While I didn't have a big interest in the classifieds or co-op forums, I applied...

[Strigoi]

If there is excess money it should go to those that run this site.

I've modded on decent size forums and it's damn near a full time job. I got my perks (and still do) from one of them, but it doesn't even come close to making up for the hours that I spent on there dealing with stupid bull.....

You don't have to be verified or be a supporting member to enjoy this site. It's still privately owned and they can do whatever they want. Some choose to go through the process, others don't. It's an internet forum, don't take it so seriously. If you get some good information spend the $24 or whatever it costs a year to help out the site. The people that run this site spend of a lot of their time and money (the owners) to make sure .... goes smoothly.

 

[Strigoi]

I've been on the supporting members page a bunch of times, but frankly I couldn't find a why to 'give', other than getting a badge. Again, I find this forum awesome, however I would like to see how they are paying forward out their success to help further the cause.

M

I totally missed this when posting my previous response.

It's not about getting a badge. I don't give two ....s about what's under my username. This place helped me quit smoking, for that I can throw a couple dollars a month at the site to help them out.

Honestly, you're coming across as a complete ......... in your posts in this thread. Don't bother giving me some educated response, because I'm done and don't feel there's much more to be said. I've been on forums for around 14 years now and understand how they work.

 

[MagicMike]

You don't have to be verified or be a supporting member to enjoy this site.

I've enjoyed this site a TON, I just didn't realize that it was so much a commercial enterprise when I'd initially joined. Honestly, even though I've joined 250 to 500 forums over my life this is by far the biggest and in reality likely the best run. So when I'd read 3 to 4 days, I expected 3 to 4 days, WITHOUT having to become a sponsoring member.

I no longer care about the classifieds or co-op's in the forums, I was just trying to 'progress' as a member. It was merely a forum I didn't have access too that if I followed the rules, contributed that would be unlocked.

I will continue to promote, educate and hopefully help the Vaping community at large!

MM

 

[Lessifer]

I haven't become a supporting member but I was verified last week a couple days after I applied. Just give it time, volunteer and all that.
Btw I used the netidme, if that helps.

 

[MagicMike]

Honestly, you're coming across as a complete ......... in your posts in this thread.

Honestly I can't disagree!

However if you read all of the posts in this forum and all of my threads on this board, you find that I just speak my mind. If that's a crime, then lock me up with your mods with a bit of tasty juice.

MM

Old, Annoying, Truthful, Frank and Honest.

 

[Strigoi]

I've enjoyed this site a TON, I just didn't realize that it was so much a commercial enterprise when I'd initially joined. Honestly, even though I've joined 250 to 500 forums over my life this is by far the biggest and in reality likely the best run. So when I'd read 3 to 4 days, I expected 3 to 4 days, WITHOUT having to become a sponsoring member.

I no longer care about the classifieds or co-op's in the forums, I was just trying to 'progress' as a member. It was merely a forum I didn't have access too that if I followed the rules, contributed that would be unlocked.

I will continue to promote, educate and hopefully help the Vaping community at large!

MM

 

[MagicMike]

I haven't become a supporting member but I was verified last week a couple days after I applied. Just give it time, volunteer and all that.
Btw I used the netidme, if that helps

I appreciate you taking the time to read and reply to my actual concerns.

MM

 

[tiburonfirst]

I've enjoyed this site a TON, I just didn't realize that it was so much a commercial enterprise when I'd initially joined. Honestly, even though I've joined 250 to 500 forums over my life this is by far the biggest and in reality likely the best run. So when I'd read 3 to 4 days, I expected 3 to 4 days, WITHOUT having to become a sponsoring member.

I no longer care about the classifieds or co-op's in the forums, I was just trying to 'progress' as a member. It was merely a forum I didn't have access too that if I followed the rules, contributed that would be unlocked.

I will continue to promote, educate and hopefully help the Vaping community at large!

