houseofancients
Solar Wizard
that's just the thing here will... nobody is pushing, this is one member telling another one to talk to them and mention his name so they get extra taken care of ...
RayfromTX Gone..? Huh..?
- Thread starter solardad
- Start date
Thanks @Will Prowse for looking into this. Glad to see Ray back.
I've asked Will earlier today to make me a moderator (and now I am). I hope I can take some workload away from Will and co.
Referring by name typically means there will be an affiliate commission involved. Let's ask @RayfromTX directly. Are you or were you an affiliate for this company?
Thank you, it is much appreciated.
I receive a commission on sales from Jenny Wu when my youtube channel is mentioned at the time of contact. I don't have an affiliate link. I try hard to not self promote. In the case of the post that got me banned, I was responding to someone that was having a hard time with a payment method so I posted Jenny's email address so she could sort it out and get the discussion off the forum. Many people come here to find this information. I don't sell anything and technically, I have no affiliate links here or on youtube. My income comes from working in construction. I have turned down many offers to promote companies on my youtube channel but I prefer to not go that route.
Bob B
Emperor Of Solar
- Joined
- Sep 21, 2019
- Messages
- 9,828
What I'm thinking is that it is easier to cross the line than I thought.
One of the most common posts from a newbie is to try to find reputable sellers instead of having to navigate the mine field by themselves ... The money involved and buying from the other side of the world where we know scammers are lurking is a scary thing for us poor DIYers.
Many of us have mentioned sellers by name .... and that experience from forum members would be valuable input for a newbie. Seems like quite a tight rope to walk to help others but not over promote.
Maybe I'm still a little confused about the new more strict rules about sellers.
One of the most common posts from a newbie is to try to find reputable sellers instead of having to navigate the mine field by themselves ... The money involved and buying from the other side of the world where we know scammers are lurking is a scary thing for us poor DIYers.
Many of us have mentioned sellers by name .... and that experience from forum members would be valuable input for a newbie. Seems like quite a tight rope to walk to help others but not over promote.
Maybe I'm still a little confused about the new more strict rules about sellers.
Bud Martin
Solar Wizard
- Joined
- Aug 27, 2020
- Messages
- 4,834
So you are not allow to show Email address of the seller? When I was trying to buy the battery, from Dxxxxx, I forget the website name and Jenny or Amy Email address which I could not find it because the thread was wiped out, but luckily the members were able to provide me the contact and I was able to get the hold of seller and bought the batteries.
Anyone can just go on their website and buy them. You do not need to go through any sales rep. Or you can just pull the email from their contact us page.
curiouscarbon
Science Penguin
- Joined
- Jun 29, 2020
- Messages
- 3,044
transparency is desired for me, i want each rep to make an account here and be referred by user account @ format, then the email can be canonically referred to by the user account profile page
Devil's advocate here again... The website is US only. The email address is a generic one. Many people want a specific representative since others have had good experiences with them. Anyone not in the US wants to make sure they're talking to the right person, and not a scam or whatever. People want certainty before sending a lot of money to a third party.
There has to be a way to allow members of this forum to vet resellers, maybe tied to some reputation or whatever. I fully understand not having random newbies come in and recommend stuff. But just like people going with your recommendations because they trust you, there should be a way for others that have been around the block a few times with this stuff to recommend and also warn new users here on vendors, and the best ways of getting in touch with them. Just the process of using Alibaba is alien to many people (i.e., use the chat function, no you don't call anyone, no don't put stuff in your basket and go to pay for it, yes the shipping cost calculation is wrong, etc.).
Heck their US website isn't the greatest and quite frankly I would have touched it had I not known from here it was fine. That goes with Ali anything too. I bought all my parts outside of Ali because I did not want to deal with the headache.
I don't have a problem with reviewing an actual company and their products and services. Or even linking to them. I only have a problem when a forum member is posting "tell her I sent you" and getting a kickback. Any affiliate links or referrals should not be allowed anywhere on this forum.
And I would never trust a random email recommendation from anyone on this forum for making big purchases. I will always email them directly. To use a strangers recommendation on the forum to send thousands of dollars over the internet is not a smart idea. We should judge the company as a whole. Just because people have personal relationships with a couple sales reps does not mean the other sales reps are not just as good. Their job is quite easy too, they just initiate orders. And they are making millions of dollars while doing it.
If someone gets scammed by sending money to a random strangers email mentioned on the forum, we will get the blame and it makes the forum look awful. I've already had numerous emails being blamed for this already.
Sales reps are not special. I could call any company directly and have the same experience with any of their staff. I would rather people contact these companies directly, and not through random personal email addresses.
I think what really happened is our forum is predominantly male, and these companies strategically used female sales reps that were friendly to make a personal connection with their customers so they will turn into repeat customers or refer their friends. I've noticed people actually miss these reps as if they serve some form of utility to making an order. There is nothing special about these sales reps and they are milking the members and this forum for sales.
Vetting a reseller is fine, but not individuals who are making a direct comission. If we were to allow that, I would then be allowed to post my own "tell them I sent you", and that would not be fair. Many of these rules limit me more than anyone else, and I'm trying to make this as fair as possible. Technically I am the largest affiliate in this space, but I also want this forum to be corporate free. I am liable for all the recommendations on my other site. The recommendations here to random personal emails can easily be done in a way to scam others or push sales. And I will have to take the responsibility if something goes wrong. Which has happened multiple times already.
Vetting a reseller is fine. Pushing sales through a personal email is not. There is nothing special about these sales reps. You can order directly through any of these companies many sales reps without issue. The level of competency to fill an order is very low.
Seriously? If that was the case, every rep at signature solar and these other companies would have a profile. The only reason the cell resellers are trying to make a personal connection with you guys is so they can push more sales and get a commission.
Anyone can fulfill an order at these companies, there is no need for a sales rep recommendation here. I can call any of these companies and make an order without issue. We can review the companies all day long too without pushing it through an individual making a comission.
Oh sure but I want to judge the company as a whole. The only reason these reps work so hard to push sales is because of their comission. They are females acting friendly for a reason. And they are making a ton of cash in the process.
There is nothing special about a sales rep here. And if their other sales reps are bad, we should mention that as well. I highly doubt anyone will have a bad experience with a sales rep from any of these companies. All they do is take your credit card information and ask where to ship it.
Yes, it is a problem because each one is getting a comission and there is nothing special about these reps. I can call and make an order with any sales rep at any company.
If I call a company and purchase something, I'm not going to tell you who my sales rep was. Because it should not matter.
Keep in mind these rules also limit me more than anyone else. If any of this is allowed, I will become the largest sales rep of them all. I don't want that. I don't want to compete with you guys. If referral of sales reps is allowed, I will try to dominate like I do on my YouTube videos. I will work 24/7 to have the most transparent and useful information around, and will stand by my recommendations. I'm telling you right now, we should not have that on this forum. Or else I will take advantage of it and post "tell them I sent you" constantly. I want this forum to be for education only. It should be for everyone, and free of ads. No exceptions.
And like I said earlier, reviewing a company or their products is absolutely fine. Pushing sales through a sales reps personal email on a forum where I am responsible for, is not.
Oh were you scammed by a group buy? Or are you joking about spending money in general? Solar and batteries is very addicting. We need an addiction sub forum ?Understand, and I do appreciate that. Without this forum I wouldn't be several $k poorer... wait....
Joking lol. But reality is, I actually saved money going DIY because I wanted to add battery to my system anyway, and also went LFP instead of the burn happy Li-ions from a used pack from a wrecked car or something stupid. If it wasn't for finding this forum I very well may have made some really dumb choices.
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