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Post by markaren76 on Dec 13, 2018 20:20:57 GMT 1
Many of you know me of old.
I have been actively helping and asking for help over a number of years on here and on the SMC Face Book page.
Just thought I’d ask a question . Although I am aware it’s quite possible this discussion could be deleted by the powers. Probably before anyone has chance to see or comment on it.
I’ve been BARRED from the SMC FaceBook page because I dared to advise there is an alternative faster parts service than the SMC. Don’t get me wrong the SMC has a really good parts supply and if you don’t mind waiting they will provide most parts, although not always as advertised. However as many of us have been correctly told over many years the section is operated by volunteers who can only do what they can do.
I suggested another supplier to someone trying to keep a poorly car on the road. Surprisingly enough I suggested going to another SMC member (name removed by Admin). Because I tried to help another member I was immediately, and without any contact, discussion or recourse, barred from the page, apparently for a week. It’s a bit like the headmaster giving you detention without actually having the guts to tell you why. Naughty me eh!
Anyway, My question. Has anyone else been treated like this, or had comments removed or threads deleted because someone didn’t like it?
I have placed an official complaint. I await a response. Maybe!
Mark
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Post by falmouth on Dec 13, 2018 20:31:20 GMT 1
I am glad to say I've always had good service from the Club Spares scheme. I have had need to obtain spares from other sources when the Club is unable to supply, but have never had comments or threads deleted although I can be pretty blunt at times!
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Barred
Dec 13, 2018 20:36:57 GMT 1
Post by markaren76 on Dec 13, 2018 20:36:57 GMT 1
Quite fair Brian
The spares service can be good. I have no complaint on that score.
Mark
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Barred
Dec 13, 2018 21:59:14 GMT 1
Post by RichardH on Dec 13, 2018 21:59:14 GMT 1
The last posts by Atlasboy and Markaren76 have been deleted by me, this forum is moderated with a lite hand to allow open discussion but certain people like to slag the club off at every opportunity and a certain person only comes on here to slag the club off, this is unacceptable and will no longer be tolerated. Richard Forum Admin
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Barred
Dec 14, 2018 8:08:48 GMT 1
Post by markaren76 on Dec 14, 2018 8:08:48 GMT 1
Thank you Richard for proving the point.
I do note you at least explained the reason behind your decision. Though I don't actually agree, your explanation and notice is appreciated.
If you care to look back on my many posts over several years I think you will find my intent is always for fairness and support, NOT as suggested to "Slag off the club"
Regrards
Mark
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Post by magnet on Dec 14, 2018 12:29:00 GMT 1
I feel that although I (and everyone else on here it seems, due to deleted posts) am not privy to the content of Mark's post which has resulted in him being barred, I feel I must say - that in my knowledge and experience - he would not set out to 'slag off the club' whether justified or not. My postion is impartial (although others might disagree) since although owning my Standards for nye on 40 years, I chose many years ago, not to be a member of the club. Reasons I would not disclose, and I've always worked on the basis of it being better to keep one's counsel. In force, I have no reason to support or undermine the club in any way.
One question I would ask is:- Who's decision is it to ban a contributor from posting on here? Is this responsibility/power, devolved to one person, or must there be reference to other club officials before such an action takes place?
Back to Mark and his ban:- great shame, and loss to this forum as I see it. My judgement - for what it is worth - is that he is quick to share his knowledge and experience with others who need help, and I personally I cannot recall any previous incident of any issue against the principles, or indeed principals of the club. Rambling on, I met Mark at the NEC some years ago, having not met him before. I mentioned a friend who needed to remove the rear hub, and Mark quickly offered to loan his puller to someone he didn't know, but I guess he was working on the principle that he was a Standard owner in trouble and he could help. And help he did.
For me, I tend to cover my bum ( possibly why I haven't been barred) by prefixing my alternative suppliers suggestion with something like .., ' if club spares can't help o you are not a club member try .... ' Last point of interest:- some clubs I know of actually run adverts for companies selling parts which the club also sells - perhaps the Standard club does as well?? Apologies for rambling on, but I felt I should make my experience of Mark known, as well as asking for some clarification on who decides to ban a contributor. Kind regards, Gareth.
