Local Immunity

[darth lefty]

Why is it that it is ok to attack an international brand incessantly, eg Hyosung for poor build quality or support or whatever, yet when it comes to local businesses, for example an unnamed dealer or whoever else when a poor service/product has been offered, public debate is frowned upon and eventually shoved under the carpet/closed/whacked?

Is there an inferiority complex at work? Whereby an international brand can deal with a little bit of flak from a keyboard warrior about a hyo clutch cable snapping, but the local bike shop can't deal with someone having a go about poor servicing of warranty conditions because it is perceived as a smaller enterprise.

Is it a double standard? Is it right? Should we be protecting local business? Should we be calling attention to local businesses shortcomings? Should we be demanding more from them? Should we stop bagging out hyo/kawa/duc/zongshen?

[chew]

As long as there is a right of reply, I cant see a problem at all.

[darth lefty]

So where is Hyosung's representation for all the bashing it receives on PSB? And in it's absence, why aren't people taking the same moral stance you've mentioned?

[dirt_infected]

I think lefty's referring to the way admins will shut down threads starting "mechanic bill ripped me off" etc.

Haven't been on this forum for long enough to know if it happens here, but certainly on p4x4 there is no local badmouthing allowed, justified or otherwise.

I agree, it does seem a bit unfair.

Possibly though, it somewhat makes sense- a company turning out piece after piece of shite definitely deserves bagging.
Whereas some bloke running a good little business, hires a new apprentice who f*cks something up, should his business get the same rant thread?

I think it's a case by case basis.

[Barfridge]

A bit of history...
The reason things are they way they are now with the shops is fourfold:
1. To try and retain a spirit of good faith, and a strong working relationship with them. In the past we have had PSB discounts (until they were abused), and we get helped out by the shops for PSB events, and for things like MAD.
Some might argue that shops that are doing wrong by it's customers are not being named and shamed. The shops might argue that stupid fucking customers aren't either.

2. Forums in Australia have in the past been sued for content posted by members, under defamation laws.

3. One one side of an argument is usually presented. In the past some of the people from the shops have turned up to defend themselves from customers who were overly demanding, misinformed, clueless or just plain fucking wrong.
Of course there are always 3 sides to any argument: your side, their side, and the truth.

4. Any thread criticising a shop always turns into a shitfest, where everybody steps in to have a general whinge.


But why these rules do not apply to the larger companies is beyond me. I think it's more to do with the personal relationship we have with individual shops, not a manufacturer as a whole.

[chew]

So where is Hyosung's representation for all the bashing it receives on PSB? And in it's absence, why aren't people taking the same moral stance you've mentioned?

Probably the old adage, any publicity is good publicity or maybe they are just monitoring the bagging and improving their product until Jap bike riders are considered as Latte sipping cafe dwellers or outlaw wannabe's like some other marques. I am old and remember when jap riders were on occasion kicked over at lights etc. and I dont care what you ride as long as you do. They are also too busy selling bikes to care.

Apparently I ride a soulless electrical disaster area if I took comments on here to heart.

The moral stance will always get shouted down by the followers looking for peer group acceptance from the alledged pack leaders.

There is some sarcasm in me I think.

[=Stevo=]

from what I've seen (as a general rule)

If you bag out hyosung or any other big brand, you are merely bagging out a big, publicly listed company and only hurting them a little bit if people take your word and stop buying (a very small %)

If you bag out a local shop, you are directly affecting the owners livelihood and have a much greater chance of costing them sales, too - because they generally only have a small influence and area to drag customers from (Perth metro)

Not only is this bad for them and EXTREMELY bad form if you haven't actually taken it up with the shop/person, but they also have the potential to sue PSB as well (much like the jcorp thread and many others on seperate forums) which then causes unnecessary legal debacles...

[shmoo]

Its simple. People cant take criticism. That includes shops, the owners cant take it properly. Rather than acknowledge there has been a problem and make a genuine effort to rectify it, the shop owner/manager/employee just cracks the shit instead. Which, ironically does far more damage to the business than the original rant ever did.

IMHO, its all part of the culture of the local shops. They are holier than thou and never shall anyone speak ill of them.

When it comes to the big brands, well PSB is tiny and insignificant in the grand scheme of things, so our rants dont even register as a big issue.

[The Saint]

Yeah.

So fuck you, McDonalds.

[timmay]

Is this why the impressions / Jcorp thread disappeared?

[Hewzie]

This forum perhaps is missing clear rules/guidelines on this issue.
If I get atrocious service from a bikeshop, I'd like to tell my peers. That's normal, isn't it?
They happen to be abundant on this site. Whether or not the shop owner had a right of reply to my complaint doesn't stop me from wanting to rant here.
If I owned a bike shop, I'd monitor this site very fugn often! This is where you'd read about local issues. This is where you'd pick up so much business if you constantly did the right thing. AND if you had the balls to stand up and respond to any criticism here as well.
As for brand bashing....pretty pointless really. They provide goods, we choose what we buy. Do you think Hyo and the Chinese will fade away..... did Hyundai when they made crap Excels? They simply got better sooner. Future looks sad, eh? Electric Chinese motorbikes.....eek

[Rich...]

Well all the bike shops need a login so they can rant about the fuckwit customer who didn't like the price of his service, whinged and whined coz they didn't offer him coffee...etc etc etc

[Gryphen]

By the same token if we can't gripe about piss-poor service then we shouldn't praise top-notch service either...

[perdition]

Of course there are always 3 sides to any argument: your side, their side, and the truth.

really !!! gtfo !!!

[Desmo]

By the same token if we can't gripe about piss-poor service then we shouldn't praise top-notch service either...

I agree with this one, but it's not often you actually get decent enough service in Perth to compliment people on, so it's a moot point really.