MM

hi, mike - just a quick fyi! j0ker is the mod overseeing the classifieds/ co-op section of this forum AND he does the verification process.
for the past week or so he has had his hands full working on some problems and this weekend he is away attending the graduation of his son.
as others pointed out, all this is done on a volunteer basis and comes on top of his rw obligations

 

[oldsoldier]

Hello All,

My only issues with this forum is two fold.

1. Vendor bias or the inability for new vendors to compete with established vendors for 18 months, which doesn't affect me.

The is no vendor bias here, the rules apply to all equally. The only issue new vendors have is simply that they are new. Why on earth would you expect that the "new kid on the block" would be instantly equal to the established businesses here?

But in response there are many vendors that became instant hits here on ECF and caught up with or surpassed some of the "big boys" in very short order

2. If you say it's going to take 3 or 4 days to become 'verified' then that's how long it should take. While I seriously doubt I will participate in the classified/co-op forums, as an eBay member in good standing since 1998 with 100% feedback, I expect 'words' to have honest intent behind them when they are posted! I have maintained 100% feedback by accurately posting and delivering the goods I put in writing.

I wouldn't expect such delays, given the profitable commercial nature of this forum. I hope my account isn't banned for such feedback that you encourage towards others!

I would hope given this sites size and breadth, that you'd be able to find 'backups' to perform tasks that are no longer being performed in a timely manner by other members.

Mike

Considering ECF is a volunteer organization and everything you are getting is free I think that waiting a few extra days because the staff has some real life issues they need to deal with is not unreasonable.

 

[Scoop224]

I've read the thread and understand the situation, but just wanted to say that the verification process is indeed a lengthy process. I replied to my message that said I was verified last tues....a week ago today and still don't see that I've been awarded verified status. I understand that it's staffed by volunteers and that some unforeseen circumstances are taking precedence at the moment (completely fine and understandable) but that doesn't make it any less frustrating on this end. I almost wish that I hadn't heard anything yet, since I hoped that soon after sending Joker a message through ebay, I'd receive my status. Oh, whoa is me, right? Haha!

Just had to put it out there in case maybe I was forgotten about...it's killing me not to be able to participate in the classifieds or co-ops that I hear everyone else keep talking about. I'll continue to check my status daily.... Hope things settle down soon. Thanks for letting me whine/vent.

 

[j0ker]

Well, where do I start? When the verified member process started, I wasn't very busy at work and had free time to work on it as the day went by but that's no longer the case.

January my father fell ill and was admitted to the hospital for kidney failure and while in the hospital had a stroke. I lived in the hospital for almost two weeks. Even now that he is out, we have had to make many adjustments to account for his lifelong commitment to dialysis now. This can be quite time consuming.

Being out for two weeks left me way behind at work (where my paycheck comes from) and also here on the forum (where oldsoldier has yet to send me a paycheck ). When I returned to the forum, I had almost 700 request waiting for me and managed to catch them up last week. Soon after I caught up, I began working on a CO-OP that went bad to the tune of $20,000....no the coma and zeros are correct. As you can imagine, this consumes much of my time.

I won't even go into discussing the 50-100 PMs and emails I must respond to on a daily basis. Many of which are "Hey, what's up with my verified member request" which is explained in the instructions not to do.

While all this has been going on, my son was scheduled to graduate from Airborne school last Friday and returned home for 10 days before having to report to Fort Bragg. The importance of this visit is great, since I will not be able to see him for at least a year once he returns this Friday. So I've been slacking on my forum duties to make sure I spend as much time with him as possible.

And last but not least, there is no backup for me because it was thought to be in the member's best interest that as few eyes as possible to see their personal information was the best scenario.

So does it irritate me to see post like this, yeah, somewhat. Wouldn't it bother you if you were doing something free for someone and they came demanding that you do it quicker? Sure I promised to "try" to have it done within 5 days but things change. My livelihood and my family come first, then what free time I have left I do the things I want to do, like Admin on the forum. So if it isn't quick enough for you, paying my salary so I can quit my job would be very much appreciated. PM me and we can discuss the payment schedule

 

[oldsoldier]

I need to give little j0ker junior blood wings... I think I am qualified since I spent ten years and 4 combat tours with the Duece

I think we should all take a week off and I can show him around Fayettenam We'll just forward all of the verifications to classwife and let spaky handle all the Forum manager duties... whatya think?

