Newbies, before you post negative comments...

[sc0ut]

first impressions are always important. i prefer to hear the both negative and positive comments. what i don't like seeing is the mob mentality of other members in ganging up on the so called newbie who had the "audacity" to post a negative comment. saying "give it time" is like saying "spend more money, you might get what you expected next time". i do like the "pm mark or steve or email them" responses. i've only been in this subforum for a few days but i've been seeing the tendencies toward the "kool aid drinkers". there are way too many apologists and protectionist.

 

[Symmetric]

Every time someone posts an "issue" to the site, it shows up on the Today's Posts page and people who use whatever brand of PV will read it. This is not because of some deep yearning to help, it's because people love drama.

If we choose to group-think and put someone in their place for complaining, we show the world what V4L is about, a bunch of elitists, circling the wagons. However, when we lend a hand and help or (for things out of our collective control) offer the "PM Mark or Steve and they'll make it right" line, we show the world what V4L is about, community and furthering the cause.

Perception is reality.

On the topic of the search feature:
I also get a little bit tired of reading similar questions time and again, but since it seems like this subforum is made up of about 70% n00bs these days, it is what it is. One of the things I LOVE about ECF is that in 99% of the threads, you don't see some ...... who posts just to say, "you should use the search function instead of asking stupid questions"... that REALLY annoys me, and I'm afraid makes us all look arrogant.

Read any of the "...just got my first order..." threads (use the search function) and you will see that the majority of the time, SOMEWHERE in that thread the OP talks about either how great the customer service is, or how helpful the community is. For each one of those with a resolution, someone stops using a 510.

Yes, we have been accused of drinking the Kool Aid and being shills (some of us more than others), but in the end, V4L has a superior product in both the hardware and consumables (here's where someone will post to tell me that it's just a KR808-d and XYZ has the same product, for less... You know who you are...). I'm pretty much convinced that the Kool-Aid drinkers are responsible for the large influx of n00bs, and while I miss some of the old faces, I like the fresh blood in the subforum.

This post available in hardback or softcover

 

[DaShiVa]

New folks (in particular) will post as they post, I have no problems if they seem upset and confused, we're here to help them figure it out, and end up smiling.

I think it's more the responsibility of "non-noobs" to reply calmly, maturely and in a constructive fashion to folks who post when disappointed for whatever reason.

Sure, it'd be nice if newbies did a little research first, but then they wouldn't really be newbies, would they?

 

[HzG8rGrl]

I have seen many V4L'ers answer politely and have seen some answer with-use the search function and others that will answer and provide a link that will take them to a previous discussion on the subject at hand and explaining the search function. But this is not just in the V4L subforum. I see it this way all over the boards.

 

[VapingRulz]

This is my favorite part of the ECF forum, but it has to be said: there is a culture here that is a bit...unprofessional. V4L is a BUSINESS, not a fan club. This may be the V4L sub-forum, but it is part of a greater whole: the e-cig forum and the growing vaping community. It's great that we're all so enthusiastic about the product - which I do firmly believe is the best one out there - but we need to remember that there are many, many lurkers out there who are watching what happens when someone is literally attacked for posting a negative comment. It's very bad PR; it is very bad for business.

Both negative and positive comments should be welcome and encouraged. If everything is always happy-happy, the business owners won't know when something needs to be tweaked or fixed. If customers are taken to task because they make a negative comment - and yes, it happens here - they will be turned off of the product altogether.

I think that some posters have just lost sight of the fact that some of V4L's products are going to be bad. It's an emerging technology; a relatively new product; new flavors that are untested by large numbers of people. They're not going to get everything 100% out of the gate. V4L can't properly grow and improve if everyone feels obligated to (or bullied into) praising products if they don't deserve it. If a batch of cartos taste like perfume, it does not do V4L any good if posters pretend otherwise. Leaford needs to know the truth so he can do his job.

Please have tolerance for the newbies and the disgruntled. They're paying customers, too.

 

[StaceyM]

Exceptional post, VapingRulz. I do believe you "nailed it".

 

[sc0ut]

This is my favorite part of the ECF forum, but it has to be said: there is a culture here that is a bit...unprofessional. V4L is a BUSINESS, not a fan club.

Both negative and positive comments should be welcome and encouraged. If everything is always happy-happy, the business owners won't know when something needs to be tweaked or fixed. If customers are taken to task because they make a negative comment - and yes, it happens here - they will be turned off of the product altogether.

