Open message to all about recent posts

[HelenJ]

We’ve had a few members message in regarding some phrases in Smart eBiker’s posts. I thought it would be best to air this to everyone so we can try and restore civility please.

We’ve been keeping an eye on this hoping it’ll settle down, as things usually do, but we’ve had a few people message in feeling offended now.

As with any communication without knowing the person behind the message, there is the possibility that things might be being misconstrued. One person’s sense of humour can be another person’s insult. Smart eBiker, you’re new here and you first posted full of enthusiasm about the world of e-bikes and particularly your designer pride and joy, perhaps you felt others didn’t share your appreciation of your choice I’m not sure and I won’t presume - but the tone of recent threads has changed. While a bit of banter is common in most forums, on this one we’re generally a bit different – something I’m glad about. As a small industry we’re all here to support each other and be respectful please.

So could I please ask that we return to civility as we don’t want people feeling offended so this is me asking nicely in the first instance please.

Thank you.

Helen

 

[Smart eBiker]

We’ve had a few members message in regarding some phrases in Smart eBiker’s posts. I thought it would be best to air this to everyone so we can try and restore civility please.

We’ve been keeping an eye on this hoping it’ll settle down, as things usually do, but we’ve had a few people message in feeling offended now.

As with any communication without knowing the person behind the message, there is the possibility that things might be being misconstrued. One person’s sense of humour can be another person’s insult. Smart eBiker, you’re new here and you first posted full of enthusiasm about the world of e-bikes and particularly your designer pride and joy, perhaps you felt others didn’t share your appreciation of your choice I’m not sure and I won’t presume - but the tone of recent threads has changed. While a bit of banter is common in most forums, on this one we’re generally a bit different – something I’m glad about. As a small industry we’re all here to support each other and be respectful please.

So could I please ask that we return to civility as we don’t want people feeling offended so this is me asking nicely in the first instance please.

Thank you.

Helen

Dear Helen,

You have a great resource here which is being spoilt by bitchy members who get personal and have a go at each other, no wonder the site is short of members as most new members at the slightest sniff of this nastiness would give up and go! I joined and as you righty pointed out was very proud of my new bike, I bought it for a purpose and shared my experience in buying it, and the bargain I ended up getting by pure luck which I then shared, this bargain was taken up by another forum member who is also now a proud owner.

If you follow the threads from the start you will see how everything evolved into abuse aimed personally at me and it still continues, I am not afraid of anyone and gave back as good as I got, most with tongue in cheek replies to attempt to defuse things but you will see abuse and bitchyness still continues from some. I won't be accepting this nonsense and as I said in another thread I am exposing these people to shame them for what they are doing, this is to prevent them doing this to others and the site to lose members. I only retaliate when I have been personally attacked, if this stops then I have no need to retaliate.

Anyway, I have taken time to share my experiences, my upgrades (see forks of yesterday) and have seen little else from others recently, they just seem to be happy to hide behind their keyboards slagging each other and me off. I am all for starting a fresh and as such will ignore any of the clowns for a week, its not difficult for anyone with a modicum of common sense and intellect to see what these bullies are up to. I was under the illusion that the forum was for anyone interested in or owning an eBike, as such I am trying to be a part of this and share experiences.

It is clear that you have had this issue for some time as I have read other threads and posts and seen comments from before I arrived. I am happy to have been some help to you in exposing and eradicating for good the nastiness that some individuals have been spouting on the forum. Lets hope that this is the end of it and those who have been a part of this bullying and bitchyness now stop, this will benefit everyone and make the forum a fun and great learning asset.

Regards,

Smart eBiker
Daimler Mercedes Smart eBike owner

 

[JohnCade]

Since you think the forum is so unpleasant why are you sticking around? Apart from you I can’t remember any unpleasantness lately.