 

[tiburonfirst]

i don't think you'd find many survivors here once you got back

 

[sonicdsl]

i don't think you'd find many survivors here once you got back

 

[BarrelRoll]

I gotta say, for a new guy to the site the verified member status is a serious pain in the .... I mean, there was a lot of great research and things I learned, but as a new guy to vaping I really had nothing to contribute but questions that were the typical the "new guy on the forums" type stuff, and being a member on a lot of forums, I hate being that guy. I tried to just start a conversation post in the new guy's section to get to my 20, and got posts deleted and told not to post ..... to get verified.

How else does someone get their post count up when they have no information to contribute to the high-level discussions on the intricacies of ohms for cartos, imr batteries, voltages and VV mods, etc, when you don't know anything? You have to ask typical new-guy questions that anyone who knows how to use the search function can find the answers to, and again, anyone with any forum experience would rather not be that guy.

I'm a 32 year old married tech guy who lives in Dallas. Call the guys at Vaporescence in Richardson, they'll tell you I'm a good guy who buys vape stuff, and I really only wanted to be a member here in the first place so that I can participate in the classifieds and co-ops, and basically, I gave up trying.

I honestly just came here looking for a way to buy a Provari for under $250 for the whole kit, possibly some carto co-ops, and figured it would be less hassle to just Google-fu it after the reactions I got for that sentiment.

I guess my point is that the people who would want to access those sections since Amazon and eBay are ridiculously boycotting all things ecig, are typically going to be new to vaping, and it's relatively difficult to get any traction here as a "trusted" member. I use a garbage Yahoo mail account for things like forums, Facebook, etc, so I'm not deleting 50 spam emails a day. This also makes me "untrustworthy".

I just think the process could be streamlined, for both the sake of new members, and jOker's sanity. Sonicdsl, my mom lives in Irving, you can ask her, I'm a great guy.

 

[hmlessalky]

Ahh, the good ole' "entitlement" snake rears it's ugly head again.

Nothing like giving someone something for free, only to hear them complain about having to do anything to get it to work the way they think it should.

The ECF, while not perfect, is one of, if not the best, places for people to find out just about anything in the e-cig world. It costs nothing and requires little or no interaction to access most of the information. It is a gem. I suppose people who joined last week could complain about not being able to read the veterans forums. And non-supporters could be miffed they can't read the supporting members forums. Do they deserve to be able to? Have you put in the time, effort and/or monetary donation to do so? No, but that don't matter; some think they should have the world handed to them on a golden platter.

In closing, I just wanted to say 'thank you' to the hard working staff behind the ECF. If I could do more, I would.

And to the OP, be patient. You have presented your point in a very civil manor, and I appreciate that, but things are the way they are for a reason. If my supporting funds go to pay for hosting or to pay for a toothbrush for jOker, it don't matter. I am happy for the support since joining, and information I had received well before I actually joined.

Salky

 

[sonicdsl]

I gotta say, for a new guy to the site the verified member status is a serious pain in the .... I mean, there was a lot of great research and things I learned, but as a new guy to vaping I really had nothing to contribute but questions that were the typical the "new guy on the forums" type stuff, and being a member on a lot of forums, I hate being that guy. I tried to just start a conversation post in the new guy's section to get to my 20, and got posts deleted and told not to post ..... to get verified.

How else does someone get their post count up when they have no information to contribute to the high-level discussions on the intricacies of ohms for cartos, imr batteries, voltages and VV mods, etc, when you don't know anything? You have to ask typical new-guy questions that anyone who knows how to use the search function can find the answers to, and again, anyone with any forum experience would rather not be that guy.

I'm a 32 year old married tech guy who lives in Dallas. Call the guys at Vaporescence in Richardson, they'll tell you I'm a good guy who buys vape stuff, and I really only wanted to be a member here in the first place so that I can participate in the classifieds and co-ops, and basically, I gave up trying.

