Going out of the shirt business

[captain]

Well guys I guess were to that point. Complaints have been filed against me with Pay Pal from members of this site because they did not get their shirts in what they felt was a timely manner. Even though I have personally guaranteed the delivery of the shirts the complaints were filed. I have been thinking about just giving up and selling the stock that I have and close the site. I am so tired of this type of BS from members. For all of you that have forgotten or dont know this site cost me hundreds of dollars every month, not to mention the time to admin the site. I don't even own a busa any more. Maybe I should just close the site completely, refund the money to the only two business' that wanted to put banner ads up and shut it off. I even had a member that ordered shirts, received the shirts, filed a complaint with paypal, got their money back and kept the shirts, I don't need this type of garbage. I WILL NOT lose money on this site any longer. I started this place as a hobby and it has turned into a job trying to keep everyone happy. Suzuki does not sponsor this site, its only as good as the members that visit here, and to tell you the truth the membership is beginning to work on me. Don't get me wrong there are some great people out there but as usual there are some that are willing to take advantage of the system and work it for their benefit. I will let you all know what I decide in the days to come.

Captain

 

[gaw]

Way sorry to hear about thoes idiots. (maybe you could secretly leak their names on the board) I know what you are saying, there are always a few that ruin it for eveyone.

I do know there are members on this site that are willing to help you out on the money side of it, as noted by how fast you sold some of the shirts. Maybe a fee to be a member?
I doubt that that is what you really wanted or envisioned for this site, but you are right, you should not have to lose money because of this site.

I have only been on this site for a short time, but have found it to be a great place of information and a wealth of knowledge. I actually made my final decision on buying my bike because of this site.

Captain, let us know what can we do to help

Besides, I just figured out how to post pictures that other people can see.  

Ride safe  

This is my 100th post, You can't stop now!

 

[shoeio]

This is something that should not be happening. I have been a member of this board for a little over a year now. Through this board I have found several things out, that I might not of figured out for a good while. I have met and come in contact with some very good people from all over the country. The Captain has done without things and has always done as he said he would.He is a man beyond reproach.
For those unhappy individuals out here that feel they must complain, cheat , and down right steal, I suggest they just go elsewhere. Or perhaps we should just ban them all together. We all have been allowed to use this forum, for many things. It has brought together a group of people with one thing in common. The bike. From this one common thread we all share it has in some sense of the word created a new family for each of us. I know I as well as countless others would really hate to see something happen to what has been started here by the Captain.
Capt, I will give you all the help you need as will others all you have to do is say the word.
I am truly sorry you have been placed in this situation.

Jim

 

[rubbersidedown]

Well guys I guess were to that point. Complaints have been filed against me with Pay Pal from members of this site because they did not get their shirts in what they felt was a timely manner. Even though I have personally guaranteed the delivery of the shirts the complaints were filed. I have been thinking about just giving up and selling the stock that I have and close the site. I am so tired of this type of BS from members. For all of you that have forgotten or dont know this site cost me hundreds of dollars, not to mention the time to admin the site. I don't even own a busa any more. Maybe I should just close the site completely, refund the money to the only two business' that wanted to put banner ads up and shut it off. I even had a member that ordered shirts, received the shirts, filed a complaint with paypal, got their money back and kept the shirts, I don't need this type of garbage. I WILL NOT lose money on this site any longer. I started this place as a hobby and it has turned into a job trying to keep everyone happy. Suzuki does not sponsor this site, its only as good as the members that visit here, and to tell you the truth the membership is beginning to work on me. Don't get me wrong there are some great people out there but as usual there are some that are willing to take advantage of the system and work it for their benefit. I will let you all know what I decide in the days to come.

Captain

So...one or two people complained thru Paypal....tell 'em to go get fugged .

Why not turn the site into something profitable ? The good 1's have offered lots of times to donate,pay member fee's, whatever ya want .

Sounds like yer pissed about something that really doesn't have to be . You've got 2 un-happy customers out of the what.....500 shirts delivered .

If yer bothered about things...why not just fix them . If this is your hobby and you no longer enjoy it, pull the freakin' plug then . Why put yerself thru any kind of hassle for people that are gonna rat you out to Paypal .

"The membership is beginning to work on me"..... yer words . All I can say is, no shi7. I mean seriously, its the internet, you've invited the world into your server . I guess you have to either accept the world , and embrace it/us/them for all its differences , or eliminate the parts of it that are "Begining to work on you".

