179 replies to this topic

[Hugh]

In a broader sense I've been debating with my self whether a board/ forum has any "duty of care" to it's members. Using the above board as an example, does not allowing information that may result in a possible adverse result being avoided for a member breach an implied DOC? This is then combined with any possible COI that may arise as well. I've tossed this about a bit and decided there are probably more arguments that a DOC may well apply . I guess this really is just about having the correct protocols in place to run a board as best as possible.

Regards
Hugh

[vintage penman]

If, for instance, the forum admins were aware of a problem that could potentially result in financial loss to any member dealing with that company yet chose to hide the facts from the forum members due to a COI would the board ultimately be held responsible in part for that loss?

Interesting concept, particularly as the board / forum admins would have failed in their duty of care to the members by omitting to notify them of important information.

[AndyR]

For anybody interested in tracking the events at Conway Stewart through official company documentation you can access the latest filed reports HERE. You can see a very brief summary of documents and dates filed though you have to pay to download the actual documents. Only the two Plymouth entries and the Brook Street entry are important to the present operation, the others refer to the earlier failed attempted re-launches of Conway Stewart.

You can of course use the same site to search for changes at the Plymouth Pen Company.

Andy

[andrew_]

This whole affair is really discouraging.

Nearly every day I write about a page of a response to what's going on, and then promptly delete it.

FPN's handling of the situation and their zealous defense of Conway Stewart's marketing is just silly. There are far cruder ways I could put it, but I will leave it at that.

I hope the company does well - the Churchill is my favorite modern pen, and is among my favorites of any era. Marry is a really good rep from the conversations I've had with her, and I like to see companies with good people and products do well.

Oh well... time will tell.

[david i]

This whole affair is really discouraging.

Nearly every day I write about a page of a response to what's going on, and then promptly delete it.

SNIP

Feel free to post your thoughts here

d

[Hugh]

Fresh from a visit around the shops in Sydney I can report that CS remain absent , not a good sign. On a more positive note one major retailer mentioned sales where very positive with increased interest ..Caran D'Ache seem to be gaining a solid following and I must admit their product looks good.

Regards
Hugh

[Hugh]

This recent post on the FPN seems to indicate things are not going as well as they should over at CS. Anyway time will tell. Anyone considering buying a new Conway would be well advised to purchase through a reseller rather than direct from the company, their history isn't too good.

Regards
Hugh

[AndyR]

This recent post on the FPN seems to indicate things are not going as well as they should over at CS. Anyway time will tell. Anyone considering buying a new Conway would be well advised to purchase through a reller rather than direct from the company, their history isn't too good.

Regards
Hugh

True to form, I see this topic has now been pulled from FPN as well, following a new post a few hours ago which summarised the situation very reasonably, I thought. I won't embarrass the latest contributor by giving his name here but I suspect he may be currently getting an ear bashing from the all powerful Dutchman! If he is reading this, he should know he'd be welcome to express his opinions over here.

Andy

[david i]

True to form, I see this topic has now been pulled from FPN as well, following a new post a few hours ago which summarised the situation very reasonably, I thought. I won't embarrass the latest contributor by giving his name here but I suspect he may be currently getting an ear bashing from the all powerful Dutchman! If he is reading this, he should know he'd be welcome to express his opinions over here.

Andy

Do invite him over.

[AndyR]

True to form, I see this topic has now been pulled from FPN as well, following a new post a few hours ago which summarised the situation very reasonably, I thought. I won't embarrass the latest contributor by giving his name here but I suspect he may be currently getting an ear bashing from the all powerful Dutchman! If he is reading this, he should know he'd be welcome to express his opinions over here.

Andy

Some of the FPN natives finally appear to be revolting - see this CS forum topic on Censorship - though already locked, it may too have disappeared by the time you read this!!!

It is nice to see the FPN admin dealing with the matter in their usual even-handed and conciliatory way..............

Andy

[david i]

If, for instance, the forum admins were aware of a problem that could potentially result in financial loss to any member dealing with that company yet chose to hide the facts from the forum members due to a COI would the board ultimately be held responsible in part for that loss?

Interesting concept, particularly as the board / forum admins would have failed in their duty of care to the members by omitting to notify them of important information.

Fun reading. I remain impressed... sort of... that you guys tolerate that sort of dynamic. Maybe some folks just like to be smacked around, idunno.

I remain with notion that for this thread, you might wish to refer these fellows here. If nothing else, they can hash out their thoughts without the thread being closed rapidly.

[Hugh]

Some of the FPN natives finally appear to be revolting - see this CS forum topic on Censorship - though already locked, it may too have disappeared by the time you read this!!!

It is nice to see the FPN admin dealing with the matter in their usual even-handed and conciliatory way..............

Andy

I must admit Andy that from where I now sit, it becomes more perplexing as time goes by!! From experience those that "revolt" may well end up here by default.....if nothing else they're consistent I fairly certain the admins do have a duty of care to their members in this case, more a matter of lack of any form of moral and ethical decency though. I love this..diplomacy and democracy at it's best from an Admin..!!!

"Please don't argue with the ref.
Please don't play lawyer with the admin-some of them (in particular on called Ruaidhri) can get a bit snitty "

Sad really, can't spell either...should be an H rather than an N in snitty......

Regards
Hugh

[FarmBoy]

I must admit Andy that from where I now sit, it becomes more perplexing as time goes by!! From experience those that "revolt" may well end up here by default.....if nothing else they're consistent I fairly certain the admins do have a duty of care to their members in this case, more a matter of lack of any form of moral and ethical decency though. I love this..diplomacy and democracy at it's best from an Admin..!!!

