Prop Escrow

[SSP]

Aren't there laws to prevent such horrible business transactions from occuring? Reporting it to the something...or-other...who does something to uphold something...uh, it's a legal thing.... Sorry that didn't make sense, it's late.

Past your bed times? HA! Just a regular college night for me here.

[Chris]

The only problem I see with using THIS forum as a place to air complaints about prop suppliers is the fact that this forum is sponsored by those very same companies.

Scroll to the top or bottom of this page and 9 times out of 10 you're gonna find a banner ad for a prop company. Those people pay good money to advertise here. That's money that helps keep this forum up and running.

Are you saying that there are NO good and reliable prop suppliers? That seems a bit hard to believe and certainly doesn't mirror my experiences.

Why should Larry allow this forum to turn into a place that is openly-hostile to the very companies that sponsor it?

Because by failing to do so he makes it "hostile" (or less useful) to the people it actually exists for. Haunters.

How long would the HAUNTWORLD forum last without the financial support of those prop companies?

I agree that someone should start a no-ads, non-biased website where people would be free to openly review prop companies, haunts, etc.

This forum just isn't it.

People openly review companies here and now. Somehow, despite this, the forum exists and advertisers aren't yanking their ads -- probably because those ads are seen by lots of people. My suggestion is to create a new board for this customer feedback so that both the good and bad feedback remains. As I have said, other industries do it. Just one example would be bowling, where several of the biggest bowling websites offer boards for people to post their experiences with online bowling ball sellers. Amazingly, most of the reviews are good, while the bad reviews allow customers the information to decide for themselves. Further, such a forum allows online suppliers the opportunity to respond directly and publicly -- also a good thing.

What you are suggesting is that the "needs" of these companies, their need to sell product, takes precedence over the needs of the very people this website claims to exist for. Haunters. Ironically, this is a very similar attitude to that held by haunt suppliers themselves.

[Raycliff Manor]

Something I've done in the past is post a question to the effect of,

"I'm looking into purchasing a product from XXX company. Does anyone have any experience with this company and would you be interested in sharing feedback? If so, please feel free to PM or email me."

Of course, if I receive a PM or email with positive feedback on a company, I encourage the person sending me the info to post a reply on the forum for the benefit of the company providing excellent service and for the forum members. If I receive negative feedback on a company, I thank the person providing the info and decide how the feedback will affect my potential purchase from the company in question. Usually people who have had positive experiences with businesses catering to the haunted attraction industry are eager to share their experience and praise.

Kel

[Chris]

Something I've done in the past is post a question to the effect of,

"I'm looking into purchasing a product from XXX company. Does anyone have any experience with this company and would you be interested in sharing feedback? If so, please feel free to PM or email me."

Of course, if I receive a PM or email with positive feedback on a company, I encourage the person sending me the info to post a reply on the forum for the benefit of the company providing excellent service and for the forum members. If I receive negative feedback on a company, I thank the person providing the info and decide how the feedback will affect my potential purchase from the company in question. Usually people who have had positive experiences with businesses catering to the haunted attraction industry are eager to share their experience and praise.

Kel

That's a great suggestion, but it does miss the boat in some respects --

1. It offers little incentive for the poor performers to improve. Why should they bother, and are they even aware of the reputation they are gaining? Better, what reputation (good or bad) have they aquired if no one knows? The answer is none at all.

2. It offers no opportunity for the company to respond to good and bad reports or to correct problems, or even outright lies. Without that feedback there is no way to verify the validity or frequency of complaints.

3. It relies on the person with the bad (or good experiences) to actually SEE the request and still care enough to respond -- perhaps months later.

Honestly, I am a bit stunned that anyone would object to this. Many here are business owners or managers. Who among us is opposed to our customers sharing their experiences? I certainly am not. I want visitors to tell everyone they know all about their experiences. Even if they did have a bad experience, I damn sure want to hear about it -- even publicly, for a public airing of my errors also allows me to demonstrate how efficiently and effectively I address those complaints.

Yet somehow we feel that haunt suppliers are different, and that they wouldn't welcome such customer feedback. That alone should say something about the state of the supply side of the industry. Is it really so bad that if customers were allowed to post their experiences the industry would falter? I highly doubt it. Instead, what would happen is that the cream would rise to the top while the poor performers either fix their issues or flounder.

[PumpkinHead]

That's a great suggestion, but it does miss the boat in some respects --

1. It offers little incentive for the poor performers to improve. Why should they bother, and are they even aware of the reputation they are gaining? Better, what reputation (good or bad) have they aquired if no one knows? The answer is none at all.

Good point Chris,
Let's look back to the type of the Puritans to rehash some of their better ideas on public humiliation as a good deterent of unwanted practices:

I am all for throwing bad business in the stocks for all to see! Either that or we could sew a Hawthornian Scarlet Letter onto their owners shirts so at the tradeshows we can know who to avoid!

Just some ideas
PH

[haunter112]

The only problem I see with using THIS forum as a place to air complaints about prop suppliers is the fact that this forum is sponsored by those very same companies.

Scroll to the top or bottom of this page and 9 times out of 10 you're gonna find a banner ad for a prop company. Those people pay good money to advertise here. That's money that helps keep this forum up and running.

