An apology letter from Tring Trang & a message from Polk

-justin-

A letter from Tring Trang:

First and foremost I want to apologize to any members of this forum for any disrespect that I may have shown in any of my previous posts and to let you know that I deeply regret the way events unfolded with regard to the sale of my Polk SDA SRS 1.2TL’s on eBay. Secondly, I seek a resolution to this situation so that I can actually give the speakers a new home. I have made many attempts to contact deepbass10hz (the original buyer), to no avail. He has not posted in any of the forums created during my 2nd and 3rd attempts to sell the speakers either. At this time I think that it is important to note that he did not leave me negative feedback on eBay nor did he expect the forum members to re-act with such fierce resentment and anger toward me. However, I still regret what happened and I apologize to deepbass10hz for any inconvenience my auction may have caused him.

To recap, in early May 2008 I posted for sale a pair of 1.2TL’s. When I tried to complete the listing, eBay’s system nagged me to list the item on eBay.ca, which I did. But because I had selected ‘pick-up’ in the shipping section, the item was not searchable from eBay.com (eBay’s U.S. site). During the auction I noticed that there were far less page views in my auction than in any of the 1.2TL’s auctions I’d previously watched. Unfortunately, my auction had closed by the time eBay’s Safety and Trust had explored the situation and provided me with an explanation and work around. For me, this situation has always been about the listing nuance on eBay.ca. Subsequently, as you are aware, I have tried to sell the speakers as Tringtrang and as Zedzbed (eBay’s suggestion).

In the Polk forums I have been referred to as an idiot, a dumb stupid moron, and so on. I have been compared to a criminal by trietz3. Mauirt even created an auction warning people away from my auction which paradoxically is in violation of eBay’s highly touted policies. I am completely surprised by these fierce and unpleasant attacks. People, please; I regret what has happened but I did not intend to nor did I actually misrepresent myself in any way. I explained everything that was happening to deepbass10hz while I waited for a response from eBay’s Safety and Trust which he understood. I did not relist the speakers immediately because I had plans to visit the U.S. I had no idea what some of the forum members had in store for me.

I wanted to let you know that I have seen some good; 1) I admire the way that you support each other with upgrade and tweak ideas as well as pratfalls and possible costly errors, 2) I also like the way that you post links to items that are for sale anywhere on the Internet in almost real-time. You make quite the collective and I enjoy reading some of your posts and looking at many of the pictures of your Polk’s, in particular some of your Polk restoration projects are very interesting.

To conclude, I have apologized, and I regret what happened with regard to my original auction. I have not exploited or committed fraud against anyone. I am now looking for a fair way to conclude this bitter situation without further torment. It just is not reasonable and humane to ‘punish’ someone ad infinitum based on a misread of the situation.

-justin-

My opinion on the matter:

It seems that this forum sometimes has a "mob mentality" that has got to stop. This is clearly an example where someone was wrong in not going through with a deal, but felt justified, for WHATEVER reason, not to go through with it. No one got ripped off in the deal, just some hard feelings.

So it's OK to say, "Hey, just FYI, this guy didn't go through with the deal on the last try," but it's not ok to bash, insult and harass.

Anyone participating in this inappropriate public bashing and harassment will be banned. This clearly cannot continue. Posting addresses and personal information in “retaliation” will not be tolerated.

Start acting like adults and respect other members. This forum is a place to share information, help one another and enjoy a welcoming community that shares your same interests.

Fireman32

Wow i missed that compleatly.

dkg999

Fireman32 wrote: »

Wow i missed that compleatly.

Me too

Polk user

-justin- wrote: »

It seems that this forum sometimes has a "mob mentality" that has got to stop.

Sometimes? It seems certain members think this forum belongs to them and anyone who posts something with a different opinion is immediately attacked. They know who they are.

ben62670

This thread is a sticky for a reason. Don't be the red lettered example.

SolidSqual

Ugh!

AsSiMiLaTeD

Apparently I missed it as well...

disneyjoe7

I don't believe it.

I don't believe the letter from Tring & Trang.