I honestly just came here looking for a way to buy a Provari for under $250 for the whole kit, possibly some carto co-ops, and figured it would be less hassle to just Google-fu it after the reactions I got for that sentiment.

I guess my point is that the people who would want to access those sections since Amazon and eBay are ridiculously boycotting all things ecig, are typically going to be new to vaping, and it's relatively difficult to get any traction here as a "trusted" member. I use a garbage Yahoo mail account for things like forums, Facebook, etc, so I'm not deleting 50 spam emails a day. This also makes me "untrustworthy".

I just think the process could be streamlined, for both the sake of new members, and jOker's sanity. Sonicdsl, my mom lives in Irving, you can ask her, I'm a great guy.

Oh, that's your mom? Well, I'll talk to her then... wait... um I don't think I know who that is...?

Here, I'll try to be a little more productive with my response.

Seriously though, it's easy to get to 20 posts. Just chat with people in any thread of interest in any of the sub-forums to which you have access (which, since you have >5, will be most of them). Get another 10 or so, and then go through the verification. You are new, so you don't know some of the torrid things that have happened in the Classifieds and Co-ops in the past. There was a committee formed just last year, and the members of this committee included forum members, not just administrators and moderators. The rules were a voted on by the committee members, and the methods of verification were decided on by looking at what was needed in order to best reduce fraud. Obviously, nothing is 100%, but we're going on a year now, and in that year only one issue, and that one was reversed as j0ker tracked down the perpetrators and got them to return everything to those who were scammed. So it's been quite successful thus far (previous years had oodles of fraudsters!).

Keep in mind, the mods & admins are all volunteer, and have to find ways to get the verification done in a way that balances and safeguards the members as best as possible, while maintaining real life and real jobs. Without their efforts, we would all still be subject to a plethora of scammers and spammers.

I hope I've helped you to make sense of it.

 

[Hulamoon]

I suggest the same as above. Be patient. As for the money, the servers and bandwidth cost a lot of dough. If you're concerned about the classifieds, then google for a retail sale. Meanwhile as far as the new kids on the block - Heathers Heavenly Vapes is a mom n pop, they just celebrated their 1st year in operation. Alice in Vapeland and Ahlusion have huge followings and they too have been very small operations and are very very new. If there's a juice vendor you like, then start a thread and tell us why and what's cool about it. The volunteers are worth their weight in gold, and I for one very much appreciate that foul language, and references to subjects that have no reason for being here are moderated. Bad behaviour has taken place in many other forums and led to their implosion. So hang with us all, get to know us and enjoy.

 

[BarrelRoll]

Well, notice I've actually been a member here longer than a lot of people posting in this thread, almost a year, I just found the hoops to jump through so tiresome, and there was always some arbitrary rule I was breaking (Which I'm sure there was a good reason for at some point in the past), but still, as admins and obvious supporters of the ecig community, I would think that the obvious move would be to make new-comers as welcome as possible, not to moderate their attempts to get a feel for the place. I had 25 or so posts doing what you suggested, and was told I was post-whoring, at which point I sort of threw up my hands and just went and bought a Lavatube (Which I regretted almost immediately upon arrival).

I understand the need for security and protection of any classified forums, but to be honest, post count really means nothing, and only encourages more threads about "What's better, the eGo-T or the eGo-C?". I have absolutely nothing to contribute to almost any conversation since invariably in every thread there's a smarter guy than me that's already answered the question better than I ever could, and I don't really have any questions other than "Hey, can I get access to the hidden Craigslist on your site", so I'm forced to chose between casually post-whoring and just not caring and finding other sources.

I mean, any forum regular knows that post count generally means very little, and 20 just seems silly.

But hey, please respond and this conversation could get me to my coveted 20 after just a year.

 

[BarrelRoll]

And I could care less about the other dude's concerns about where the site money's going, I was just commenting on the concern about getting to all of these membership levels before you can actually use any of the great resources this site -- and from what I can tell only this site -- provide.