Unfairly target

Wow...not sure if this is down to cultural differences with this being a predominantly American forum, but I'm just amazed at all the comments like "you don't criticise admin", etc. I'm a member (and moderator) on cyclechat.co.uk, and I think people would probably stage a mass walkout if you told them they had to just accept every admin decision or weren't allowed to criticise admin/mods on the forum! Our life would be so much easier if everybody just accepted admin's voice as law!!! (Although I would miss the debate, the challenges and the occasional bunfights following moderators decisions!)

Then again, I'm new on this forum, and still getting used to the feel - I remember the "Proposition 8" thread disappearing some time ago, and being a bit baffled that you are not allowed to discuss stuff like this in the "Non-cycling" discussions - after all, it's called "non-cycling" and why can't things that are slightly controversial be discussed, even if the forum is mainly cycling related? Again, the Uk forums seem very different....

Please don't take this the wrong way, I'm not saying that there is anything wrong with TE, if I did, I wouldn't be here! I just find it's very different and takes some getting used to - like living in permanent fluffy cloud land (which can be very nice ;)).

Sorry, this has gone a bit off topic and I don't really feel like I can comment on the original issue as I don't know enough about these FS posts. However, afaic if the OP has tried to take it up with admin and had no success, why should she not voice this on here?

Check the FAQ's, the forum rules are posted for all to see.

http://forums.teamestrogen.com/faq.p...q#faq_policies

Political threads disappear quickly simply because as soon as they are posted, admin's email boxes fill up with complaints.

As for the OP, Susan has communicated with her, what more do you expect her to do? If the complaints were yours, and they were ignored how would you feel?

That was my point exactly, this total fear of criticising anything - I do know the rules, I abide by them, but, as far as I know, I don't necessarily have to agree with all of them (unless that's a rule I have missed!)!

Again, I was not having a dig at this forum, members or admin - I just pointed out that it feels very strange to me!

And like I said, I don't know enough about what's gone on with the OP to feel like I can have a very informed opinion, I just don't necessarily see a problem with her bringing it to the forum if she feels that admin are not giving her the explanations she wants (and this is based on my very limited knowledge of what's gone on, therefore I might very well be wrong, but at the end of the day, it's my personal view...)

I appreciate the forum rules, because I love that there is very little flaming or personal attacks here, and that the subject at hand is what is discussed. I love the off-topic discussions, and I love them best because no one is trying to antagonize anyone else.

Susan, thank you, again, for providing this forum.

Karen

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Originally Posted by tantrumbean

, I just don't necessarily see a problem with her bringing it to the forum if she feels that admin are not giving her the explanations she want

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Tantrumbean,

Thank you for expressing your thoughts. It's appreciated, not discouraged.

I *did* just want to point out, however, that the OP *did* receive a response from me via a series of PMs. (Please re-read my post from earlier today.) My feeling is that she didn't like the response, hence the public airing of her displeasure.

Incidentally, I don't mind some criticism or a genuine (non-flame-war) discussion of policies. I don't believe that any of the admins intentionally try to stifle discussion of those policies. But as long as a policy exists, we will enforce it.

Susan

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Originally Posted by Susan Otcenas

B. That's not the way I conduct business, and it disappoints me that you would attempt to shame me in public.

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There is nothing that could be said that would ever cause me to doubt the way TE conducts business. I shop here because of the customer service and the people behind the product. People who know you will not let one comment change the way we view this company, and the people who run it.

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Originally Posted by Pedal Wench

There is nothing that could be said that would ever cause me to doubt the way TE conducts business. I shop here because of the customer service and the people behind the product. People who know you will not let one comment change the way we view this company, and the people who run it.

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+ eleventy billion.

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Originally Posted by maillotpois

+ eleventy billion.

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I raise you a gazillion.

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Originally Posted by Susan Otcenas

Tantrumbean,

Thank you for expressing your thoughts. It's appreciated, not discouraged.

I *did* just want to point out, however, that the OP *did* receive a response from me via a series of PMs. (Please re-read my post from earlier today.) My feeling is that she didn't like the response, hence the public airing of her displeasure.

