View Full Version : Should you tell all about your LFS
Kuhli Loach
26-06-2009, 09:59
Have any of you been to a LPS and found it really disappointing? Hardly and live stock or a very limited supply, the employees do not really know what they are talking about, not much on the shelves with regards to aquarium hardware or food, and this after you have visited their web site telling you how great they are. Should we not be able to tell each other about the shops that we visit, and how great or disappointing they are? And as the members are from all over the country and visit the same shops, I am sure we will be able to form a un-bios opinion of the shops that we visit. That would save us a lot of trouble driving to a shop and just wasting our time. I have been to such a shop yesterday, and would like to be able to tell you about it so that you don't have to waste your time and money.
Henk Hugo
26-06-2009, 10:06
dude we cant even get rory and zebra plec to open a sponsors feedback section or let someone moan about the sponsors..... see the purigen thread
Zebra Pleco
26-06-2009, 10:52
dude we cant even get rory and zebra plec to open a sponsors feedback section or let someone moan about the sponsors..... see the purigen thread
Please familiarise yourself with the User Agreement: (http://www.tropicalaquarium.co.za/showthread.php?t=2)
TropicalAquarium.co.za does not host any vendor feedback forums as they tend to spiral out of control quickly due to many different personal experiences with vendors or sponsors (or private parties) amongst the whole community. As such, it is against TropicalAquarium.co.za's policy to air out one's issues about sponsors, local stores, or private deals which have been made or may have gone bad. We would ask all those who have issues like this or similar in nature to work these kinds of problems out in private. TropicalAquarium.co.za staff retains the right to retain or remove such posts from the general forums.
Henk Hugo, if you want to moan about someone then do it via PM, not on the open public forum where we run the risk of legal action being taken against the owner of the forum by the person/business that is being publicly humiliated or defamed.
Henk Hugo
26-06-2009, 10:58
as you know dean i know the EULA very well.... it just seems like the forum members doesnt have any recourse against sponsors....
Zebra Pleco
26-06-2009, 11:16
it just seems like the forum members doesnt have any recourse against sponsors....
Of course they do, all they have to do is send a PM to either myself or Rory and we can then act on it. What we will not allow is any discredit, defamation, humiliation of any person/sponsor/business on the open forum.
If you do it the right way instead of adopting the 'mob mentality' then action will indeed be taken if deemed necessary, but do it the wrong way then we're not interested.
Kuhli Loach
26-06-2009, 11:19
Point taken Zebra Pleco, I just feel that we should be able to inform each other of the places that we have found, and what they are like. We are all here for the enjoyment of our hobby and not to bash any store. Sure the service levels will vary from time to time, but if all the members that visit the store contribute about their experience, we should be able to establish an accurate opinion about a specific store.
Henk Hugo, if you want to moan about someone then do it via PM, not on the open public forum where we run the risk of legal action being taken against the owner of the forum by the person/business that is being publicly humiliated or defamed.
I'm not picking a fight but I'll just need to say that will never happen.
Strong arm tactics from business to get Forum to be quiet, that's all they are.
Freedom of Speech far overrides, defamation of character.
I know this due to previous experience, of a business trying to take a forum to court.
Besides, you can't take legal action against an Avatar :)
Guys I know a forum seems like the ideal place to discuss and/or rate LFS's etc seeing as we form part of the community that are their client base and it's a neutral place however we as a south african fish keeping forum visiting community been down this road many many times in the past. What happens in practice is very far from the ideal. The "feedback" type forums etc get used as "weapons" and it even goes as far as LFS owners getting their buddies/family to register, participate a bit etc then launch an "attack" on competing LFS etc. Hell we've even had that happen before in competitions where the members get to vote!
At this point you may suggest that the forum can be more controlled etc but it's not something that I want to moderate because it's like being a ref at a english football match because whenever you moderate anyone you will get accused of being biased to the other side etc.
So in short, forum seems like a great place to discuss it but the implementation/fairness part of it is far too tricky...
SauRoN, yes the members are fairly anonymous but I'm not at all. That being said I hope there are enough disclaimers etc. We've even had legal threats happening because of things that were said in PM when the person threatening legal action wasn't even party to the *private* messages...
Henk, your purigen issue is really lame. Either someone thinks a product is worth the price or it isn't. If you pay R100 today and you think it's worth it, it doesn't mean it wasn't worth it when the price is R50 tomorrow. Please quit harping on about "losing" like R50, it wasn't even you. Your personal vendetta against a sponsor just because you compete is tiresome.
Henk Hugo
26-06-2009, 13:07
no vendetta at all Rory - simply pointing out facts
brentnorm
26-06-2009, 13:16
Guys I know a forum seems like the ideal place to discuss and/or rate LFS's etc seeing as we form part of the community that are their client base and it's a neutral place however we as a south african fish keeping forum visiting community been down this road many many times in the past. What happens in practice is very far from the ideal. The "feedback" type forums etc get used as "weapons" and it even goes as far as LFS owners getting their buddies/family to register, participate a bit etc then launch an "attack" on competing LFS etc. Hell we've even had that happen before in competitions where the members get to vote!