I think the bottom line is....
You dont have to be any sort of hero. I dont think anyone will ever ask you to devote endless hours,or sink untold amounts of cash into something you dont enjoy .It started out as one of your hobbies. I mean this is....just a web site . There's millions of them out there . It is fun to hack away for an hour or two here an' there , but if its a huge bother , or something you have to be pat on the back for , pull the dam plug . You said this site costs you hundreds of dollars.....O.K. this site cost you hundreds of dollars . If its fun , if its yer hobby , why add up the cost? The brothers an' 3 sisters have offered to offset that cost . Actually,if you do the math, you could hire a college kid to run the joint , an' still turn a profit .

aren't you building a house ?

someone mentioned yer losing yer job ?

and you wanna stress about yer hobby? yer website?


It seems odd .

Charge admission = yer money prob SOLVED.

Hire some computer geek to run the site=yer time prob GONE.

Yer tired of the B.S. from some members....FILE THEM .

All the "Good People" are gonna run in here an' beg you to stay . It just seems to me like ....they shouldn't have too.

This post smells of something....it has a hint of burning martyr.
I could be wrong....I was wrong once...1978 I think it was .

Its easy to be a victim . Me, personally , I'll never live life as a victim .

Exersize yer right . Yer right to do an' be and live...however you want .

Its been stressed before.....THIS IS YOUR WEBSITE .

I say...big fuggin' deal , but thats just me.

Hire someone....make some money...take life easy....


It sounds too fuggin' easy .

This just looks like your waiting to see what happens (the responses ) .

I mentioned it earlier....THEY SHOULDN'T HAVE TO.


just me . just RSD . just an opinion .

Hey....LIVE LONG and PROSPER .

 

[S7R4NGER]

Captain, it's very sad that a member has done what you've said.
This should be a place of relaxation, confort, knowledge for you as it is for all of us and not a source of concern and unhapinness.
Do what you have to do.
Lots of members here are willing to help.

 

[Big O]

It's YOUR site Cap, I never forget that. You shouldn't lose money on it. I would hate like hell for you to close it down. Maybe it's time to play hard a fast with YOUR rules. If people don't like the way you want things done and complain like their doing you a service by being here, Ban 'em. If you don't like it here, leave, if you complain too much, you're GONE. You don't Have to put up with the BS, it's your site.

It's easy for me to say though.

I've met and been on rides with so many people I definitely wouldn't have met if this site wasn't here. I was thinking about it the other day, after Laguna, I got to ride with Doc, Lo, Marc, Nick, and Charles. Please think long and hard about it before you decide Cap. This is like my second family here.

 

[FLCN72]

I got all three of my shirts in a timely fashion, even after I made mistakes in my order that Captain fixed for me. I take some degree of personal offense if anyone implies that Captain is in any way dishonest with these tee-shirt sales. He gets them to you and provides this site without compensation (for the most part). Running this site is not his full time job nor are tee-shirt sales. So give a man a break if it takes more than a couple of days to get a shirt in the mail!

Personally I think Captain should release the names, etc. of the people who have ripped him off to all of us. We expose fraud, bad businesses, and eBay scams to one another all the time. We use our little community to help one another by avoiding the crooks out there.

As I write this I am fairly certain he won't tell us the names, addresses, and phone numbers of these con artists. Because Captain is a far more decent guy than I am. But it still feels good to suggest it.

 

[Revlis]

Uh Captain, I still think a monthly charge of something silly...Say like $5 a month or something. I spend more time reading stuff here than magazines I subscribe to anyway, or the cable TV I never watch so why not? OK $5 monthly might be a little steep over the term of the year but some monthly income to turn the site into something other than a money drain. Might not make you rich but should at least be self sustaining. Give new members a 30 day free trail period or something, let them get hooked then bill em!
Don't let a few pricks ruin your hobby, complaints at paypal? Fug PayPal who cares? Ban the dickheads, Announce in a forum who is getting it all wrong. It's your house, your rules... Ever seen Airtech's hall of shame... Same deal. Keep it fun, but set this thing up to at least break even. Take the current membership (Active) and figure out how much you need to cover the expenses, this shouldn't be too hard...
I would be pretty crushed if this site goes away altogether, I have become rather attached to this community, and the information I have gathered here has been invaluable...

 

[BulletTrain]

When I didn't get my shirts after a few days I hit Captain up on ICQ and inquire about the order. Once he let me know that he was just getting everything together to send out a LOT of them at the same time I had no problems whatsoever with it. Never even thought about complaining to him about it, much less biotchin' to PayPal!

