someone who forgot to read the rules

[travis.vigue]

We enforce a very strict policy regarding solicitation of our membership by Forum participants except in those Forum sections where advertising is expressly permitted.

Participants may not use the forum to publish or discuss any information regarding their product or services, or any product or services they are, or have been, associated with. This includes suggesting your own services.

Participants may not use the Forum for commercial gain unless authorised as an official dealer by the Lexus Owners Club

Participants may not use the Forum to direct others to any pages at their own commercial website, including informational pages. General linking from privded profile is allowed. We reserve the right to alter any profile we may see unfit for display on the Lexus Owners Club

Participants may not use the Forum to direct other to any pages which they have a commercial interest in, these include commission or referral hyperlinks.

Participants may not use the Forum to direct others to contact them regarding their product or services.

Participants who are associated with a Main Dealer may not use the main Forums to direct others to the advertising Forums.

Participants may not use discussions to recommend or praise other product or services, or any company, unless you have directly used them before. This includes companies recommending other companies.

Participants may not solicit the membership for feedback or suggestions on their product or services.

Participants may not use a "signature" with plan descriptions or any pricing information at the end of Forum messages. Signatures must be kept to a maximum of 6 (six) lines.

Participants may not use the Forum to solicit users for any project or purpose external to the Forum; public, private, or commercial. Our userbase is not a resource to be "mined" by individuals, groups, or businesses.

Edited September 9, 2003 by skperformance

[SKperformance]

this site is not for personal retail

if you feel the members would benifit from you goods them become a authorized vendor

or else

cease all further sales

[AusJapanLexus]

Ok for starters. What is this guy on about. Who is he?

Secondly, I guess I am known as a usually controvercial person at times, but always do have legit questions to ask..

If people cant talk about certain business's at times. Then how can people get an idea or feel for certain things that they may be seeking or looking for? Secondly, this is an open forum as I see it, and I guess we would say something if someone was blatantly using the boards for monetary gain...

But in saying this. At some stage, maybe someone may be able to offer assistance to a certain person in need. And I find that the main reason for why we have this board.. Is to get answers and solutions to our problems. (By solutions, I mean maybe having to use someones services on this board to get something fixed ect?)

Lastly. The way I see it. This board is one big advertisement for the Lexus Owners Club.. Who is the Lexus Owners Club. What is their purpose in life. And why are they allowed to sell stuff on this spam free environment? Where does the money raised from merchandise sales go. And how does that money help others????

Chris

[amf1932]

someone was blatantly using the boards for monetary gain...

That's exactly what this guy was trying to do on this board! I am also an administrator of a messageboard and we have rules and regulations that have to be followed by all the members, otherwise things get out of hand. The original post was removed and replaced by LOC's rules. This new members 1st. post had absolutely nothing to do with discussing anything automotive. It was only a sales pitch for merchandise(clothing). If LOC decides to sell merchandise on this site, it's their prerogative. It costs money to operate a website and they sure are entitled to it. I'm sure that most of the members enjoy visiting this website as I do! Ask yourself this question: Would you or could you have the wherewithal to operate a site such as this? I think your answer would be...No! <_<

[jweiss]

This seems like a strange posting from a new member for whom this is the first post. Perhaps some context for the origins should be given, since it looks as if knuckles are being rapped here, especially when it's been monitored by sk. Without this info, people will become very conservative in what they think they can post, without knowing what triggered this post.

What's the !Removed!?

[Tom_ES300]

I think I remember the post from yesterday. A guy suggested his own bussiness as the solution to a problem. That's a clear violation of the forum rules. Our friends at LOC allow this type of post in the other forum - after they've vetted the poster. A great service to us!

Tom

[SKperformance]

wow

what the hell is all the fuss about

chris relax

what are you talking about

jweiss.......?

he is trying to sell shirts not lexus stuff not parts service nothing but shirts

you guys watch too much conspiricy theory TV

[jweiss]

sk,

Let me see if I've got the picture right about what's happened here. Someone, presumably travis.vique, tried to post a solicitation and you as Moderator acted on LOC's behalf by eliminating his message and posting the club's rules instead. You then followed up with a message about the fact that the original post, which we didn't see, is a no no. If that's the story, then I have no problem with it. I think people were confused because they never saw the original post and didn't realize that the message at the end of that post included the fact that you had edited it, by deleting the original message and adding the club rules.

Have I got it right, or am I still to be seen as jweiss?

Btw, I know enough about bulletin boards to know that the moderator's job ain't easy.

[SKperformance]

hit hit the nail on the head ;)

[AusJapanLexus]

Ok, before you tell me to relax. I am very sorry that you were unable to understand my post, and what I was trying to say???..

