice. Too bad Craftsy sold to the big guys!
A couple dozen instructors sent this letter to Bluprint today: https://medium.com/@kpwerker/open-letter-from-instructors-to-bluprint-and-nbc-universal-3ff0ceaad19a
I can’t get to the letter to read it. I am curious.
I’m glad you guys did this. Know that I would’ve added my name to the letter had I known about it.
The two emails I got from Bluprint over the past few days are the first I’d heard about this mess. Based on them (and without having heard the back story), I’ve asked to have my class retired.
I am absolutely sick after finding I have 48 pages of unanswered questions! Oh gods 😰
Even when the content was still on Craftsy, I had issues with instructors answering my questions. Even now, years later, my questions have gone unanswered. For Blueprint to compound the problem is unfortunate. The whole idea of “student led discussions” is absolute nonsense to me – customers are paying for the expertise of the teachers, not their fellow students who may or may not be qualified to answer their questions.
I could not agree more, Pamela! ANYONE can find FREE “one-sided” tutoriol videos online on thousands of subjects. Why would we pay for it on Bluprint? Doesnt “taking a class” assume they’ll be instructions PLUS a qualifed instructor to help explain things in more depth when someone isnt clear on something? I wont be giving any of my hard-earned money to Bluprint. And my heart goes out to the instructors who were duped.
I did not transition to Bluprint because my country isn’t in the OCDE and I can no longer directly buy classes with my [non-US] credit card.
And, frankly, I am glad. I follow the various threads on Pattern Review and elsewhere where people complain about Bluprint more often than praise it.
I do wish I was able to own a copy of all my classes. I had been buying some of the sewing DVDs when the company sold and now will try to get them all before the company implodes.
But still, way to ruin a good thing, NBC etc. Bravo!
I have been a Craftsy fan and often directed people there when they had no access to local knitting classes. I tried Blueprint for a year and was disappointed. No instructor feedback, no available merchandise. Did not renew and no longer referring people. Sad to see a good thing gone bad.
I follow a knitting instructor on Patreon. i am not sure how that platform works as far as payment. I pay a very minimal amount for short tutorials, both in PDF form and video. I was also able to ask her to help translate a Russian pattern for me (she is Russian). I liked it so much but I was not able to decipher the chart symbols. Google translate gave me some of the terms. but some didn’t translate into knitting. I am getting off the subject. I think I am going to cancel my subscription at the end of this term, after all of this nonsense. I was okay in the beginning, but they changed the webpage and site format to a confusing mess. I haven’t been in a few weeks except to download a couple updated patterns. I would like to keep up with the classes but it is too much trouble and with no expert to answer my questions what’s the point in paying for the class.
Is there a way to download the videos that I have purchased so that they are on my computer?
I want to know if there is a way to download the classes that I have purchased also. I don’t want to have paid for classes (many) and then have bluprint go under like it sounds like they may if they don’t correct this.
No, there isn’t. On the old Craftsy app you could download for offline viewing, but not on the new Bluprint app (iPad). They took away a lot of the functionality when they ditched the Craftsy app and created the Bluprint app. However, downloading for offline viewing through the app isn’t the same as downloading the actual file to your computer. I noticed that even when it was still Craftsy they started offering DVDs of some of the classes. I’ve asked about being able to download the classes I paid for so I can keep them forever, as they promised, but have been told I cannot do that. So when Bluprint folds all of those “keep forever” classes will go away.
If Bluprint folds I will not sit back and take a hit on over 80 classes. NBC will certainly hear from me. Hopefully, this will be a moot point, but just saying……
I never thought about that. That is a lot of money. I think I will be on board for that letter also. I have quite a few classes, too. I’ll have to go count them ;^)
Please find a way for your subscribers to keep all the wonderful classes we have paid for.
Thank you for the clarification on the issue. Please bring the best aspects of the old Craftsy platform back. I was head over heels for Craftsy and those classes helped me connect and learn new skills during a difficult time in my life. I have so much respect for the instructors. Thank you for sharing your knowledge with us!
I think this is a difficult area. Some people ask so many questions, often needlessly as they are already answered in the class itself, or other people have asked or is available in the class notes. Instructors must have other commitments and to be permanently available must be very draining. On the other hand having access to the instructor is a big pull and losing that because you have taken out the subscription (which is highly marketed and pushed at people) is going to lead to disappointment when your questions go unanswered.
I have a few Craftsy classes which I am extremely happy with, the others I returned as I found the general internet was a much better resource and that instructors did not necessarily have the best expertise and classes were too basic. Questions at times receive much better and more in depth answers from fellow users. I do not see Blueprint lasting and also wonder about the security of those classes I paid for. I am not willing to buy more on that basis and the subscription focus does not work for me.
Here’s an interesting interview with the Dave Howe, president of strategy and commercial growth at NBCU, on plans for Bluprint.
https://tvrev.com/nbcu-bluprint-dave-howe-interview-tv-ecommerce-influencers/
Well, that’s depressing reading. I do crafts to get away from “reality” TV. I don’t want to be seeing any Kardashians or Housewives idiots trying to sell me anything more than they are already selling. Sad.
In full agreement!!
After reading the above article I don’t believe Blueprint will go out of business. All contributors should read it. It seems they plan to be the Netflix of all sorts of subjects: crafting, cooking, wine connoisseurs, dancing and much more. Craftsy as we knew it is gone and will not return. The people who own it now don’t care about the product or the people. They care only about $$$$$$$.
I have many Craftsy classes, and for a long time eagerly promoted them to anyone who would listen. When I recently tried to purchase a new class, I was informed that as a South African, I would no longer be allowed to purchase any classes, cannot join Bluprint (not that I want to) and cannot even download or access the many free patterns that are offered. Nor can I purchase a pattern. when I queried this I was told that it was a “legal decision”. Shameful. No notice was given about this, and the idiots still continued to send me “special offer” emails with annoying regularity. I also was not informed about the decision to withdraw the Craftsy download app.
Bluprint is shutting down.
Yes, we have a post about that here: https://craftindustryalliance.org/nbcuniversal-to-close-bluprint/