I wrote this a while back when there was some attitude and ugliness going on in a few threads, I decided to hold off on posting it until things had settled down so that I wasn't just commenting on any one thread but instead was just speaking to my friends here in general. Robert
Let me start by saying we have a great forum here, where else can you have a totally member handled 2 nation Christmas gift exchange like we experience here. Our members new and old can feel free to post their successes, failures, questions and ideas and know that they would get great feedback and support.
Until recently it hasn't mattered whether you had a stock Bradley or a hot rod modified Bradley, whether you foil or don't foil, or even whether you smoke with pucks or a pellet type accessory smoker. Then all of a sudden we have seen a rash of "new" members that seem to have both an axe to grind with Bradley (and the forum) and for a "newbie" an unusual amount of experience and detailed knowledge regarding common issues and solutions for various models of smokers. Bradley smokers aren't perfect; of course no major manufacturer is anymore but they do have great customer service and they do fund our playground.
I'm not saying that the forum is not the place to discuss problems and issues with our smokers, what I am asking is that we treat each other and Bradley with the respect we'd expect in our houses or businesses. I wouldn't walk into a Ford dealer and start ranting about how cheap and crappy their cars are and I wouldn't be happy if someone walked up to my booth and started berating me about something they think is wrong with my product at a horse show.
Thank you for bearing with me, I guess the main reason I felt compelled to write this post is to encourage the continued respectful and encouraging posting that the vast majority of our fellow members have always done, to ask those who have become discouraged with some of the things going on to come back and participate with us once again, and most importantly to respectfully ask that those who feel the need to use sarcasm and deceit to express their displeasure either be respectful in their discourse or show their displeasure in the best way possible, by not participating here if you are that upset with the product or forum. If you find yourself wondering what the heck I'm talking about then you probably aren't who I'm trying to reach out to.
I agree
Quote from: Saber 4 on February 03, 2014, 10:38:32 AM
I wrote this a while back when there was some attitude and ugliness going on in a few threads, I decided to hold off on posting it until things had settled down so that I wasn't just commenting on any one thread but instead was just speaking to my friends here in general. Robert
Let me start by saying we have a great forum here, where else can you have a totally member handled 2 nation Christmas gift exchange like we experience here. Our members new and old can feel free to post their successes, failures, questions and ideas and know that they would get great feedback and support.
Until recently it hasn't mattered whether you had a stock Bradley or a hot rod modified Bradley, whether you foil or don't foil, or even whether you smoke with pucks or a pellet type accessory smoker. Then all of a sudden we have seen a rash of "new" members that seem to have both an axe to grind with Bradley (and the forum) and for a "newbie" an unusual amount of experience and detailed knowledge regarding common issues and solutions for various models of smokers. Bradley smokers aren't perfect; of course no major manufacturer is anymore but they do have great customer service and they do fund our playground.
I'm not saying that the forum is not the place to discuss problems and issues with our smokers, what I am asking is that we treat each other and Bradley with the respect we'd expect in our houses or businesses. I wouldn't walk into a Ford dealer and start ranting about how cheap and crappy their cars are and I wouldn't be happy if someone walked up to my booth and started berating me about something they think is wrong with my product at a horse show.
Thank you for bearing with me, I guess the main reason I felt compelled to write this post is to encourage the continued respectful and encouraging posting that the vast majority of our fellow members have always done, to ask those who have become discouraged with some of the things going on to come back and participate with us once again, and most importantly to respectfully ask that those who feel the need to use sarcasm and deceit to express their displeasure either be respectful in their discourse or show their displeasure in the best way possible, by not participating here if you are that upset with the product or forum. If you find yourself wondering what the heck I'm talking about then you probably aren't who I'm trying to reach out to.
Well said and I am in 100% agreement.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk (http://tapatalk.com/m?id=1)
X3, Robert. Very well said. Thanks for posting my thoughts.
Very good comment
Very well put! I have felt the same since all of this occurred. Thank you and I too am in 100 % agreement.
