Was This Really a Problem?

Kintarō Hattori

A poster over on the Home Entertainment forum was looking for a pair of cheap stands for speakers. He mentioned that the stock in Peats was 'crazy expensive' and the units for €50 in Argos were too bulky. I linked to a slim set on the Peats website which sell for €59 and asked were they too expensive.

The post I made was edited and the link removed. The mod of the forum gave the reason as shilling.

I've never hid the fact that I work for Peats and I've mentioned it in many threads on various forums. On more than one occasion I've given discount to boards members on items instore. Recently I dropped the price of one our most popular computer cases as a goodwill gesture towards the users in the Computer Forum. I've received a few PMs this week asking if I can get various items that we don't carry as regular stock. We can and they will be sold at staff price for these users. We're not loosing money but we're not making money, again it's more of a goodwill gesture than anything else.

I don't start threads about Peats, I sometimes reply when we've already been mentioned. Incidently in the thread that got me in 'trouble' I was the only person to reply to the OPs question. The thread is linked below:

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055765386

So should I not have replied to the thread above? The stands in question are slim and close to the Argos price. If the OP thought they were expensive I would have discounted them if possible and if they suited their needs.

I don't see why it would be a problem. I don't start threads about the company, only replying if I can be helpful and where a user benefits.

EDIT: My apologies I just noticed I posted this in Feedback and not the Help Desk.

Beruthiel

Perhaps you should contact darragh@boards.ie to see if ye can come to some arrangement?

Will move to Help Desk.

Kintarō Hattori

Thanks for moving it B.

The Ritz

@Kint

The reason your post was edited was clearly stated in my response to you on the thread :

Please do not post here solely for the purpose of promoting the company you work for.

A quick look at your posting history on the Home Entertainment forum (see
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/search.php?searchid=9508109 ) shows that the last time you posted on a non-Peats related item was in February 2008. The nine times that you posted on the HE forums since then, over a period of 21 months, have all related to Peats.

If your only participation in the HE forums is to promote Peats then I believe it is reasonable to delete/snip the posts in question, suggest that Peats should just pay for advertising and to ask you not to post in that fashion on the HE forums again.




Ritz.

Kintarō Hattori

Beruthiel wrote: »

Perhaps you should contact darragh@boards.ie to see if ye can come to some arrangement?

Will move to Help Desk.

I understand what you're saying B but I am just an individual rather than the 'face' of the company if you will. I mainly lurk in the photography forum but can on occasion be found in the Tech forums as well.
As mentioned I do sometimes look for Peats related threads and I generally only reply where I can help a poster. I don't start threads saying how brilliant or fantastic we are (lots would disagree!) and as I mentioned above I have helped out fellow users where I can with discounts/ordering special items in where possible.

My long point I think I'm trying to make anyway is that I'm 95% just a regular poster and 5% trying to help out fellow boards where I can. I've gotten alot of help/advice/stuff from boards over the years, an example being loads of free 35mm film from another user in the photography forum recently and it's nice to return the favour where possible.
The company who employ me have been around 75 years and it's not like they need to 'shill' for business, perhaps I'm just misguided in trying to be helpful.

So, if I'm being impatient I apologize but was I wrong to reply to the OP's thread above? Should I give up trying to be helpful?

Kintarō Hattori

The Ritz wrote: »

@Kint

The reason your post was edited was clearly stated in my response to you on the thread :




A quick look at your posting history on the Home Entertainment forum (see
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/search.php?searchid=9508109 ) shows that the last time you posted on a non-Peats related item was in February 2008. The nine times that you posted on the HE forums since then, over a period of 21 months, have all related to Peats.

If your only participation in the HE forums is to promote Peats then I believe it is reasonable to delete/snip the posts in question, suggest that Peats should just pay for advertising and to ask you not to post in that fashion on the HE forums again.




Ritz.

