Quote:
Originally Posted by DRJDVM's '69
One thing to consider Jody and Scott...
If you guys are the only ones hearing both sides of the story and deciding the real truth and which vendors stay and which ones go, in essence you are vouching for ALL the vendors that are sponsors on the site... You are by defacto giving your endorsement of everything that vendor does
In other words if I spend a lot of $$ with a sponsor and then they screw me or I have a terrible experience, I' not only pissed at them but I'm pissed at you because you vouched for them by being the sole judge of their business ethics
For me, that's kinda sticking my neck out more than I would want...
Right now there is some tie to the sponsors by having them sponsor your site but not nearly as much as if you guys are the sole "judge" of the company
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I can't speak for Scott, but I don't look at it that way Ned. The site vendors pay for the privilege of being able to use the site to post info on their products, run sales, new product introductions, etc. We do not try to censor any feedback, good or bad about a vendor whether they are a site supporter or not. If you search you'll find where we've locked threads that have had both sides say their piece, or have turned into a bash fest. There have been a few that are deleted, but few and far between.
I've always felt that mistakes happen. If a guy starts a thread about waiting too long for a part and the dealer or manufacturer comes in and explains what happened, maybe they completely drop the ball. We will usually lock it once it's resolved, but the thread and issue still remains on the site. Also, the fact that it was resolved and that the vendor/manufacturer handled it. That's good for both sides in my opinion.
As far as who gets to decide what's bashing or not, how to or if to moderate a thread, that will always be up to the site staff. There's no way we can set up a poll for these threads and let the members vote as to who's right or wrong, etc.
I know that's not what you mean exactly, but I don't see a lot of good coming out of letting some of these threads run their course. We've had far more pm's and emails over the years saying they appreciated us locking them down than we've had getting mad because we did lock them. And no, they weren't from the vendors that were the topic of the threads.
We are looking at alternatives for a vendor feedback forum. As it stands you're all welcome to give your feedback, good or bad, as long as it's your first-hand experience and you stick to the facts and don't get personal. As far as vouch for the vendors, we don't necessarily know their business practices when they sign up. We will however intercede for any of our members if there is an issue, and we've been extremely successful getting the problem handled. If a vendor shows they cannot take care of our members, then we remove them. It is really that simple.