Just when you think it's safe to visit the forum again, the very same forum that SPF was so gracious to pay for and provide for us, and now we have another round of sarcasm, and snipes at SPF - all apparently now, intentional acts, not merely negligent, to relentlessly cast aspersions on the maker of my car, and to lessen the value of my SPF vehicle.
Yes, a well-documented and well-supported car (even when supported only by owners) is more valuable, not less.
There is no factual proof whatsoever that what you stated here as fact: "even when supported only by owners", rather than as an opinion, is true. On the other hand, there were numerous testimonies here that the owner of SPF was very receptive to phone calls, and personal visits, and was cheerfully willing to both listen, and to inform or clarify any issues concerning the SPF vehicles. I have personally experienced that as recent as yesterday, when I was at SPF in person to see the new tires that were just mounted on my new vehicle. I spoke to Lance personally about several issues, and he had the answers – all of which were too lengthy for this post.
The sarcastic, emotional, mean spirited snipes, and unjustifiable statements you relentlessly unleash on SPF significantly reduces your credibility with me, rather than enhancing it, as you apparently, but sadly must believe. They also neutralize much of the valiant good works you have performed over the years helping others to resolve problems and devise enhancements for the benefit of other car owners.
I seriously suggest you reevaluate your motives, your true goals, and your policy on this issue. If you remain unwilling or unable to separate the good works you are very capable of, from your desire to state sarcastic opinions in a form that makes them insidiously appear to others as facts, then you need to use some of that free space your IPS provides you with, and have a web site of your own, to do with as you please. Then, you can impress the visitors to your site with what you refer to egotistically as, your
research and documentation skills, and you can infect that nice work with your mindless, senseless aspersions in the form of snipes and sarcasms, to your own peril.
With a couple exceptions, none of the issues I've identified and documented are particularly difficult or expensive to correct, which I know because I've corrected them all myself and published the methods here. That, in fact, is part of what makes the situation so frustrating; the problems are relatively easy to fix, but the information needed to do so is not propagated by the people who have it (myself and a few others excepted).
Let’s take your own words here, and attempt to discern what your purpose was. Never missing an opportunity to sneak in an ego boost, you said:
“With a couple exceptions, none of the issues I've identified and documented are particularly difficult or expensive to correct, which I know because I've corrected them all myself and published the methods here.”
Well, of course, once we all are gracious enough to overlook your ego fondling, we have yet another untruth, or wrong fact. Lance (SPF) the seller of the car, not the maker of the car, the very person and entity you are referring to in your post, pays for this very forum, on this very web site, for you and the rest of us to use for the very purpose you are espousing above, i.e., to discover problems, real and perceived, and solutions, and to share them with fellow owners, would-be buyers, and other interested people. I can’t think of any better way to say it than I just did. The question begs, what part of that simple sentence are you, and a very few others, either not willing, or not able to understand!
The people I feel really sorry for are the owners who do not read this forum (and there must be at least a 150 or more) because they're getting no technical communication whatsoever. They are the real victims of SPF's silence, especially in light of what the Cobra guys get for far less money.
As tenacious as the Eveready bunny, huh. The only reason I can think of that people either don’t or no longer read this forum is primarily due to the existence of all the useless criticisms, emotional outbursts, sarcasms, bantering, and the use of threads and posts to enhance people’s egos.
There is another factor here that is commonly known by many entrepreneurs and business minded folk on this forum, and it apparently needs to be shared to hopefully benefit a few who lack this knowledge. Fact: We live in what has sadly evolved into a very litigious society. The very purpose of attorneys, many of whom devote a lifetime to perpetuating their purpose, is to either sue you or defend you from a lawsuit. Those of us in business oft consult our legal advisers concerning what we DESIRE to say in written form about the products we make or sell, especially because our decency instincts motivate us to disclose, share, and defend our products and/or services. Sadly though, we are advised to avoid statements or comments that may ultimately become harmful to us personally or to our business, and if we go out of business, then our employees lose their jobs too, and then all of our past customers have no place to turn for information and product support.
The simple minded conspiracy theorists, with nothing at all better to do, will exclaim that this is just a ploy to avoid sharing possible problems with a companies’ products or services, but that is not true. And, before one makes that embarrassing assumption concerning SPF, please remember that there is the forum Lance and SPF pays for here, and that Lance and staff are much more available to the customers and the public, via tel/con and on-site than most other CEOs are. Finally, the vast majority of problems discussed in the subject threads and posts concern the manufacturing process, and not the sales process, and Lance and SPF have very little, if any, control over the manufacturing and or Engineering aspects. That being said, they often do, behind the scene, express their observations, suggestions and desires for bettering the product they SELL, and they do so for their well-being as well as for their customers.
You came close, but did not make the apology you owe Lance and his business. You have, all this while, apparently relied on another person to relay all of your so called discoveries and solutions to Lance, but that individual never followed through. So all your mean spirited allegations directed at Lance were unjustified and false. Here's a novel thought, why not step up to the plate like a real man, make your apology, and let's all move on to a more consistently positive approach, and bring back to this forum those 150 owners you alluded to in a prior post, who stopped reading it.
Robert