where vendors are allowed to hock their wares in any thread they chose to. Usually a vendor section is set-up and that is where products are advertised and salles are posted. It seems to me that the ability that vendors have to jump in on any conversation concerning their product, and the posting of threads that are basically advertising just ads more "noise" and starts arguements and a "he said, she said" enviorment. Some vendors are better than others, and I'll even admit to buying a product from a vendor that started a thread in the "GT performance and tech section", but I could have just as easily done that in a vendor forum. I think the support that is given is tremendous by the folks (vendors) who have the knowledge, but it seems to me to cross over the line too often into a biased sales pitch.

 

Agreed, free advertismnents

 

I think vendors input on different topics are great and it also gives us a chance to get factory direct deals that we could get no were else.

 

I don't mind it as much. Although I can see it becoming a problem in the future.

 

I don't mind it either, competition can be a good thing. It's not a bad thing that they take time to moniter tthese boards and post info/offers that we might otherwise miss.

 

I dont see vendors posting that much and if they do, i doesnt concern their pruduct

 

I like the fact that a vendor can address concerns about thier products.

 

I agree... Vendors directly talking to us, addressing concerns and comments about their products is a good thing. It lets us know that the vendors are listening to us and giving us info about the product in question. IN return, they are getting feedback about their products so that revisions can be made if needed, or at the very least, they are getting info about how their company is veiwed.

 

+1 to all of the above.

 

I can see it going both ways. I guess you just have to sit back and read it all, then make your decisions.

 

+2.
I think it's great, to be honest the more a vendor posts and gets into the threads the more his product can either live up to the advertised claims or get exposed.

 

This is a valid complaint and one that we are addressing here. The intent originally was to have vendors interact with board members for the obvious and above posted reasons....however there has been great abuse of this priveledge by a couple of vendors and while we have asked nicely that the threads are not spammed it seems that we have been ignored...so we are getting more strict with this...first ask nicely and after that it's fair game for us to do as we wish if the warning goes ignored.

We also do not believe it fair for one vendor to jump into another vendors thread and advertise their stuff.....that vendor should understand that they would not want the same and out of mutual respect not interfere by spamming other vendors threads or topics pertaining to other vendors products.

We have a vendor special deal area in the marketplace section which is where we expect and ask our supporting vendors to post their ads. What we want here is input from vendors and to interact with forum members but we DON'T want spammed advertisements in threads...there is a place for those ads and it is not just wherever they feel like posting them.

We have tried to be laid back and easy going but the constant ignoring of forum policy and warnings is going to force us to take a zero tolerance stance on this problem if it continues and that won't be pretty as we will just start filing ALL ads regardless into the trash can until the message becomes clear to those offenders.

 

Not to speak for Brenspeed, but I know dang well that they've pretty much stopped posting here and on other sites overall because they don't want the "spammer" title given to them. Which is kinda sad because Brent always used to post and interact with members, and he ALWAYS had dyno numbers and/or track times to prove info about the product he was selling. Anyone remember all the exhaust vids and info he used to share? Most of that can be found on the Brenspeed website now but it was nice to have a vendor around that was as much of an enthusiast as the rest of us. Anyone remember when we all wanted offroad H pipes instead of X pipes, and he got Pypes to make the first 50 prototypes for us? And now look how many people overall are running the Pypes offroad H...... maybe wouldn't have happened without a vendor posting and asking what people wanted, and then making it happen. Ah, those were the days LOL!

 

I don't agree with vendors plugging their stuff threads started by other vendors, but I do like the interaction. It has allowed vendors to answer a lot of questions. The new hood I have on order from a vendor on here would probably never been produced had it not been for the direct interaction we had with the vendor. I just think the vendors should respect each others threads and most do. I can only think of one vendor who constantly popped up on other threads. SVOPAUL I sent you a PM in reference to this.

