Why did some manufacturers want their forums closed?

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User17

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Jan 24, 2017
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Just noticed that, for instance, Rick Hinderer, KAI, Olamic, Strider etc. requested to close their sub-forums here on BF. I would be interrested what is the reason?
 
not enough time or staff to deal with it. just a guess.....
 
But wouldn't that be a disadvantage for their business? I mean marketing and customer service are really important factors these days.
 
One reason may be that no matter how good a maker's customer service is, there will always be a few who insist on airing a particular grievance ad naseum on the public forum instead of just contacting the manufacturer for a warranty fix.
 
Different folks left for different reasons. I suppose the common thing would be they felt it wasn't worth the hassle (Strider may be an exception to this as it's possible Spark kicked their stolen valor asses out).

Hinderer and KAI both left because of what some will call customer complaints and others trolling. Personally, I think better moderation from the company reps could have handled the issues in both cases, but either way they didn't like the criticism they received and packed up.

Olamic I don't know. Maybe lack of traffic? They're well regarded and everyone who deals with them seems happy. Combine that with their recent burst of new models and maybe they'll open it back up.
 
I would suggest reading some of the threads in those forums and you'll have a better understanding of why they were closed.
Some couldn't handle constructive criticism, some wore their feelings on their shoulder, some didn't have time and some lied about who they were.
 
Ajack60 said:
I would suggest reading some of the threads in those forums and you'll have a better understanding of why they were closed.
Some couldn't handle constructive criticism, some wore their feelings on their shoulder, some didn't have time and some lied about who they were.
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I remember several years ago when Kai was here, then closed, then came back. I was in touch with Thomas more than once and he gave me the manufacturer's take on having a forum here. First, if it is an active forum you need someone full time. People demand attention. As mentioned before many times the forum was used by folks to air their greivances, dislike, critiques and criticisms.

Even the most stout fanboy would get hurt if they posted what they thought was a mild criticism and it wasn't immediately addressed by the moderator. Thomas wasn't the man for the job, as he couldn't stand the neediness and the time commitment of time. He got irritated by someone posting they needed to "watch out" for uneven grinds or a non-perfectly centered blade (really? on a $25 knife?)

Thomas got pretty belligerent after a year or so of that and the forum was shut dow. It was a mess for everyone.

I have seen the postings in other manufacturer's forums as well where people aren't here to discuss their knives or their use, but to use it as an avenue to contact the company directly. No matter how many times the moderator says "that shouldn't have happened, you should contact them directly at "XXXX, XXXX" and someone will get back to you", people rarely listened. The next post would be "I sent them and email this morning and here it is 2 o'clock, and no one has contacted me". Then the frowny face emoticons, etc. But they didn't contact the manufacturer for the most part, they thought posting here was good enough.

On the other hand, the rabid fanboys detract from the experience as well. If you posted a problem or concern about your knife, then many times a fanboy would immediately chirp in with "I have one those and mine was perfect!". Not exactly helpful. Some would even go as far as to doubt the OP's ability to use the knife correctly, or wonder if they expected too much. Then of course, it would followed by the I received two and they were both perfect problem solvers.

A full time moderator can't be cheap. The kind of patience needed is incredible, and for most moderators of a manufacturer's forum (regardless of the product) they feel like they ware walking on eggshells. They have to respond (in the knife world) to people that bought a knife only to discover the handle feels too small when using it for camp chores, coping with people that think the lowest end steels should perform like the high end stuff, and then of course the people that take their knives apart and can't get them to perform as they did when they were new. In Kershaw forum, their poor reassembly skills translated to bad engineering from Kai.

It's a thankless job having your product constantly critiqued by people that can join Bladeforums for nothing and have a voice in the community.

Robert
 
midnight flyer said:
I remember several years ago when Kai was here, then closed, then came back. I was in touch with Thomas more than once and he gave me the manufacturer's take on having a forum here. First, if it is an active forum you need someone full time. People demand attention. As mentioned before many times the forum was used by folks to air their greivances, dislike, critiques and criticisms.

Even the most stout fanboy would get hurt if they posted what they thought was a mild criticism and it wasn't immediately addressed by the moderator. Thomas wasn't the man for the job, as he couldn't stand the neediness and the time commitment of time. He got irritated by someone posting they needed to "watch out" for uneven grinds or a non-perfectly centered blade (really? on a $25 knife?)

Thomas got pretty belligerent after a year or so of that and the forum was shut dow. It was a mess for everyone.

I have seen the postings in other manufacturer's forums as well where people aren't here to discuss their knives or their use, but to use it as an avenue to contact the company directly. No matter how many times the moderator says "that shouldn't have happened, you should contact them directly at "XXXX, XXXX" and someone will get back to you", people rarely listened. The next post would be "I sent them and email this morning and here it is 2 o'clock, and no one has contacted me". Then the frowny face emoticons, etc. But they didn't contact the manufacturer for the most part, they thought posting here was good enough.

On the other hand, the rabid fanboys detract from the experience as well. If you posted a problem or concern about your knife, then many times a fanboy would immediately chirp in with "I have one those and mine was perfect!". Not exactly helpful. Some would even go as far as to doubt the OP's ability to use the knife correctly, or wonder if they expected too much. Then of course, it would followed by the I received two and they were both perfect problem solvers.

A full time moderator can't be cheap. The kind of patience needed is incredible, and for most moderators of a manufacturer's forum (regardless of the product) they feel like they ware walking on eggshells. They have to respond (in the knife world) to people that bought a knife only to discover the handle feels too small when using it for camp chores, coping with people that think the lowest end steels should perform like the high end stuff, and then of course the people that take their knives apart and can't get them to perform as they did when they were new. In Kershaw forum, their poor reassembly skills translated to bad engineering from Kai.

It's a thankless job having your product constantly critiqued by people that can join Bladeforums for nothing and have a voice in the community.

Robert
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Well said. Having to deal with: trolls, knife geniuses, bedroom engineers and the like is fruitless.
Even on a place as good as blade forums that has good moderating keeping all ill wishing tools away is next to impossible. I think a lot of manufacturers give up and bail because of that certain segment of people/customers that just can't be pleased.
That said manufacturers who can't handle honest good criticism fro legit consumers add nothing to blade forums.
 
Screwdriver said:
Knife people are nuts and one of the reqs to be a manufacturer forum mod is that you have a doctorate in psychology. :D
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midnight flyer said:
It's a thankless job having your product constantly critiqued by people that can join Bladeforums for nothing and have a voice in the community.
Robert
Click to expand...

thefamcnaj said:
Well said. Having to deal with: trolls, knife geniuses, bedroom engineers and the like is fruitless.
Even on a place as good as blade forums that has good moderating keeping all ill wishing tools away is next to impossible. I think a lot of manufacturers give up and bail because of that certain segment of people/customers that just can't be pleased.
Click to expand...

^ There's really not much more to add; you 3 guys nailed it! :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:
 
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