Noticed more and more that the ALTA guys seem to be trolling the posts looking for ways point out their products to the subscribers.

Is NAM OK with this?

 

As a NAM member I am OK with it (a lot vendors give iput).

I think members are smart enough to make there choices based on what best for them and their mini.

Vendors are some of the best experts we have regarding mods and care for our mini and I appreciate their input.

 

I see your a recent member by your # of post so your comment puzzles me about the feedback you have received

Your right that members are adults and can make choices.

Theres a difference of having these vendors available to ask questions which I agree is invaluable and another entirely for them to actively troll postings to hawk their wares

 

Another relatively new member here.
Opinion: I'm okay with it, because the vendors are very clearly labelled in their accounts and signatures. They're not masquerading as ordinary users and pretending to offer unbiased recommendations (that would be a real problem). I think that NAM handles vendors quite well. (Not to mention, don't vendors pay fees for their accounts? I appreciate that running a complex, heavily customized forum is not a zero-cost operation.)

Personal experience: I recently started a thread asking for some brake advice based on what i think of stock pads & rotors. A couple of vendors popped in with thoughtful responses based on my post and, of course, links to products they sell; they were both gracious and candid about the performance characteristics of what they were hawking. All in all, I was well satisfied with the vendors as respectful and helpful.

But, this isn't to say that maybe the behavior you're seeing isn't egregious. Can you post some links to threads you've seen this in? Then it would be a more concrete discussion of what's actually going on. Right now it's very theoretical sounding!

Cheers!

 

All good points and I've had similar experineces. Purely subjective on where that 'line' is.

And thinking about it further now my opinion of when a vendor is trolling to insert his/her product vs offering timely and helpful tips is purely subjective.

Ultimately I can vote with my wallet who I do and do not want to do business with

Suppose I could pull some 'suspect' threads and post however once again all subjective. I like a good debate as much as the next guy but I suspect it will come back to yours and I's discussion here.

Thanks for helping me sort out.

Cheers to you too!

 

As a Vendor I'll put in my 2 cents. As Vendor's we all pay to be on the site and we do get business from it. Now trolling for customers can be annoying. Trust me I see other Vendors do it all the time when someone has a question and they just want to push their product and why it is the best. Now I do have to admit I've been guilty of pushing my own product, but I found that if I don't, I can't compete with the ones that do. There are Vendors on the site that have NAM open on the cpu all day and just watch for a thread to promote themselves. Those vendors either have employees that it is their job to do, or they have another 9-5 job and are just using MINI's for some extra money. We have a full time MINI shop like other vendors Detroit Tuned, and Helix we are actually working on cars everyday and have real knowledge to share, but in reality we can't sit in front of a computer all day and share or compete. And in the future we will be the ones that get the phone call about a problem that those companies can't answer or have the wrong answer.

So I'm saying a good vendor should have actual background and knowledge and share it. BUT you'll notice we really can't do that because when we post info we just become a target to be proved wrong by someone else that is an expert or at least they think so. So just because a vendor doesn't post alot doesn't mean they don't know, just don't have the time to argue. I try to post in the eve's when I'm done with cars for the day, but it's hard as I need my time off just like everyone else.

In the end there really isn't a good solution, just that customers are always welcome to chose and doing your homework will always pay off.

 

Appreciate it Way. One of the many reasons I have and will do business with you.

 

This is a complex, heavily customized forum???

 

Thanks for the kind words

 

tgs91, do you have some links of examples?

I've noticed this with other vendors in the past but not come across this with ALTA yet.

 

I've noticed the same thing....Always with the links to their products. I agree with Way, and while I have no products to push, just service, I still only offer a post of my own when I recognize a situation that I've been in or know a specific way to troubleshoot something with a methodical approach. I used to say the same thing about any Manager or Service writer that I had...If you haven't been in the trenches for 5 years or more....oh, oh...I'll quit now.

 

well said

 

It's a two-way street. There are vendors that are way too aggressive on these boards (won't name names, don't want a flame fest); I can almost tell what's going to be in their post before I read it.

Then there are vendors who, when I see they've got a post, I make sure to read it--more often than not I'll learn something useful. The Way guys definitely fall into this category, the guys at TSW (they haved helped me immensely getting my car set up, and not necessarily with things they sell), Todd at TCE, Aaron at Outmotoring,, Tirerack etc., etc. In fact, I wouldn't mind seeing guys like that post MORE--but then again, there posts are more informational rather than promotional.

I'm not sure why Alta is being called out--there are much, much worse shenanigans going on here, to tell the truth, I don't think I've seen anything wrong with any of Alta's posts....

I'm willing to put up with the vendors who go overboard in order to read the posts of those that are truly serving the MINI community with info--it's a necessary evil. The only other option would be to shut the boards down to vendors--no one wins there, it's not even something worth consideration.

 

Drew,

I certainly could go back over posts and send you the URL's but I'm not gonna go down this street any further

This is not my forum and from what some have posted there is some value gained from these IMJ 'trollers'

IMJ there is such a gray area between offering timely knowledge vs. trolling for business. I applaud those vendors that walk that line adroitly and I will stay away from the ones that I feel are over the line.

Ultimately I'll vote with my delete button and my wallet.

 

i do sort of agree with this. i started a thread on brake pads and would have liked to get more advice from people who had personally experienced different types of pads. on the other hand it was sort of nice to have the vendors provide links of exactly where i could find a certain type. the only problem is that they obviously have a biased suggestion.

 

As long as they are NAM supporting venders and identify thir self as such I am all for their input.
NAM venders """OK"""
Non-supporting scabs """NO WAY!!!"""
Ronnie948

 

Re non-supporting scabs ... well, NAM is run by a profit-making company that specializes in running these sorts of forums. But I don't begrudge them a way to make a living; we all have to eat and it provides a great free resource for us users! :-)

So, I say "thank you" to the vendors whose support keeps our forum free!

(And maybe I should buy some stock in that company...)