Choosing a brand..HELP

[drcollie]

One of the things to consider with someone like Direct Buy is after-the-sale service, which is going to be non-existent at worst, and a miserable experience at best. There are service issues on about 15% of all new purchases, ranging from a chip in a leg to a cushion that doesn't feel right, or perhaps a mark that occured during delivery. Although its tempting to buy on price alone, you will wish you were dealing with a dealer that works on your behalf if something goes wrong.

An example is one that occured last week. A customer ordered a sofa I had in stock and we shipped it UPSFREIGHT, and the forklift driver tore the leg off the piece, damaging it extensively. I was notified of the damage at 10 a.m. and by noon I had given the customer a full refund on the piece so he wouldn't have to deal with the damage headaches. I do all the claim work and salvage/repair back to the maker to see if it can be fixed. You're not going to get that level of service with an operation like Direct Buy, who would more likely tell you to file a claim with your carrier and you'd have a broken sofa in your home for 7 to 10 days and a mound of paperwork to complete after the inspector comes by.

[simplyjeff]

My problem with Gardenweb was that every few months someone would ask a question about how they could find a good quality sofa that could fit through a narrow door or down a narrow stairway. That is exactly the type of furniture my company specializes in and which cannot be found anywhere else. Initially some of my customers recommended my company to these people. However when I attempted to respond directly I was blocked and I was later informed by one of my customers that her attempt to recommend my company was also blocked after that.

Jeff Frank
Simplicity Sofas

[Rafree1]

Okay, I'm going to chime in here a bit as for six years I was the admin for the official site for George Harrison started by himself and subsequently run by his family and did further work for the official site for Paul McCartney.I was hired by both in the first case beating out six hundred applicants so I do have some knowledge of what this web site forum thing is all about and how to run one successfully, long term. Not small sites, not unofficial, and I understand the set ups for some of these sites. I also understand why some rules need to be in place, the reasoning for those rules is not always the clearest to members. Some sites do this very well and even when they are marketing their own products have guidelines for keeping rules in place. You can do marketing of your own product quite successfully without being the admin or moderator slash and burn type. That just back fires every time long term.

GW, seems to run by a policy of "no warning" which I completely disagree with. It turns off potential members. I've seen other sites do this as well. One a political site for Americans living abroad EXCEPT you couldn't talk about certain topics whether relevant to the day or not and they mass banned about forty people one day. Ridiculous move. Word gets around when you have a large site that is mismanaged. If you want to keep potential new members coming back and old ones happy you have rules, yes but, you have guides that are flexible too. For instance, a polite referral to the rules the first time someone breaks a forum rule is better than a "you're outta here" approach. ESPECIALLY if you know the member to be helpful and otherwise good for your forum.

I will just say out right I think banning with zero "heads up" beforehand to members is a knucklehead way to run a forum. I have moved away from that work now as it can be twenty four seven. I did it for seven years and that was enough for me. I'd like to have a LIFE of my own. hahaha.

Duane, when I started my quest I read all your posts there and wondered where you went, found you here and never went back there. Reading between the lines I figured they'd pulled one of the old "quick ban" moves. I'm just one example. They'll lose members looking for info of the type found here, and only here now.

[aaron]

There are "members" you can ban in a heartbeat, no regrets. Spammy post, semi-literate, IP from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Bangalore, the Philippines, the Ukraine... it's a no-brainer to ban fast and hard. I banned somebody today, no warning, who was posting fake endorsements on one of my site for somebody I know. So many people fall for the "I'm a SEO/SEM expert" argument from somebody who thinks website promotion involves little more than spamming blogs and forums.

[drcollie]

Gosh yes, Aaron and I take out those spammers so fast that most the time no one ever sees them. The good thing about this forum software is we can remove a spammer and their posts in very few keystrokes, record their IP address and ban them from re-registering in less than a minute. We get pretty good at seeing them - most all the time their English is either poor, or they embed website links in their posts.

[Rafree1]

Spammers are a whole other ball game!! I don't include them when mentioning members. Russia and China ip addy..lol. Most members never see how bad spamming can be on forums. Admin hats off to you and glad I don't deal with that myself anymore. phpbb did not have all the gizmos that vbully does so I wrote a few scripts for ours myself.

[aaron]

There are "members" you can ban in a heartbeat, no regrets. Spammy post, semi-literate, IP from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Bangalore, the Philippines, the Ukraine... it's a no-brainer to ban fast and hard.

Speak of the devil....

Now more and more countries celebrate Christmas. Different country will choose

different way to welcome it. In China, a growing number of Chinese celebrate on

Christmas Eve by eating Christmas dinners with friends or relatives. They will

exchange cards or gifts with close friends and relatives. It is no doubt that

giving gifts is an integral part of the Christmas celebrations and it is no

exception in China. Every year, people will spend lots of time on choosing
Christmas gifts. Sometimes they feel

miserable on choosing it. However, they feel pleasant when they decorate their

house with light, paper lanterns, flowers, etc. With these decorations, you

will have a happy mood.

Banned, original post (and actual spammed URL) deleted.

[Dgw9]

If the recession of the last 4 years has any type of a silver lining, it was that I didn't have to click thru 10,000 Direct Buy Infomercials at all hours of the day and night. And I've heard the horror stories from those who have accepted the "special invitation" and attended the on-site presentations. About as low-pressure a sales pitch as having to sit down with a time-share salesman.