Incidentally, I don't mind some criticism or a genuine (non-flame-war) discussion of policies. I don't believe that any of the admins intentionally try to stifle discussion of those policies. But as long as a policy exists, we will enforce it.

Susan

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Fair enough, like I said, I don't know all the facts of what's been going on, so therefore my opinion is going to be biased one way or another.

Also, I don't actually think that admin are trying to stifle discussion of policies - those discussions just appear not to happen for some reason (or haven't to my knowledge in the short time I have been here). Again, I can only reiterate that is not a necessarily a problem, maybe it just means everybody is a happy bunny - it's just totally NOT what I'm used to and feels a bit unreal! Surely people must disagree on things occasionally (not just policies, but in general)????

Oh yeah people disagree. We just tend to be civil about it.

Veronica

I have a small idea for the for sale area.

Over at BNA, a person needs to have at least 10 posts prior to selling anything on the forum. It is possible to think about that one here?? I see someone with only one post selling something & think..who is this person & why should i buy from them? We've had a few of those here haven't we?


It's just a thought.

If it helps any Bike4Ever is heavily involved in the biking community here, especially promoting women's cycling. I don't know her as a friend but I know of her and I've seen her many a time at the Trailnet rides working on people's bikes and I've noticed the many women's mountain bike rides she's led. Nearly every time I've seen her she's helping someone out. Seems that's just how she is. I'll be honored when I finally get the chance to ride in one of her groups. :)


My 2 cents, just 'cause we've not all met everyone here and while she might not be going about things the right way on this issue, she's still a decent person who'd be good to know, if you get the chance.

I've been following this thread the past few days and one thing has kind of struck me in the conversation.

People have mentioned that it's very generous of Team Estrogen to have created a forum on their dime. Other people have compared the feel at this forum to other cycling boards. What seems to be being overlooked is that this message board is not affiliated with a group or organization, it is affiliated with an on-line store. Personally, I'm impressed not by the fact that they created a free message board, but by the fact that they felt it benefited the forum to create a FS section.

Amongst the many functions that it serves for us, this message board is a marketing tool for TE. While the FS posts in question in this thread are for an item category that TE doesn't sell (bikes), other items have been posted that could be considered to be in direct conflict with the Team Estrogen on-line store. To me, that's what's generous of the TE folks, that they don't seem to be highly concerned about that competition and apparently willingly created a place for board members to trade and sell used items, many of which are from the same categories as the TE store. While I don't feel strongly one way or the other about the specific situation in this thread (though I will say the original post reminded me a teeny bit of Smurf's recent hurt feelings/I'm leaving post), I do think that says something about the character of the people running both the on-line store and the forum.

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Originally Posted by Kalidurga

Amongst the many functions that it serves for us, this message board is a marketing tool for TE.

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Exactly, it's a marketing tool - therefore I'm sure TE have looked very closely at how the forum benefits them as a company. If there was any danger of the FS section having a serious impact on their profits, I suspect it would not be here. However, chances are the benefits of people attracted to the forum partly by the FS section far outweigh any potentially lost sales. Afaic it's no different to companies giving away freebies - they might have sold those items instead, but gain more in the long run by giving away a certain amount of goods for free.

I haven't got a problem with that, at the end of the day, it's perfectly clear when you sign up that the forum is affiliated to a store, you know what you get - I'm just too cynical to take it at face value and believe it's all just a random act of kindness.

I'm curious about one thing: IIRC and excepting the recent used/unused bike that someone never took out of the box :confused:, the OP's numerous bike FS ads have promised that the bikes are 'professionally boxed' prior to shipment. If the OP's shop is boxing the bike and charging for it, then the FS ads are in violation of the Forum rules. Therefore, this is not "personal," it's a matter of abiding by the guidelines, which is a reasonable expectation of anyone making use of a free service.

I still wonder why the OP would threaten to leave the board because of this. I'm sure others have had posts removed, for whatever reason, and remained active members. It's also very troubling that the OP would take this public & accuse others of "targeting" her, knowing that it would potentially make the Admins look unreasonable.