Do FC Members (Other Than Staff) Really Have Any Input?

Quite the contrary my friend. I'm barely on anymore.

 

There seems to be some confusion as to why I started this thread. Let me make myself perfectly clear:

I started this thread NOT to discuss specific staff decisions publicly since that is against the rules. My purpose was to discuss the apparent reluctance of FC Staff to LISTEN to significant input or constructive criticism from regular members. It is strictly my OPINION. Others may feel differently.

Thank you Paka, for letting me (and everyone else on FC) know that Mods don't have to follow the same rules as regular members. I appreciate your honesty. And you're right. I don't like it. It seems a bit hypocritical to me.

 

Sticks, you know as well as anyone that I have nothing but love for you. I get along with all of you and you know im not a bad guy. I don't Chronie or I being misinterpreted here.

All we want is for the best possible environment here as you. Our messages whether it be me, chronie, lwein, or anyone for that matter are only to help you guy's.

 

Since when are the rule makers bound by the same rules they make? I know that doesn't sound fair, but for the life of me, I don't anywhere where that exists.

 

now that's the crohnie I know...the one I can talk to.

my question is...when did the apparent reluctance of FC Staff to LISTEN to significant input or constructive criticism from regular members happen? I haven't seen it. If you are referring to the thread about the classifieds that jka started, then I simply disagree with your assessment. That thread started out with members expressing their concerns, then staff explaining their decisions, followed by repeats of the concerns. What you didn't see was the back room discussion that thread prompted. We talked about the concerns, weighed them against the benefits we were trying to achieve and decided in our favor. I think we then closed the thread so as not to have to repeat ourselves to what would surely be different people bringing up the same concerns and questions. sometimes threads get closed because they have served their purpose and no longer offer anything substantially different than what has been posted.

My best guess is that most of the feelings you and others have about not being heard is a misunderstanding. We have an entire subforum for the mods that is filled with threads doing nothing more than discussing policies, member requests and the like. Those discussions aren't public, but they happened. Just because the outcome isn't what someone wanted doesn't mean their concerns were not considered.

I don't follow you. My post you quoted was referring to your comment about voting on the threads...good idea that I don't know whether or not is feasible.

Check your profile page...it disagrees!

 

The thing is...I HAVE brought up these concerns to Staff members before in private. While I did get responses with promises to "look into" these things and perhaps provide a solution, there was never any follow up. That's the reason I've brought it public.

 

I see good points being made all around, I have another perspective on "the situation".
A manufacturer show not allow FC to be the main source of information on their company and product, by design or by accident. The forum set-up is inherently flawed for this purpose, as is pretty obvious. I understand when frustrated parties repeat the same questions, why should they have to read hundreds and hundreds of posts to get the whole picture? I understand when staff and more regular users get irritated reading the same thing over and over... It is irritating!

 

I'm sorry for being too vague, but the manufacturer I had in mind was vapexhale, actually. They have elected to share their bad news with the world through FC exclusively. I'm not saying they aren't answering questions if asked, or doing their best etc. What I'm saying is that it is natural for the ensuing drama to cling to the forum where the announcement originates from. Their own slick, very professional website is severely lacking in answers to most of the questions that a customer would logically have at this point. It's no leap to assume that a person spending 500+ on a vape is going to google if they have a problem, and wind up here.

 

But isn't that one of the things that makes FC as good of a site as it is, that is a place where end-users can come and interface with the manufacturers and get information and answers to questions that they would otherwise never be able to obtain while at the same time, a place where manufactures can come, not only to promote their product but get feedback from the end user, not only in regards to company policies but vaporizer designs as well................kind of a focus group, if you will.

Now granted, the manufacturers do get feedback that they sometimes didn't ask for but that doesn't take away from the fact that some of that feedback "could" prove to be very valuable for them.

 

Just felt it needed a bit of clarification, Paka, but yeah, it's all in the presentation.

 

I understand why you guys want to keep a thread on a positive track. But given the topic we are discussing, wouldn't a unbiased thread rightfully skew to the negative? I'm certainly not advocating staff let it go that route, but it is a certainty: Bias is being applied in order to keep the peace there.

Are their lawyers really telling them to trickle out tidbits of their legal situation through a public third-party website? That's vxl's problem, not ours. I'm no armchair CEO. I can't see why FC would want to continue to position itself like this.

