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What Has Happened To This Forum

colinvansmith

New member
Messages
9
Hi all i was a member of this forum for a long time but hadn't used it for a year or so. I had over 500 posts to my name and i feel i helped a lot people out and gave the best advive i could. The reason this forum worked was that unlike window cleaning resources etc this forum encouraged indeoendence and free speech etc which is why i think it worked so well, i'm sure Gav will agree.

However i was shocked to find when i tried to log in that i was no longer a memeber and had to join again, anyways i posted a topic about gardiner poles being rubbish as i've had three and had nothing but grief from them with the coating coming away in my hands rendering them useless.

I was looking for that post so i could update it after speaking with gardiner today only to find my post had been deleted i'm assuming by gav for what reason i do not know as nothing i said in the post wasn't a fact and i thought rather than find other window cleaners spending hundreds only to find their pole doesnt last a year i would give my opinion so people can make an informed choice but there you go.

Anyways the reason i was trying to update it was because after dealing with gardiner i cannot sing there praises enough, firstly they paid to have my pole returned to them and within 24hours they had called me back agreed that my pole was faulty and shouldn't have worn like it did (i'm not sure it was faulty i think the coatings on them are designed badly but anyway) they gave me a refund of £508 which i paid for the pole with no fuss. So the bottom line is i'm not sure gardiner poles are robust enough for a professional window cleaner however you cannot fault them on their customer service which is second to none.

The only reason i can think of as to why gav removed my post is that this site is no longer independant and has affiliations with gardiner and other window cleaning equipment suppliers which defeats the purpose of why gav started this forum in the first place, i think that is the beginning of the end for this forum as sooner or later a new independant forum will pop up that people will start to use instead

Rant over, i now wonder how many people will actually see this post before its moderated and deleted.

col /emoticons/wink.png

 
Colin sorry your old account was deleted there were a lot that were inactive for some time that were just cleared out to reduce database size and server load and obviously Gav just thought you weren't coming back which happens a lot so apologies are in order for that.As for your thread being deleted I'm sorry but we don't allow threads to be opened like that to put down any manufacturer or supplier and it does state this in the forum rules. The forum isn't now or ever will be I hope affiliated with any manufacturer or supplier. You're right that's what makes this forum unique and all wcf staff and management wish it to stay this way. I hope that clears that up Colin I'm off to play some toonage :rolleyes:

 
Hi all i was a member of this forum for a long time but hadn't used it for a year or so. I had over 500 posts to my name and i feel i helped a lot people out and gave the best advive i could. The reason this forum worked was that unlike window cleaning resources etc this forum encouraged indeoendence and free speech etc which is why i think it worked so well, i'm sure Gav will agree.

However i was shocked to find when i tried to log in that i was no longer a memeber and had to join again, anyways i posted a topic about gardiner poles being rubbish as i've had three and had nothing but grief from them with the coating coming away in my hands rendering them useless.

I was looking for that post so i could update it after speaking with gardiner today only to find my post had been deleted i'm assuming by gav for what reason i do not know as nothing i said in the post wasn't a fact and i thought rather than find other window cleaners spending hundreds only to find their pole doesnt last a year i would give my opinion so people can make an informed choice but there you go.

Anyways the reason i was trying to update it was because after dealing with gardiner i cannot sing there praises enough, firstly they paid to have my pole returned to them and within 24hours they had called me back agreed that my pole was faulty and shouldn't have worn like it did (i'm not sure it was faulty i think the coatings on them are designed badly but anyway) they gave me a refund of £508 which i paid for the pole with no fuss. So the bottom line is i'm not sure gardiner poles are robust enough for a professional window cleaner however you cannot fault them on their customer service which is second to none.

The only reason i can think of as to why gav removed my post is that this site is no longer independant and has affiliations with gardiner and other window cleaning equipment suppliers which defeats the purpose of why gav started this forum in the first place, i think that is the beginning of the end for this forum as sooner or later a new independant forum will pop up that people will start to use instead

Rant over, i now wonder how many people will actually see this post before its moderated and deleted.

col /emoticons/wink.png
Hi Colin
We always appreciate feedback, but wanted to clarify the above points you have posted.

I authorised a refund today for your pole despite it being many months old and having been used well in this time. The reason I did this was that when I inspected it, it could clearly be seen by me that this was a faulty pole. Yes it really is faulty and this is nothing to do with coatings (which the pole does not have). I instructed the member of staff that spoke to you to impress on you that this was a very faulty pole and I am not sure how you had worked with it for as long as you had. These faults affected 6 out of the 8 sections including the ones that you had barely used (looks like you only really used the 40ft pole at about 20ft most of the time).

The way your pole has performed (although it has continued to earn money for you despite being faulty) certainly is not representative of our poles and as such would not be fair to assess the suitability of our poles to be used as a professional tool. These poles are in use currently by over 10,000 professional window cleaners around the world and have been in use for over 5 years.