 

I learn a lot about different products by reading the interactions between members and vendors. Advertisements in a separate vendor section are basically useless to me, because that's what they are, advertisements. I gain a lot of understanding from the discussions and never really viewed them as advertising. Those discussions give me more information than just an advertisement when and if I need to choose a vendor. Just my opinion.

 

I think the vendor interaction here is great. It gives you a chance to see what the vendor is really like and get a feel for how they run their company and if they know their stuff. I also feel "safer", for lack of a better term, ordering from a vendor who I know reads and pays attention to the forums here. I kind of feel like each time I spend my hard earned money on a product from a vendor who reads these forums they will be more likely to make sure everything goes smoothly since they have the reputation to protect. I remember one company a little over a year ago that actually went out of business(or just completely dissappeared) due to a thread started here about poor customer service, and issues of many people not receiving products they ordered. It also provides info for new/better products. I do see how it could be a problem in the future, but Id hate to see the vendor interaction here cease to exist altogether.

 

Another web board I frequent (professionally: not a mustang board) has a pretty simple policy on vendor interaction.

A vendor can post opinions or information freely, as long as it doesn't pertain to his particular products. Think Steve Saleen contributing to a discussion about the pros and cons of DOT4 brake fluid.

A vendor can RESPOND to a thread with technical information about a specific product under discussion that they manufacture or sell. Think Steve Saleen responding to a question about Saleen superchargers. Unless the vendor's SPECIFIC item is under discussion, however, they cannot respond by pimping their particular wares. Saleen could NOT stick his nose into a Whipple discussion to promote his product.

This sort of policy works EXTREMELY well, and we have a VERY high signal-to-noise ratio at that web-board. It promotes exchanges of ideas or information freely, but severly curtails the marketing gak.

We might want to try that here.

 

I don't mind the interaction good or bad! Were all big boys and girls and if a vendor keeps pushing his product in the guise of information that shows thru and is very telling in itself.

 

They need to pay to play. If they want to profit from the site then they should be a supporting vendor and help by supporting the site with some greenbacks. Most of us do! JMO~

 

Dave, that is a very good suggestion and we appreciate everyone's input. The problem isn't really about paying as this refers to paying/supporting vendors but the problem just boils down to behavior and while I do agree that they can damage their own reputations by their actions, the waste of space with repetative ads is one problem and the other being jumping into threads about OTHER vendors products with a plug for their own.

My outlook is that word of mouth is the best form of advertising and a vendor should not resort to repeated self promotion as a means to make a sale....rather if the product is good then the forum members who are customers will spread the word via threads or signatures, etc. A vendor with forced induction experience is a great help in a conversation on a related topic but it's only noise when that input is mostly or always "Buy my stuff" or "my stuff is great"....if your product is that good then the word WILL spread.

Another thing is that if there is a topic on the new '08 Mustang "Widgets" available and someone posts a list of the available "widgets" then it is only self promoting when a vendor of an unlisted "widget" comes in and says "Don't forget my widget...it's great!"....let your customers ad it in.

I used to be a sales rep in a different industry years back and found myself very successful when I didn't try a hard sales pitch....a laid back no pressure approach always worked better. Typically when someone tries to push you to buy a product you as the customer becomes leary as to "why" is this guy trying to push me on this?...AND if your product IS in fact good/great or the best thing since sliced toast....you WILL sell it and the word will spread.....there is no need to hijack other vendors threads with your own product or constantly spam the world with advertisements.

In the end I think a vendor that does participate with knowledge and help without constantly pimping their own product will do FAR better than someone who does. Signatures can even be a place to list a special with a link and every time they partipate in a discussion their special will be seen without spamming the thread with ads.

I also know most vendors are EXTREMELY busy....and have limited time to spend on forums so it is welcome when they find time to participate but understandable if they cannot spend a lot of time due to business requirements. It is a great bonus to forum members when a vendor chooses to participate in that forum and help with technical information on a topic.

Again, all input and suggestions are welcome....we appreciate it!