I can't see your link there, aren't searches specific to the person who posts them? I hear what you are saying but you haven't addressed my points above. When I do post it's because we've already been mentioned and it's usually an attempt to help a poster:

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=57217213&postcount=9
The chap received unsatisfactory service.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=58581691&postcount=3
I highlighted that we sold a €4.99 HDMI cable, there have been more threads than I can remember about cheap cables.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=59001790&postcount=5
You yourself had a problem ordering something from our website. I asked you for some details to try and fix the problem.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=61880945#post61880945
A poster mentions that we sell 'just' computers and HE systems. I replied that you've got to move with the market or go out of business.

I may not post very often in the HE forum as my interests are generally in the Photography and Comp forums but that doesn't mean I won't help a poster in the HE forum if I can. As pointed out it's not as if Peats need me to promote them.

The Ritz

Kintarō Hattori wrote: »

I can't see your link there, aren't searches specific to the person who posts them? I hear what you are saying but you haven't addressed my points above. When I do post it's because we've already been mentioned and it's usually an attempt to help a poster:

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=57217213&postcount=9
The chap received unsatisfactory service.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=58581691&postcount=3
I highlighted that we sold a €4.99 HDMI cable, there have been more threads than I can remember about cheap cables.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=59001790&postcount=5
You yourself had a problem ordering something from our website. I asked you for some details to try and fix the problem.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=61880945#post61880945
A poster mentions that we sell 'just' computers and HE systems. I replied that you've got to move with the market or go out of business.

I may not post very often in the HE forum as my interests are generally in the Photography and Comp forums but that doesn't mean I won't help a poster in the HE forum if I can. As pointed out it's not as if Peats need me to promote them.

@Kintaro,

I realise now that the search link was not operational - it was a search of the HE forums looking for posts from you - as I said in my earlier response, over a 21 month period the only posts you've made in the forum relate to Peats - if you made any posts whatsoever in the same period discussing other issues, offering advice etc. unrelated to Peats, I might be more inclined to be sympathetic to your claims made here that you are only trying to be helpful. Unfortunately, the only rational conclusion I can come to is that you only respond when some comment is made about Peats. I believe that in this context the assertion that you're "...just an individual rather than the 'face' of the company..." rings very hollow insofar as your participation on the HE forums are concerned.


As for the quotes set out in your post above, I would make the following response:

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=57217213&postcount=9
The chap received unsatisfactory service.

You made no effort to help anyone here or to respond to the topic of the thread, just to ask which branch of Peats was at fault in response to a mention of the company by one of the posters, see http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=57217213 for the full thread

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=58581691&postcount=3
I highlighted that we sold a €4.99 HDMI cable, there have been more threads than I can remember about cheap cables.

Your posts on this thread was a reation to a comment by a poster in respect of Peats, you did not respond to the OP on the thread at all, your only posts were clearly defending Peats. In fact if you check the full thread here http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=58581691 you'll note that I told you on that occasion that your reaction to the poster who you quoted in your responses was not helpful.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=59001790&postcount=5
You yourself had a problem ordering something from our website. I asked you for some details to try and fix the problem.

It really would be more accurate to point out the full context of the thread - I wasn't trying to order anything from Peats, and told you as much on the thread - I was posting advice to a poster pointing out the options across a range of stores, online and brick and mortar - your only input into the thread was to query a remark i made about Peats website, not to offer any advice etc to the OP on the thread. See http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=58997377 for full details, your representation of this post is particularly disingenuous and self-serving.



[url

]http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=61880945#post61880945[/url]
A poster mentions that we sell 'just' computers and HE systems. I replied that you've got to move with the market or go out of business.

This thread was a request for help from a poster with speakers which were not funtioning properly - you made no attempt to offer any help or advice, your only input to the thread is to react to a (fairly innocent) comment about Peats, see full thread here : http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=61880945.


I believe that in each case here you have misreprestented your input into the threads to serve your own claims of being helpful. I believe that your assertions are simply not borne out by a review of the full threads.



