Great technology derailed by user acquisition usurping customer experience.
June 27, 2025

Great technology derailed by user acquisition usurping customer experience.

Tyler Walz | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 1 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Overall Satisfaction with Dropbox

I am a real estate photographer. Dropbox is the lifeblood of my business in terms of delivering content to my clients. So, why am I looking for a replacement? Because, in my opinion, Dropbox prioritized user acquisition for the company over ease of use for paying clients like myself. How? I have the Dropbox app on my Macbook and right click "transfer a copy" on a folder I want to share with a client. Dropbox makes a link. Perfect. I email the link to the client. They receive my email with a Dropbox "download" link for the media I sent. Perfect. What could go wrong. Well, let me tell you... When they click download, the files DO NOT DOWNLOAD. Instead, they are taken to another screen where in 30 point font at the top it reads "Log In or Sign Up" and the top 3/4 of the message is about them creating a Dropbox account. At the VERY bottom in 8 point font it says "or continue with download only." Too many clients just see that they need an account, they don't want to make an account. So they close the window and email me to send the files another way. In my opinion, this is because Dropbox prioritizes user acquisition for Dropbox over a seamless transfer of files for my business on my PAID account. Frankly, I feel it's tacky and insulting. If the top 3/4 was a big, bold download link and the bottom 1/4 was a "create an account" option, I could live with it, but in my experience, your ad is preventing my clients from getting my media which delays me being paid. I will continue to use Dropbox, but I am actively looking for a replacement and I have stopped recommending Dropbox to other photographers for this very reason. A file transfer company that makes people jump through hoops to transfer files. What a disappointment.

Pros

  • Create transfers

Cons

  • Stop putting a priority on new users over users being able to download files
  • When it works (usually if a client already has Dropbox, so they don't get the solicitation to sign up), it works flawlessly.
  • I've had multiple clients not see the "continue with download only" at the bottom and email me to resend the media another way because they don't have a Dropbox account.
In my opinion, Dropbox prioritized user acquisition over the ability to easily share files.
I don't know of competitors, but have started looking because of the issues described herein. Likewise, when I started photography, I recommended Dropbox to everyone, but have stopped immediately due to these ongoing issues.

Do you think Dropbox delivers good value for the price?

Yes

Are you happy with Dropbox's feature set?

Yes

Did Dropbox live up to sales and marketing promises?

No

Did implementation of Dropbox go as expected?

No

Would you buy Dropbox again?

No

The fact that the "download" button on a dropbox link DOES NOT DOWNLOAD the media, but instead leads to:"Log in or sign up
Download the file now and share it with others on Dropbox" in 30 point font and then in 8 point font at the botton says "Or continue with download only"

Dropbox Feature Ratings

Versioning
10
Video files
10
Audio files
10
Document collaboration
10
Access control
10
File search
10
Device sync
10
User and role management
10
File organization
10
Device management
10
Performance
10
Reliability
10
Storage Reports
10

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