I think that some posters have just lost sight of the fact that some of V4L's products are going to be bad. It's an emerging technology; a relatively new product; new flavors that are untested by large numbers of people. They're not going to get everything 100% out of the gate. V4L can't properly grow and improve if everyone feels obligated to (or bullied into) praising products if they don't deserve it. If a batch of cartos taste like perfume, it does not do V4L any good if posters pretend otherwise. Leaford needs to know the truth so he can do his job.

Please have tolerance for the newbies and the disgruntled. They're paying customers, too.

Agree 100% !!

 

[emberl]

This is my favorite part of the ECF forum, but it has to be said: there is a culture here that is a bit...unprofessional. V4L is a BUSINESS, not a fan club. This may be the V4L sub-forum, but it is part of a greater whole: the e-cig forum and the growing vaping community. It's great that we're all so enthusiastic about the product - which I do firmly believe is the best one out there - but we need to remember that there are many, many lurkers out there who are watching what happens when someone is literally attacked for posting a negative comment. It's very bad PR; it is very bad for business.

Both negative and positive comments should be welcome and encouraged. If everything is always happy-happy, the business owners won't know when something needs to be tweaked or fixed. If customers are taken to task because they make a negative comment - and yes, it happens here - they will be turned off of the product altogether.

I think that some posters have just lost sight of the fact that some of V4L's products are going to be bad. It's an emerging technology; a relatively new product; new flavors that are untested by large numbers of people. They're not going to get everything 100% out of the gate. V4L can't properly grow and improve if everyone feels obligated to (or bullied into) praising products if they don't deserve it. If a batch of cartos taste like perfume, it does not do V4L any good if posters pretend otherwise. Leaford needs to know the truth so he can do his job.

Please have tolerance for the newbies and the disgruntled. They're paying customers, too.

Fantastic post!
I could not agree with you more.

 

[katkin]

This is my favorite part of the ECF forum, but it has to be said: there is a culture here that is a bit...unprofessional. V4L is a BUSINESS, not a fan club. This may be the V4L sub-forum, but it is part of a greater whole: the e-cig forum and the growing vaping community. It's great that we're all so enthusiastic about the product - which I do firmly believe is the best one out there - but we need to remember that there are many, many lurkers out there who are watching what happens when someone is literally attacked for posting a negative comment. It's very bad PR; it is very bad for business.

Both negative and positive comments should be welcome and encouraged. If everything is always happy-happy, the business owners won't know when something needs to be tweaked or fixed. If customers are taken to task because they make a negative comment - and yes, it happens here - they will be turned off of the product altogether.

I think that some posters have just lost sight of the fact that some of V4L's products are going to be bad. It's an emerging technology; a relatively new product; new flavors that are untested by large numbers of people. They're not going to get everything 100% out of the gate. V4L can't properly grow and improve if everyone feels obligated to (or bullied into) praising products if they don't deserve it. If a batch of cartos taste like perfume, it does not do V4L any good if posters pretend otherwise. Leaford needs to know the truth so he can do his job.

Please have tolerance for the newbies and the disgruntled. They're paying customers, too.

I think you nailed it. Btw, I actually found, and got interested in, V4L because of a post with someone complaining, and the responses (helpful ones) to him. So I'm seconding your lurker comment. Had I seen a bunch of attacks, I might still have ordered a VK. A few months from now. Or maybe not.

 

[paulyc44]

You're right. Vaping is nothing like smoking. It's a 1000 times better. The taste is better, the throat kick is better, the massive clouds are better, etc. Oh yea and that whole feeling like a million dollars is also worth it.

I love the NOOBS that whine and say it sucks off the bat. You know what also sucked right off the bat? Remember your first real cigarette?

 

[katkin]

You're right. Vaping is nothing like smoking. It's a 1000 times better. The taste is better, the throat kick is better, the massive clouds are better, etc. Oh yea and that whole feeling like a million dollars is also worth it.

I love the NOOBS that whine and say it sucks off the bat. You know what also sucked right off the bat? Remember your first real cigarette?

Yeah, as a matter of fact, I do. Gave me quite a buzz. Tasted good. I spent most of the rest of my life trying to recreate that. Your point?

 

[Mary Kay]

Kat..you are kidding right? I was sick for a day! Then I did it again..what a dufus I was at 21!

Vaping Ruiz..you are so right! Good post!