Blake
Quote from: Saber 4 on February 03, 2014, 10:38:32 AM
I wrote this a while back when there was some attitude and ugliness going on in a few threads, I decided to hold off on posting it until things had settled down so that I wasn't just commenting on any one thread but instead was just speaking to my friends here in general. Robert
Let me start by saying we have a great forum here, where else can you have a totally member handled 2 nation Christmas gift exchange like we experience here. Our members new and old can feel free to post their successes, failures, questions and ideas and know that they would get great feedback and support.
Until recently it hasn't mattered whether you had a stock Bradley or a hot rod modified Bradley, whether you foil or don't foil, or even whether you smoke with pucks or a pellet type accessory smoker. Then all of a sudden we have seen a rash of "new" members that seem to have both an axe to grind with Bradley (and the forum) and for a "newbie" an unusual amount of experience and detailed knowledge regarding common issues and solutions for various models of smokers. Bradley smokers aren't perfect; of course no major manufacturer is anymore but they do have great customer service and they do fund our playground.
I'm not saying that the forum is not the place to discuss problems and issues with our smokers, what I am asking is that we treat each other and Bradley with the respect we'd expect in our houses or businesses. I wouldn't walk into a Ford dealer and start ranting about how cheap and crappy their cars are and I wouldn't be happy if someone walked up to my booth and started berating me about something they think is wrong with my product at a horse show.
Thank you for bearing with me, I guess the main reason I felt compelled to write this post is to encourage the continued respectful and encouraging posting that the vast majority of our fellow members have always done, to ask those who have become discouraged with some of the things going on to come back and participate with us once again, and most importantly to respectfully ask that those who feel the need to use sarcasm and deceit to express their displeasure either be respectful in their discourse or show their displeasure in the best way possible, by not participating here if you are that upset with the product or forum. If you find yourself wondering what the heck I'm talking about then you probably aren't who I'm trying to reach out to.
Well said
We dont need the forum to be gone.
Interesting. I have only been a smoker and member here since Christmas, either I missed all the bad stuff or I haven't been reading the applicable sections.
I have found this forum to be a fantastic resource and good place to hang out. The people here have been both friendly and helpful, nothing but praise for my entire experience. Heck, I even was able to purchase a couple of beautiful, hand-turned pepper mills from a member.
One of the best forums of which I have been a member.
Nicely put. :)
Well said saber
Very well put. This is a great forum with many great knowledgeable members. There NEEDS to be a place for us to bring forward our concerns about our smokers. I post my "smokes" in the cooking/smoking section and my trials and tribulations with my smoker it the Digital Smoking section. Sometimes it gets very frustrating to try and figure these things out and most everyone on here is willing to lend a hand but sometimes when you get frustrated you need to vent. I have had most all my concerns dealt with with help from people on here even after I have "vented". All in all a great forum.
I think this place is great. I'm fairly new here and in such have not seen anything that seemed out of line.
My very first post was about a problem with my smoker. I got great advice from a member, I got incredible customer service from Bradley and within a few days I was good to go. IMHO Bradley went way above and beyond to fix my problem and I couldn't be happier.
Then I got to reading everything the Bradley veterans had to say, ranging from great recipes to known problematic issues with the Bradley. I think it's all great information and a lot of it can allow new owners to be proactive in preventable issues. I think for any forum to be worth a look it has to allow the good and the bad, even if a few people have really strong opinions. These bad reviews are still very small in comparison to all who love their smokers and who have never had a problem. Either way, I think all opinions should be welcome as long as these opinions are expressed with respect for one another.
Thanks for posting that Saber. I'm not a veteran here by any means, but I have enjoyed immensely the spirit with which the members here have conveyed. I would hope that any one that chooses to take the time to register as a member would look at it with a "when in Rome" attitude. Sure, we can, and do have differences, but as for myself I hold to a personal commitment on this, and a few other forums I belong to that I will never post anything I wouldn't say to your face. Keeps things lined up pretty well I think.
While I'm at it, I'd like to thank Bradley for the forum, and the moderators for the time they put in. Your efforts are appreciated.
