Non-Supporting Vendor Violations- Rev.Hammer/wheelife

[HEMEEE]

We know you have questions, and we want to address those, the attempt at an explanation in a previous thread that was running had a few discrepancies that, in fairness, needed to be corrected. Human nature being what it is, we decided the best way was to start fresh and not allow those to leave a lasting impression. Typically we believe these matters should be handled privately, however, in light of the thread RH has created at LXF, and the negativity it has generated, we feel we have no choice but to bring this out in the open. This thread will run for as long as his does, to answer his unfounded accusations.

There really is no reason for anyone to make this personal, it's a matter of policy. The short of it is, we have specific forum & vendor rules and when a member violates those rules they take a calculated risk on the consequences that may result. The reason Rev. Hammer lost his privileges here is because he violated our vendor rules countless times. As a non-supporting vendor he is not permitted to participate in discussions about his products... it really is just that simple. He began posting here when he started making his CAI's and was warned, and warned, and warned, with much effort having been made on the part of staff to clean up threads, handle complaints, and fire off more warnings. It was extremely frustrating and tiresome for several months until finally he was told his choices were to sign on or leave the forums. He chose to sign on for 3 months at both our 300C and Charger boards. At that point, we even restored all the threads/posts that we had deleted as a courtesy... again time-consuming.

During his short era as a supporting vendor, things at 300C went well... chargerforums, not so much. His product and posts were not met with the same warm welcome they were here and now it was his turn to be frustrated. There were many PM complaints back and forth between him and admin about the situation and we tried to explain that it is up to the vendor to "sell" his product, we have no control over the way a vendor will be received, nor can we tell our members how to react. Long story longer... at the end of the first 3 months, in a few very inflammatory PM's insulting our members and chargerforums, he stated he would not renew at Chargerforums. It was at that time ekool told him he felt it best if he did not sponsor any of our boards any longer due to the mutual negative feelings. We extended the courtesy of allowing threads and posts created by him during his sponsorship (thru 2/14/07) to remain, even including those that were created/deleted/restored in violation before he became a vendor. We reminded him that, as a non-supporting vendor now, he must again comply with the rules.

THAT should have been the end of it...

Until we received a system alert regarding a user with multiple accounts - that user was Rev.Hammer. That account was banned before it could be used but, the possible ramifications caused us to look deeper. Upon further investigation, we found numerous posts by Rev.Hammer, in threads about his products which, again is not allowed now that he is no longer a sponsor vendor - period. To add insult to injury, another member, wheelife, who now works for Hammer, joined in and was posting in violation of our rules as well; double-teaming. We don't know what more we could possibly have done to prevent this end result... we explained the rules and enforced them until we were blue in the face and until he finally decided to become a sponsor rather than be banned. He knew what it was that nearly cost him his account privileges before he sponsored us, and those same circumstances existed once he was no longer a sponsor. He broke the rules knowingly and enough was enough. All anyone has to do is research their posts to see what their motive was to be here - it wasn't because they have a deep abiding love of this community, there is no participation to speak of except in threads about their products. Their objective here was strictly mercenary... to build their customer base and SELL, even though they had no right to do so.

Supporting vendors pay a fee for the privilege to promote their business here. For a non-supporting vendor to do the same is disrespectful of those vendors as well as our forum policies. That happens for one of 2 reasons: ignorance (didn't know there were rules) or ignored (knows the rules and does it anyway). After many, many PM's, reminders, and warnings, it seems obvious to us, which reason was at work here.

In closing- Our rules are here for all to review. Please do take a moment to read the vendor rules as they pertain to you as a regular member. We want you to understand the distinction for you - You CAN discuss Hammer Motorsports all you want... there are currently over 200 threads/posts about that product here alone which disproves those who are trying to twist this and say this is about something it's not. No one is saying you cannot discuss those products, or ANY other non-supporting vendor's products for that matter. What we ARE saying is Hammer Motorsports employees (or any other N/S vendor) may NOT join in on those threads without benefit of a Supporting Vendor Title. Describing products, providing contact info, shipping & pricing details, answering questions... those are all promotional activities and customer service that were being conducted here in violation of our rules and in disregard for our paying vendors. In the end, only the players involved know all the details, but because this became a public issue, we felt it necessary to address it publicly.

We hope this answers any questions about this specific situation, as well as any concerns you have as members about being able to discuss N/S vendor products among you. Share your impressions, ask and answer questions, give opinions on products out there to your heart's content, we allow it and encourage it.... As long as YOU are not that vendor, and as long as your posts don't turn into an obvious "advertisement" or shill for that vendor, like linking to their ads on another forum, or copying those ads here, for example.

As far as we are concerned, this issue is closed and no further threads need be created. If you have a lingering concern, please PM an Admin.

Thank you-