Complaining about local companies

General Fishing Discussion
1

This has been addressed more times than I care to think about on this site before, but there seems to be a rash of postings lately aimed at complaining about a local business/service. This site will not allow these types of posting for several reasons. I understand many times the intention is to warn your fellow fishermen, but this type of forum is not a good place to air your frustrations for several reasons.
1 There is no accountability to the poster of the complaint because of services like hotmail that allow unlimited email accounts with no real information provided by the owner of the account.
2 There is no way for us to validate or determine the truth and/or intent of someone’s posting.
3 I do not want our site used to hurt someone’s business especially if the poster of the complaint has an alterior motive for posting their complaint. (Like a personal beef with the owner of said busines. This goes for any companies, not just the one’s that sponsor the site.

I have had legitimate complaints with some local companies over the years and have been tempted to post them as well, but have not because I do not allow others to. Charleston is not that big a town and if you have an issue with a company do like I have done and tell everyone you know via email or in person. Poor companies do not make it long term around here, as I have seen many come and go over the years. Word spreads quickly without having to use our site to have an impact. I appreciate everyone taking a moment to read.

2

So, is it ok to just say that one company is better than another if were not bashing?

Reel-Man or Boy
“Saying you’re patriotic is like saying you have a big $$$$. If you have to say it, chances are it’s not true” Bill Maher

3

for the sake of fairness, will praising a company be prohibited as well?
After all, what if an individual has a stake in a local company and uses an alias to sing the praises of said company also without any accountability. I think you can get really bogged down in trying to figure out the motives of why someone praises/complains about local companies. It should be left up to individuals to determine the value of such opinions. just my opinion!

4

Reel-boy showing your support for a company does not need to involve putting down another that competes with them.
Sea Tonic The whole point is to not have an individuals livelihood destroyed by this site. If you told me where you worked right now with the thousands of people that come to this site I am sure at least one person will have something negative to say and the pile on will begin. This may not mean very much to you if you do not own the business, but if you do it will take on a whole different meaning. I think when someone comes on with the sole purpose of promoting a business they have an interest in, it becomes apparent in very short order.

5

can we complain about non-local companies?

http://byersdesign.blogspot.com/

6

So what if hypothetically, I use a boat service center, highly promoted and regarded on this site, strictly because of all the praise heaped on them by members. Then I have a bad experience, say they have my boat for 2 months and rarely return my phone calls, do other members have the right to hear a balanced report of their customer service?

Just asking, not out to bash anyone, but if we are not allowed to hear the full story isn’t the credibility of information here diminished?

7
quote:
Originally posted by Chuck-n-Duck

hypothetically, I use a boat service center, highly promoted and regarded on this site, strictly because of all the praise heaped on them by members. Then I have a bad experience, …

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You (well, hypothetically, you) actually gave a guy your boat, to work on, based solely on the information you got off of a fishing web site?!?!?!? That would be hypothetically stupid.

Maybe the best thing that can be learned from this thread is that, SOMETIMES, fishermen lie. They can lie about how GOOD another person is and they can lie about how BAD another person is.

“Are you calling my life partner a sissy?” Moe Szyslak

8

Bigger, I understand that fisherman lie, generally about fishing, but thought and still do that people posting positive reviews of a service could be taken at their word. My point was only that if we don’t allow negative reviews as well, all info here loses it’s strength. Now if taking advice from people here makes me stupid, so be it, do you suggest another resource for information about local service providers?

www.jasonstemple.com
www.charlestonstockphotography.com

9
quote:
Originally posted by Chuck-n-Duck

do you suggest another resource for information about local service providers?

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Yes. Unless you know who the people behind the “screen names” are then I would say the posted information should not be taken as accurate. Many people on this site know the man behind the name but, if you don’t I think it is good to be wary. Especially with your boat.

I would (and do) use the suggestions on this site only as a starting point and then check them out with face to face contact. The boat mechanic I use only got to touch my boat after several meetings and him doing a small job or two, first. I’ll send you his name but, if you ever use him, check him out for yourself first. Don’t ever take someone’s word you don’t know about something as important as your boat.

I hope things ultimately work out with you with your boat. There is no such thing as fast repair when it comes to boating.

“Are you calling my life partner a sissy?” Moe Szyslak

10

“My point was only that if we don’t allow negative reviews as well, all info here loses it’s strength.”

Well put Chuck n Duck. (I best stay out of this topic tho for “un named” reasons and sites.)

Russ B.
Psalm 55:22

11

No business is perfect people make mistakes and there are two sides to every story. This site should not be a tool for angry customers to get even with a business that made a decision they don’t agree with.

12

f*in’ socialism. They delete posts, I posted something about me fishing off of my jetski and that was removed too. Let the people speak, and let them be heard.

13

I wasn’t sure how I felt about this thread BUT, now I have a real life question.

I bought a name brand rod from a local fishing store that is typically rated as one of the top two fishing stores. When I bought the rod, the local store said, ‘you should buy from us and you should buy a name brand rod because, we give better service than the X-Mart kind of stores.’

OK, so I believed them. I believed them because, the sales person was a guy I had dealt with for MANY years. HIS word meant something to me.

Today, I had a fish run under my boat and the rod broke in half. I didn’t sit on it or slam it in a door or the dog didn’t eat it. The rod broke while fishing.

I stopped by the top rated local fishing store and asked if the policy at the time I bought the rod was still in effect. They said, well… things are different now. What we told you last year MIGHT be different than what our policy is this year.

Apickett, are you saying that I cannot tell people what the local fishing stores tells me? I would be happy to get them to write down exactly what they tell me about what their latest replacement policy is. Maybe we could just get them to post what their LATEST service and replacement policy is.

Actually, I hope they will call me and say, “sorry about your rod and please come buy and get a new rod at a prorated price just like we said we would do when you bought the rod”.

Andy, what is your policy in a situation like this? My situation is yet to be resolved and I remain optimistic. I hope I can post a great note about how they backed up what they said when I bought the rod. But, what if they have changed their policy? Buyer beware?

Here is an update (7/03/09): Today I spoke to the specific salesperson who sold me the rod that I broke. He said that the rod has been sent to the manufacturer and they will send a replacement at NO cost to me. In addition the replacement will be an upgrade. He explained that if the specific model is no longer in stock then they replace it with the next hig

14

maybe if the companies would use this as a constructive critism site they might increase their business. I know if I had a business I would want people to talk about me on this site. If I heard somethign bad… being a smart businessman I would find out what the problem was… find out the entire story… educate my staff… problem solved. Then I would be a better manager/owner and have a better business. it seems to me if the business managers and owners knew about the bad parts of the business they would benefit. but thats in a perfect world. we know thats not what we live in.

“My fish served a whole lunchon. Your fish look like a munchkin”

196CC Tidewater 2008
Suzuki 115 2008
2007 Toyota Tundra TRD 5.7L V8