updated dialogue..building bridges/mending fences

MichaelHorowitz

JazzMan#1 wrote:

Hello to all.
Let me just say that people make mistakes in business all the time. I bought my first gypsy jazz guitar from these guys when they first opened their online storea little over 2 years ago and have purchased picks and strings from Caravan ever since. Everyone is making this guy out to be the worst but, actually he's not, he's just new. I certainly hope he sees all of this and improves because he a good guy. My good friend bought a very expensive guitar from him and 2 weeks later got laid off, they took the guitar back and gave him a refund - no questions asked. I think that was cool of them to do. People are always fast to point out the worst but not the good.

Keep on pickin.

It's interesting that both "JazzMan#1" and "GypsyMusicLover" have the same exact ip#. This, along with the fact that both of these users registered today and have no previous record of being involved with this forum, is rather suspicious. Looks like SPAM to me, which I generally delete immediately. But I'll give these users the benefit of the doubt for now. Perhaps they can tell us a little more about themselves and who they play with around Chicago (where their mutual ip# originates)

anthon_74

Sorry Adrian !! I shouldn't have assumed.

spiro

Hahahaha, this is so funny...

Especially this with the same IP-s. Its like the Spanish soap opera. Cant wait for the next episode.

Happy Easter all.

GypsyMusicLover

in response to Micheal's post regarding the accusation that my post was spam, it was not, JazzMan#1 is my husband we both teach music at local schools in Chicago and we both had great experiences when purchasing guitars at Caravan. I visited the site looking to buy some books and noticed the post and just thought I'd reply, when I saw the complete hatred coming from this site I asked my husband to reply. Now I'm being accused of spam..... Won't be buying anything here.

Jim Kaznosky

Oh boy.


It's nice to have another store around. Good for us as players. Michael is a hard act to follow.

Passacaglia

GypsyMusicLover wrote:

in response to Micheal's post regarding the accusation that my post was spam, it was not, JazzMan#1 is my husband we both teach music at local schools in Chicago and we both had great experiences when purchasing guitars at Caravan. I visited the site looking to buy some books and noticed the post and just thought I'd reply, when I saw the complete hatred coming from this site I asked my husband to reply. Now I'm being accused of spam..... Won't be buying anything here.

I'm loathe to reply, but I will. Speaking only for myself, when an honest appraisal of an experience is characterized as "hate" and "everyone is making this guy out to be the worst", I call BS. I'll add, a reluctant appraisal, for my part, as I got no joy from posting it but felt compelled to corroborate the experience of others with my own.

I've been a part of many forums over the years, and have seen this kind of transparent "ghosting" by the same IP under multiple usernames (with brand new, first time posts) time and again. It's usually "my sister (replace sibling at will, here) got a hold of my computer" or something on this order...At any rate, I've found the community here at Djangobooks to be a wonderful group of players, with generous hearts. The experiences memorialized here really are disappointing. Time will tell, I suppose, whether what I and some others have apparently experienced is now a thing of the past. I hope so. Life's too short.

GypsyMusicLover

So basically I am now being called a liar and stupid in addition to a spammer.Do you think that I'm so uneducated that I did not know that both my husband's post and my post would not have the same ip?

kevingcox

Wow, just when cooler heads were starting to prevail things got crazy!

No one "accused" anyone of anything. Michael simply indicated that things looked suspicious (which they did) and then invited the poster to give some more information. The fact that the reply is full of vitriol doesn't help anything. Open and honest dialogue in order to build relationships so much better than the quick, off the cuff one-upmanship.

Anytime I see someone come into a heated discussion with only a couple of posts a red flag goes off for me, especially if they are defending an "outnumbered" party. "Post volume" is just one of many ways to try influencing online communities.

The best way, however, is to speak openly and honestly. Let people get to know you and trust your opinions. I always have to ask myself, why would anyone trust anything I have to say when I have no standing in the community? It is a constant struggle in online communities, and at it's worst I have often seen it referred to as measuring "e-peen".

I am one of those people that can come across as harsh when dealing with "practical matters" and it sounds like what these fellows have considered "short and to the point" has been interpreted as gruff or even rude by others. It sounds like they've managed to help a customer out and will redouble their efforts in the future.

It is indeed a small community, let's not go off all half-cocked about what we *think* people are saying and instead try to understand why they are saying it.

Best all,

Kevin

GypsyMusicLover

Sir, I am the one being attacked and rude things are being posted about me, if Micheal was suspicious about my post he should have emailed me. My husband and I are upstanding educators in a city that is cutting music programs, if things keep going the way they are our children will not know the richness and beauty of Jazz, Classical, Country, Rock or any other type of music. I came to this site to buy books for my classroom, out of my own pocket because the school I work for informed me that there is no budget for such materials. All I did was post a positive comment about my experience with another store and thing went viral. Please stop, it has become hurtful to me. I don't know why you are talking about "red flags" and "these fellows" sir, if you haven't guessed, I am a woman and I'm not affiliated with any business besides the business of educating our children.

Michael Bauer

First, I think it's good for everyone if Caravan Guitars is successful. And I know of no one in this community that wishes them any misfortune. Keep in mind that each "concern" was from someone who did or tried to do business with Caravan, either before or since the storefront opened. So it isn't like the negativity is coming from people who wished Caravan ill from the beginning. We just had very bad experiences and were relating them, which we have a right to do.

I hope the bad experiences were part of a learning experience and things will get better. But I have to say that avoiding insulting, aggressive attacks on customers doesn't strike me as something that needs to be learned from two plus years of experience. It stikes me that a business should go into things having already figured that out, but perhaps I am naive.

Caravan has done some good things here, like hosting jams, etc. And they have given gypsy jazz a face in the community, which could be great, if it is a welcoming, polite, humble, and teaching face. I hope it will be going forward. A gypsy guitar storefront is already a tenuous enough business model; for it to be successful requires a welcoming, non-hostile environment.

I am also happy to hear that Caravan reached out to Roch and made peace. It's a good start, and I hope it is a sincere one.