This below is where it started to go pear shaped I think. When you replied to my posts expressing surprise that Smart was still selling 200w bikes, and explaining the law change in April and the long standing waiver allowing the sale of 250w motors in line with the rest of the EU.

you said that there were no 200 watt Smart eBikes they were all 250 watt, so from what you are saying above, and from what you said in your previous post, you have no clue what Mercedes Smart are doing and just made it all up because of an old post. I think me owning one and having been at the dealership in the last couple of weeks and seen the technician plugging in the computer, plus their parts computer showing two different product numbers for both a 200 watt and a 250 watt version is a bit more credible! Be careful, people may read and believe what you post, that can be dangerous especially if its just all made up nonsense!

Then in response to Alan Quay who suggested you wind your head in a bit since you had clearly got hold of the wrong end of the stick you replied with the this.

Maybe big noses should not get stuck in and post things in threads they have no clue about. From what I have seen in other posts on this forum there is more than one person who thinks they can say what they want and if they shout loud enough people will believe them, but it may well come back to bite them. You young kids need to learn a bit if respect, if you think you can bully everyone and be abusive then I can assure you that you will be in for a huge surprise!

So since that was the way you instinctively responded to being told politely - at first - that your understanding of the law was wrong. Do you really think anyone is going to believe the self serving, and self pity, and accusations of bullying above?

 

[Fordulike]

Anyway, I have taken time to share my experiences, my upgrades (see forks of yesterday) and have seen little else from others recently, they just seem to be happy to hide behind their keyboards slagging each other and me off.

I agree with you there Smart eBiker and I have shamefully done exactly as you describe. Very rarely thankfully

It is far too easy to direct animosity towards a single forum member. Even though we are loosely termed as a community, we are not all in one room having a beer and socially interacting as a group.
If we were, then body language, facial expressions and tone of voice would play a part too, and I'm sure members would see you in a totally different light.

I hope we can just return to normal, with some happy cheeky banter, but mostly good information and advice for everyone, no matter what electric biking experience they have.

 

[HelenJ]

It is clear that you have had this issue for some time as I have read other threads and posts and seen comments from before I arrived.

I have to say I haven't seen a huge amount of the 'nastiness' you mention; I've moderated other forums in my time and I'm happy to say the members here generally aren't the 'keyboard warriors' I've seen elsewhere. Recent posts have changed the mood, which is why I've stepped in. I'm all for us having a quick debate on what might have gone wrong, but I'm really hoping we can wrap up any misunderstandings by the end of today so we can get back to where we were. Thanks.

 

[Andy_H]

I'm relatively new here so probably shouldn't comment, but I am a moderator on another forum (a CAD forum), there are two of us (plus the Admin people who own the site), we don't ban people - that's up to Admin, we mainly watch out for spam, whilst disagreements are fine one thing we would take action on is a personal insult on another member.

The final straw for me here was a question on tools, a member posted about tools, got a sensible reply, then insulted the person who replied, adding a 'smiley' does not make it right, That thread would have had the insult deleted and the thread immediately locked, with an explanation of why. The CAD forum being software specific is very much easier to moderate than this forum would be, in fact all we ever need to do is delete spam.

What I do fail to understand is the need for people to be insulting, disagree - yes, a bit of banter - yes, but personal attack is just childish, it s a real shame that this seems to be the path that many forums seem to end up going down, I have no answers, but would suggest to admin that there needs to be a line drawn between what is banter and insult and appropriate action taken.

Andy

 

[Smart eBiker]

I have to say I haven't seen a huge amount of the 'nastiness' you mention; I've moderated other forums in my time and I'm happy to say the members here generally aren't the 'keyboard warriors' I've seen elsewhere. Recent posts have changed the mood, which is why I've stepped in. I'm all for us having a quick debate on what might have gone wrong, but I'm really hoping we can wrap up any misunderstandings by the end of today so we can get back to where we were. Thanks.

I think appreciation that every one is different is key, I feel that the abuse started as I bought a designer bike, even though it was much cheaper than a lot of other peoples everyday bikes, there seems to be some view that designer bikes are not real bikes. I tried to explain my reasons for the purchase, mainly warranty, and a thread was started in relation that which was good and hopefully made people think.

