Every once in a while, a bad review turns into something really good.

A few weeks ago, Mark Rote left this 2-star review of Cook’n in the Google Play Store:

Ouch! 😬

I could understand Mark’s frustration, especially after learning that he was a longtime MasterCook customer and was having trouble finding the MasterCook file containing his recipes.

So, rather than simply responding to his review, I sent Mark an email.

I explained that Cook’n is actually free to use and that we try to make many of our services available to non-subscribers too, sometimes by watching a brief ad. I also explained that some Cook’n services have ongoing costs every time they are used, which is why we charge for memberships.

But something else in Mark’s situation seemed much more important than his review.

His recipes!

Mark thought his old MasterCook recipes might be sitting on a hard drive from one of his previous computers. So I asked Pam if there was anything we could do to help.

And, as those of you who have worked with Pam can probably guess, Pam went to work!

She searched the old MasterCook archives, explained exactly which MasterCook cookbook files Mark should look for on his old drives, gave him a copy of MasterCook 14 that could open those files, and provided instructions for transferring the recipes into Cook’n if he finds them.

Mark’s attitude had already changed after my first email. He wrote:

But after Pam jumped in to help, we received another message from Mark:

And he finished with:

Wow.

Mark, you are very welcome. And there was absolutely no need to apologize.

Recipes aren't just files on a computer. They can represent decades of family dinners, holidays, traditions, handwritten cards, favorite cookbooks, and memories. When someone thinks those recipes may be lost, we understand why that's frustrating.

That's one of the reasons we acquired MasterCook's assets in the first place. We wanted to give MasterCook customers a path forward and, whenever possible, help make sure all those years of collected recipes aren't left behind.

I don't know yet whether Mark will find those old MasterCook files.

But if they're on one of those hard drives, we'll do everything we can to help him bring them home to Cook’n.

That's what the Cook’n Elves are here for. 😊