Patrick D.

I've been a member of writing.com for many years. I've only recently (a year or so) really dug into the community and explored. That's on me, not the website. Work, life and mostly procrastination kept me from doing anything sooner. I've read several negative reviews on here and admit there are smidgens of truth in each one but not like you might think.
SELL T-SHIRTS: Yes, they sell memberships, t-shirts, pencils, pens etc. You pick something dealing with writing and they probably have it with the logo splashed across the surface. None of it is forced down your throat, nor are you inundated with requests. Something noticeably absent from the review is the mention that the website is the livelihood for the operators; its their jobs. So yeah, they'd like you to purchase things so they can pay bills like everyone else. Its a business folks. At least here, even if you don't want to pay anything, you'll still get something out of it.
POOR REVIEWS: I agree somewhat with this review. I've received extremely honest critical reviews before that have helped educate me and given me a better understanding of my strengths and weaknesses. I've also received reviews that were nice and filled with fluff. Its sad, and I wish there were better ways of filtering those types of reviews because it is someone simply trying to boost their review portfolio. But, I read it, I immediately recognize it for what it is and move on. I'm intelligent enough to know when a review is legit or not.
TAINTED CONTESTS: There is no way anyone can verify if a judge is biased or not. For anyone on here to claim such a thing is entirely absurd. I'm more inclined to believe the angry reviewer was nothing more than butt hurt that their piece was passed over for what they perceived as an inferior entry. I claim this because anyone who knows writing.com would be well aware that although their contests are entertaining and many times helpful, the prizes awarded are all in-house; meaning nothing you win would get you a sit down with an agent or publisher. Its usually free reviews, an extended membership, logo'd product, etc. So someone complaining about a contest that's only rewarding within the community is someone that is either a fool, or well... no, just a fool.
BAIT & SWITCH: This one is a crock. Yes, you absolutely get bonus attention when you first join the site. And after a set length of time, that attention is no longer lavished. The site owner explained this easily and correctly. When you first join, you are made to feel welcome and the time is taken to show the newbie how joining can be beneficial with reviews, tools and links. This is a limited timeframe with the hope that by the end, you will have joined a group or two. The reviewer that was negative about this never mentioned he bothered to join anything. That's on him, not the website. I immediately sought out the fantasy groups and became a member of them. I've since enjoyed reviewing and being reviewed on a regular basis. Its not the website's responsibility to find like minded groups for you. You're just lazy.
MY ISSUE: I will wholeheartedly agree with one reviewer who complained about the system tools used for posting, writing, etc. It is difficult getting the hang of how the system runs although once you get active with your portfolio, it does get easier. It's more of an inconvenience in the long run. Example: If I copy my work from WORD or Pages, the text will appear extremely basic. Any indentations, bold print, italicizing, etc. are gone. You have to go back through and redo any and all of these things to the pasted item. Yes, this can be infuriating if you're posting a long entry that contains a lot of these additions. To that I 100% agree.
But overall, the website is excellent. The community is very supportive and every genre is represented in multiple groups, in multiple fashions, so there are plenty of peers and likeminded writers available to help you grow in your writing. They have an excellent pre-NaNoWriMo course that has been more beneficial to me than any other writing course, program etc. anywhere. So sure, there are "kernels" of truth in the bad reviews, but in no way do they come close in accurately depicting this website. People will complain for the sake of complaining otherwise, they'll never have a voice that gets noticed. That's sad for them. You get out what you put in. These reviewers didn't put in squat. And that's what they reaped.