All I was trying to do was find out a reason for why this person (who was obviously a so called new memeber) was writing all about the rules of this club.. The problem was that by simply replacing his post with club rules had made it very confussing for some, as I was one that was getting PM's from people asking what it was about? Why I was being asked I dont know...

Secondly. I was never condoning anyones behaviour when it comes to advertising, but if it were a situation where it was a thread in which someone needed help with a certain service. And somebody could offer that service through their own business ect.. Then I am all for it!...

As for my question about LOC merchandise.. Well I think I have every right to ask that.. The mere fact of not allowing people to advertise, and then expect people to buy stuff without knowing where the money goes is a little irresponsable?.. If it costs money to run a web site, and the money is used for that. Then say it!!... If it were a situation where it was someone who found their way into a niche, and decided that the only way to make money is to dissallow any competition, then, this is not what I or others would like to see happen?

If it is a sensitive nerve that I have touched. Then maybe some figuers should be shown as to the costs of running this site? After all it is a club?

Chris

[SW03ES]

First off, no disrespect intended, but you have no right to ask us to provide you with financial statements on how we run our site. Walk into any business and ask them that, they will laugh you right out the door. If you are worried about where the money goes, then don't buy anything from the site, or better yet, leave. I'm sorry but that is extremely and intolerably rude. This is not your site in any way shape or form, and you have no right to demand a fiscal statement. I can't even believe you'd be arrogant enough to even make that statement. I am in utter shock...

Now that my fury has settled...

This site isn't free to run, and trust me when I tell you that we (those who run it) dont make any money off of it. We do it purely for the enjoyment. In fact, the site operates at a loss meaning that it costs people like Matt McNally and Steve money for it to exist. They do this as a service to Lexus owners, so that they can have a place to belong. We are currently the fastest growing lexus site on the net. If projections hold true, we're going to have over 15,000 members within the next year for sure. Do you have any idea how much money it will cost to run? I certainly could not afford to pay for it, the site is going to have to (at least mostly) pay for itself.

How do we do that? We dont allow others to capitalize off what we work and pay to build. Its right there in the rules. We have vendors and sponsors on this site, and we're about to indroduce MANY more in a vast upgrade. These people support the site financially, and they have passed a painstaking process to make sure they're good enough to sell you products. We do this for the Lexus community, for FREE. If you want the site to grow and become better than it is, then we're going to have to get the money to make those upgrades from somewhere. This site hardly operates, or will ever operate at a profit.

Yes this is a club, but your membership is FREE Chris. If you had paid something for it then you'd have some sort of iota to base your request on, you have nothing.

[bbsal]

i have to agree with sw03es.thats like asking best buy or walmart to tell you were there money goes????i mean please nobody is going to tell you that info!

now as for this quote i have to disagree a little bit!(a little bit i add)

Your FREE membership entitles you to nothing. This is not your site in any way shape or form, and you have no right to demand anything, LET ALONE a fiscal statement.

its true you dont have a right to ask that question but without any of us FREE members this site wouldnt be anything!ive helped hundreds of people on this site and to say im entitled to nothing after over 800 posts is a little rude also!(im talking about respect)!

im not tryng to get in the middle of this but i do think us memebers deserve a bit more respect then that because thats why im writing in this thread now because that satement offeneded me.hell im hear helping people like crazy and what do i get?not even a little respect for it but get told us members are nothing?

now as for AusJapanLexus i have to say you were a bit wrong to ask what they do with the money because its none of anyones buisness except those who run this site.

i just hope the mods on here dont really feel the same way about members because i post ALOT of help on here and dame maybe i should be a mod on here!! no disrespect intended to anyone on here i just got a bit upset after reading this!

[bbsal]

o yea and as for the tee shirt guy i think the mods did the right thing because he shouldnt be putting his buisness on here in the first place!

[SW03ES]

but if it were a situation where it was a thread in which someone needed help with a certain service. And somebody could offer that service through their own business ect.. Then I am all for it!...

We've actually seen this situation before, and we cannot allow that either. We offer a service where people who own businesses can pay us a nominal fee, and after we've verified their business practices they become authorized traders. They pay us to be able to do that. Steve@Lextacy.com is one of these traders and a banner advertiser, I'm sure you've seen him around, he posts a lot as a member and as a vendor.

What our issue is with is people who think they can just come on here and use us to further their own commercial businesses and not to contribute in any other way. For instance we removed a bunch of pictures some guy posted in our galleries of wood dash kits, I removed them and contacted him asking if he was interested in actually paying for the right to do that, and he wasn't He just wanted free advertising.

Well guess what, this is not a public club. This club and website are OWNED by someone, this is someone's property. It was built and is designed as a great community for Lexus owners, which I think it is and will continue to be even moreso. It is not a for profit enterprise, its not designed to make somebody rich, its designed to be the best that it can be. In order for it to be, we have to protect our own interests, and those of our members.

