[EdV]

Here’s what I know.

First, the cart repair person’s name is Michael. I met him in February 2010 at a gathering at Panera Bread in SS arranged by Sean, the owner of a cart towing service in TV who was an advertiser on TOTV at that time. I learned from Sean that he had been pestering Michael to visit the area because he would be a great asset for TV. But Michael’s main reason for being in central Florida at that time was not to visit TV but to attend the Daytona 500 because he is an avid race car enthusiast. I know I asked Michael at that time if he was going to re-locate here from California but he said they were just looking at that time. Tony had already introduced Michael as a helpful member for cart issues on TOTV.

It wasn’t until the summer of 2010 that he and his wife decided to take the plunge and sell their business and the house and relocate the whole family here. When Tony learned of this he began pressing hard on Michael to start an ad campaign on TOTV. In the end, Michael told him that he had too much going on at once to make a commitment.

Tony said he felt betrayed when Michael took out a small ad in The Sun and not only banned Michael and his username, but deleted all threads that he had posted in, thereby removing helpful information that TOTV members could have benefited from. But according to Michael himself, he posted The Sun ad after Tony banned him, not before.

Now banning a member from further posts is one thing, but deleting past useful threads reminds me of book burning campaigns.

[TOTV Team]

All 3 of the prior owners seemed to have been in agreement on the situation and as a privately owned forum they have the right to proceed accordingly. It's too bad 'Michael' and the owners let it get to that place. Seems the prior owners really helped them on this site and it seems it could have been easily avoided.

The prior administrations policy will remain in effect until the situation changes. We have other quality repair facilities offering up their services such as Sta Rite Golf Carts for members of this site.

[buzzy]

Admin,

I can't find the ad for Sta Rite Golf Carts. Where should I be looking?

Do you have a recommendation for a towing service, too?

[Brewster]

You wont find the ad for sta rite and for towing you can try *******, ....OH thats right, they have the star treatment too, maybe they too were using the site to enhance their business.....they were advertising on this site and still got booted. Something is not right here.

[TOTV Team]

Buzzy - There is a special section where you can ask an expert a golf cart question and Frank of Sta Rite Golf Cart & Accessories volunteers his time to answer questions for free for members of TOTV.

Here is a quick link to that section:

https://www.talkofthevillages.com/fo...play.php?f=230

Their information is as follows if you want to visit their location:

100 N. Dixie Ave.
Fruitland Park, FL 34731
352-326-3100

As far as a towing service I don't have one I can recommend but you might try American Golf Cart Association. I know they are recommended by AAA. Their website is: WWW.JOINAGA.US

[buzzy]

OK, I found the threads, and remembered when you introduced Frank. I also visited the AGA site. Thanks.

[ijusluvit]

This thread probably gives you indigestion. There is a fine line between allowing posters to recommend good service providers and folks using this site for free advertising.

But I think your adopted position is fair to all parties. You've drawn a line which does not prevent us from sharing valuable information about businesses and still protects advertisers investments.

I think you are doing your best to make fair judgements case by case, and I don't think anyone can expect more. Monitoring this situation carefully is the best you can do, short of depriving us of a lot of good information.

But speaking of monitoring, I'd like to see you go one step further with your advertisers. Encourage TOTV posters to give you private message feedback about those advertisers who offer expensive products and services. The "TOTV Best Businesses" stickers on their ad would be those doing large landscape projects, golf carts, and home construction, not ice cream and pizza. Warn businesses that they can lose their stickers and even have their ads pulled if there are complaints. If we knew that your advertisers were subject to "consumer reports" type scrutiny, we would have far more valuable information than we have now. And very reputable businesses would likely continue to advertise in order to stay in the elite company of those businesses which have a track record of customer praise. Posters cannot fake support for businesses. It's would easy to check. Just tell your advertisers they need a certain number of verified happy customers to get their sticker and remain virtually complaint-free to keep it.

Thanks for listening.

[TOTV Team]

Thanks for that suggestion, you might be on to something there.

[Jim 9922]

Originally Posted by ijusluvit

.
But speaking of monitoring, I'd like to see you go one step further with your advertisers. Encourage TOTV posters to give you private message feedback about those advertisers who offer expensive products and services. The "TOTV Best Businesses" stickers on their ad would be those doing large landscape projects, golf carts, and home construction, not ice cream and pizza. Warn businesses that they can lose their stickers and even have their ads pulled if there are complaints. If we knew that your advertisers were subject to "consumer reports" type scrutiny, we would have far more valuable information than we have now. And very reputable businesses would likely continue to advertise in order to stay in the elite company of those businesses which have a track record of customer praise. Posters cannot fake support for businesses. It's would easy to check. Just tell your advertisers they need a certain number of verified happy customers to get their sticker and remain virtually complaint-free to keep it.

Thanks for listening.

Just like "Angie's List". The service is already here and works fairly well. A similar one would be a great addition to TOV.