Admins,

I do not believe that it is necessary to respond any further to the poster's claims on this issue, but i am happy to offer any further calrification, if required by you. I would respectfully request that before reaching a decision on the issue that you review the threads in which the poster has made a post over an extended period.

We have a number of regular posters on the HE forums who work in various hifi shops, and I'm very glad that they're around, their input is super. I have had PM communication with them all at one time or another, pointing out that there is a clear undestanding that they do not directly offer for sale, and that mention of their own shop is contingent on them either pointing out that there are other shops or contingent on them having a posting history of being generally helpful and not only pointing people to their own shop - this is a clear policy of give-and-take and it works well in practice and is observed pretty faithfully.

I take particular exception to one-time or occasional posters whose only appearance on the forum is to promote their own shop/company - this I believe is completely contrary to the spirit of Boards and the poster in question here fits that description in the HE forums. Insofar as this issue is concerned, I do not think that it is reasonlable to take account of his posting style etc on other forums here on Boards - that does not, in my view, give a licence to do nothing other than promote/defend/whatever the company he works for on the HE forums.

Thanks,


Ritz.

Kintarō Hattori

Would an admin be able to give their views on this thread?

Zaph

Kintarō Hattori wrote: »

Would an admin be able to give their views on this thread?

I've reviewed both your posts and those by The Ritz on this thread and in my opinion his actions were fully justified. An initial read through the links on your post do suggest that you were only trying to be helpful. However, when reading the entire threads and seeing them in context, as posted by The Ritz, it's clear that your posts in the HE forum are merely reactive, with the trigger being a mention of Peats. There's little indication that you're genuinely trying to help the OP of the threads in question, you are simply refuting claims made by others or reacting to remarks made about Peats.

Now whether or not you agree with The Ritz's assertion that you are shilling in the forum, it's hard for anyone looking at the threads in question objectively to come to any other conclusion so the ban stands.

Kintarō Hattori

I have mentioned that I reply to threads were Peats have been mentioned. I've also started that where the company is mentioned on Boards I'll help out posters were possible. Recently I've discounted a case for the users of the Comp forum and I've ordered in some items at staff price that we don't carry as regular stock for people who've sent me a PM.
Just this week I helped a chap who had a problem with a laptop charger that he bought and was having trouble with. Through the forum and via PM the problem was solved for him.

Fair enough no-one in the HE forum seems to be having any problems but if they were I would have no hesitation in helping them if possible. Please bear in mind that I have helped various users on the different forums.

I still see no issue with my response to the poster on the thread that started this all. Had he found the stands I linked to expensive I'd have happily dropped the price to match the price in Argos if at all possible. I wasn't given a chance though.

As I stated Peats are in business a long long time at this stage and do not need me to promote them. I'm absolutely positive that any thread I reply to or anything I have done on this forum over the years counts for a tiny fraction of our overall business. As I have stated time and time again we are primarily a bricks and mortar store who cater for customers who walk through our doors rather than going after the online business. It's all there in black and white in previous posts I've made.

Generally speaking most posts I've made on this site in relation to Peats have been an attempt at helping fellow site users. If it pleases the court I shall no longer respond to threads about Peats and any thread be it in the HE forum, Comp forum or anywhere else where someone might be having an issue or need help with some problem.

I'm sorry my attempts have clearly been misguided.

The Ritz

Zaph,

Thanks for taking on this issue.


Kint

...I shall no longer respond to threads about Peats...

I am glad to hear that insofar as the HE Forums are concerned - that was what you were asked to do in my response to you which gave rise to your complaint here.

You have not been banned from the HE Forums, but you are now under a warning that if you post again on any of the HE forums in respect of Peats, a ban will be imposed.

Thanks,

Ritz.


Ritz.

Kintarō Hattori

Ritz I have already stated above that I would not be posting sitewide anything in relation to Peats, so there really was no need for the reply above.

I don't know how I could have made it any plainer.

Zaph

OK, I think we're done here now.