For the Good of the Club

ruchi · Post by **ruchi** » Wed Nov 10, 2004 10:05 am

I'm getting really sick and tired of seeing those who are contribituting to this club getting attacked by those who aren't or their efforts and the way they do things being questioned. There's quite a number of smart arses, sh*t stirrers and whingers who are posting messages without having thought through what they are saying or the ramifications of their messages.

There are many people on this forum who contribute a LOT of time and effort to run the club, the forums and the state activities, bitching about them only creates issues and is against the good of the club.

In harming the club you are only hurting yourself. If we didn't have things like the FTO Shop then people would have to pay more for their items. If we didn't have the committee and state co-ordinators there'd be fewer (if any) events and we would miss out on other opportunities.

The leaders of this club put in their own time so that all members can benefit. They work hard on projects, on group buys, on activities and on trying to further the benefits that are available to you. These positions are unpaid and the people doing them have no obligation to you or anyone else, yet they do these things because they are passionate about the FTO and about this club.

Things won't always be perfect and the various leaders in the club won't always get everything right. But there are far more appropriate ways to handle such issues than to publicly bitch about or slander them.

If all you can do is sh*t stir, whinge and complain, then shut the f**k up or go somewhere else because we're trying to build the club up, not tear it down!

Personally, I'd like to say a big thankyou for everything Steve, Tanya & Kaveman do, likewise to all the state reps / co-ordinators. Without them, quite literally, this club would not exist.

OK, that's my rant over.

efteoh · Post by **efteoh** » Wed Nov 10, 2004 10:44 am

just my 2 cents worth, i think there should be a formal procedure as such. i am very well aware that all these people (steve, tanya etc...) put in greats amount of time and effort and often goes unseen and/or un rewarded. and instead of support they get slandared. i agree this is not on!

but gunni gugu has a valid point in the sense, he PM steve and tried many times to contact him (refer to locked thread.....im just reading what i see) but when he sees steve posting messages and not replying GUNNIGUGU's messages, its not hard to see why he would get upset. and he was just trying to get some attention to the matter. albeit not the best way. perhaps a thread like "need to contact steve regarding goods" or something. of course me saying this in hind sight dosent mean much, but at least we can learn from this.

as stated from the previous thread, contact procedure should be implemented and made more well known. i've been known to make stupid mistakes. i might even have done the same. maybe the thread should be renamed to something more apropriate.

and, thankyou steve for providing us with this resource and esp your time and effort. same goes to all the co ords as well.

ruchi · Post by **ruchi** » Wed Nov 10, 2004 11:02 am

The other thread is locked for a reason, this thread is not for continuing the discussion from the other one.

There have been a number of group buys organised by other people which have experienced issues with money, delays, people not responding etc. All of this sets alarm bells ringing, but this is not what this topic is about. If you want to discuss some options for improving the way group buys are done then please start a new topic.

Teania · Post by **Teania** » Wed Nov 10, 2004 11:06 am

We're trying to "share the work"..... no matter how much Kaveman and I ask people to contact us - most seem to feel they can only contact Steve (smorison)

I promise you - Robert (kaveman) and I don't bite

well not hard anyway

Another thing we are trying to set up is website email, that way - rather than PM'ing - you could email and one of us would see and follow through

Cheers
Tanya

GPXXX · Post by **GPXXX** » Wed Nov 10, 2004 12:14 pm

i think some ppl have over-reacted to recent issues...

FFS ppls, can we just...

edit: pffft, cbf'd anymore...

fto617 · Post by **fto617** » Wed Nov 10, 2004 2:02 pm

sorry ruchi i just want to ask something...
u said that the fto shop is like a group buy so its cheaper...right?
but for the front pipes from UAS for 595 it cost the same as buying from UAS?
hmmm.....please dont scream at me i'm just asking about whats with the group buy thing from fto shop...
i dont think that fto shop is really a group buy which will only ship items out after it reaches a certain quantity...as for the reverse indiglo, i'm aware that stephen ordered the last 2 (for me and someone else), and i receieved it 3 weeks later, not because it was waiting for it to reach like 10 dials but becasuse they couldnt find a supplier to do the transformer or something...so i think instead of it being a group buy, its just a deal with funky products...peple do not have to wait so long to receive their products because of quantity but because of funky products...dont blame stephen, he's jsut the middle man who receives the product from funky, and check to see if its ok before he post it out to all of us...again...DONT scream at me for me being lost please...

