Curious events on detailingbliss.com

FJF · 09-08-09, 08:19

Since this subject is somewhat sensitive, I ran the thread topic by David B before proceeding. As can be witnessed by my post count, I'd not one to bring a lot of attention to myself. Before going forward with this, I contacted Carlos, the admin at DB, several days ago and asked to have the situation looked at to no avail. I will also shoot Carlos a link to this thread, so that he can respond. Here's the story:

Like many of us, I read several detailing forums. As an Evolution owner, I also try to help out on EvoM's detailing board. In a thread on the Evo forum, I opined about a number of online detailing communities. That, along with the thread, itself, drove a DB member to start a discussion on DB regarding the events. I was unaware of this until some days later, after seeing five pages of text calling me an idiot. I did respond on the 5th page and considered it as the end of the affair. Never giving this another thought, I went about my business.

Then, about a weeks ago, I tried refreshing DB and was met with an error message. Similarly, every other attempt to refresh the site resulted in an anomaly. I've been involved with discussion forums since the days of Usenet. As a past co-admin of a vB forum, it was clear that DB was using vB Miserable Users hack described below:

Mind you, no forum rules were broken. Since registering on DB last January, I've accumulated all of ~35 posts there. It's not like most of the folks on DB even know who I am. This is just a form of petty revenge for daring to post a personal opinion on another forum, altogether. A quick look at the board will point to multiple posts from the admin painting DB as a board that welcomes all, as long as folks stick to the rules. This welcoming attitude, apparently, coexists with underhanded actions that willfully and purposefully single out specific individuals. This leads me to wonder whether anyone else has experienced this on DB.

RaskyR1 · 09-08-09, 08:52

I tried joining it a while back and got this...

"The administrator has banned your email address"

After contacting them this is what I got in response...

Hi,

Yes, due to high volume of spam I've had to ban certain email accounts. One of them being the @gmail.com.

You may join the forum by simply using another email account, example @yahoo.com

Sorry for the inconvenience.

Carlos
Detailing Bliss

At that point I decided I didn't want to join.

Apollo_Auto · 09-08-09, 02:03

Well FJF, despite our cyber-tussle I'll confirm that they're way of running things over there is very totalitarian. They edited one of my posts a while back about a Scuderia 16M that I did. The title was something like "Scuderia 16M... webmaster". It was a little word play with the Scuderia "spider" and "cobwebs" on the car. They edited the title because they thought I was trying to promote myself as a webmaster, which I am, but that wasn't my intent. I overlooked it.

The 2nd incident was that they deleted an entire post of mine because I used a watermark on all my pictures with my company name. Despite having no real promotional value being that it's a picture (if someone wants to commission me for work all they have to do is PM me) and that DB was the only site that had a problem with it, I changed the watermarks on all of my pictures to make them happy and to be in 100% compliance with the rules.

The 3rd time they altered my post was when I posted the "Castle weekend Ferrari Party"... they deleted the link that I included for the castle that we stayed at, as if I was in some way affiliated with them. Then they made an announcement on my thread that the thread had been modified and that if anyone had a problem with it they could contact the admins. This made me feel like I was the center of attention at a public stoning or they pointed the "you did a bad thing" finger at me in front of all my peers.

I posted once more on DB stating that I would not post there anymore. Though I did post there once more after that as a courtesy to Phil at Detailer's Domain for a review of the new Lusso Oro wax I tested for him.

With this kind of behavior I'm not surprised that they have less than 2,500 members and less than 700 are active. Lighten up DB, you're losing members.

AeroCleanse · 09-08-09, 02:44

I had a strange incident with DB as well, so I told them to delete my account.

jopa489 · 09-08-09, 08:22

Never been on that site, but who wants to deal with that? Forums are ultimately about people with common interests coming together and sharing information, knowledge, techniques, products, whatever suits the forum.

I have a lot of experience with hosting and web communications. Using something like Miserable Users is a pretty pathetic move. Webmasters worth their salt should be competent enough to keep a user out if so desired. Using something like that is just weak. Similarly, banning the entire Gmail email domain? Err, sure, that's one way to "solve" a problem - but it's certainly not the best way.

Nobody wants to be dictated when on a forum. Of course there are rules to obey - and that's perfectly fine. But people shouldn't be worrying about how often they breathe. There is no reason to be that strict on a detailing forum - people don't liked to be jerked around when trying to share voluntarily on a public forum.

I'm glad we have a good set of Staff here. It's appreciated and noticed, especially when compared to sites that operate like DB.

I'll stay away. Thanks for the heads up.

Scottwax · 09-08-09, 09:22

That's what I like about autopia. David allows a lot of leeway before he or one of the mods step in. No one wants to post on boards that are nazi-moderated.

VALE TUDO · 09-09-09, 01:44

from my experience on db i can tell you if you havnt established yourself as part of the "db family" u get treated differantly.

Bigpoppa3346 · 09-09-09, 02:40

I used to post on there a bit, TBH I never really go there anymore as it has changed a lot since I first joined in January 08'. "Totalitarian" is actually a good way to describe it. Plus, the fact that most everyone there believes the more they spend, the better the product must be is just rediculous (of course they can deny this all they want, but I'm just calling it as I see it).

Autopia is still probably the best all around detailing forum (certainly the largest), I frequent other detailing sites for various reasons but Autopia will always be my home.

Bunky · 09-09-09, 03:00

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bigpoppa3346

I used to post on there a bit, TBH I never really go there anymore as it has changed a lot since I first joined in January 08'. "Totalitarian" is actually a good way to describe it. Plus, the fact that most everyone there believes the more they spend, the better the product must be is just rediculous (of course they can deny this all they want, but I'm just calling it as I see it).

I do not get that impression at all as well as the comments from the OP on DB.

DB has a bunch of enthusiastic users but no self appointed kings. Like any discussion forum, the regulars have favorites that get mentioned more than others. For example, many regular DB users like Majestic Solutions products. People who have common interests usually hang out together.
I like multiple discussion forums with different personalities -- diversity is good.

agpatel · 09-09-09, 03:16

I agree with Bunky, I first started going there in May and never felt like i was a outsider or feel lower because i dont get high end products. People like certain things and that's what they stick with. Example, Bunky does not like MS SGS but I love it, ha. I have not had a issue with DB, none of my post have been edited or contacted by anyone for doing anything wrong or what not.

yakky · 09-09-09, 06:30

Haven't really done much looking over there but Autopia is one of the best managed boards I visit. Very laid back, like it should be.

Daniel3507 · 09-09-09, 06:50

Quote:

Originally Posted by yakky

Haven't really done much looking over there but Autopia is one of the best managed boards I visit. Very laid back, like it should be.

X2. i havent really cruised any other detailing sites and dont really i dont have a need to with this site. loads of information and tons of extremely talented detailers willing to give advice. i am on another that is very strict and feels the need to delete or edit a lot of stuff. they deleted a thread i made because it involved a speeding ticket.