I would very much welcome technical commentary from TRF or any other
members of the list involved in the commercial end of our hobbies; but
as a non Triumph/MG owner I would have little interests in seeing their
ads on the list. We already do get such commentary from list members
who earn at least part of their income working on Brit cars, but I can't
think of one who has taken undo advantage of list membership. In fact,
I would have no objection to a business reference in their signature
line, as long as it isn't too blatant. I wouldn't want to see "the
special of the week", for example. But something like Joe's MG
Restorations, address, telephone number, would be okay, IMO.
As has been mentioned already, one problem that could result is a flame
war between a dissatisfied customer and a commercial list member. My
feelings on this matter is, to quote Scott Fisher a bit out of context,
that "the customer is always right". If a list member has what he or
she feels is a legitimate beef about a vendor or a supplier of service,
then I think it's perfectly okay for them to express it. I do not,
however, feel it is appropriate for the commercial member to get into a
public battle with that person. It's the customer not the supplier who
determines whether satisfaction was achieved. I think the
Charlie/Dennis disagreement is a good illustration of this point. I've
heard enough positive comments about Charlie Rockwell's operation on
this list to more than offset one complaint from a dissatisfied
customer. It seems to me that TRF, Rockwell, Moss VB or any other
potential commercial member should be required to let the chips fall
where they may. If all comments turn out to be negative, so be it.
Maybe they were deserved.
If ads, even in limited form, are to be permitted, I think the subject
line should clearly state that the message is commercial in nature. I
don't think it would be proper to intersperse plugs for products in
technical commentary. Perhaps a separate commercial email list would be
appropriate for ads.
Roland
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