New sponsored sub forum for Bargain Alerts

Boards.ie: Niamh

Howdy all,
We're going to have a new sponsored sub-forum in Bargain Alerts - Gearbest.com.

We're aware that there were some issues with Gearbest.com and shilling in the past. As we've said elsewhere, we have always been willing to work with a company who comes on to the site to contact customers/potential customers - even if they do so in the wrong way, if they hold their hands up and understand that they went about things the wrong way and want to amend that, then we're happy to work with them on it. This is how some of our first Talk to forums came about and is how many of the Verified Rep accounts on the site also came into being.

Hopefully this new forum will be to everyone's benefit

There are a few things to be tidied up but it will probably go live tomorrow. As you can see, Gearbest.com has also been removed from the swear filter.

Thanks.

gordongekko

Will they have reps here? And any boardsie specials?

Boards.ie: Niamh

They will have one rep on their forum. I don't know if there will be any Boardsie specials yet but I'm sure it's a possibility

Kristopherus

Well, Holy Cow, this is a huge u-turn from the rant Dav had about Gearbest shilling. Any chance those banned for it will be unbanned? That would be a good start.:) I notice his thread about has been deleted. Was that part of the deal???:D

Edward Hopper

Kristopherus wrote: »

Any chance those banned for it will be unbanned? That would be a good start.:)

No there's no chance apparently. They did wrong, similar to Gearbest, only Gearbest have money, regular posters don't.

PM me nudes

Sellouts

godtabh

Are you serious? Has boards got to the stage that it will do anything for money regardless of the 'we have always been willing to work with a company who comes on to the site to contact customers/potential customers' philosophy?

Seems like a significant double standard

Full Marx

Cha ching, anyother nail in the coffin

salamanca22

I know boards is not exactly ethically run but come on?

CH3OH

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJD6fg9Ld5A

godtabh

Just because some one offers you money it doesnt mean you have to take it

Hollister11

Kristopherus wrote: »

Well, Holy Cow, this is a huge u-turn from the rant Dav had about Gearbest shilling. Any chance those banned for it will be unbanned? That would be a good start.:) I notice his thread about has been deleted. Was that part of the deal???:D

Any link to that thread?

DopeTech

Boards is really going to the dogs the last few years.

uck51js9zml2yt

I'm sure people are free not to use or engage with the new forum

Kristopherus

Hollister11 wrote: »

Any link to that thread?

Its been deleted, funnily enough. But was the most severe laying down of the law according to Dav. Basically it said that any poster who mentioned Gearbest could expect an instant ban.

A little more info here http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057427344

Yamanoto

Hell of a Volte-face.

Money talks I guess.

Skid X

Is this the same Gearbeast place that Dav ranted about a while back, I thought he considered them more evil than the Nazi Spawn of Beelzebub?


Edit: This was it

Gearbest Shilling on Bargain Alerts
For those of you who don't know what shilling is, it's when someone represents a brand/shop/product by making recommendations on their behalf when they have a vested interest - either by virtue of the fact that they're an employee of the shop/brand or they've been offered some sort of reward for it.

There is *NOTHING* more insidious and downright evil on a forum like this than shilling. It completely poisons the well of a resource like our Bargain Alerts forum if someone thinks that recommendations and "bargains" can't be trusted.

From now on, all references and recommendation for anything from Gearbest are banned. Their name has gone into our swear filter, so you won't be able to submit a link to their site as of tomorrow.

I will be investigating everyone who's posted any links to this business, if you've been involved in such things and want to remain on this site, I'd urge you to come to me first.

scudzilla

Disgusting the double standards here from boards, not liking at all the direction this site is going

I wonder just how much Dav's integrity cost Gearbest? Was there a specific amount?

JaMarcusHustle

I have a question.

Why is this under Bargain Alerts?

Why not in Talk To like most other sponsored forums?

The cynic in me believes that Gearbest would have requested it be put in Bargain Alerts for traffic reasons, given they've specifically targetted this forum before. Did they specifically ask for it to be put here?

I don't see why it should be in Bargain Alerts. Im sure they believe the offer the best bargains, but I'm sure the likes of Three, Virgin Media, Sky and other sponsored forums would claim that too. What makes Gearbest more suitable to Bargain Alerts?

Me thinks GearBest wanted a piece of the BA pie that is traffic and you were happy to oblige despite them going out of their way to break the sites rules.

godtabh

It appears every one has a price.

evolving_doors

Meh! no big deal. Any company caught-out shilling is given the same invitation and nobody bats an eyelid.
If you Donna wanna click into it then don't.
But ya I think the GearBest minions should be granted an amnesty.