SchumieFan · Post by **SchumieFan** » Wed Nov 10, 2004 2:17 pm

why is this even an issue? FFS people grow up

ruchi · Post by **ruchi** » Wed Nov 10, 2004 3:33 pm

Unless you have something of worth to add to this topic, please don't post as it adds no value to this discussion and is of no benefit to the club.

FTO617, the UAS products are jointly developed by Steve and UAS, hence this is why you can buy them from either the FTO Shop or UAS and why they are the same price. As for the other products, as has been mentioned MANY times before on this forum they are not sourced from Funky Products, rather they come direct from the supplier. Funky just happens to sell some of the same stuff.

There is a seperate discussion about the FTO Shop, so can any future questions / statements be posted there please?

http://www.ftoaustralia.com/modules.php ... ic&p=36627

Post by **smorison** » Wed Nov 10, 2004 7:25 pm

Ruchi and others who think we're doing a good job.... Thanks

however i'm not prepared to keep offering the service of the FTO Shop anymore... if you want the products either contact Funky Products who buy the same stuff i do...

be prepared to pay substantially more for shipping and probably for the cost of the product....

i've done the calculations and over the last 12 months the FTO shop has covered less that 1/2 the cost of this website (Which is one of the reasons why it was started in the first place)... it's going to be easier for me and certianly less painful if i just close it and continue to pay for the website myself...

orders which have been placed prior to this announcement will be completed.

SchumieFan · Post by **SchumieFan** » Wed Nov 10, 2004 8:32 pm

Thanks folks... you push and you bitch and your suprised when the outcome is such. Smorison (and others) have gone above and beyond the call of duty to provide such a fine club with excellent facilities and a few people cant appreciate the effort people put into things and its ruined. these people are NOT being paid to run this site, they do NOT owe you anything, nor should you expect anything from them.

On the issue of the unpaid item reversal, smorison did not deliberatly set out to decieve anyone, nor can anyone truly believe this. Sure, if you pay for an item and dont get it you expect the money back, fine, i have no problem with this, nor do i have a problem with the way it was brought up, it takes a public outcry to get things moving. However, yes it was a bit over the top and could have been brought up in a less public and visable "attack" (and i say attack hesitantly) on smorisons character.

I belive this "attack" to be unintentional and also blown out of proportion, and people posting replies, stirring sh*t basically, has caused the closure of the FTO store

Finally i wish for all relevant topics to be deleted as i think it disgusting to come online read a thread and hear the bullshit (and it is bullshit) about something so irrelevant it completly diverts from the real reason people come online to view these forums

FOR THE LOVE OF THE FTO AND TO HELP OTHERS ESP. NEWBIES WITH THE CAR AND THE FORUMS AND BECOME MORE AQUANTED AND FAMILIAR WITH THERE FTO

and also to meet like minded people who share the same passion.

Its not on people, its just uneeded and unwanted.
I dont ask you to agree with what ive said, im sure there will be plenty of objections, just think before you hit the submit button "is this constructive or am i stirring?".
This is marely my opinion from someone whos seen a mitsubishi motorsport club torn in 2 from petty arguements.

Thank you smorison (and others) for this club and the chance to be part of something so large and so helpful, i dont know what id do without these forums... itd be a boring day at work thats for sure!

MY HOME

MADFTO · Post by **MADFTO** » Thu Nov 11, 2004 8:31 am

Suggest that this announcement be placed in it's own locked thread . . .

It's not really going to be noticed here =)

pagan · Post by **pagan** » Thu Nov 11, 2004 11:08 am

"Dark are the times i now witness, Ragnarok is nigh, fenrir the wolf has swollowed the sun, and the legions of Hel shall storm our mighty walls"

i cant belive it has come to this

my beloved home.

i think we all need to take a deep breath and chill for a bit. (in manly heathen fashion grabs blanket and pulls it over his head, closes his eyes and hopes it will all just go away)

ruchi · Post by **ruchi** » Thu Nov 11, 2004 12:08 pm

The ramifications of this go well beyond just the FTO Shop and hurt more than just those involved in these incidents.

What some people fail to understand is that seperate to these forums a number of people have been working very hard to establish a formal "club". While the term "club" and "forum" are often used interchangably, the two are quite distinct.

The forum offers little more than a place to exchange information, ideas and comments, while the club offers many tangible benefits such as CAMS licences, track days, discounts etc.

