Deception

[Jeff]

So, what do you all think about the practice I'm about to describe to you. We just caught on to it going on here.

Short Question, What do you think about a company, not knowing yet if it is a company practice, or just an unethical marketing employee that registers for The Forestry Forum as An Average Joe, to ask a question, but then we find is also registered as another user so he can answer said question with a little knowledge and a link to a product they recommend. This person was not clever enough in his deception to use generic emails. but used domain names belonging to the company as email addresses.   The posts were designed to deceive you, and use that deception to advertise.   

To be clear, this company is NOT or never has been one of our sponsors. It is a large, online multifaceted power equipment company.

So, what do you think? A fair thing to do to the forum and its members or to say the least, underhanded?

[Texas Ranger]

I am known for my gentle disposition.  Is it possible to figurative castrate these types?

[LeeB]

Send him to be gasified.

[Shotgun]

It's not fair to the forum, it's owner, the forum sponsors, or the members. That should call for banning both of the user names, and calling out the firm name. What other tricks would a person / firm like that come up with?  If it's an individual employee doing it unknown to the firm, that's the firm's problem.  And I'm not even from Texas.

Norm

[Andy White]

Need to let his firm know of that practice and see if they will own up to knowingly letting this happen. And I for sure would want to know the name of the company so I would be careful about having any dealings with them.      Andy

[gspren]

  First they should be banished, second we should know who they are and/or at least what product they recommended.

[Chuck White]

I hate deception!

[gspren]

  I want to add that I have made several purchases based on information I got here, some from sponsors and some non sponsors but I like to believe that the recommendations were sincere. If a business wants to recommend their own product that's fine as long as we know who's making the recommendation.

[beenthere]

Off to Disney land for that one.     8)

Good catch Jeff.  That is why you are so clever at fixing up these contests..   ;D

[goose63]

I am pretty new to the FF I don't think it's fair at all I would like to know the name of this company so I don't buy form them

[mad murdock]

unfortunately I think in this digital age, it is a gowing practice, having said that though, I do think it is unscrupulous to the hilt!! I have heard of firms paying their employees to sign on to various sites online and write reviews about their producs, as well as firms paying web saavy individuals to do the same about their products, makes it had to know who or what you can believe.  As for this forum, I think it is one of the best run sites I have been on, here on the WWW.  Thanks Jeff for looking our for all our interests!

[nmurph]

Not illegal
Caveat Emptor...whether it is a hard good or intellectual information
I doubt Jeff will openly name the company

[kevin19343]

I'll bet there are 20 more just like him/her on these boards that you haven't caught. It's a fairly common practice.

[chet]

Not illegal
Caveat Emptor...whether it is a hard good or intellectual information
I doubt Jeff will openly name the company

Many things in this world are not illegal.  But that don't excuse them same things from being held up to a moral and ethical scrutiny.

[Jeff]

I doubt Jeff will openly name the company

Don't bet on it.  I've called the company and went up the food chain as far as they would let me to begin with.  I want to know if this is a company practice or if this is one employee's dumb idea of a good marketing idea.  I've heard there are actually bots out there that will do this automatically. Register, and post, and answer its own posts via another registration. 

I'll bet there are 20 more just like him/her on these boards that you haven't caught. It's a fairly common practice.

Maybe, but I doubt it. One of the reasons we are so adamant on making sure new registrations are real people. We have quite a process we go through checking I.P. addresses against  all posts ever made on the forum.

So far from my contact I got "Well, I don't think he was really trying to deceive anyone".  HUH??   And then, "Well, we'll have to look into is, and maybe we can get back with you".  Again.  HUH??  I am going to give them the benefit of the doubt, and give them a chance to get back with me and explain themselves before I make any final decisions on how to handle this. For now, that user(s) has been banned.

[Spike60]

It's definitely deceptive. The person and both of his identities should be booted out for good. If you would rather not name the company, then direct us to the thread involved, (if it's still up), and essentially the person will be naming himself. I'd say it's more important for the members to know who he represents than for him to remain anonymous.

This is too slimy and sneaky a way to promote a product. Gives a bad vibe and I wouldn't want to do business with anyone that operates that way.

Thanks also for running this by the members to see how we feel. First class all the way Jeff. 

[nmurph]

...that user(s) has been banned.

Ban the user and block the IP address.

You've registered your disdain for the practice. It's up to the company bosses to do the rest. If it was a rogue sales weasel trying to drum up business, then the company will take care of it.

Was anything the user said incorrect or derogatory toward a competitor?

[orion388]

I feel its only fair to POST the company name and let the members choose for themselves whether to do buisness with or not. There "product" should be able to stand on it's own merit without deception.

Deception.. yes..  >:(

If it's not a company policy, I feel like an executive from the company should come forward and apologize to YOU for the attempt to decieve YOUR forum and members.

Sincerely

John

[thecfarm]

As a few have said,I trust the reviews and past experience of others. Trust is the key word here.

[uplander]

 I think it is deceptive and underhanded. If I owned the forum I would ban/block them.

Uplander

[POSTON WIDEHEAD]

Wow....I've never heard of anything like this and really didn't imagine somebody would do something like this.

I'd like to know who they are......if its OK.

[terry f]

Testing Testing, nope, wasn't me

[doctorb]

It would be easy enough to post in such a manner as to better disguise the fact that the posts are in "collusion" with one another for a purpose.  No question it's deceptive.  On the county fair midways they call these planted people "shills".  That's exactly what they are here too.

As a way of moving this forward for the protection of the Forum and its members, I might suggest that the members and certainly the administrators be alerted for any post recommending a product with a link to another site.  While cumbersome, I am not sure how often these recomendations occur without further support and corroboration via posts by other members, which is really where our faith in the opinions posted here is generated.  I think it's a serious enough misuse of the Forum that we may need to discuss it further as administrators and bring a policy to the readership.  Could be a new addition to the Forum rules.

[Jason_AliceMae Farms]

I know that I am fairly new but one of the big reasons that I finally decided to stop lurking on the forum was the way that the forum was run and it was a nice break from a lot of the nonsense that goes on day to day with the world we live in now.

As I remember reading many times from members that were welcoming newbies...."pull up a stump" (I edited out all the stuff about grits  :D)  If this type of activity was going on within a group around the campfire I would probably place my stump into the fire and walk away from the group.  I don't ever want to feel like I have to throw my forest forum stump into the digital campfire.  I don't agree with the behavior and I agree that when discovered should be dealt with appropriately.

[webgal]

My boss would say I have waaaay too much time on my hands. Their boss should say that too. If they are that big, maybe they should be a sponsor and come out of the garage on this. More the merrier!