My bike was bought for rehabilitation, I'm not one of these lycra carrier cyclists that annoy the world, I am just a normal retired person wanting to get out more and see the beauty of the countryside as I mentioned before. There seems to be some people that can't handle the fact that I have every toy I want and can do whatever I want within reason, this has come about by very hard work, it shows that if you spend less time on social media you can earn a good living

I am a very real person, I do care for others hence my help in sharing the good deal I got on my bike, OK not everybody cup of tea but at least one forum member benefitted. To show I am real, and to understand me more, if you are ever down on the South coast and are up for it, then I would like to offer you the opportunity to come on my boat, I can assure you that you will have a most wonderful experience.

Lets hope thats the end of the bitchyness, I am all for fun and learning, I am open about the fact that I have only ever been on a Daimler Mercedes Smart eBike, in fact I bought it on a whim as I had never even seen an electric bike never mind ridden one, but I am very happy with my choice.

I am sure there are some good people on this forum, as I said I will not retaliate for a period of a week, but hope that your intervention will be enough to make people reflect on the past couple of weeks, and start a fresh.

I am still looking for a second bike for Mrs Smart, so hopefully I can learn more on here and make the right choice.

Live and let live! there is enough space for everyone on this forum, lets get even more people involved

Regards,

 

[Crockers]

I think appreciation that every one is different is key, I feel that the abuse started as I bought a designer bike, even though it was much cheaper than a lot of other peoples everyday bikes, there seems to be some view that designer bikes are not real bikes. I tried to explain my reasons for the purchase, mainly warranty, and a thread was started in relation that which was good and hopefully made people think.

My bike was bought for rehabilitation, I'm not one of these lycra carrier cyclists that annoy the world, I am just a normal retired person wanting to get out more and see the beauty of the countryside as I mentioned before. There seems to be some people that can't handle the fact that I have every toy I want and can do whatever I want within reason, this has come about by very hard work, it shows that if you spend less time on social media you can earn a good living

I am a very real person, I do care for others hence my help in sharing the good deal I got on my bike, OK not everybody cup of tea but at least one forum member benefitted. To show I am real, and to understand me more, if you are ever down on the South coast and are up for it, then I would like to offer you the opportunity to come on my boat, I can assure you that you will have a most wonderful experience.

Lets hope thats the end of the bitchyness, I am all for fun and learning, I am open about the fact that I have only ever been on a Daimler Mercedes Smart eBike, in fact I bought it on a whim as I had never even seen an electric bike never mind ridden one, but I am very happy with my choice.

I am sure there are some good people on this forum, as I said I will not retaliate for a period of a week, but hope that your intervention will be enough to make people reflect on the past couple of weeks, and start a fresh.

I am still looking for a second bike for Mrs Smart, so hopefully I can learn more on here and make the right choice.

Live and let live! there is enough space for everyone on this forum, lets get even more people involved

Regards,

If you're after a main dealer styled bike BMW have some interesting ones.

 

[Jimod]

I think appreciation that every one is different is key, I feel that the abuse started as I bought a designer bike, even though it was much cheaper than a lot of other peoples everyday bikes, there seems to be some view that designer bikes are not real bikes. I tried to explain my reasons for the purchase, mainly warranty, and a thread was started in relation that which was good and hopefully made people think.

My bike was bought for rehabilitation, I'm not one of these lycra carrier cyclists that annoy the world, I am just a normal retired person wanting to get out more and see the beauty of the countryside as I mentioned before. There seems to be some people that can't handle the fact that I have every toy I want and can do whatever I want within reason, this has come about by very hard work, it shows that if you spend less time on social media you can earn a good living

I am a very real person, I do care for others hence my help in sharing the good deal I got on my bike, OK not everybody cup of tea but at least one forum member benefitted. To show I am real, and to understand me more, if you are ever down on the South coast and are up for it, then I would like to offer you the opportunity to come on my boat, I can assure you that you will have a most wonderful experience.