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Barred
Dec 14, 2018 17:27:31 GMT 1
Post by RichardH on Dec 14, 2018 17:27:31 GMT 1
Mark your post was deleted as it had no meaning when the other post had been removed. Magnet please read the first post in this thread Mark has NOT been banned from this forum if he had he would not have been able to post here, as he clearly stated he has been suspended on a facebook page which is not this forum. I am one of the administrators of this forum and can only comment on this forum, if an administrator of this forum feels it necessary to ban someone from this forum they will advise the club committee that they have taken that action (the exception being spammers when the club committee are not informed)and give there reasons, the club committee can overule the administrators decission if they feel the admins decission is wrong, to the best of my knowledge the only people to have been banned from this forum up till now are spammers. Richard
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Barred
Dec 14, 2018 18:04:30 GMT 1
via mobile
Post by markaren76 on Dec 14, 2018 18:04:30 GMT 1
Thank you Richard
A very good clarification
Mark
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Post by Eternal Optimist on Dec 16, 2018 7:54:10 GMT 1
The last posts by Atlasboy and Markaren76 have been deleted by me, this forum is moderated with a lite hand to allow open discussion but certain people like to slag the club off at every opportunity and a certain person only comes on here to slag the club off, this is unacceptable and will no longer be tolerated. Richard Forum Admin All respect for putting your hand up to be a moderator. For what it’s worth, I’ve found the club to have a distinct lack of interest in responding to (what I consider to be) constructive feedback from members/customers. Like Magnet I’m no longer a member, the club doesn’t appeal, and I suspect it’s not really interested in asking members or prospective members what they’re looking for from the club. Whenever I read Atlasboy’s posts, what I thought I was looking at was someone who was getting increasingly frustrated that he wasn’t being listened to, so his commentary became increasingly pointed. I drop in here much less than I used to; there’s less general conversation which means (for me) there’s less to learn from and contribute to. Maybe when I’m less busy (I lurch from being stupidly busy working away from home for months on end to wondering where the next contract will come from) I’ll get back into the garage and get on with the Ten.
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Post by IceCube! on Jan 1, 2019 15:02:14 GMT 1
I personally don’t understand the situation, the clubs apparent goal and aim is to keep these old cars on the road. I understand the parts are shipped by volunteers, and that’s why the process can be so slow. I daily drive my car however and I’ve been left stuck without a car many many times as I’ve been waiting up to 6 weeks for parts from the club, and had to find a quicker parts source as my car is my transport which I rely on to get to work and back. If anyone is in the situation where they need the parts quicker to keep their car on the road I don’t feel the club should stand in their way of finding these parts sources just to increase numbers on the clubs books as that’s impeding the point of keeping members car going.
The club also claim to be cheaper always, which you’d expect with a club being ran by volunteers but I’ve often found that going other places I could spend a lot less, a good example of this could be their Borg and Beck clutch at £94 which I got the exact same identical clutch for £35 which was also brand new (like the club supplies) not NOS.
I don’t mean to directly bash the club which is why I renewed my membership last month, as I will likely still buy less time sensitive parts from them. I think they’re misinterpreting constructive feedback however, especially about parts importance. I recently brought a water pump for another of my cars, and without me even asking it was shipped urgently (stamped on invoice and box) and shipped for delivery next day. The club could try to operate a similar service with any major components as that’s keeping the car going such as gaskets, engine components, and gearbox components. They can keep their normal service with items like knobs, door handles, horn pushes anything not really impeding someone’s use of the car. In most cases I will happily pay a little extra just to get to the part I need to keep the car going however so in the past I have paid more if the club has been cheaper just because I needed it.
You could even expand your group of volunteers which increases the amount of people’s freetime being spent shipping items for you, and speeds up your service. We’re not asking for miracles just simply asking to keep our cars on the road and by speeding up your service in certain areas even if it costs us more will likely increase the amount of sales you make to us, as the reasons we go elsewhere is because it’s urgent and if it’s urgent I don’t feel the club should stand in the way of a quicker service to keep a members car on the road.
