- Joined
- Dec 10, 2006
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I'm at work so I can't take time to address all of the things that I want right now, but I felt that a couple things needed to be addressed.
There seem to be some that are hung up on this, so let me set this straight once and for all since NO ONE has actually asked me what happened in either of these situations. That's right; I've not received one PM, phone call or conversation regarding this.
First - at XFW, the "burnout" was done by a non-member of this site and a visitor at the event that did not even have a ticket nor agree to the rules associated with that ticket. Was he part of a company that sponsors this site? Yes. And for that reason alone, I sent Gadget a PM chewing him a new one. I hope he saved it so that he can post it and prove it to you guys (since everyone seems to think that I always rule in Gadget's favor). I told him it was very uncool of Brian to do that and that it was going to put me in a weird spot trying to enforce that in the future. If I was going to ban anyone, it would be Brian and since Brian isn't even a member here (or an active member), what's the worth in that?
Second - at XFE the burnout was NOT done on any of the property associated with the events... and I wasn't even there. After we ate dinner Saturday the group split up. Some went to Gatlinburg, some went go kart racing, some went back to the hotel - personally, my wife wanted to do the reverse bungy thing so I took her to a place she could do it. The good, husbandly thing to do. The burnout occurred at the go kart place. The go kart place was never on the scheduled list of locations, and while attendees to XFE were there, it was not PART of XFE. That, and that alone is why no action was taken.
Based on how some want me to handle this situation, you are basically saying that if there is evidence that you did a burnout in the same city as X-Fest, you will be banned. :dontknow:
You guys must really think that I'm sitting here banking off the vendors on this site. Little do many of you know that MOST of the vendors trade product for vendor space most of the time. And that product doesn't just go to me either. For instance, vendors may trade product for giveaways at X-Fest events - and I have even given product to another XRU member (for FREE) b/c another vendor that sold a similar product stiffed him. Did I do it to gain that members praises... no. I did it because it was the right thing to do. And think about it --- if a vendor trades a set of HID lights for example, $250 value, that buys them 8 months of vendor space. Making sense now?
It's not just some constant cash flow pouring in here guys that I'm swimming around in. Trust me, I make a lot more money at my day job per hour than I ever will here. The money pays for a service, which is what I try to provide for the vendors. Just like paying for your cell phone - you pay for a service.
Now, do we sometimes get in sticky situations with dealing punishments to vendors --- yes. Why? Not necessarily because of the money (because losing $35/mo isn't going to sink XRU if we banned a vendor) - but more because I don't want to take a vendor from the community that is providing valuable performance products to my members. That doesn't seem fair, does it? And there are only a couple of vendors that haven't had any issues at all. They're not perfect and we can't expect them to be.
As Spyder said above though, and as I tried to make clear in my first post, the infraction system applies to everyone. The vendors are expected to abide by our forum rules too and thus they are not excluded. Since we have a mixed bag of staff, there is no way anyone can conclude that we are collectively biased toward one vendor or another so no vendor will receive favor.
This has been mentioned a few times, mostly via PM, but I think that this is a good opportunity to get this out in the open. I don't know if the above comments were directed toward me but I know for a fact that some people believe that I'm wholeheartedly biased toward URD and it's personnel.
XRU HAS NO DIRECT AFFILIATION WITH URD OR ANY OF IT'S PERSONNEL
First - I have to apologize to Gadget that this even has to be done, discussing my relationship with him and his company in a public forum. At the end of the day it's no ones business but since some people continue to make it their business I feel the need to discuss this in a public forum.
The fact that these allegations about me, Gadget, XRU and the "in" crowd continues to surface is almost ridiculous. Again, no one has ever ASKED my opinion of Gadget or URD - people find it much easier to make assumptions and live by them. But I'll tell you here, I like Gadget. Gadget has never given me any reason to not like or trust him. He has never wronged me and has gone out of his way on more than one occasion to help me. In my book, you have my respect until you lose it.
My affiliation with URD is basically non-existant. URD is a vendor here, just like every other vendor. I have purchased products from URD just like the rest of you. I purchased my TCAI from their website and also my URD catback. I paid for the my MAPECU2 in person when Gadget helped me with my S/C installation (which btw is a TRD unit). Why am I disclosing this to you? Because I want people to know more about our relationship than just making their own (mostly wrong) assumptions.
And speaking of, for all those that feel that Gadget constantly trashes TRD and only promotes URD.............. why did he tell me to buy a TRD unit then? I had a long talk with him about it and in the end he told me to buy the TRD. Why? Because it suited my needs better. Low maintenance, not really looking to upgrade it much, daily driver. He was honest with me about it and that buys far more than money ever could.
Gadget has my respect b/c he has not given me a reason to not respect him. But he's not perfect. Neither is Mike, Doug, Shane, Glen or any of the other vendors here. We all make mistakes.
There may be other users here that consider Gadget a "prized bear" but I'm pretty confident that they are only speaking from the same experiences that I've had with him. He's extremely helpful, very active in our community and fun to hang around - or at least these are my experiences, I can't speak for others.
But let it be known here and now, and hopefully for the last time, that URD has no bias in the minds of the XRU staff and we don't moderate or rule in their favor just b/c they're URD. And quite frankly I'm getting tired of the accusations.
klint said burn outs or any other type of mis conduct on xfest east will result in a ban well some one decided to do doughnuts in a parking lot and then videos where posted but no action was taken if it was me i wouldnt be able to post this right now i have talk to many people from this site and got alot of inforamtion and it is upsetting
i agree with this completely 100% i wondered about the same thing while at XFE
It was mentioned before about the burnouts at XFE.. When we had XFW, we were specifically told no burnouts or anything in the parking lot, respect the hotel and the property. After that all being said, URD pulls out there tundra and does a burnout(if you can even call it that) right in the middle of the Xrunners. Whats up with that?
