We listen to everyone and 9 out of 10 things we add to our products start out as customer requests. We encourage feedback everywhere we can and interact with our customers as often as we can -- often by posting comments on their own blogs.
But, we also get thousands of requests a year so we can't do everything everyone wants. Many of these requests conflict with one another, and many of them just aren't a good fit for our products (adding Gantt charts to Basecamp, for example). The good ones, however, often make it into the products eventually. Sometimes exactly as requested, sometimes in a different form, but customer requests are almost always the seeds of improvement.
It is our job to be editors and museum curators. We have to decide what makes it and what doesn't for the benefit of the overall product and the overall customer base. No combination of yes or no is going to satisfy everyone, so we have to work on behalf of the majority.
Every company with millions of users has to say no more than they say yes, we're just honest and up front about it about it. We don't want to set false expectations or promise things we won't be able to deliver.
While this policy may rub some people the wrong way, we think it's the right policy. And seeing that 94%+ of our customers would recommend Basecamp to a friend or colleague, I think we're on the right track.
http://basecamphq.com/survey
I'm surprised that so few Basecamp users would recommend it. 94% is not a good number, you have to take into account survivorship bias. The people who would not recommend your service have already stopped being your customers. 94% says that your churn rate is 6%.
I think they are trying to pretend that they know everything and that they never make mistakes. It's a good image to have, which is why they try so hard to get it.
Unfortunately, the result is customers that can't think for themselves. Anyone with a brain uses someone else's services.
-just my 2 cents