Vendor comment forum

[nickb]

Why has the thread discussing the closing of the vendor rating forum also been locked?

One major benefit of hobby discussion boards like Canreef is the opportunity to share information about vendors, products and places to buy them. If Canreef cancels the vendor rating forum, those comments will start appearing in the general discussion fora instead.

I find it hard to believe that the voume of comments in the vendor discussion forum imposes problems on the server. More likely, this change is due to vendors complaining about negative comments. Does this mean that comments about problems with products and vendors placed in other fora will also be removed?

[Aquattro]

nickb, the vendor ratings forum is closed for good. Product review forum is still active, and you can post your product experiences there. Due to the inflammatory threads that most often evolve in the vendor ratings thread, we've discontinued it. We have had threats of legal action as a result of some of those posts, and the guidelines we had asked be followed many times were not.
To answer your question, yes, any vendor rating type thread posted anywhere else on the board will be removed.

[nickb]

So, does that mean that if I buy a product which is defective and which the company declines to repair or replace, that I am prevented from sharing this negative experience with other members of the Board?

Or alternatively, if I find a great new vendor, who provide superb services, etc., would I be prevented from sharing that information too?

[Aquattro]

If you buy a product that is defective or does not work as advertised, please post your thoughts on it in the Product Reviews forum. If the manufacturer does not stand behind it's warranty, you can express that also.
If you buy a product tath you feel is a great buy, you can also post a thread about that. We do encourage product reviews.

The whole process of Vendor Ratings though does nothing to disuade a consumer from shopping somewhere. Every thread ever posted was "I hate this store because..." and was followed by "you're wrong, it's the best store in the world because...." and was always an argument. If you shop somewhere you get great service, keep shopping there. If you get bad service, it's likely they will give everyone bad service and will pay for that in the end without your intervention.
Nobody here ever didn't go to a store because of bad press, and nobody switched their favorite store because of good press.
The vendor ratings forum did not serve any purpose that out-weighed the hassle of moderating it, and generally did more harm than good. I hope this answers your questions. Thanks.

[Willow]

brad i think a lot of people have told you guys that the vendor ratings forum was useful and we would like it back.

it does take some moderation, if you guys are overworked moding the rest of the board get some few more mods to help out or assign one to just the vendors forum, it's not a big deal and im sure there are plenty of people here with some experance that would help out.

i don't think that's the reason though, im sure it is somehow linked to sponsorship and or lack of it. if you want revenue add google ad sense on the bottom of every page, with our traffic titus could more that pay the bills around here. isn't that the goal with all these changes?

[Tarolisol]

Threats of legal action, thats rediculus. Its called free speach. This forum is becoming severly censored.

[Troy F]

It may well be ridiculous but it be true.

What exactly are you people missing with the vendor rating forum no longer being here?

Seems to me the board has a few people that are always stirring every pot they can. I don't see many people missing the forum. I know! Willow, why don't you start a poll?

[Zerandise]

well i for one dont know ALL the stores in BC. I like to hear about them. I found ALOT of new shops that have been around for years from forums like the rating one. maybe a good way for the staff to get around it would be to sticky a post in the reef forum or in each of the club forums with a list of shops. I know this would still not get anyone to sponcer the forum but would make it look at least a bit better for canreef.

We all love the forum. We also love how the forum helped us get in touch with shops we didnt know about.

Maybe since the staff know all about all the shops they can write a small bit on each one so the rest of us do as well.

once again i could be wrong. maybe like the rest of us the staff doesnt know every shop and how each one is.....

[Troy F]

Holy crap, I'm shocked that you found this thread too.

[christyf5]

Heres a list of stores. Each store has a link to a review with photos of the store and such.

http://www.aquarticles.com/articles/...ouver_Map.html