There seem to be some that are hung up on this, so let me set this straight once and for all since NO ONE has actually asked me what happened in either of these situations. That's right; I've not received one PM, phone call or conversation regarding this.
First - at XFW, the "burnout" was done by a non-member of this site and a visitor at the event that did not even have a ticket nor agree to the rules associated with that ticket. Was he part of a company that sponsors this site? Yes. And for that reason alone, I sent Gadget a PM chewing him a new one. I hope he saved it so that he can post it and prove it to you guys (since everyone seems to think that I always rule in Gadget's favor). I told him it was very uncool of Brian to do that and that it was going to put me in a weird spot trying to enforce that in the future. If I was going to ban anyone, it would be Brian and since Brian isn't even a member here (or an active member), what's the worth in that?
Second - at XFE the burnout was NOT done on any of the property associated with the events... and I wasn't even there. After we ate dinner Saturday the group split up. Some went to Gatlinburg, some went go kart racing, some went back to the hotel - personally, my wife wanted to do the reverse bungy thing so I took her to a place she could do it. The good, husbandly thing to do. The burnout occurred at the go kart place. The go kart place was never on the scheduled list of locations, and while attendees to XFE were there, it was not PART of XFE. That, and that alone is why no action was taken.
Based on how some want me to handle this situation, you are basically saying that if there is evidence that you did a burnout in the same city as X-Fest, you will be banned. :dontknow:
I really did like this site but after seeing how money pulls the administers one way its not worth coming here id rather read what dallas cowboy has to say
I can see how the vendors get treated alot better here also. Just because of the $. If your going to put your foot down then you need to do it to everyone not a certain group. not fair at all
You guys must really think that I'm sitting here banking off the vendors on this site. Little do many of you know that MOST of the vendors trade product for vendor space most of the time. And that product doesn't just go to me either. For instance, vendors may trade product for giveaways at X-Fest events - and I have even given product to another XRU member (for FREE) b/c another vendor that sold a similar product stiffed him. Did I do it to gain that members praises... no. I did it because it was the right thing to do. And think about it --- if a vendor trades a set of HID lights for example, $250 value, that buys them 8 months of vendor space. Making sense now?
It's not just some constant cash flow pouring in here guys that I'm swimming around in. Trust me, I make a lot more money at my day job per hour than I ever will here. The money pays for a service, which is what I try to provide for the vendors. Just like paying for your cell phone - you pay for a service.
Now, do we sometimes get in sticky situations with dealing punishments to vendors --- yes. Why? Not necessarily because of the money (because losing $35/mo isn't going to sink XRU if we banned a vendor) - but more because I don't want to take a vendor from the community that is providing valuable performance products to my members. That doesn't seem fair, does it? And there are only a couple of vendors that haven't had any issues at all. They're not perfect and we can't expect them to be.
As Spyder said above though, and as I tried to make clear in my first post, the infraction system applies to everyone. The vendors are expected to abide by our forum rules too and thus they are not excluded. Since we have a mixed bag of staff, there is no way anyone can conclude that we are collectively biased toward one vendor or another so no vendor will receive favor.
i agree with Brad on this one as well, but it seems quite a few members on here are treated like a "prized bear".
When it comes down to "the man" i completely agree with Brad. I understand that he has helped a lot of people but the praising that is done is absolutly ridiculous.
This has been mentioned a few times, mostly via PM, but I think that this is a good opportunity to get this out in the open. I don't know if the above comments were directed toward me but I know for a fact that some people believe that I'm wholeheartedly biased toward URD and it's personnel.
XRU HAS NO DIRECT AFFILIATION WITH URD OR ANY OF IT'S PERSONNEL
First - I have to apologize to Gadget that this even has to be done, discussing my relationship with him and his company in a public forum. At the end of the day it's no ones business but since some people continue to make it their business I feel the need to discuss this in a public forum.
The fact that these allegations about me, Gadget, XRU and the "in" crowd continues to surface is almost ridiculous. Again, no one has ever ASKED my opinion of Gadget or URD - people find it much easier to make assumptions and live by them. But I'll tell you here, I like Gadget. Gadget has never given me any reason to not like or trust him. He has never wronged me and has gone out of his way on more than one occasion to help me. In my book, you have my respect until you lose it.
My affiliation with URD is basically non-existant. URD is a vendor here, just like every other vendor. I have purchased products from URD just like the rest of you. I purchased my TCAI from their website and also my URD catback. I paid for the my MAPECU2 in person when Gadget helped me with my S/C installation (which btw is a TRD unit). Why am I disclosing this to you? Because I want people to know more about our relationship than just making their own (mostly wrong) assumptions.
And speaking of, for all those that feel that Gadget constantly trashes TRD and only promotes URD.............. why did he tell me to buy a TRD unit then? I had a long talk with him about it and in the end he told me to buy the TRD. Why? Because it suited my needs better. Low maintenance, not really looking to upgrade it much, daily driver. He was honest with me about it and that buys far more than money ever could.
Gadget has my respect b/c he has not given me a reason to not respect him. But he's not perfect. Neither is Mike, Doug, Shane, Glen or any of the other vendors here. We all make mistakes.
There may be other users here that consider Gadget a "prized bear" but I'm pretty confident that they are only speaking from the same experiences that I've had with him. He's extremely helpful, very active in our community and fun to hang around - or at least these are my experiences, I can't speak for others.
But let it be known here and now, and hopefully for the last time, that URD has no bias in the minds of the XRU staff and we don't moderate or rule in their favor just b/c they're URD. And quite frankly I'm getting tired of the accusations.