I don't believe the response from Polk Forum.

bikezappa

I have made many attempts to contact deepbass10hz (the original buyer), to no avail. He has not posted in any of the forums created during my 2nd and 3rd attempts to sell the speakers either. At this time I think that it is important to note that he did not leave me negative feedback on eBay nor did he expect the forum members to re-act with such fierce resentment and anger toward me. However, I still regret what happened and I apologize to deepbass10hz for any inconvenience my auction may have caused him.

That is surpising that deepbass never contacted you. I was under the impression that he did try. There are always two sides to ANY story. And I hate the mob mentality.

I wonder if deepbass can comment?

One of the most powerful and universal human tendencies is to identify with a group of people similar to oneself, and to square off against rival groups.

ohskigod

Fireman32 wrote: »

Wow i missed that compleatly.

I kinda saw this vaguely when it hapenned, but saw the 1.2 scammer thread.

this was definitly one of those 2 way street causing a conflict thing.

From one direction, can the folks here be a little more gruff than a situation demands? yeah, so from that standpoint Justin isnt coming out of left field. But conflict never truly gets resolved until both sides of the equation are given full observation and weight.

IF we look at this objectivly, there was a difference of opinion that started the conflict here. I am scant on the details as I have not been following this that much, but its the same formula each time........someone comes and does something to disrupt the status quo of the community, community freaks....but offender handles it way wrong too.......hilarity ensues and so on.

I make mention of the "offender handling the situation wrong" being an important component that is oft overlooked. One can always plead for our little community to be more forgiving and understanding of offenses (i.e. not be SOOOO easy to offend), and the argument would be valid on many levels.

However I will also fault the mods on occasion for not spotting someone who (at least in my eyes) is structuring his conduct on the board solely to cause strife and drama. In there defense, some they have caught fast (Ka7niq), some not so fast though. I can see where it comes from, its easier to spot 20 pissed off people then one trouble maker

Of course, while sometimes its a harder determination to figure out if someone just has a differing opinion becasue they have that opinion, or if they are doing it just to stir the pot. I FULLY acknowlege that this is a hard thing to do, and certainly something you dont want to jump the shark on. Sometimes the only way to determine it is not focussing on the difference of opinion, but how they are communicating it. There are ways to foster debate, even with ardent opponents you know damn well your not going to sway......and there are ways just to piss people off because they do not share your opinion. Spotting the difference is hard, but sometimes the job has to be done.

I'll use a wierd scenario as an example. Lets say the club Polk community is an Irish Pub smack dab in the middle of Ireland. Lets say the moderators are the pub's security (if they even have that in Ireland, but lets say they do for the sake of this explanation).

Lets say a new patron or member sahays into the bar. If he knows how to act in a community of people and respects the community, he's going to come in, have a few drinks, make some friends, play some darts, whatever it is they do in an Irish Pub.

A smart person will size up the situation he/she just walked into and certainly not make waves just for the sake of making waves. Ths isnt just bar etiquette, this can b applied in many social aspects of life. This usually just happens naturally in the bar scenario if a person's intentions was to just chill and have a drink in the first place.

Now, let's say a new patron walks into the bar.......walks right into the middle of the rest of the Irish barfold, breaks out the big Union Jack flag and says......."F*(K Ireland, the country sucks and if you dont like, you can kiss my smarmy British arse!!!" lets just say the Security staffs plan better not be saying to the patrons "hey, we cant have a wolfpack mentality". The new patron would be spitting chicklets before you finished the sentence.

Maybe if security tok a more proactive approach to saying to the gentleman " dude, we need you to put the Union Jack down and chill" Or spot that his only intention is to cause strife (easy to say in this overdramitized case) and get him out of dodge fast in the interests of the overall good.

Did the 1.2 guy do the equivalent of the Union jack guy? I really dont know, I'm just making a point here about 2 way streets and truly observing a problem from multiple angles for more effective resolution.

When your the new guy, you have to be a little more grascious integrating yourself into any kind of community, its the nature of life, and the nature of any itnernet forum regardless of who runs or administers it. you can make as many forum rules as you want, they will never overule basic social skills.