On this forum there are a number of people who repeatedly attack, slander, or bring into question the efforts and actions of those who are working to establish or improve this club. Their comments are often provocative or barbed with the aim of evoking a response or building up their own ego by scoring some put down points. These actions offer no benefit to the topic or to the club, and are detrimental to the overall efforts of establishing and building up the club.

Comments that serve no purpose other than to stir up sh*t or create tension are not productive and are not welcomed. If you're not prepared to support the leaders of this club and to help create a better club, then just shut up, as you're hurting all the efforts these people are going to and effecting the outcome for all members.

For the time being, at least, I suspect that many of the projects that were being worked on will be suspended or slowed down until things improve. Aside from the FTO Shop, there's also the development of products with UAS, various projects the TWG had in the pipeline and various discounts and benefits that the club committee was working on. All these things would benefit the members, but why would people work on these things if the very people they would benefit are being negative towards them.

The various national and state leaders offer their services out of good will and passion for both the FTO and the club. The positions are voluntary and unpaid, and it must hurt to get a slap in the face for your efforts from the very people you are trying to help.

There's more appropriate ways to handle much of the stuff that has happened and there's many things which didn't need to be said, along with many people who didn't need to add fuel to the fire. I hope people begin to see the bigger "club" picture and think about the consequences of their actions and words.

As a wise man once said: "engage brain before engaging mouth".

FTOluv · Post by **FTOluv** » Thu Nov 11, 2004 12:22 pm

Not dissing Steve for his job on the FTO shop, but i pay basically the same price for ordering my products through Funky directly and thats inlcuding insurance!!! i think it only works out to be like $5 more directly AND i receive the products in a week from England!!!

So i recommend EVERYONE to just buy the products direct. Ive never had any problems with Funky or KMC.

ruchi · Post by **ruchi** » Thu Nov 11, 2004 2:06 pm

I would suggest you either are mistaken or you are "dissing" Steve.

Lets pick the most popular product: KMC Dials
FTO Shop: $135
Funky Product: Â£ 60.00 ($145)
Then you've got the extra shipping costs from the UK and if you're lucky customs might chuck an extra 10% GST on top of that too.

It was both cheaper and easier to buy from the FTO Shop than from overseas. It's dissapointing that many didn't appreciate what Steve was doing. Now everyone loses out.

But as mentioned above, this thread is not about the FTO Shop, there is a seperate thread about this, so please post message like the above there, not here.

FTOluv · Post by **FTOluv** » Thu Nov 11, 2004 4:02 pm

ruchi wrote: Lets pick the most popular product: KMC Dials
FTO Shop: $135
Funky Product: Â£ 60.00 ($145)
Then you've got the extra shipping costs from the UK and if you're lucky customs might chuck an extra 10% GST on top of that too.

Ruchi, I have bought a few things from the UK and I have no problems with customs or GST.
Dont forget that Steve also charges postage fee and I never said it was the same price all i said it was only a few bucks more. I think those few bucks extra is better than waiting a damn month for a product you have already paid for isnt it??? once again, your acting like a big girl

JSP-INC · Post by **JSP-INC** » Thu Nov 11, 2004 5:39 pm

FTOluv wrote:Not dissing Steve for his job on the FTO shop, but i pay basically the same price for ordering my products through Funky directly and thats inlcuding insurance!!! i think it only works out to be like $5 more directly AND i receive the products in a week from England!!!

So i recommend EVERYONE to just buy the products direct. Ive never had any problems with Funky or KMC.

Thats probably a good idea, i think another fellow fto owner (melbourne) did that too, and it was pretty cheap all the same.... would ease the pressure off *steve* and the FTO shop..

ruchi · Post by **ruchi** » Thu Nov 11, 2004 5:53 pm

As stated above, twice, there is a seperate thread for the FTO Shop, so please post messages about it in that thread, not this one.

Mil (FTOluv), thanks for demonstrating what we're talking about, but please stop sh*t-stirring with the name calling, as it adds no value to this thread or to the club.

FTO338 · Post by **FTO338** » Thu Nov 11, 2004 6:12 pm

Ohhhh here we go..... I hate to point out the obvious, but if this post never existed or started, then none of these crap would happen.

Please excuse my lack of understand of english, but to me the original post is there to stir sh*t up with people to start off with, so whos the quilty party here????

So why don't we do what Eric said, lock up the post, & we can all live happily ever after.

Now i'm going back to my beach & chill

(dam is bloody cold in Melb)

EDIT: At the time i was writing & replying this post, Mikey haven't post his yet, so i'm not copying him.....peace