With you 100%
have to agree this site is the place to learn great and wonderful aspects of smoking meats and other goodies. we have all had some kind of negative experiance in the retail world. the help here goes above and beyond. speak as you wish to be spoken to.
many thanks to those that look after the site and i hope to spend a lot of my time learning....
jeff
Every so often we get a few who do this and then they go away or get converted. LOL We have a few very good members here who were a little over zealous but came around and they are awesome now. It seems that any bitcher's just get tired of hearing themselves. Shortly after xmas we get some cause they got one from Santa and didn't read the booklet.
I may be the odd man out on this one; in some ways.
Firstly I have to say that I love this forum.
But I don't agree with
QuoteThen all of a sudden we have seen a rash of "new" members that seem to have both an axe to grind with Bradley (and the forum)
. Firstly this isn't new!! It has been going on for years and secondly; I don't think that anyone has an issue with the
forum. Maybe with some individual responses from members; but not the forum. The members of this forum are a great bunch of people that are always eager to help.
I had my rant about the quality of these smokers years ago, when I bought my second Bradley and had a series of issues. There were lots of people on this forum trying to help guide me through possible fixes. In the end Bradley replaced the faulty parts (some more than once) and I fixed others. After the warranty however I'm on my own. I'm not a newbie (given that I've had my oldest one for about 10 years now). I don't complain anymore, I just use them and fix as needed.
This forum is usually all about positive feed back and help, but when people say things like another "newbie" complaining or "want to sell your POS" I think those comments are intended to discredit or provoke the OP and are not in keeping with the positive intent of this forum.
QuoteI wouldn't walk into a Ford dealer and start ranting about how cheap and crappy their cars are
Neither would I, unless I had a reason to.
There will always be people that complain about everything, for no reason; those that will
not complain, no matter how bad it is and those that only complain when it gets bad enough to justify it.
I guess there's a 4th one too: If someone's had a bad day and one too many they might be inclined to voice their anger in a less than courteous way.
Just my $0.02 worth.
QuoteEvery so often we get a few who do this and then they go away
I have been a member for a similar period of time as Pat (Iceman), I don't post as often nowadays for a variety of reasons but still "lurk" most days.
We have always had those who have an alterior motive, have a particular axe to grind or are just plain unpleasant and cannot tolerate alternative points of view.
However the decent folk who are in the vast majority have always won through. There were times when overall contributor numbers were low when some individuals caused massive upset in the past but because the forum and these vast majority of decent members has gone from strength to strength the effect of those members who want to rock the boat has been diluted out more and more IMHO.
This forum is the "dog's b*llocks", a quant expression of ?British origin meaning excellent! Long may it stay that way! ;) 8)
I've just started coming around a little more often. I usually lurk and just check out the cooking areas for ideas. I will agree that a civil forum is better to be a part of.
I think the new folks that come in throwing darts at Bradley did not really know the product at all, and there expectations far exceeded what the Bradley is supposed to do. I spent about 5 weeks on this forum before buying mine, and knew exactly what to expect and problems that may occur. My opinion only.
BRADLEY RULES PERIOD..
I agree saber,, we all have different views, different life styles and all have one thing in common .. a bradley smoker,,, IMHO one of the best smokers on the market,, lots of good people and information here and readily shared, if someone has a problem many will chime in with there views and experience to help others out.
what you have said is well stated and well thought out
beef
Blimey, i've missed all this.
Unfortunately there are folk who have nothing better to do than troll the net and various group sites just to antagonise others.
There are times when even the best product will go wrong. What makes the difference is how the company involved handle the problem.
How anybody can come here and coat off Bradley is beyond me.
In my dealings with Bradley i have been treated in a professional and courteous manner.
My puck feed started playing up last week i ran Bradley here in the UK (Grakka) to explain my problem. Within two days various parts arrived at my door and the problem was solved.
Credit where it is due, Bradley and everything to do with Bradley has been top drawer from the moment i took the plunge and entered into the world of smoking food.
As for the forum, again, i have had nothing but help and advice offered in the most friendly way. Without the help and input from people here i would not be as proficient as i feel today with my smoker.
For sure human nature turns up all sorts of oddballs but here you will only find help and friendship amongst people who share the "vision". If this is not your cup of tea then may i suggest you play elsewhere.