David Fermani
Forza Auto Salon
I am creating this thread to show the true side of how AutoGeek treats their loyal customers. I tried expressing my concerns to several of the AutoGeek staff but correspondence on their part has been non-existent. Saying that I have just been a "customer" might be an understatement as I have been an avid supporter of both their forum and store for well over three years. In addition to daily visits to their forum, I purchased products monthly, and have referred several dozen clients and friends to both AutoGeek and their sister store: The Driver’s Seat. I have not missed the last 3 Detail Fests.
Case in point, my loyalty has been reciprocated. Both Meghan and Mike Phillips felt it would be a good idea to post about my recent headquarters visit on their forum:
Dave Fermani visits AutoGeek! - Auto Geek Online Auto Detailing Forum
In fact this is the second time I have stopped in and they made a thread about it. From 2008:
Meeting forum members! - Auto Geek Online Auto Detailing Forum
On February 25th I was banned from participating on their forum after politely questioning a statement made by Meghan. In this post Meghan states empirically that this new Power Lock sealant is a ’true’ Menzerna product. Anybody who has visited AutoGeek’s forum or their website knows how much they have slammed other Menzerna products(FMJ), which are not made further from Germany then this new sealant. Here’s the post I made that was deleted and resulted in my banning in this thread: menzerna fmj? - Auto Geek Online Auto Detailing Forum
According to both Jeff Silver and Phil from Detailer’s Domain the new Menzerna Power Lock sealant is NOT a Menzerna of Germany manufactured product. Meghan’s reply was posted on a thread that was asking about Menzerna FMJ, so her misinformation was posted to bash a competitor, and to strengthen the marketing angle that the Geeks have always taken. Unfortunately it is wrong. In politics, opposing parties will launch slanderous campaigns against each other, referred to as ‘smear jobs’. What makes a ‘smear job’ is the cover up. This is a classic example.
It just goes to show how Meghan and the Geek’s choose to go to extreme unethical lengths to protect their ignorance. Why somebody decides to delete one’s post and ban them without reason, so they can continue to slam a competitor’s product is beyond me. If Meghan TRULY was misinformed about the origin of Power Lock she had plenty of resources to find it and has a responsibility to the forum members who trust her word to do so. I feel that if her ultimate goal was to share useful information about the products she carries and educate the consumer, she would have apologized for her misinformation to the forum that looks up to her advice.
Instead of even retracting her statement, I am banned, without reason… And the misinformation is allowed to stay. In my opinion it clearly shows the direction of the forum and its goals. Perhaps this is why there are a supposed 500 members on at all times but only 2 pages of new posts, where forums like Detailers World gets 10-15 pages per day with less (but real) members. This could also be why competitor’s names are given the Zymol treatment and blanked(******) out from being used. Maybe all those people do not post because they are afraid of having their product selection subtly bashed by certain Geeks, every time.
For what it is worth, Detailing Bliss, Jeff Silver of Menzerna USA, or Phil had no problem with a similar topic of discussion, but then again Phil has NEVER bashed a competitors product and has always run his business with great integrity. Here's the thread on DB where I asked similar about data:
Any info on this new Menz sealant: Power Lock - Detailing Bliss Forum
Thank God there are people/forums like Phil/DB, Autopia and others in this industry who aren’t afraid to discuss the Truth.
Immediately after being banned, I PM’d Meghan asking why I was locked out of their forum. After no response for an entire day, I forwarded my message to Mike Phillips the next day and asked him for help. No response. On the following Thursday I left Mike a voice message on his cell phone and still no response. I consider this a deliberate smack in the face. I’ve gone out of my way to help him with non-detail related dilemmas when his trophy 4X4 trunk was totaled and the insurance company only offered him $1200 for its value. I remember coaching him multiple times by phone on how to earn a fair amount and even went to AutoGeek to inspect it. I guess all integrity was thrown out the window when I asked for help in return?
The ironic thing about this situation is that they didn’t have the courtesy to follow their own printed guidelines for discipline.
AutoGeek Online Forum Rules
1. No personal attacks toward members or non-members will be tolerated.
2. No arguing with Moderators or Administrators.
3. You are welcome to disagree but you must be polite.
4. No bashing any company or their products. No bashing other people. If you can't say anything nice about someone, then don't say anything at all, this also includes talking to others in a demeaning manner. REMEMBER this forum is here for those that are new to detailing and those that have been doing this for years. We expect that you treat everyone with respect no matter what their level of detailing is. We all had to start somewhere.
5. Forum Nicknames and Avatars must be family friendly, they cannot even hint towards anything raunchy, sleazy, sexual or inappropriate. When in doubt we will err on the side of caution and ask you to choose a different Avatar or Nickname.
6. E-mail addresses cannot be used as a forum nickname.
7. If any thread gets off topic it will be at the discretion of the moderator to close and/or move it to moderators corner.
8. Keep language "G Rated", this includes insinuations. If you wouldn't say it in front of your grandparents, your parents or your children, then you shouldn't probably be posting to the AutogeekOnline forum.
