Thread: Not the answer, Bill.

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well said glenn. you spoke for alot of us as to how we feel about this site.

Glenn,,what can I say??You said it all...If I was as eloquent as you,,thats probably how it would have come out..Thanks mate..

Glenn,
Well said, as usual! Your sentiments ring true for me as well.

Mike Forte,
I speak only for myself when I say that I appreciate you being here and providing occasional input to specific needs of the guys and gals here, and I do not hesitate pushing others to contact you for their transmission needs, and for other performance questions. My initial contact with you was due to a similar recommendation from someone here at CHR, and after an early evening e-mail posting a question about my needs I was surprised to have my phone ring 20 minutes after hitting "Send" (though it was nearing 8pm in Massachusetts), and for you to ask if we could walk through the options to find the "right" answer to my drivetrain needs. We did (after an hour of back & forth), I later bought the package, I've been very happy with it, and both you and Steve (Forte'sMinion) have helped me with smaller needs since. Only in the past couple of weeks Steve's posts have taken an aggressive marketing slant, using what is meant to be a discussion, Q&A venue to advertise specific products, including the most recent "series" explaining custom engine/tranny packages that can be provided. You've never done this before that I have seen. We all understand the impacts of the economy, but we also understand that the "For Sale" section in CHR specifically says "Personal, not for business" and that has not changed. I have no idea what the "vendor" arrangement is, and that's between you and Brent. Bottom line, Forte's Performance is a quality shop, and you and Steve bend over backwards to do right to your customers. I hope this all works out well and we keep seeing your name pop up here in the right ways, as it has in the past.

Glenn, amen, well said. However, I can tell you those ads for the extra hardware don't deliver what they promise!

Mike, since I was the main complainer about your ads, let me try to explain. We certainly appreciate a vendor kicking in some money to keep the forum going and in turn maybe generate some sales for that vendor. What was at issue though were the 13 separate posts all directed at selling pretty much different items. If every vendor did that there would be no room for normal chit chat among the members. As it is, the threads disappear very quickly from the home page now, and when a big percentage of that real estate is consumed by one vendors ads, it makes the forum unappealing and difficult to use.

To me it was becoming like CraigsList, where one advertiser keeps reposting the same ad every day to keep it on top of the heap. Maybe the solution is to have a setup like the HAMB uses where the classifieds do not become part of the general discussion board, but are only available if someone wants to look at them. It seems our current format puts ads right in with general discussions and consequently they show up as topics of discussion.

Hope this clears the air about my (and maybe some others) concerns.

Don

Mike,

As a penance, and to make right the extra effort I put forth you must now wack Steve across the back of his head with a truly rusty camshaft .........Also, to make up for my lost time, I'll take a nice 347 stroker with a TKO600, that too you can charge back to Steve

All kidding aside, I really give you credit for lasting as long as you have in the business, especially with the "virtual" mom and pop shops that spring up from time to time with owners who do not know the difference between a SBC and a SBF. Your experience, knowledge, and wisdom are much appreciated, as is your willingness to share..........

Wish you the best .



Bill S.

Originally Posted by mike forte

Hi Guys,
My intent here is advertise for Forte's Parts Connection. This is my 30th year in business and have so much to offer. The vendor status is not free and I know that the money is used to keep this forum going. Steve (Forte's Minion) is trying to reach guys that are building cars and have a need for custom parts that I manufacture, Tremec 5 & 6 speeds transmissions (Forte's is one of 11 Elite Dealers for Tremec in the US & Canada).
All of this said, advertising is how I reach customers like yourself and hope to sell parts in a very difficult economy as I know almost everyone is experiencing.
I have been a Vendor here for several years and need to continue sales to be able to continue to advertise here. Honestly, sales do not support the expenses and I need to up sales or stop paying for ads here.
So I guess it's up to you guys, either sales or stop my vendor status which in turn hurts the forum you like. No hard feelings to anyone. I have sold some but it takes volume sales to stay even a business.
Thanks for your thoughts and I'll see how this plays out.

most of the site I have visited for various reasons have had ads placed on the top or bottom of the
page. IF you were interested in something or looking for something you clicked on the ad and it took you
to their site. I have never saw a participating vender/sponsor post ads in the open form. like others have
said it clutters up the threads. I guess I have A.D.D because if I have to look through pages and to read the post
I follow I just give up. I am a relatively newbie here and read or look at pictures more than I post.
I understand we all have different views. I hope it all gets worked out and thanks for listening to
me and everyone.

Not just one way or another.We all can find a balanced point in limited space.Quality vendors are very hard to come by.Mike is very hard to track sales due to one ad or a number of them.Could it be a sale occurs to a nonmember from here but was read about peeping and never signing on??.The would be one example of profit never offsetting the cost of being a vendor.The good will is ringing out of all the posts members make given the type of members that make this site what it is and thus sales than could happen as a result of that.Hard pressed to find a thread where the answers where not answered.So Mike I said it is hard to find a good vendor and in the same hand it is very hard to find the mix of members that make this a very good site worth placing ads.Search engines drive sales too and given the exposure and quality posts that happen here,it is no small part of possible sales.

If experience,knowledge,wisdom are appreciated, as is willingness to share----why don't you let DennyW back on here????

Originally Posted by jerry clayton

If experience,knowledge,wisdom are appreciated, as is willingness to share----why don't you let DennyW back on here????

Denny knows why.

My 2 cents. I'm only an avid member when I feel its too hot or too cold to comfortably work in the shop or anything else for that matter. Vendors needling folks for sales disgusts me but I'm not a heartless sap and understand the need for sales. I was on the selling end for a 6 years as a customer service tech for my company (communications) and it quickly became a "sell them anything you can talk them into even if they dont need it" world. I moved into a different position and since then the company is now listening to its techs and its customers.......people dont like being harrassed!!!. I think thats the main point here. This is a place for information, chit chat, and the ocassional banter that comes with hot rods. And I can tell you all though I dont know how others feel about me....I absolutely think the world of the members here! I also have OCD and ADD. I see nothing wrong with a vendor offering support, that may lead to a sale, to a member that has asked a question about something specific. I'm a member of many, many forums from Corvettes, S10, 4X4's, Rat Rods, etc etc and I see this sort of peacefull push toward a product all the time and I see no problem with that.....but it cant be a blatant selling pitch up front. With all the forums I'm a member of.....28 so far.....this site gets 90% of my time when I am surfing forums .....because of its members. I like it here.

Ok...I'll shut up.

David

what happened to denny w. is he banned or what. what did he do to get runnoft ?

Oh, oh. I'll get the popcorn !

Don

Originally Posted by Itoldyouso

Oh, oh. I'll get the popcorn !

Don

Yep, here we go again....

i missed it. i really want to know.he knows why is not a good answer.

I think DennyW has more info of OEM systems and manuals plus years of ACTUAL experience working on these cars and trucks than anybody here--I believe that no matter whose feathers were wrinkled back then that its time that he was brought back on board for the MEMBERS needing help and with a source of factory specs and methods instead of the he says, they seys of typical forum chatter---after al--most everybody on here says how much they like club hotrod because of the actual responces they get and the site is being severely limited without his participation---

Let by gones be bygones and fix this ----