About doing a search..it has been said (about a million times) that the search engine on this site is awful! I have done searches for the most obvious things and came up with bupkis. I had to go to google and do a search which brought me back to this forum! Smokey Joe and the staff are trying to upgrade it. Now if they could get the spell check to work...

We had a whole thread about not jumping on people who post a negative. I thought it was resolved..play nice people!
But that isn't what I was talking about..I am talking about the idiots with too much time and no damn sense who just like to stir a hornets nest. It's probably a fan of another supplier or a just a nutcase, you see them in every single suppliers subforum. It's the equivilent of yelling fire in a theater. We need a dislike button!

As for this forum being full of fanboys(girls)..so what? We aren't the business end of the V4L we are just the ambassadors.

If I am unhappy I send Mark a P.M., both times..in 9 months. And both times it was taken care of even though it was probalby user error.
If I don't care for a flavor, I say so, if I like a flavor I say that too. You can't be more honest then that. I am on here to support other vapers, not to cheerlead for Steve and co. That's what I see in most of you..kindness to each other.

Thanks Catmommy, that was sweet of you. But I carry a big stick and even try to lift it sometimes!

 

[Taryn]

It is hard not to rise to the bait because I do feel passionately about both the product and the company. If there isn't an ECF forums rule about trolling suppliers subforums and trying to cause trouble there should be. I will try to do better and just ignore them. I said try....sometimes they do push a girl a bit too far...

 

[katkin]

Kat..you are kidding right? I was sick for a day! Then I did it again..what a dufus I was at 21!

No - actually I LIKED it. I liked the taste and the buzz. Unlike most, I didn't get sick. I didn't inhale much - just puffed -that might have made the difference.

I was a doofus about 6 years earlier than you...

 

[plantlvr]

I really didn't mean to cause such a ruckus, but I was a little upset at the poster that gave V4L juices a 'red thumb' in his post, and I did answer him politly and with good advice. i guess it just got to me, people that are just starting out and are po'ed cus vaping isn't like smoking. I apoligize to all who I offended as it wasn't my intention.

 

[paulyc44]

Yeah, as a matter of fact, I do. Gave me quite a buzz. Tasted good. I spent most of the rest of my life trying to recreate that. Your point?

Then you are one of few. I, like most, coughed up a lung. It was painful, tasted like crap, and made my head spin. Point is, it had to grow on me. Vaping has kind of been like that for me. Once I knew what I was doing then it is very pleasant.

 

[katkin]

I really didn't mean to cause such a ruckus, but I was a little upset at the poster that gave V4L juices a 'red thumb' in his post, and I did answer him politly and with good advice. i guess it just got to me, people that are just starting out and are po'ed cus vaping isn't like smoking. I apoligize to all who I offended as it wasn't my intention.

Well, keep in mind that a lot of people don't have time or patience to read every post in this e-forum (not just the V4L) and have come in straight from listening to radio ads for scam sites that basically imply that it's "just like smoking but with vapor instead of nasty smoke."

And then they get an e-cig with a 'marlb-something' flavor and it tastes sweet? nutty? not-like-a-cig? or they get a menthol that tastes like peppermint and they see ... apple? grape? strawberry? cappuchino? cinnamon roll? wine?

So they get po'ed because what smokingassassin or smokingeverywhere or blucig or whomever promised them isn't what V4L (or any of the other ECF vendors - or anyone else) delivers.

We just need to have a bit of patience, I think.

 

[Mary Kay]

Yes kat, you said it well.
planet..please! You know good and well you just wanted to see me and Taryn get all huffy! Just teasing! Stop throwing stuff!

 

[Taryn]

Hehehe, I'm not huffy at all. It was a good post and well said. I never claimed to be perfect

 

[v4l555lover]

What the crap ? I just started and am a "noob" of course I did not expect it to be like anything especially like smoking . Who the hell would even think that it would be ? In some ways it is close , like having to draw something into your lungs , but other than that it is not the same . I tried vapor at my fathers and thought it was very nice . after a few days of cutting down to 2 cigs a day instead of 20 I really wanted to give this a shot . I can say i do miss some things about smoking but not enough to go back to it unless e-cigs get banned and have really no other choice and that would be the choice that the government gave to me for not "allowing " us to do something better than smoking . to sum this up BEFORE noobs buy they should research or maybe even ask someone who vapes to let them try there vp . I know if someone really wants to try this i wouldn't mind letting them try a cart . but also if one wants to gripe let them , maybe they are asking for help in a different way than we would like . sometimes pride can be a MF .