Are you saying that there are NO good and reliable prop suppliers? That seems a bit hard to believe and certainly doesn't mirror my experiences.

Why should Larry allow this forum to turn into a place that is openly-hostile to the very companies that sponsor it?

Because by failing to do so he makes it "hostile" (or less useful) to the people it actually exists for. Haunters.

How long would the HAUNTWORLD forum last without the financial support of those prop companies?

I agree that someone should start a no-ads, non-biased website where people would be free to openly review prop companies, haunts, etc.

This forum just isn't it.

People openly review companies here and now. Somehow, despite this, the forum exists and advertisers aren't yanking their ads -- probably because those ads are seen by lots of people. My suggestion is to create a new board for this customer feedback so that both the good and bad feedback remains. As I have said, other industries do it. Just one example would be bowling, where several of the biggest bowling websites offer boards for people to post their experiences with online bowling ball sellers. Amazingly, most of the reviews are good, while the bad reviews allow customers the information to decide for themselves. Further, such a forum allows online suppliers the opportunity to respond directly and publicly -- also a good thing.

What you are suggesting is that the "needs" of these companies, their need to sell product, takes precedence over the needs of the very people this website claims to exist for. Haunters. Ironically, this is a very similar attitude to that held by haunt suppliers themselves.

Yeah... it's too bad these forums are on a PRIVATELY-OWNED, COMMERCIAL website, huh?

[Chris]

That's a great suggestion, but it does miss the boat in some respects --

1. It offers little incentive for the poor performers to improve. Why should they bother, and are they even aware of the reputation they are gaining? Better, what reputation (good or bad) have they aquired if no one knows? The answer is none at all.

Good point Chris,
Let's look back to the type of the Puritans to rehash some of their better ideas on public humiliation as a good deterent of unwanted practices:

I am all for throwing bad business in the stocks for all to see! Either that or we could sew a Hawthornian Scarlet Letter onto their owners shirts so at the tradeshows we can know who to avoid!

Just some ideas
PH

Heh-heh.

I guess you guys are right. Haunt equipment suppliers have the right to give poor service. They are entitled to take peoples money and then not deliver. They deserve that money a whole lot more than their customers do. The worst thing we could do would be to allow their potential customers to actually know ahead of time what they were getting themselves in to.

Or maybe not.

What I find amusing, again, is the assumption that these reviews will be negative. What does that say about this industry?

The last time I bought anything haunt related online it was from Larry at FX Faces. As ALWAYS, his service was perfect, his product was perfect, his prices a bargain, it was delivered on time, and he answered every question I had. My experiences with him have always been a pleasure. The same cannot be said for his competetors -- but that was knowlege I had to buy with my own money.

[Chris]

Yeah... it's too bad these forums are on a PRIVATELY-OWNED, COMMERCIAL website, huh?

Why is this relevant? Are you saying that this website is actually owned by these same haunt suppliers?

[Jim Warfield]

We all make mistakes , we all have made errors in judgement but the biggest common problem facing mankind in his dealings with others (in my opinion) is making verbal promises that your "back" can't deliver.
This also means making estimates of prices that cannot be met because someone just isn't very good at telling time or adding numbers.
I spent 15 of my adult years in such a work situation where I always had to take the loss, work for nothing or almost nothing(just to stay busy) and guess what? After 15 years of working like a slave, living like a monk in an abbey, I had effectively lost my house, my wife and my kids, small price to pay for being all the customers "best boy", right?
WRONG!
But I always did what I said I was going to do as far as appearing for the job and doing the work, now that thing concerning pay?.......
I had my pride in keeping my word and pride in the quality of the work I did, but these things do not (directly ) pay the bills, money does.
Too many people flap their gums, take as much money as they can for the smallest amount of work they can get away with, this works for the CEO's of huge companys but not very well for the rest of us.
There. Enough of my personal drama and tragedy for this episode.

[PumpkinHead]

That's a great suggestion, but it does miss the boat in some respects --

1. It offers little incentive for the poor performers to improve. Why should they bother, and are they even aware of the reputation they are gaining? Better, what reputation (good or bad) have they aquired if no one knows? The answer is none at all.

Good point Chris,
Let's look back to the type of the Puritans to rehash some of their better ideas on public humiliation as a good deterent of unwanted practices:

I am all for throwing bad business in the stocks for all to see! Either that or we could sew a Hawthornian Scarlet Letter onto their owners shirts so at the tradeshows we can know who to avoid!

Just some ideas
PH

Heh-heh.

I guess you guys are right. Haunt equipment suppliers have the right to give poor service. They are entitled to take peoples money and then not deliver. They deserve that money a whole lot more than their customers do. The worst thing we could do would be to allow their potential customers to actually know ahead of time what they were getting themselves in to.

Or maybe not.

Chris,
Sorry if my sarcasm made you think I was against your idea. I am all for exposing the companies who are trying to rip off my haunting friends. I think we NEED a forum or a portion of a forum for this purpose only. Maybe a simple thread such as "GREAT COMPANIES" and another thread for companies to stay away from. Of course there would have to be scrict monitoring of the threads because you never know when someone from a competitors company might want to discredit an opponent. I think that a forum like this would be a valuable tool for the industry ,but I am not sure that this forum would be the best place to house it.
Thanks,
PH