UsedToWait

Krusty wrote:

So this afternoon, two suits come up to me and ask me to endorse some new sports utility vehicle.

[Crowd]
What did you do?

[Homer]
Don't you hate pants?

[Krusty]
I threw those two creeps out on their ass.

[Cheering]

Then they followed me home, beggin me to take a test drive.
And let me tell you, talk about roomy.
The Canyonero combines the smooth handling of a European sports car with the rugged drivability of a sturdy 4x4.

[Murmuring] - Hey, Krusty, what are you talking about? I thought you said those guys were creeps.

[Krusty]
Yeah, but that was before I got to know 'em.
And I'm tellin you, the Canyonero is the Cadillac of automobiles.
That's Canyonero.

..

kaizersoze

StupidLikeAFox

Ah lads, "how much did dave dignity cost?", "everyone has a price?" - talk about overreacting!

They used to shill, now they are willing to pay for a sponsored forum - that's about the size of it. No need to get your knickers in a twist

Sciprio

Well This is sickening.

gordongekko

Sciprio wrote: »

Well This is sickening.

Wow !!!!!! over reaction alert

dunworth1

while i'm against it being a sub forum in BA

i don't really see the issue with them being here boards is a business it needs to make money.

dunworth1

dunworth1 wrote: »

while i'm against it being a sub forum in BA

i don't really see the issue with them being here boards is a business it needs to make money.

I have no problem with Boards making money either. However Gearbest were at one point nefariously using members here to screw other people on this very forum. Loads of people got banned (some harshly) and a hard line was taken. A couple of months pass and now boards.ie are getting into bed with GearBest?

How are we now to take seriously anything Dav or other boards.ie staff say? They could very well flip flop later once the price is right.

GBX

I think it's great to get somebody like Gearbest on board, Having a rep on here that can answer questions directly is a good thing along with the possibility of possible Boards only deals. Whats not to like.

I'd actually question whether those who are getting on their high horse have had any bad experiences with them? Or is it just a case of that Boards didn't want them because of the shilling issue - so therefore they should hate them - let's burn them at the stake!!! Is it because those complaining feel they missed out on the shill side of things?

Trent Houseboat

GBX wrote:

I think it's great to get somebody like Gearbest on board, Having a rep on here that can answer questions directly is a good thing along with the possibility of possible Boards only deals. Whats not to like.

I'd actually question whether those who are getting on their high horse have had any bad experiences with them? Or is it just a case of that Boards didn't want them because of the shilling issue - so therefore they should hate them - let's burn them at the stake!!! Is it because those complaining feel they missed out on the shill side of things?

I don't think most people complaining care about GearBest, the care about the change in attitude from boards.ie and to how some people who merely mentioned GearBest in the past were treated so harshly.

salamanca22

Trent Houseboat wrote: »

I don't think most people complaining care about GearBest, the care about the change in attitude from boards.ie and to how some people who merely mentioned GearBest in the past were treated so harshly.

This exactly.

I am all for boards making money but when ethics are thrown out the window like this then I have to think to myself what has boards become.

Frynge

Will the gear best reps end up going the way of the reps with the food pyramid.

Trent Houseboat

That safe food thread is a classic. People in marketing trying to discuss nutrition with people who knew about nutrition.
From what I remember the powers that be just expunged all the criticism into a separate (but equal) thread and surprisingly nobody in the spin-off thread won the prize.

upandcumming

gordongekko wrote: »

Wow !!!!!! over reaction alert

Dav wrote: »

There are barely words to express how vile and despicable I think someone like you is, so don't ever come back.

Is that an overreaction?

maximoose

However Gearbest were at one point nefariously using members here to screw other people on this very forum. Loads of people got banned (some harshly) and a hard line was taken.

I vaguely remember shill threads and spammers being called out, but this all sounds mad. What exactly happened?

sunny2004

At the end of the day Boards.ie is a business, and its a FREE service, but some of its actions seem to be handled oddly.
I have no issue with GearBest as I never came across any of the posts that caused the problem but like many I was fully aware of the issues. I do think the PR part of boards.ie is in need of a rethink.

THE MOST IMPORTANT PART IS THIS WILL ALL BLOW OVER HA~HA

gordongekko

upandcumming wrote: »

Is that an overreaction?

