Rippln, an app-sharing company launched in April, has significantly reduced its public communications. Its last Facebook post appeared November 21st, with the final blog update published November 13th. The company's YouTube channel has seen no new content since November 5th. This sudden silence contrasts sharply with its previous aggressive promotional strategy.
The company's operational history has been marked by shifting models and unfulfilled promises. Rippln initially promoted a recruitment-driven scheme, later retracting it to promise earnings from app sharing and a "Rippln Communicator" app. Deadlines for these features passed repeatedly over several months.
Later, Rippln offered a commission structure on the sale of Bluetooth watches. It launched one or two apps exclusively on the iOS platform, but never delivered on promises for Android compatibility. The company also repackaged a personal development course, authored by an executive staff member, and charged affiliates approximately $500 for it.
A partnership with a third-party company followed, offering commissions for downloading a handful of apps. Affiliates paid hundreds of dollars to participate. But complaints quickly mounted when most of the affiliate base discovered the third-party company offered no apps in their respective regions.
The Rippln Communicator app, announced by CEO Brian Underwood as "slated for submission to Apple on October 15th," still has not materialized. Many Rippln affiliates continue paying monthly fees with no services to show for their investment.
This lack of communication has not gone unnoticed by affiliates. Many have taken to Facebook to express confusion and frustration. "10 days and no updates?? What’s the deal ppl?? Anyone out there lol??" one user posted. Another asked, "We wait news, updates and communicator, why is nothing happend?"
Concern also extends to the whereabouts of key personnel. "Where´s Rutherford, Stacey, Nino, Mike Beal, Vanessa, Larry Lane (well, at least He told us where he went running off to) and the rest?" an affiliate queried online. "Even the RippleMania group has tumbleweeds rolling around…"
Derek Gardner, an affiliate, offered a stark assessment just hours ago. "I officially quit Rippln with a Ripple of 39,718 people in 230 countries," Gardner wrote. "I actually checked out a while back, but, removing my credit card made it official. It’s crystal clear all the so called 'leaders' quit a long time ago, you know who they are… Now the actual company has gone into hiding and didn’t even make a post wishing the folks in the USA happy holidays, pathetic."