"Please don't argue with the ref.
Please don't play lawyer with the admin-some of them (in particular on called Ruaidhri) can get a bit snitty "

Sad really, can't spell either...should be an H rather than an N in snitty......

Regards
Hugh

Naw they have spell checker snitty - n + h = (potty mouth)

[Admin]

I must admit Andy that from where I now sit, it becomes more perplexing as time goes by!! From experience those that "revolt" may well end up here by default.....if nothing else they're consistent I fairly certain the admins do have a duty of care to their members in this case, more a matter of lack of any form of moral and ethical decency though. I love this..diplomacy and democracy at it's best from an Admin..!!!

"Please don't argue with the ref.
Please don't play lawyer with the admin-some of them (in particular on called Ruaidhri) can get a bit snitty "

Sad really, can't spell either...should be an H rather than an N in snitty......

Regards
Hugh

While adult language is casually discouraged, it is possible the language filters here have not been activated, on the assumption that once in awhile people wish to be emphatic. So long as not abused, writers with an occasional shitty day are able to declare that, here.

[Hugh]

While adult language is casually discouraged, it is possible the language filters here have not been activated, on the assumption that once in awhile people wish to be emphatic. So long as not abused, writers with an occasional shitty day are able to declare that, here.

A sensible approach from our Admin here, till proven otherwise!! Interesting in this "open" forum there has been little to even raise an eyebrow at, perhaps to a degree proving that a sensible "uncensored" debate does lead to better outcomes all round. Hopefully those "in the firing line" over at the FPN will tell the Big Dutch Cheese and co. where to go (or are "gently" shown the door...BOOT.....ouch!!....) and come here , something I'd certainly suggest but....

Regards
Hugh

[david6]

Some of the FPN natives finally appear to be revolting - see this CS forum topic on Censorship - though already locked, it may too have disappeared by the time you read this!!!

It is nice to see the FPN admin dealing with the matter in their usual even-handed and conciliatory way..............

Andy

Hi

I'm the person that had the nerve to open the topic 'Censorship' on FPN. Couple of your members suggested that I register over here so here I am.

I was amazed at the arrogant posting of one of the FPN administrators and especially the bullying and cowardly way that he posted the following comments and then quickly closed down the topic before I could answer his rudeness.

"Please don't argue with the ref.
Please don't play lawyer with the admin-some of them (in particular on called Ruaidhri) can get a bit snitty "

I'm now looking forward to reading the postings over here and joining in as and when

David

[AndyR]

Hi & welcome, David.

A number of us here initially sought refuge from an increasingly oppressive regime at FPN, most notably in the CS forum! I hope you will find this a more informative board with an admin regime that actively encourages debate rather than censorship so that generally this board has a more balanced content.

I believe your original post on FPN said something like 'Does this mean criticism of CS is being censored?' - well actually criticism of CS has been heavily censored on FPN as far back December 2007 to my knowledge, this was when I first noticed vanishing posts. The ensuing unpleasant exchange of e-mails I had with Wim at this time led me to decide to quit posting over there. You have no doubt also read about Hugh's more recent experiences with FPN earlier in this topic.

A later contributor to your FPN topic said 'it appears the CS forum is exclusively for advertising' which is of course absolutely true. It seems all those who have a serious interest in vintage CS pens no longer have any interest in participating there because of this. It is obvious to most people (except the FPN admin, apparently) that there must be some conflict of interest to have a CS forum moderator who is now Marketing & Development director of CS, however well respected she is, though you can't really blame her for treating the forum like the CS customer service and marketing departments if she is continually allowed to do so.

I actually thought the most recent 'vanished' topic on CS sales & delivery was relatively uncontroversial - what I found most remarkable was seeing that the topic originator had actually gone back to CS to buy more pens despite the way he was treated over his original purchases! I think I might have learned my lesson.

Andy

[Hugh]

Likewise David, Welcome.

I can't add much to what Andy has already said, just come, post and enjoy!! .....saying whatever you like about CS or the admins over at the FPN .

Regards
Hugh

[david6]

Hi Andy & Hugh - thanks for the welcome.

I had no idea about the problems with the postings on the Conway Stewart forum. I have seen many complaints about Conway Stewart and have put a few in myself. I was always frustrated that any complaints were swept under the carpet with praise heaped upon Mary for sorting things out. Must admit that I was disappointed with Mary - I emailed her after she offered to assist with a problem Churchill and didn't even get an acknowledgement. I just put this down to the slovenly way that Conway Stewart treats its customers.

The Conway Stewart forum does indeed seem to be dedicated to pushing the products of Conway Stewart which is not what the forum should be about. My experience with Conway Stewart has been very poor and I most certainly will not be buying their brand again.

Nice to be on a forum where it is OK to express my feelings

David

[AndyR]

Mary Burke was happy for the modern CS company to become very high profile and effectively take over the FPN CS forum when times were good. Unfortunately, CS remain high profile there now times are not so good and you should naturally expect that forum to also become a focus for all the bad things customers experience, like quality control and customer service issues. Deleting and censoring such topics and 'bullying' the originators is surely not a sensible response to the issue however and this can only add to the general feeling that the company must still be in a bit of bother.

I actually feel a degree of sympathy with Mary because she must have her own conflicts of interest and conscience given the additional responsibilities that being a director of the company bring. I suspect the customer service and QC issues are not directly under her control and it must be quite hard to bring her influence to bear in sorting them out from across the Atlantic. It must also be extremely wearing to be continually receiving complaints and to be expected to sort them out when the basic faults presumably lie with other people not doing their jobs properly.

Andy