The admins, the managers such as myself and SK and the moderators are all here to help make this place what it is, and can be.

Now Chris, you seem really interested and concerned with what happens here, its time for you to decide if you want to put up or not. if you care about the site that much, then help us. Contact Matt and see if he can use your talents somewhere.

Keep in mind that talking is easy, and typing is even easier. Action requires something.

[SW03ES]

its true you dont have a right to ask that question but without any of us FREE members this site wouldnt be anything!ive helped hundreds of people on this site and to say im entitled to nothing after over 800 posts is a little rude also!(im talking about respect)!

im not tryng to get in the middle of this but i do think us memebers deserve a bit more respect then that because thats why im writing in this thread

I do apologize for saying that bbsal, it wasn't how I actually feel I assure you. I was simply very, very angry and even a little bit hurt and the insinuation that we're here for the purposes of our own profit.

The members are the backbone of the site. Without you all here posting and helping people, then the site isn't anything worth getting passionate about. However, you all don't commonly go around expecting to be entitled to financial statements. That expectation is beyond over the top.

What got me so angry and brought that comment out was Chris' apparent feeling that we owed him something like financial statements, which we obviously don't. He got ahead of himself and it made me angry, I apologize.

The whole point of me being as involved with this site as I am is because I've been treated unfairly on other sites, and treated as if I as a member weren't important. I work hard here to make a better place for us Lexus owners.

Again, I'm truly sorry if anyone took it the wrong way...

[SW03ES]

I even altered my above statement to more adequately express what i was trying to say.

[Matthew_McNally]

OK - just gonna say my piece, then I'm closing this down, as it does not improve the overall quality of the forums.

1 - Sharad did absolutely the right thing. Guy joins the club purely to try and score some free advertising, making you read his post - 2 hours later Sharad shuts him down.

Well done.

Anyone else reading this thinking of spamming the boards? This is what' you will get.

2 - bbsal - I am sure Steve will be along shortly to apologise for giving the impression that you (or any other member) are not respected or valued. You are what makes the club great. It never ceases to amaze me just how helpful people are willing to be to people who are, after all, complete strangers in real life!

I am 110% certain that Steve did not mean to imply that we do not respect or value the members.

You feel you should be a mod? pm me if this was a serious statement.

3 - Chris. I appreciate that in closing this thread know, I am denying you a chance to respond. However, if you wish to take any of your points up on a personal level, feel free to pm me, and we can discuss offline.

4 - Steve.

;) well said mate

[Matthew_McNally]

2 - bbsal - I am sure Steve will be along shortly to apologise for giving the impression that you (or any other member) are not respected or valued. You are what makes the club great. It never ceases to amaze me just how helpful people are willing to be to people who are, after all, complete strangers in real life!

I am 110% certain that Steve did not mean to imply that we do not respect or value the members.

and while I am slowly typing this - its already been taken care of!

[SW03ES]

and while I am slowly typing this - its already been taken care of!

 

I'm fast and get misunderstood a lot, so I'm used to it ;)

[bbsal]

its true you dont have a right to ask that question but without any of us FREE members this site wouldnt be anything!ive helped hundreds of people on this site and to say im entitled to nothing after over 800 posts is a little rude also!(im talking about respect)!

im not tryng to get in the middle of this but i do think us memebers deserve a bit more respect then that because thats why im writing in this thread

I do apologize for saying that bbsal, it wasn't how I actually feel I assure you. I was simply very, very angry and even a little bit hurt and the insinuation that we're here for the purposes of our own profit.

The members are the backbone of the site. Without you all here posting and helping people, then the site isn't anything worth getting passionate about. However, you all don't commonly go around expecting to be entitled to financial statements. That expectation is beyond over the top.

What got me so angry and brought that comment out was Chris' apparent feeling that we owed him something like financial statements, which we obviously don't. He got ahead of himself and it made me angry, I apologize.

The whole point of me being as involved with this site as I am is because I've been treated unfairly on other sites, and treated as if I as a member weren't important. I work hard here to make a better place for us Lexus owners.

Again, I'm truly sorry if anyone took it the wrong way...

hey no problem!like i said i dont want to get in the middle of it but just toke that statement the wrong way i guess!im on here typing away in pms and on the board like crazy to help people and dont mind doing it at all just dont want to feel like it dont mean nothing to anyone on here thats all.You also help alot of people so you know what i mean.i dont blame you for getting mad because i probably would too.maybe AusJapanLexus is having a bad day either way that was not a good question to ask!lol :D

[SW03ES]

No it wasn't your fault, I got angry and I'm mean when I'm angry lol.

I'm going to go ahead and lock this as Matt had intended.