In fact, when I inquired, I was worried about the shipping carrier fuggin' up like they usually do. I don't seem to have very good luck with any of the carriers lately. They have shiot fer drivers around here. It never even crossed my mind that Captain would fug me or that I should complain about anything to anyone. Some people are just azzholes and don't know any other way to act, tho...




<span style='font-size:17pt;line-height:100%'>TO THE AZZHOLES WHO STIFFED THE CAPTAIN: I HOPE YOU SMOKE A TURD IN HELL FOR IT YOU WORTHLESS BASTAGES!!! YOU DON'T DESERVE TO REAP THE BENEFITS OF THIS SITE FOR ANOTHER DAY!!!</span>

Only other thing I have to say is, do what ya gotta do, Captain. It's yers to do with as you please... I'd hate to lose the site because it's a great resource, but ain't much I can do about it I don't guess.

 

[VaBusa]

I'm in shock that anyone would complain about something so frickin' trivial...I just figured everyone on this site knows that Captain does this as a hobby...hell, I've often thought he's crazy to go through all the trouble of making shirts and keeping this site on the cutting edge as far as technology's concerned...but, it's his hobby and I think he gets quite a lot of satisfaction out of the "family" he's fostered here...

With all of that will come some bad seeds...too bad it's hit Captain so close to home and gone so far as to file complaints with PayPal...the guy's doing this almost as a favor people...I don't envision him making tons of money hand over fist by having shirts made up and taking time to send the mother's out...hell, I can barely make it to the post office to buy a damn stamp, but this guy's taking time to mail out hundreds of t-shirts, and all some members can do is complain because they didn't get it fast enough?!  Go to the store, buy a damn t-shirt and some markers and make your own if that's such a big fuggin' deal!

Captain, if your hobby's become more of a burden than not, don't hang on to something that's causing misery for you...we'd all hate to see this site go under...I am with 'gaw' in saying that I finally made my decision to buy a Busa because I found so many great people on this site willing to answer all of my questions...I haven't been here very long, but I've grown extremely fond of so many people on this site, and no where else have I been able to learn more about my bike than from the threads posted day after day by people all over the world...

I agree with what's been said by so many good members here...if the hobby's more of a financial burden now, let us pay a monthly fee...it'll weed out those that are just passing through looking for something to complain about...

 

[oldhat]

Hey Capt......Ban the idiots IP subnet! Charge us to use the site; and ask us for help if needed. I know the regs would be more than happy to help! I can't live without my fellow genii, that slow rider Ninja eater (get a fast bike will ya...geez what a slug!) Lo, Marc, Narc, Hawaii, fat jap, etc etc etc.

 

[Mikey D]

Captain,
What they said... me too!

 

[jwcfbd]

Captain I know that you have had troubles in the past and obviously in the present and most likely in the future as well. But please don't let these "few" rune it for the rest of the world. Whether or not you like to admit it You have done a great job running this site and provide an excellent service here. You have said in the past you just provide the place but it's the members that make things happen and that if it wasn't for this site we would find another. That couldn't be further from the truth. I've been to other sites and didn't like them. If you pull the plug on this site I will be forced to pull the plug on my computer. Without this place it just won't be the same.
Please think about it long and hard. But what ever you have to do it is your choice and we will be here for you. If there is anything any of us can do just ask and the responce will be great.
Jim

 

[cache]

I would absolutely HATE to see the site go. But, thats the way it will be. I count on it every day, and most ppl don't realize this server supports alot of us.

Captain, again, you know alot of us will support you. Shirts aren't as important as this site. Dump the shirt business. You have enough support with site administration to keep you on "Hayabusa Vacation". Send the insensitive members to your helpers. Take it easy. Enjoy your nice new home.
Thanks again for all you have done....


Chris.

 

[Sane_man]

I have so many T-Shirts I had to buy another piece of furniture to store them. I felt a little bad just ordering one shirt but space is at a premium. My shirt arrived in about four days, but I have ordered shirts from sites in the past that have taken a month to get. I can't believe someone would bitch over $20 especially not before contacting the seller first. It's probably a little harsh to ban them, but I wouldn't accept any other orders from those individual's.

 

[Thinker62]

Well, I have a mixed opinion here. But first lets get a few facts established:
1. I love this site.
2. I love and respect Captain and what he has done for so many of us.
3. I love the brothers and sisters of this site.