Now from the established member standpoint, we can definitly do more to make the odds of a new member being welcomed into the fold. Maybe a little more understanding, tolerance, friendly and well intentioned guidance will reduce the chances of this kind of conflict just as much as a new member not displaying a complete disregard and respect for an established community with written and unwritten rules (true of ANY social structure on and off the net by the way). As I already said, my 2 wat opinion aside, Justin isnt coming out of left field here.

eh, I've already talked too much

BaggedLancer

Guys, it's completely, not compleatly. 3 of you have quoted it now with no corrections, come on folks.

Anyway, let the fellah sell some speakers, he made his apology statement.

ohskigod

BaggedLancer wrote: »

Guys, it's completely, not compleatly. 3 of you have quoted it now with no corrections, come on folks.

Anyway, let the fellah sell some speakers, he made his apology statement.

I like to reafirm all Dave's mistakes in life at every possible moment.......he does the same for me.....and we are close friends in spite of it

shack

I don't care.

Fireman32

ohskigod wrote: »

I like to reafirm all Dave's mistakes in life at every possible moment.......he does the same for me.....and we are close friends in spite of it

Lou you crack me up man.

reeltrouble1

There are no mobs at Club Polk, is there evidence of some organized mob??

Frankly, I do not care either Shack but I am sure getting tired of the mantra.

RT1

Ricardo

Hmmm....I do remember this one. Classic Club Polk family backing up members. Basically one of the reasons why I like being here. Yes, it turned ugly, but what would you expect? A polkie won an auction and the seller decided not to go through with the sale, because he wanted more money. Nothing wrong with the support offered by the forum, if you ask me.
And, I think it got really ugly AFTER Tring Trang signed up to the forum and started attacking us polkies. Again, what would you expect?

ohskigod

Ricardo wrote: »

And, I think it got really ugly AFTER Tring Trang signed up to the forum and started attacking us polkies. Again, what would you expect?

this is a valid thing to look at here.

Did the Polkie that bid complain to ebay, prompting Tring to join here as a forum to air his grief or something.

if so, then how did he expect anything different. kinda falls right into my long winded Irish Pub example

Ricardo

ohskigod wrote: »

kinda falls right into my long winded Irish Pub example

I wouldn't know. I usually do not read posts that long.

mrbigbluelight

There may seem, at times, to be .... not a "mob" mentality .... more like a "big grumpy crowd" mentality, but sometimes it's hard not to get a little wound up. We are in Polk's house, so to speak, so we have to take extra care to display manners. That's done extremely well, IMO. Sometimes, though .... well, the words "Bear Baiting" comes to mind. "Pouring gas on an open flame" ...."rubbing salt in an open wound" .... take your pick.

Tring Trang's explanation/apology seems to be genuine. Sounds like he received advice from Ebay that, not surprisingly, further fudged up the situation.

Sounds like Tring Trang's read the threads, read the posts, and sees Club Polk for what it is: Pretty gawd darn cool.

That's a good thing.

The fact that the speakers in question were Polk SDA's, while no excuse, is ........ well, we're talking SDA's !

But point noted, thanks for the heads up, Justin.

ohskigod

we do take SDA's seriously don't we...LOL

F1nut

For those that would like to review the original thread, here it is.

http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?t=67735&highlight=deep+bass

As for the following comment by Tring Trang in the letter Justin posted,

At this time I think that it is important to note that he did not leave me negative feedback on eBay

Gee, I wonder why.......

deep bass wrote: »

Again i am at a loss of words. I thought things were looking up, but i guess not!
"If you neg me for this, you will reduce my chance for a successful re-listed auction and cost me the listing fee and selling fee on this auction. I will neg you back, then you will likely add a comment and I will too. How does that make you feel?" This makes me quite disturbed to tell you the truth. I cannot believe i even got involved with this!This is unbelievable and would like for you all to see the light of the situation that i face.