Lets hope thats the end of the bitchyness, I am all for fun and learning, I am open about the fact that I have only ever been on a Daimler Mercedes Smart eBike, in fact I bought it on a whim as I had never even seen an electric bike never mind ridden one, but I am very happy with my choice.

I am sure there are some good people on this forum, as I said I will not retaliate for a period of a week, but hope that your intervention will be enough to make people reflect on the past couple of weeks, and start a fresh.

I am still looking for a second bike for Mrs Smart, so hopefully I can learn more on here and make the right choice.

Live and let live! there is enough space for everyone on this forum, lets get even more people involved

Regards,

Seriously, give it up.

 

[EddiePJ]

I am still looking for a second bike for Mrs Smart, so hopefully I can learn more on here and make the right choice.

Only added to this thread, as you have raised the point, and I'd suggest starting a specific thread for the purpose, but size and comfort permitting, I'd say that it would pay to just buy another Smart Bike.

Sole reason being that you then have two battery packs available to you, so extending the range of solo rides.

I don't intend to add to, or extend this thread further, and hope that is soon sinks from the first page.

 

[Kudoscycles]

Dear Helen,

You have a great resource here which is being spoilt by bitchy members who get personal and have a go at each other, no wonder the site is short of members as most new members at the slightest sniff of this nastiness would give up and go! I joined and as you righty pointed out was very proud of my new bike, I bought it for a purpose and shared my experience in buying it, and the bargain I ended up getting by pure luck which I then shared, this bargain was taken up by another forum member who is also now a proud owner.

If you follow the threads from the start you will see how everything evolved into abuse aimed personally at me and it still continues, I am not afraid of anyone and gave back as good as I got, most with tongue in cheek replies to attempt to defuse things but you will see abuse and bitchyness still continues from some. I won't be accepting this nonsense and as I said in another thread I am exposing these people to shame them for what they are doing, this is to prevent them doing this to others and the site to lose members. I only retaliate when I have been personally attacked, if this stops then I have no need to retaliate.

Anyway, I have taken time to share my experiences, my upgrades (see forks of yesterday) and have seen little else from others recently, they just seem to be happy to hide behind their keyboards slagging each other and me off. I am all for starting a fresh and as such will ignore any of the clowns for a week, its not difficult for anyone with a modicum of common sense and intellect to see what these bullies are up to. I was under the illusion that the forum was for anyone interested in or owning an eBike, as such I am trying to be a part of this and share experiences.

It is clear that you have had this issue for some time as I have read other threads and posts and seen comments from before I arrived. I am happy to have been some help to you in exposing and eradicating for good the nastiness that some individuals have been spouting on the forum. Lets hope that this is the end of it and those who have been a part of this bullying and bitchyness now stop, this will benefit everyone and make the forum a fun and great learning asset.

Regards,

Smart eBiker
Daimler Mercedes Smart eBike owner

Who are the bitchy members you refer about?
KudosDave

 

[the_killjoy]

Why is there a need to continually go on about what you are worth and what you can afford.

I have been on this forum for a long time and neither know or care who is a prince and who is a pauper.

 

[anotherkiwi]

My ignored member button click went off as soon as the VERY rude member started ranting on about other members riding cheap Chinese made e-bikes and not knowing what a real designer e-bike was like. I think TVRM also hinted that if one couldn't afford a real designer e-bike one had no place talking about e-bikes because "you don't understand".

As the Americans would say of the Smart bike "it is pretty, but on the road it is a POS" when compared to my home assembled kit (which has a majority of EU made parts BTW). It weighs 20% more, has 25% less power and 33% of the gears. How can that be "better"? I think TVRM has no clue of what he is ranting about.

I am member of the working poor, having in the past started and run my own company. If you know what life is like on both ends of the stick you tend to have a more open mind. I have friends who have heaps of money too but who are not boorish snobs (yes I am insinuating that TVRM is one of those). They complain, but when the time comes to pay my round I do so.