Yes

justsomebloke

Given the venom with which he delivered his orginial post I'm surprised Dav isn't the one explaining why they have been let back in.

But this just shows how money talks on the site now. Also have the user who were banned given notice of how much they will have to pay to be allowed back on the site?

brightkane

The irony of it all....

Users banned for promoting products from the site and being Shills.

Site and people branded the lowest of the low.

Site sees the amount of interest and sales in ireland as a result of people promoting the product on bargain alerts.

Site contacts boards to get a sub forum.

Boards says show me the money, you lowest of the low for sending your shills here....

justsomebloke

brightkane wrote: »

The irony of it all....

Users banned for promoting products from the site and being Shills.

Site and people branded the lowest of the low.

Site sees the amount of interest and sales in ireland as a result of people promoting the product on bargain alerts.

Site contacts boards to get a sub forum.

Boards says show me the money, you lowest of the low for sending your shills here....

I'd say it was more to get rid of the bad press from the net then missing out on sales. So I'd say they are locked into a period of which they have to remain on then site after which point they will disappear

flutered

sunny2004 wrote: »

At the end of the day Boards.ie is a business, and its a FREE service, but some of its actions seem to be handled oddly.
I have no issue with GearBest as I never came across any of the posts that caused the problem but like many I was fully aware of the issues. I do think the PR part of boards.ie is in need of a rethink.

THE MOST IMPORTANT PART IS THIS WILL ALL BLOW OVER HA~HA

kinda like the trousering party, bring in something the publick dont like, the hope it will blow over with the help of their socks on social media, it was bad enough when adverts went pay as you go, it seems boards can change its name to prossies

Dyr

This reminds me of the old days of certain nightclubs where bouncers would come down like a ton of bricks on anyone they caught dealing..unless they were getting a cut of the takings.

ted1

sunny2004 wrote: »

At the end of the day Boards.ie is a business, and its a FREE service, but some of its actions seem to be handled oddly.
I have no issue with GearBest as I never came across any of the posts that caused the problem but like many I was fully aware of the issues. I do think the PR part of boards.ie is in need of a rethink.

THE MOST IMPORTANT PART IS THIS WILL ALL BLOW OVER HA~HA

If you are not paying for the product, you are the product, boards.ie make money from posters using the forum

Dyr

sunny2004 wrote: »

At the end of the day Boards.ie is a business, and its a FREE service,

As a wise man once said..if a product is free its because YOU are the product

Just to point out as well that Gearbest are horrendous to deal with. I was forced to use them recently for a custom torch groupbuy on another website. I ordered torches in separate orders and paid extra for tracking numbers for each. Both items were "sent out", disappeared for a month with the tracking info non-existant and then were suddenly sent out again (they were returned for some reason) by NL post.

Just to re-iterate my third and fourth orders of all time with them disappeared for a month. For the fourth order I knew it had gone missing after my experiences with the third. I contacted them two weeks beforehand and told them to refund me when it came back to them and not to send it out again. What did they do? The ****w1ts sent it out again to me.

They're bloody idiots. If you have a problem you can't get a person on live chat. You have to use some god-awful support forum that requires you to re-login every refresh and complete a captcha as well.

Basq

Yeah, I don't like this at all..

.. just give them a Talk To forum like all other businesses - what gives them a right to have a forum in the community driven (and always has been) Bargain Alerts.

Spamming their own forum with deals.. and the place will be a ghost town anyways.

While I buy off Gearbest occasionally, this decision just goes strangely against the norm for Boards.ie and I can't see a good outcome.

In summary - leave Bargain Alerts to the users!

Hollister11

sunny2004 wrote: »

At the end of the day Boards.ie is a business, and its a FREE service, but some of its actions seem to be handled oddly.
I have no issue with GearBest as I never came across any of the posts that caused the problem but like many I was fully aware of the issues. I do think the PR part of boards.ie is in need of a rethink.

THE MOST IMPORTANT PART IS THIS WILL ALL BLOW OVER HA~HA

The thing is, if boards stopped being free, and charged I wouldn't hesitate to pay it.

degsie

Hollister11 wrote: »

The thing is, if boards stopped being free, and charged I wouldn't hesitate to pay it.

Marketing folk must love you

UsedToWait

I wonder how long before Boards starts expunging negative comments about Gearbest from the archive, and banning negative feedback for these low-down shills our wonderful Sponsors

Hollister11

degsie wrote: »

Marketing folk must love you

Haha, Why ?