We are obviously disappointed that your experience of our products has not lived up to the usual levels of customer satisfaction that our clients enjoy.

Alex

 
Risk of closure removed from thread.

FYI the warning was temporarily put in place for the mods benefit and not directed at the OP.

Risk of closure mentions rule breaks in general not just aimed at arguing.

 
Hi Alex thank you for your reply. As i said i do appreciate Gardiners level of customer service as it is second to none, however the three pole i have purchased from gardiner have all ended up the same way but i can't say with 100% confidence that the other two were not just faulty as well but it seems unlikely. Coating aside i think the design of Gardiners poles, clamps and brushes are spot on, i'm not convinced with the grey or red colour my hands end up however after using one that whatever gives them their colur is robust enough

 
Indeed we are not out to upset anyone or turn into those locked down forums or affiliated forums. We will always be independent!

I am sorry your account was deleted as said above we now have system in place that removes dormant accounts, this system has now been extended to one year of inactivity before being removed. Emails are also sent often to remind users of this.

As I mentioned in my reply to you in pm. We as a staff team have to constantly evolve with the forum evolving and although it may seem on the outside we are becoming harsher or more closed. This is far from it, on the inside we often discuss and debate about decisions made on the forum. We are so much more busy these days with many more members and have to work to ensure we keep the balance of the masses! /emoticons/biggrin.png

Welcome back though;)

Just going to move this to the chat area as is better suited than the water fed pole area /emoticons/wink.png

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

 
An extract from your post "I had over 500 posts to my name and i feel i helped a lot people out and gave the best advise i could."

Give advice and help people again.

Ask people their thoughts on things instead of openly criticising a product.

I replied to your original post (gardiner poles are rubbish) why not have said "does any one else suffer these issues with Gardiner poles?"

Like i said in my original reply my slx poles have served me very well and i have no issues with buying another.

 
My 2ps worth.....

used Gardiner products for pretty much everything. Think i had a tap break, was replaced within 48hrs with some freebies and they dont even make the tap.

As for the poles, i have one or two and think they are unbeatable

View attachment 1488

 
Colin sorry your old account was deleted there were a lot that were inactive for some time that were just cleared out to reduce database size and server load and obviously Gav just thought you weren't coming back which happens a lot so apologies are in order for that.As for your thread being deleted I'm sorry but we don't allow threads to be opened like that to put down any manufacturer or supplier and it does state this in the forum rules. The forum isn't now or ever will be I hope affiliated with any manufacturer or supplier. You're right that's what makes this forum unique and all wcf staff and management wish it to stay this way. I hope that clears that up Colin I'm off to play some toonage :rolleyes:
Hmm ''we don't allow threads to be opened like that to put down any manufacturer or supplier

''

If we have any problems with suppliers like poor customer service, faulty equipment etc how we let everyone know if we cant make a topic about it?

 
So the poles where useless because they made your hands black? You should try a pair of gloves!

I had my slx apart at the weekend as it was getting tough to extend and had a gritty sound when extending, gave it a good scrub, scrubbed all clamps, put it back together, gave it a coating of gt85, and it not operates and looks like a new pole. It's approx 6-7 months old now.

 
Hmm ''we don't allow threads to be opened like that to put down any manufacturer or supplier''

If we have any problems with suppliers like poor customer service, faulty equipment etc how we let everyone know if we cant make a topic about it?
It was the title and the way it was written that we had the issue with.

 
Its a hard one M and we discuss everything like that in staff room before action is taken. Commenting on threads about your grievances yeah that's OK as long as its not over the top cos ya right we've got to know if stuff isn't up to scratch as much as we need to know the good stuff. Fact is with this thread the member of staff that quarantined it didn't know Colin as a former respected member but he did only hide it he didn't delete it and collectively we decided to let it go. It was more the title than the content to be honest, don't want Google picking up on too much of that stuff.

 
Yes it is about doing it constructively really. Just posting x is rubbish is not helpful. The post should have been something like

Title: problem with my xyz pole.

Post: I have had x pole for a while but it always does xyz does anyone have this issue or know how to fix it? I have contacted the company and awaiting reply.

Not xyz are rubbish!

Their poles are useless, never buying from them i dont recommend them at all etc etc.

If you cleaned my house and i posted online. xyz window cleaning service is rubbish he missed a window, left my grass in a mess, cleaned a window that was open and i now have a puddle and has not replied to my message, don't use them. I think you would be pretty upset and in fact if i just waited you probably would have replied when you had chance and finished your jobs for the day and you most likely would have arranged to come out to take a look and rectify if needed or at least discussed with me.

We just have to remember these are peoples lively hoods, no matter how big the company is, and just blatant they are rubbish is not helpful to anyone. :Image9:

 
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