When anyone asks for something to be slightly quicker in a polite way as well, I’ve seen them get slated by admins on the Facebook page. I’ve also seen them slated for suggesting a quicker service for someone with a immobile car because they need to source a part and the other member is only suggesting the quicker service because it’s a priority part needed urgently, which doesn’t bash the club of if it wasn’t urgent I’m almost certain a lot of us would recommend the club instead.
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Post by magnet on Jan 1, 2019 17:36:18 GMT 1
Not being a member of the club from days when I had hair, I am not a postion to judge, support or criticise, the services offered by it. What I would point out Ice Cube, is that it might not be a reasonable comparison to compare the prices of NOS Borg and Beck ('genuine quality') clutches with the current bought-out brand name (I believe) stock on sale elsewhere. Having said that, I can understand why using a car as a daily driver, dictates a swift turn around of required parts, and the potential for owners who are club members having to purchase parts from sources where much faster delivery (and attractive prices) can be quaranteed.
Again, not being into Facebook, I cannot comment on Ice Cube's experience of reactions from the club, but it might be of some importance, particularly when taken in context with E Opts earlier comments regarding what members are looking for from a club - and perhaps not getting??
For me, I think the over riding requirement would be the generation of a very friendly and approachable attitude, and an open mind on how this might be achieved/improved. Perhaps an unfair viewpoint, but it was 'interesting' to note that the thread on Season's Greetings was welcomely resiprocated by some of the contributors on here, but seemingly not by anyone near the helm of the club ?
Anyway, enough said, and I respect the need for my comments to have to be acceptable to those who administer this forum and give their time to do so, so I trust my comments are received as being constructive. Enough negativity, so a re-wished happy and heathy new year to anyone reading this. Kind regards, Gareth.
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Post by IceCube! on Jan 1, 2019 18:39:03 GMT 1
magnet: just to clear up, both clutches are brand new. Newly manufactured parts, yet there’s a price difference of £60. I’m not here for the price difference really anyway, I’m supporting the club more for advice and parts I can’t find elsewhere due to turn around times (should highly important part turn around times change, I may also be here for that in the future).
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Barred
Jan 1, 2019 18:58:17 GMT 1
Post by magnet on Jan 1, 2019 18:58:17 GMT 1
Apologies Ice Cube, I did not have want to complicate things, but Borg and Beck represented the best quality clutches, and NOS ones are likely to be from that era. Yes, Borg and Beck clutches are still available, but I believe the name exists in brand name only, and may well be made well east of the Thames estuary as we say! Similar situations exist with the brands Lucas, Mintex, Crossland filters etc. etc. Thinking about it, the one you bought may well be a NOS item as well, and if so, the differential in the club's price might well have arisen by them investing member's money in the past by buying up items to resell. I make no comment about the amount of the mark up, but no doubt we would hope that they would set out to try to be competitive with other volume suppliers of classic car parts. Kind regards, Gareth.
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Barred
Jan 1, 2019 19:55:29 GMT 1
via mobile
Post by markaren76 on Jan 1, 2019 19:55:29 GMT 1
Looking in from the sidelines
Gareth you are correct about the origins of clutches from the current B&B. However, having fitted a few ‘modern’ made B&B clutches I think I’d have to conclude they are well able to do the job and are certainly not priced at 30% of some suppliers rates because of quality or longevity. I am not pointing fingers in any direction. Merely making an observation based on my own experience
Mark
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Barred
Jan 1, 2019 20:05:48 GMT 1
via mobile
Post by IceCube! on Jan 1, 2019 20:05:48 GMT 1
Not to take this entirely off topic but the clutch I received was genuine, as the first was defective and broke within 10 miles. The clutch was returned and fully inspected to ensure it wasn’t our faults and a new one was sent out and inspected before it got to us to reinstall. Not a penny was paid out beyond the cost of the clutch in the process of having the defective clutch replaced.
Anyhow I’ve taken this off topic as this wasn’t about clutches.
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