9. Self-promoting clickable links are not allowed in your posts.
10. Moderators have the right to move any thread that does not follow within the AGO rules to moderators corner.
11. Only one account per member! The only conceivable reason for multiple accounts would be for fraudulent activity. You will be banned for this action immediately.
12. Continuously breaking the rules to disrupt the online community will result in you being banned from the forum.
13. No Commercial sales or samples from competing companies. One post trying to promote and you will have banned yourself permanently.
14. All messages posted to AutogeekOnline become the property of Autogeek.net. and may not be deleted without first obtaining permission.
Exceptions:
We stand behind our Moderators, if our Moderators think you're causing problems for the online community they are empowered to take whatever action necessary to correct the problem.
Rule Infraction Enforcement
Everyone makes mistakes however; pushing the house rules to the limit will not be tolerated. Therefore, chronic and severe violators of AGO rules will be warned, put on a Queue (time-out), or completely banned based on the severity of the violation. We will apply rule enforcement as follows:
*1st time offense- Warning: Minor rule infractions, you will be sent a PM or email by a moderator pointing out the infraction. There will be no action at this time outside of the warning.
*2nd time offense- Queue: This will give you a 24 hour up to a two week forum break. This will occur after you have been warned previously or if you are involved with bashing of other members, being a hot-head, spamming, bad language, posting inappropriate materials.
*3rd and last time- Banned: You will be banned if you are a repeat offender or if you are involved with any of the following....blatant spamming/selling, attacking forum moderators, pornography, racial/sexist/threatening posts, trolling, fraud, liable/slander, multiple accounts, shills.
The last clause: Exception part is interesting; saying that the moderators are empowered to take whatever action necessary…
I can see why this is necessary as not everything is always black and white, but when moderators and company representatives abuse their power to cover up their own dishonest statements there is a problem. I am not sure if it is a case of a few apples being sour or the whole barrel but I know I will never do business with AutoGeek again.
Just prior to being banned, AutoGeek made habit of deleting/editing people’s threads and posts if they didn’t fall within their own forum initiative$.
Why are Threads being Deleted? (Admin Note: Threads are not deleted but moved or closed to maintain civility) - Auto Geek Online Auto Detailing Forum
There were a few informative threads that disappeared after Moderators stated they would temporally lock them over night. When questioned, they claim that discussion wasn’t respectful. When I PM’d another Moderator(Matt) asking for their judgment they claimed this I wasn’t doing anything wrong and I could continue. I have several other PM’s from members that claim that their posts have also been deleted without clue.
If somebody from the Geek does read this and chooses to respond please answer why I was banned, what specific rules did I broke; and why was keeping a shroud of misinformation more important then customer service? I don’t see where I even came close to breaking any rules. I have NEVER been given a warning, and through PM’s with other moderators I was told I was NOT in the wrong in questionable threads of the past.
David
Case in point, my loyalty has been reciprocated. Both Meghan and Mike Phillips felt it would be a good idea to post about my recent headquarters visit on their forum:
Dave Fermani visits AutoGeek! - Auto Geek Online Auto Detailing Forum
In fact this is the second time I have stopped in and they made a thread about it. From 2008:
Meeting forum members! - Auto Geek Online Auto Detailing Forum
On February 25th I was banned from participating on their forum after politely questioning a statement made by Meghan. In this post Meghan states empirically that this new Power Lock sealant is a ’true’ Menzerna product. Anybody who has visited AutoGeek’s forum or their website knows how much they have slammed other Menzerna products(FMJ), which are not made further from Germany then this new sealant. Here’s the post I made that was deleted and resulted in my banning in this thread: menzerna fmj? - Auto Geek Online Auto Detailing Forum
Meghan said:
David Fermani said:
According to both Jeff Silver and Phil from Detailer’s Domain the new Menzerna Power Lock sealant is NOT a Menzerna of Germany manufactured product. Meghan’s reply was posted on a thread that was asking about Menzerna FMJ, so her misinformation was posted to bash a competitor, and to strengthen the marketing angle that the Geeks have always taken. Unfortunately it is wrong. In politics, opposing parties will launch slanderous campaigns against each other, referred to as ‘smear jobs’. What makes a ‘smear job’ is the cover up. This is a classic example.
It just goes to show how Meghan and the Geek’s choose to go to extreme unethical lengths to protect their ignorance. Why somebody decides to delete one’s post and ban them without reason, so they can continue to slam a competitor’s product is beyond me. If Meghan TRULY was misinformed about the origin of Power Lock she had plenty of resources to find it and has a responsibility to the forum members who trust her word to do so. I feel that if her ultimate goal was to share useful information about the products she carries and educate the consumer, she would have apologized for her misinformation to the forum that looks up to her advice.
Instead of even retracting her statement, I am banned, without reason… And the misinformation is allowed to stay. In my opinion it clearly shows the direction of the forum and its goals. Perhaps this is why there are a supposed 500 members on at all times but only 2 pages of new posts, where forums like Detailers World gets 10-15 pages per day with less (but real) members. This could also be why competitor’s names are given the Zymol treatment and blanked(******) out from being used. Maybe all those people do not post because they are afraid of having their product selection subtly bashed by certain Geeks, every time.