Now for the issue at hand. RSD had an edge to his comments, but many of them were on point. First two issues must be seperated...economics and personal satisfaction. When it comes to economics, the Captain shouldn't and doesn't have to lose money. I don't like that concept at all. If this is a problem, please charge me for the great service I enjoy, or set up a mechanism which encourages us to "donate" to the cause on a regular basis. But everytime this comes up, Captain swears that it is not a problem, and that he does not want to charge. You don't have to make a profit if you don't want to, but as a non profit organization (taxes), at least break even for God's sake. WE WANT YOU TO!

With regards to the shirts, come on Cap, it is a numbers game. How can you expect to deal with thousands of people and not run across a few dishonest people, or flat out sugarbritches? The board is a hobby, but selling shirts is business, and in business, people turn into Dr. Jeckle and ofter try to cheat you. There are no barriers to entry on this site, so it is just a matter of time before we get pricks joining and trying to take advantage of you. I say pay 'em then ban them publicly for all to see. If you only had 2 people stick it to you, you are ahead of the game. Yeah it pisses you off, but would you have them take your passion along with a few shirts or a few dollars? And why not tell us who they are? This is a public forum. There are always two sides to every story, so perhaps there is some logic as to why they acted like azz holes. Let 'em explain. So, if the problem is financial, let us pay and take care of it. You are already HERO enough to us, stop taking it up the butt if you don't like it.

Next is the emotional stress, strain and work that it takes to do this. I imagine it is a hassle and very intense. And the job situation can't make it any easier. I don't know what to say about this, but if it is getting you down, and the other web geeks on here aren't able to help enough, perhaps you should consider shutting down or selling the site. If it no longer is fun and makes you feel good, it isn't worth it. I would rather lose the site than to see you suffer on a regular basis.

I hope that you are just venting and you are not truly considering shutting down. Feel free to vent all you want, and name names. I need a target for my anger. But if you choose to close down, do it for your own peace of mind, and not because a few people pushed you to.

I HOPE THAT WAS TAKEN IN THE HAYABUSA.ORGLOVING SPIRIT IN WHICH IT WAS MEANT!

 

[oldhat]

well said Think.

 

[dannyhirji]

Cap,
All I have to say is I would have not gotten my bike if I had not found this site.

Suzuki sucks ass if they dont want to endorse this site, every real suzuki (hayabusa) dealer from here to hel;l knows of this site, The least you should be able to get out of it is a banner ad from local dealers.
start a poll see how many will pay....as far as charging $5 a month, I dont think thats so bad but your dealing with a time when you can get a subscription to any bike magazine for $9 a year (or less)
starting a poll will also bring you to a rough "guesstimate" of how many active users you have that log in everyday...(that is your main clientele)
the monthly thing can be a pain, charge a yearly fee - $20 see where that gets you based on how many "active" (paying) users (expect atlest 2 F*u*c*k*s not to pay up, the 2 that are wearing free H.org t shirts.) :tounge:

loosing money is the fastest way to be dissatisfied with life....
To some (me) this site gives me something to look forward to each day.... but on the same note I wouldnt let a web site screw with my head.....
Danny

 

[S7R4NGER]

It's probably a little harsh to ban them, but I wouldn't accept any other orders from those individual's.

I don't agree with you, Sane Man. Captain won't say their names, but my guess is they aren't hard core users... If they were, they wouldn't do such a thing to Captain.

Anyone who buys shirts from Captain, is buying them for love of the site and not because the shirts are a good deal...

 

[Tree]

Capt,

I'd hate to see her go. I spend as much time here as I do my own local forum. There is a core group here that I concider my friends. Even though I have only met two in person.

Sponsors. I'm sure you/we could find you some sponsors. All you have to do is ASK. I for one have nothing but time for right now. I don't know how to run the sight, but I sure can try to dig up sponsors for you. Just the people alone from this sight buy thousands of dollars of merchandise from various places every month. This may become a two way street. We can get parts cheaper and they get cheap advertisement. All we need to do is attempt to support the sponsors.

If you would like to give me a call, I'll do what I can. Untill I get a job that is. Untill then my time is yours if you would like it. You can reach me at 618-251-5530 most of the time. If not leave a message on the idiot box and I'll get back with you.

As far as the dip-sh!ts. Post who they are, and where they live. I'm sure a money order would be in the mail soon after. If not, I'm sure there are locals that would be willing to make a house call, if necessary. That and we can allert the other message boards to the offenders.

That said, don't leave us hanging on what you are going to do.

Thank you for the sight,

Steve