Who gets to say who gets to be "Tool of the month"-And can i nominate someone for it....

there is a trader in the UK who has bought the back cover for a while - his adverts appear on the back of the club mag - they supply 2cv bits and do a restauration service where they do up 2cvs and sell them - often at the upper end of the price range they also make cheap chassis ....its kind of like cassis but on a uk scale

a quick look at some of the chassis posts should show you who.....and you may get an idea of how polarised the opinion is of them .some people love them others dont suspect AZU250 is in the latter camp- but why? i dont know.

Sean

My tool of the month nomination:What?

Since some of you here are quite keen on the use of lower script letters in '2cv' then I'm a little more than surprised that while grammar matters so much, the fact that a business with the abilities of the one on the 2CVGB magazine cover is always there, or so it seems. No matter how much the editorial team protest to the contrary, people will consciously and subconciously make the link that the business is somehow recommended to them by the magazine/club. For someone who doesn't know much about the ins and outs of old cars (let alone 2cvs) this is as good a recommendation as there is.

That some members have a few ounces of principle in them is a good thing, not a suggestion for them to be 'tool of the month'. I escaped unscathed from the experience (although with a background in business and engineering I saw how it all worked), having been bombarded with multiple references to said business in the magazine as well as the blanket cover ads. But my garagiste has shown me what lay under (or more to the point, didn't) the glossy paint of a very expensive car - it rendered the car dangerous and thank goodness there hadn't been an accident - and says he has stories as long as his arm but doesn't recount them as he thinks it's bad business practice.

I'm sure that for every complainant there are several apparently satisfied people - but how many are driving around in potentially dangerous cars and have no idea? Loads seem to use their cars very little (with a car which cost the best part of £10k who'd want to risk 'wearing' it out on the street?) so shortcuts and other rebuild weaknesses don't show for a while. The authorities seem to steer clear of the car rebuild industry, relying on the fact that most associations and clubs will expose repeated poor quality work to their members.

I quickly cancelled my subscription to a club which (having been bombarded with complaints, according to one chap 'in a field') continues to give space to such a business. It would appear the only way to alter the situation is by financial means, sadly - if more started cancelling subscriptions then I have a sneaky feeling 'principles' would quickly reappear. I understand the potential for problems if refusing ad space where requested but armed with a few nasty complaints I don't think there would be much of a fight.

@ TimCV

My suggestion for nominating "tool of the month" wasn't for AZU250 who generally seems a decent guy who seems to have joined a long list of people with issues about certain traders

don't think the original suggestion for "tool of the month" was aimed at any person either-but a tech suggestion for the 2CVgb magazine - it was just my warped view of the world

2cv in UK is a small world and the forums reflect this with the edges between here and the "official" forum becoming a bit blurred in certain threads, plus we have facebook and now twitter streams of drivel/comment to read through too

It is very naive to believe that an advertiser in a club magazine has received any endorsement by the club. In fact a disclaimer to that effect is written every month on page 3 and has been for years.

There have been many businesses good and bad that have advertised in the 2CVGB magazine there have also been a few that have gone bust at various time owing money to individuals and other businesses. Some are trading again and advertise in the magazine again.

Whilst the current occupier of the back page is certainly no friend of mine There are a lot of people who find their parts service very good and cost effective. There are also people who are happy with their restoration projects that they sell.

Any business is only as good as its customers allow it to trade. If they were as bad as people make out they would have gone to the wall a long time ago. Instead they seem to have grown in size. They also pay up front and never default on paying for the advertising space. The same cannot be said for other companies who are currently advertising.

Asking the club to arbitrate on how good or bad any advertiser is would be impossible. Opinions are subjective and the club is run by volunteers.

Web sites and forums can get away with a lot of libel because they are private. 2CVGB has to follow a much more rigorous policy as the magazine is published and available for anyone to read.

I'm liking tool of the month any further ideas on that one?

Also, in the club logo, the graphic clearly shows '2cv'. In an effort to maintain a design vernacular and create a unity of style the magazine will be using 2cv under my editorship.

What about joke of the month!

I like the one about the guy that goes into the auto store and asks for a windscreen wiper blade for his "dyane"
Assistant say's "Thats a fair swap"

It can be "d*llyfied" Or "2cved" depending on your orientation!

I see your 'unity of style' and rebelliously cast it to the wind - the website shall forever use '2CV' (well for the next 11 months, anyway)! Mwahahahah!

Edit: ...but please can we agree on 'Méhari' and 'Citroën'?!

I think that had a lot to do with the 'haphazard' invoicing system that had crept in. All advertising is paid up front now, I believe, and the whole process should be more transparent under the new Advertising Co-Ordinator, which has now been brought back to being a Committee post.



Spot on. By their very nature, complaints are subjective, and there's no way a bunch of volunteers can be called upon to arbitrate in such matters without being accused of bias by one party or another. Most traders seem to have happy customers, as well as unhappy ones. I'm guessing the unhappy ones are busy telling all their friends and relations, so word still gets out. Opinions can be sought on various forums, or by asking around in person.

The magazine policy is that we accept advertising, without endorsing any business or product, unless we have received a number of serious complaints from members. It's an impossibly hard line to define, but there is currently one business from whom we are not accepting advertising.

One idea that was floated was to ogranise a members' survey (JD Powers style) canvassing experiences of all the companies that advertised in the mag, as a guide for our members.


Exactly. Although websites aren't necessarily free from libel prosecutions, but if they're not 'public' there's more of a defence.