For what it is worth, Detailing Bliss, Jeff Silver of Menzerna USA, or Phil had no problem with a similar topic of discussion, but then again Phil has NEVER bashed a competitors product and has always run his business with great integrity. Here's the thread on DB where I asked similar about data:
Any info on this new Menz sealant: Power Lock - Detailing Bliss Forum
Thank God there are people/forums like Phil/DB, Autopia and others in this industry who aren’t afraid to discuss the Truth.
Immediately after being banned, I PM’d Meghan asking why I was locked out of their forum. After no response for an entire day, I forwarded my message to Mike Phillips the next day and asked him for help. No response. On the following Thursday I left Mike a voice message on his cell phone and still no response. I consider this a deliberate smack in the face. I’ve gone out of my way to help him with non-detail related dilemmas when his trophy 4X4 trunk was totaled and the insurance company only offered him $1200 for its value. I remember coaching him multiple times by phone on how to earn a fair amount and even went to AutoGeek to inspect it. I guess all integrity was thrown out the window when I asked for help in return?
The ironic thing about this situation is that they didn’t have the courtesy to follow their own printed guidelines for discipline.
AutoGeek Online Forum Rules
1. No personal attacks toward members or non-members will be tolerated.
2. No arguing with Moderators or Administrators.
3. You are welcome to disagree but you must be polite.
4. No bashing any company or their products. No bashing other people. If you can't say anything nice about someone, then don't say anything at all, this also includes talking to others in a demeaning manner. REMEMBER this forum is here for those that are new to detailing and those that have been doing this for years. We expect that you treat everyone with respect no matter what their level of detailing is. We all had to start somewhere.
5. Forum Nicknames and Avatars must be family friendly, they cannot even hint towards anything raunchy, sleazy, sexual or inappropriate. When in doubt we will err on the side of caution and ask you to choose a different Avatar or Nickname.
6. E-mail addresses cannot be used as a forum nickname.
7. If any thread gets off topic it will be at the discretion of the moderator to close and/or move it to moderators corner.
8. Keep language "G Rated", this includes insinuations. If you wouldn't say it in front of your grandparents, your parents or your children, then you shouldn't probably be posting to the AutogeekOnline forum.
9. Self-promoting clickable links are not allowed in your posts.
10. Moderators have the right to move any thread that does not follow within the AGO rules to moderators corner.
11. Only one account per member! The only conceivable reason for multiple accounts would be for fraudulent activity. You will be banned for this action immediately.
12. Continuously breaking the rules to disrupt the online community will result in you being banned from the forum.
13. No Commercial sales or samples from competing companies. One post trying to promote and you will have banned yourself permanently.
14. All messages posted to AutogeekOnline become the property of Autogeek.net. and may not be deleted without first obtaining permission.
Exceptions:
We stand behind our Moderators, if our Moderators think you're causing problems for the online community they are empowered to take whatever action necessary to correct the problem.
Rule Infraction Enforcement
Everyone makes mistakes however; pushing the house rules to the limit will not be tolerated. Therefore, chronic and severe violators of AGO rules will be warned, put on a Queue (time-out), or completely banned based on the severity of the violation. We will apply rule enforcement as follows:
*1st time offense- Warning: Minor rule infractions, you will be sent a PM or email by a moderator pointing out the infraction. There will be no action at this time outside of the warning.
*2nd time offense- Queue: This will give you a 24 hour up to a two week forum break. This will occur after you have been warned previously or if you are involved with bashing of other members, being a hot-head, spamming, bad language, posting inappropriate materials.
*3rd and last time- Banned: You will be banned if you are a repeat offender or if you are involved with any of the following....blatant spamming/selling, attacking forum moderators, pornography, racial/sexist/threatening posts, trolling, fraud, liable/slander, multiple accounts, shills.
The last clause: Exception part is interesting; saying that the moderators are empowered to take whatever action necessary…
I can see why this is necessary as not everything is always black and white, but when moderators and company representatives abuse their power to cover up their own dishonest statements there is a problem. I am not sure if it is a case of a few apples being sour or the whole barrel but I know I will never do business with AutoGeek again.
Just prior to being banned, AutoGeek made habit of deleting/editing people’s threads and posts if they didn’t fall within their own forum initiative$.
Why are Threads being Deleted? (Admin Note: Threads are not deleted but moved or closed to maintain civility) - Auto Geek Online Auto Detailing Forum
There were a few informative threads that disappeared after Moderators stated they would temporally lock them over night. When questioned, they claim that discussion wasn’t respectful. When I PM’d another Moderator(Matt) asking for their judgment they claimed this I wasn’t doing anything wrong and I could continue. I have several other PM’s from members that claim that their posts have also been deleted without clue.
If somebody from the Geek does read this and chooses to respond please answer why I was banned, what specific rules did I broke; and why was keeping a shroud of misinformation more important then customer service? I don’t see where I even came close to breaking any rules. I have NEVER been given a warning, and through PM’s with other moderators I was told I was NOT in the wrong in questionable threads of the past.
David
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