Shill posters... Why do they bother?

[websnail]

Just had some stupid idiot shill post about a "great" product with phone support and how they found them on the net, etc...

A few things gave them away...

BIG BOLD, COLOURED posting... and the fact that both of their posts (the only two) were about this GREAT NEW PRODUCT!! DID I MENTION HOW GREAT THEY THOUGHT IT WAS!

I mean... WTF... get real.. If they'd posted in the forum actually put aside for promoting their own products, been up-front about who they were and what they were selling, no problem... But no... Lies, damned lies and doubtless I'll get the bog standard "but everyone else does it" excuse... No dice..


Funnier still, the stupid muppet goes and uses a username that they have registered everywhere else on sites which actually proves that it's their own ruddy site...


... and end rant... doh!

 

[websnail]

Hmm... new low.

Comment posted (or attempted) on a website that relates to some of my waste ink kits. Upshot was to bad mouth the product as if they were an unhappy customer. Only problem is:
- IP matches that of competitor
- No such customer
- Really poor grammar

So, we've moved from selfless shill promoting to bad-mouthing the competition.

You'll note I haven't named this idiot but if this keeps up, I may have to reconsider.

 

[Grandad35]

Websnail,

You must be hurting their business - otherwise, why would they bother.

It's hard to say what to do. Taking the high road is the first impulse of an honest person, but this type of "negative selling" can force you to respond to keep potential customers from being turned away by false claims.

Personally, I would probably make a short professional reply to their garbage, listing the details that you gave (but not their identity or website). Your reply should be made quickly so that it is close to their post in the thread so that people who read their garbage will also read your reply. I would also make a statement that you will not be drawn into a "war of words" with such individuals (pig, mud, etc.), and that this is your last post on this subject in this thread. If the same thing happens in another forum or thread, you are almost forced to make a similar reply, buy now it can be a simple url to the original post.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[websnail]

You must be hurting their business - otherwise, why would they bother.

In fairness I'm pretty sure that's the case.

It's hard to say what to do. Taking the high road is the first impulse of an honest person, but this type of "negative selling" can force you to respond to keep potential customers from being turned away by false claims.

Yeah... In part that's why I've been keeping a close eye on certain things and ensuring that I'm covered in all I've done, said or posted to date.

Unfortunately their own approach has been less than forthright or honest.

Personally, I would probably make a short professional reply to their garbage, listing the details that you gave (but not their identity or website). Your reply should be made quickly so that it is close to their post in the thread so that people who read their garbage will also read your reply. I would also make a statement that you will not be drawn into a "war of words" with such individuals (pig, mud, etc.), and that this is your last post on this subject in this thread. If the same thing happens in another forum or thread, you are almost forced to make a similar reply, buy now it can be a simple url to the original post.

Luckily this individual is not as smart as you might think. He's used the same identity for almost all of his shill posting or a close copy so it's not hard to spot.

Funny part is he also posted his comments about my products on a site that I recently opened. A little digging on his part would have indicated that I own the site, but he just posted it up and while the evidence is circumstantial I could confirm the poster wasn't a customer. Needless to say I didn't validate the comments, so I don't need to respond as suggested. It's only a matter of time though.

I think my key issue is that he lies his backside into oblivion and it's now patently clear that he wants to try a smear campaign. My opinion is that ultimately he's going to provide me with better publicity than I could get elsewhere and increase sales, not reduce them. So, if he goes for a site that I don't control, hopefully my preceding rep' will hold sway..

I love a challenge

His latest trick is to register a new account with yet another blindingly obvious related nickname and try to ask questions on eBay and he's tried to bid on kits with it as well. I'm guessing to do his utmost to reverse engineer the process I've used and/or just bad mouth the products as an "unhappy customer" elsewhere.

I'm tempted to respond as I've done with all customer which is politely and in detail but I suspect it's going to be better to just ignore and frustrate his attempts at an end run. He'll get a kit eventually but with a little luck he'll realise the product actually is well thought out and not, as he put it "a food container with gadgets that do nothing"

Just my 2 cents.

... and worth every one... It's appreciated... In part I just need to rant because my opinion of this individual is not an overly polite one. I do dislike dishonesty... Competition fine, but lies and disinformation is just plain bad karma.

... One can hope