 

As a business owner I am offended at some of the business practices exhibited by others. Just as not all customers are in the right, the same holds true for vendors. I would love to see staff question a vendor sometime. Something along the lines of: "several members have now repeatedly asked you about abc, why do you refuse to answer/address customer concerns?" While I understand the desire to have good relations w/ vendors, any relationship is not necessarily a good one.

If I exhibited some of the behaviors I have seen from certain vendors, I would not be in business. Most all members are the customers of these mfr's and should expect quality cs, product and interactions. When this is not the case, I find it understandable that they are upset and want to share this info w/ other potential customers.

 

FC Rocks

But really, the staff are a large part of what make it so great here. Not many other forums are so clean and full of information. We have numerous manufactures with active reps on here sharing information and answering questions. We have a classified section that isnt full of spam or bullshit. Threads are kept civil and on topic so that information is easy to find.

Look at the many other cannabis related boards. Not many of them are as mature and chock-full of information.

I occasionally feel as if they side with the manufactures a little strongly, but there are a lot of reasons for why this happens when it does I'm sure.

 

I agree, I know they seem to come down hard from the outside looking in, but really they're like family who are comfortable just being straight with us!

That said, I still think sellers only should be allowed to post replies in the classifieds!

Personal opinions are one thing but this is a loss of functionality!

 

I'd like to chime in a bit.

I love FC.
This place is very, very similar to another forum I was previously very active on, which was dedicated to a particular make of car.
There are a LOT of forums dedicated to various auto/trucks, but many, like many, many forums dedicated to weed, seem very juvenile, unhelpful, and often is just a home for spambots.
That forum, like this one, has a very dedicated owner, and a core group of moderators that will come down heavy on those that push the rules just a bit too far, or who do not know when to just let something go.

If you (generically "you". IOW any of "you" including "me") are feeling a bit "nose-flicked" about a particular thread/response/whatever, maybe stop and ask yourself - Did I grab that and run with it? Often, when I've been "moderated", I'll calm down enough to realize that, yeah, I was just trying to dig in and make MY point, when the point was really moot.

I do understand why certain threads (and their respective manufacturers) MIGHT seem to be given more leniency/less leniency than others - depending on where the storm surge is hitting, and how long it seems to be threatening, will determine how much damage control a mod will attempt. Very popular, rapidly surging threads (new vape release, anyone?) will require much, much closer watch, to keep the sheer volume of "are we there yet?" and "but, mine is broke!" postings from completely rendering a thread useless, while still providing needed information "open a claim ticket, idiot" and a healthy amount of traffic.

The mods, while seeming like the ultimate baby-sitters, are not being paid for this. They are also NOT the mediators for issues someone might have with a manufacturer.
It is sad that most people seem to not remember that manufacturers are businesses, and when dealing with a business, you might try using the normal support channels. I see this on facebook (used to) all the time.
An advertising arm of the company will use all sorts of social media to be their name/product out there, but THE SUPPORT people are NOT there - call the phone number, use the "contact us" on their website, etc. The salesperson that updates the status CANNOT fix your vape.*

[*unless, of course, it is a one-man/woman/entity operation. Those on here have frequently requested that FC-ers actually use their support ticket system, anyway]

Anyway, all of that was to say Thank You to @vtac and the rest of the mods, and happy holidays to the rest of us.

Remember, for every carol played in a store before thanksgiving, an elf kills a baby reindeer. Stop the slaughter.

 

My wrists have been slapped on a few occasions here on FC, and in each case upon reflection soon after I was grateful for it. My jets either needed to be cooled or I needed to be made to realize that my point had in fact been made in spades and possibly AD NAUSEAM. Their little voice in my head helps me to keep better focused and on topic, and more careful in my selection of words that might otherwise trespass onto personal territory which isn't usually necessary to make the point. I feel FC mods overall handle things quite well, with wisdom and fairness, keeping our threads from getting too gunked up, nasty, and derailed. Rarely have I felt that they were being over-bearing or unduly critical, and once again upon reflection, later thought better of that.

Some laws do actually help save us from ourselves. I think the "governance" of things here is pretty darn good! Thanks!

 

Is there any way to enable bump without replies? It takes FOREVER to sell anything now...