Howdy Amigo!
This might be talking out of school and perhaps even ain't appropriate, but I'll be your Huckleberry!
Many of us are newly arrived from another forum that has become a shill for the corporation PR department.
It was one of the finest forums on the entire internet. At least it was at one time. The folks who administered and moderated it were totally first rate. Top notch, and did their jobs with a wonderful decorum. It was the sort of place where folks felt a kinship with one another and we became very much like an extended family. For most of the folks who migrated here, it was a vital part of their daily lives.
The first thing was when somebody bought the old Treasurenet site, the location that hosted our forum for many years. Evidently a decision was made at a corporate level to move the forum to the corporate servers and be shed of T-Net. They didn't bother to tell anybody in advance, and the whole membership got the rude awakening when they tried to access the site and got only a terse message that the forum would be down for awhile and eventually return with changes made. No information, no explanation, no insight into what was happening. Just blam, the forum ain't there anymore.
A couple of folks, myself included, started some threads on the T-Net site where they still had a board dedicated to our brand of detectors. Evidently they set that up as a place where folks could gather after being uncerimoniously dumpled out on our collective keester. Those of us with contacts near the corporate mindset were able to access folks with an insight into what was going on, and we started to gather information to share with everybody else cast adrift so suddenely. A couple of those threads still exist over at T-Net and are among the biggest they ever had on their site.
Anyhow, the site eventually came back, with a different forum platform and different look and feel. It took quite awhile for everybody to get back to the old forum, and some few never did. Each returning member was celebrated like the prodigal returning home. Folks were genrally jubilant to have the forum back, albeit in a somewhat more cumbersome format. Folks had all manner of technical issues, such as posting photos, that was quite different from what they were accustomed to using. But in time, folks got to feeling at home. Sorta. More or less.
Now comes the biggie. You got a 25 year old admin riding herd and dictating what's what to people twice his age and then some. He conducts his administration of the forum in an arrogant and unilateral manner, with unbridled power to do whatever he pleases, regardless of how the members might feel about things. After all, don't they know he is their supreme lord and master? Don't they appreciate his status as exalted grand high Poobah? One of the things he did was to totally elinimate the entire Miscellaneous section, one of the most popular boards on the entire forum. Poof... gone... vanished in a poof of electrons. No warning. No advance word. No consideration of any members or regard for their sentiments. Nothing.
Then came the censorship. People would post their views of the matter only to have them either locked or deleted entirely. At first, any views posted that were about how ham handed this thing was being changed were simply vanished. After awhile, however, they were allowed to be seen for a time. But to mitigate the impression that people weren't happy, they eventually consolidated all the complaints into a single thread so there wasn't a whole bunch of them. Guess the admins didn't want to have things look bad, as they certainly were.
Many of the folks who felt slighted and abused left. Those members were the heart and soul of that forum. The most senior members were first to go. It was hard to get folks to work cooperatively to take steps to counter what was happening because any such thread was likely to get locked or vanished. They left the forum and many found a new home here on the American Detectorist.
What amazed me was the dictatorial style of the administration regarding changes. Here are your changes, you'll either like them or don't let a stream of electrons hit you in the backside on your way out. They said almost those words as they showed their lack of concern and even outright contempt for members who didn't knuckle under to their decisions. What had been, at one time, what every member considered our forum was made plain; It ain't your forum. It's our forum! If you don't like it, go back to T-Net! The last part of that sentence was actually used by one of the guys running the thing.
But these aren't just ordinary, run of the mill, forum members. They were forum members of a specific brand forum. They are customers first, members of the forum second. Most folks who were members bought their gear from that company. Most of them, like myself, had several machines they bought from them. Now that the checks have been cashed, guess they don't need us any more. You don't treat your customers like cattle, and that's how many of us felt. People in their 50s and 60s were being called childish by a guy barely out of puberty! Fury spread through the forum, almost directly because of abusive behavior to these members... customers... who had given their loyalty and energy to a brand that now was returning distain and lack of interest in their embedded base.
That's the quickie thumbnail sketch.
Some of us feel that the forum may yet be salvaged and have written letters to the C.E.O. of that corporation. Others have affirmed they won't be back to that forum... ever. Still more have said they'll buy their next machine from someone else. I am among that number. I'm looking at the Gold Bug 2 instead of the GMT for my trip to the Nevada gold fields. Garrett's is also American made, and have some great machines. If my patronage isn't valued, I can buy gear elsewhere. Some V3i owners have sold off their machines in favor of the eTrack, and claims are made that the Minelab machine will outgun the V3/V3i hands down.
Anyhow, that's the background story on how many of us came to be here. There is a towering anger and resentment about how they were treated, and how their loyalty was rewarded with disrespect, disregard and dismissal. Guess they don't need their long time customers, as there are new folks coming along all the time to absorb any shock to the cash flow stream. It has been made clear enough we aren't valued. Their forum has made that abundantly clear, and evidently represents the corporate attitude toward their customers. Otherwise, upper level management would step in and correct the problem. Unless, of course, upper level management isn't aware there is a problem. That's why I've been urging folks to write letters to the C.E.O. and explain to him why his customer base is eroding, and long time customers going to shop elsewhere from now on.
I'm pretty sure somebody will step up and say it isn't right for me to post this information here on this forum. And you may be right to some degree or another. However, it certainly wasn't right for what happened on the other forum to go the way things did either. When a forum loses members in a stampede outta there, something is definately rotten someplace.
I've heard from a couple of moderators here on the American Detectorist forum how they experienced similar things happen on another forum, and they know exactly what we've been through. They've told me that their experience helped shape the American Detectorist forum into the great forum it is today. Because of their own baptism by fire, they know what we are feeling. They know how much damage can be done by an arrogant and abusive leadership. They've felt it themselves, and created the American Detectorist to be better than that. They made this place to be friendly and welcoming, and thank the Gods for that. As people find their way here, there is a whole bunch of emotion coming with them. Some are angry at how they were treated elsewhere, and came to the AD forum to find comfort and solace. Others are hurting because they feel cast out of their home on the nest. Thankfully, the AD forum is here to welcome them into their own family and adopt a few strays. For this I believe all of us exiles are thankful to the folks of American Detectorist. You've made us feel welcome and appreciated.
And as for the other forum, I'm sure it will get along fine without any of us. After all, who the heck are we anyhow? Just a bunch of customers, that's all. And if you are a former member of that other forum, I urge you to write to the C.E.O. and let him know just where the bear sits. Do it respectfully, but do let him know. After all, he may watch is customer base erode and wonder why. How will he know if we don't explain it to him?
My own letter should arrive tomorrow morning, and with restricted delivery, he will be compelled to sign for it himself. Not any of the peons, but him specifically. I want to be certain he gets the message that I've bought 6 of his machines, and intend to buy from his direct competition from now on!
As of this writing, it appears that the ego of the administration is writing checks that the corporation won't be able to cash! It appears that having their own way is far more important than having loyal customers.
And them's the berries!
Blessings,
M-Taliesin
We are glad you chose this place to hang your hats.