At this point you may suggest that the forum can be more controlled etc but it's not something that I want to moderate because it's like being a ref at a english football match because whenever you moderate anyone you will get accused of being biased to the other side etc.
So in short, forum seems like a great place to discuss it but the implementation/fairness part of it is far too tricky...
SauRoN, yes the members are fairly anonymous but I'm not at all. That being said I hope there are enough disclaimers etc. We've even had legal threats happening because of things that were said in PM when the person threatening legal action wasn't even party to the *private* messages...
Henk, your purigen issue is really lame. Either someone thinks a product is worth the price or it isn't. If you pay R100 today and you think it's worth it, it doesn't mean it wasn't worth it when the price is R50 tomorrow. Please quit harping on about "losing" like R50, it wasn't even you. Your personal vendetta against a sponsor just because you compete is tiresome.
Very well put Rory. :congrats:
Fish Fantasy
26-06-2009, 14:08
Yes very nicely put!!!!!!!:)All this back and forth is tiresome! Lets just use this site as a help forum etc and not one to slander or degrade sponsers or anyone else for that matter. Lets just be a pleasent forum!!!! END OF STORY!
brentnorm
26-06-2009, 14:45
:boring: Eish....
Lol. Please make that a good Eish :blink1:
Lol. Please make that a good Eish :blink1:
lol - we'll just leave it as an EISH :bigsmile:
SauRoN, yes the members are fairly anonymous but I'm not at all. That being said I hope there are enough disclaimers etc. We've even had legal threats happening because of things that were said in PM when the person threatening legal action wasn't even party to the *private* messages...
Cool cool.
Understandably it's more hassle than it's really worth, and prevention is better than cure.
I'm just saying that they are empty threats, and nothing will genuinely come of it.
Even if someone does come from it, it will end up going nowhere at all.
But granted it will be a massive waste of time, and thus I understand rather not opening yourself up for that.
Sorry I know that this isn't concerning the previous posts but this just popped into my head and thought I would share a bit of fun. :hahaha:Don’t come here with your voet voet nonsense. VOETSEK!!!!!! LOL (THIS IS NOT DIRECTED AT ANYONE!)
jissie blommie....same sh1t, different day :(
JaguarCichlid
05-07-2009, 21:37
As I read the thread, I couldnt help but think that this is a coutry of free speech, so if I got sh!t service from a LFS, who cares about sponsor or non sponsor, I WILL tell all about it. The fact remains that there is freedom of speech in this country and I think that we should exercise that right. And what better place than a forum like this.
Or are we going to turn into a country like the one to our north where everyone is scared to say their say for fear of the LFS police paying a visit in the middle of the night!!! They gonna slap you over the head with a wet fish or what?????
I agree with you Rory, that it must be 'Policed', and yes, ANY system is open for abuse..... Just ask the guys from a "Local Chicken Franchise" advertising agency.... however, the consumer has the right to be protected from LFS's whose owners sole knowlege about fish is that they "once caught a fish on the Vaal River" and offer the consumer nothing more than diseased fish and bad advice.
Why not have a rating system and remove any LFS's that dont want to be listed??
Then have a comments area for each rating, i.e. Here have an apple for the good service that you gave joe last week, or here, suck on this lemon for supplying Bob diseased fish that wiped out his entire tank. Show the good and bad comments, and give the LFS an opportunity to respond before posting, in my opinion, more LFS's will join the forum and become sponsors too........ (Isnt that the aim???)
In that way the industry gets regulated and the consumer/ new guy gets protected from the ignorant sales kid and the business owner must take responsibility for who he has serving his customers.......
My opinion, and thats where I'll stick, is I just trod on anyones toes, sorry, but we're a country of free speech and it's my right.
Kuhli Loach
06-07-2009, 06:36
Have a look at this post on “Hello Peter”, http://www.hellopeter.com/reptilians-pet-shop-bad-attitude-[292758], that is why I feel we should be able to talk about the level of service and advice that we have received from a LFS. And not just the bad experiences that we have had, but also give praise where it is due.
theosmit
06-07-2009, 23:22
Guys I know a forum seems like the ideal place to discuss and/or rate LFS's etc seeing as we form part of the community that are their client base and it's a neutral place however we as a south african fish keeping forum visiting community been down this road many many times in the past. What happens in practice is very far from the ideal. The "feedback" type forums etc get used as "weapons" and it even goes as far as LFS owners getting their buddies/family to register, participate a bit etc then launch an "attack" on competing LFS etc. Hell we've even had that happen before in competitions where the members get to vote!
....
So in short, forum seems like a great place to discuss it but the implementation/fairness part of it is far too tricky...
I agree - stay away from the commercial side and keep it to interaction, information and opinions regarding a hobby that we all enjoy. As soon as money comes into it one never knows where you are with certain bits of info and opinions. (Sponsors do help the site, but their involvement should be transparent.)
And yes - www.hellopeter.com (http://www.hellopeter.com) has its place - but also gives the business a chance to respond to any problems they might have caused.
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