Slightly obnoxious response from Lichess. What do you think?

Hi, I was really quite saddened by this. I honestly can't believe this reply came from Lichess.

My partner wrote by email to them and said:

Hi,
I'm wanting to become a Lichess patron for myself and my partner. However I have some confusion regarding the minimum monthly amount.
I saw a post by Thibault saying you could just donate $1 a month to get the patron wings. However on the funny feature comparison at the bottom, it says $5 a month? Could you clear that up for me?
I hope to hear back as soon as possible so I and my partner can become a patron.

He then Lichess then said:

If $1 per month is what lichess is worth to you, then yes, it is enough to get the Patron wings.
Thanks for your support!

My partner then wrote back and said:

I don't think it's very professional to be passing your judgement on someone who is actually inquiring about donating. Thousands of people use your site and don't donate a penny.
Both myself and my partner are long term sick, have VERY little money. Yet I still wanted to donate.
You didn't do yourself any favours with that email at all. Terrible attitude.

He then got a weird response saying:

You're welcome. Please keep enjoying lichess for free.

I must admit I was quite taken back by that, I thought they would be pleased that people are donating not criticising how much people are giving when they give that option. Tens of thousands of people use the site and never give a penny to Lichess.

I don't see what was obnoxious. Seems like it's a matter of perception and what you are looking for.

I think lichess is awesome - better than most pay sites. You don't have to donate monthly, you can make a one-time donation.

I'm sure they get so many complaints, bug reports, and feature requests that they probably wonder why they put up with it all. On that (those) days, the person responding may have been having one of those days. I'm sure they do appreciate all the donations they get - including yours.

I don't see anything wrong or even ambiguous with that answer.

Donations are a "free price" system, where people pay for what *they* decide what the service is worth to them. Instead of having a unique price enforced for everyone alike.

If you're going to quote our emails, please do it right, and not truncate them. In our reply, we also recommended the mobile app, since your email ended with "Sent from my iPhone".

The app is also free, and without any ads. Enjoy :)

@VeganChessPlayer2 There is also the button "Other". Click on it and manually enter the amount you want to donate. It's simple.

i.snag.gy/sbe8zv.jpg click other to donate 1 dollar. Just put in 1 in the option box.

"If $1 per month is what lichess is worth to you, then yes, it is enough to get the Patron wings.
Thanks for your support!"

Although I think thibault and all the major contributors are worth great respect for their work on this comprehensive site, I have to be honest and say that I agree with OP.

A very snotty reply.

The professional way would be to set a lower limit for donations instead.

I agree it was a very obnoxious answer. I don't know what you other people are seeing, but I can tell the reply was being very sarcastic and judgmental. He doesn't have to donate at all. Just saying.

I think its worth remembering that most of the lichess team aren't native English speakers. I really really doubt they meant to insult the recipient in any way.

Thibault, that REALLY is splitting hairs lol :)..., I truncated the end since it is ONE sentence says NOTHING other than an AUTO response about a mobile app, that clearly and obviously offers absolutely no relevance to the topic or discussion at hand. I also didn't include it because it was a link to the app and didn't know if I can post links. I can't believe I'm even responding to that, that really is silly and irrelevant :).

Thank you to the others for your support, glad it's not just me. I don't know how else you could possibly take "If $1 per month is what lichess is worth to you, then yes, it is enough to get the Patron wings." It's a really snotty reply to give someone who has enquired about making a voluntary donation.

A sensible and professional response would have been "Hi, thank you for your email, all donations by our users are always hugely appreciated, the bigger the better and I can tell you $1 a month will get you the patron wings"

Any how, I won't donate now. Never mind. The site is brilliant, however I don't think they should be sarcastic and snotty with people who are ultimately trying to give what they can afford.