I mean no disrespect JB, but I don't see a problem with the way this matter was handled by the members of Club Polk. In fact, I think the community at large should be patted on the back for their actions in dealing with this person instead of being scolded for doing the right thing.


Ricardo, you hit the nail on the head. Thank you.

tugboat

Most seem to be stuck on this one thread. In reality, there are a number of threads to be reviewed.

There was one from a new member (elektra) that was just posting speakers for sale. Granted the asking price was quite high, but instead of a nice welcome and being clued in on the value of the speakers, he's called retarded and bashed. That member has not been back since.

How about the one accusing a member of being a thief over an amp purchase. While it is a good thing to warn other members about what happened, it's not right to threaten the guy, post his address and phone numbers.

Or the one about the SDA AI-1 for sale. The seller was accused of shilling, a member retracted their bid, members here were called stupid asses for nibbling and in the end, the member that started it all bid again with a higher bid. Seems like all of it was to scare others off so he could go back and win the item. Then in the end he lost it by 5 bucks and then laughed at the winner for bidding so much.

I don't post here much anymore because most of the times I do, I get some help, but I also get insulted about my system, etc. Lately it seems this club is less open to input from all but a select group. If you're not in that group, your input or opinions aren't welcome.

ND13

This is just perfect.

candyliquor35m

I'll add my 2 cents since everyone else is. I'm reposting this from the other thread.

"And in the process, a newbie with the potential of becoming a lifelong ambassador for polk and their products will most likely bash polk and all of their products for the rest of his life. Yeah good job guys."

shack

reeltrouble1 wrote:

Frankly, I do not care either Shack but I am sure getting tired of the mantra.

Ted , I haven't used that phrase in a while and for the most part it has to do with the "wire" discussions.

In this case it seems like more and more trivial BS stuff is taken so far out of context by ALL sides that it isn't even worth discussing. This "incident" rises to the level of a sticky? I don't care who said what, to whom and who got their feelings hurt and tattled, etc, etc, etc, etc. I care about what I think about MY rig (wires et:al) but I REALLY DON'T CARE about this type of stuff.

Polk user

tugboat wrote: »

Most seem to be stuck on this one thread. In reality, there are a number of threads to be reviewed.

There was one from a new member (elektra) that was just posting speakers for sale. Granted the asking price was quite high, but instead of a nice welcome and being clued in on the value of the speakers, he's called retarded and bashed. That member has not been back since.

How about the one accusing a member of being a thief over an amp purchase. While it is a good thing to warn other members about what happened, it's not right to threaten the guy, post his address and phone numbers.

Or the one about the SDA AI-1 for sale. The seller was accused of shilling, a member retracted their bid, members here were called stupid asses for nibbling and in the end, the member that started it all bid again with a higher bid. Seems like all of it was to scare others off so he could go back and win the item. Then in the end he lost it by 5 bucks and then laughed at the winner for bidding so much.

I don't post here much anymore because most of the times I do, I get some help, but I also get insulted about my system, etc. Lately it seems this club is less open to input from all but a select group. If you're not in that group, your input or opinions aren't welcome.

Now you done did it.

treitz3

wrote:

I have been compared to a criminal by trietz3.

You did not honor a legally binding contract. That is a criminal act. Then you followed through with blackmail. :mad: This is just the kind of activity that I would want to inform my friends about and I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

That said, the notices I have posted will remain up. Like I said, If Flea-Prey won't do it...I will.

On a different note, as far as I'm concerned....apology accepted. An apology can go a long way.

-justin-

tugboat wrote: »

Most seem to be stuck on this one thread. In reality, there are a number of threads to be reviewed.

There was one from a new member (elektra) that was just posting speakers for sale. Granted the asking price was quite high, but instead of a nice welcome and being clued in on the value of the speakers, he's called retarded and bashed. That member has not been back since.

How about the one accusing a member of being a thief over an amp purchase. While it is a good thing to warn other members about what happened, it's not right to threaten the guy, post his address and phone numbers.

Or the one about the SDA AI-1 for sale. The seller was accused of shilling, a member retracted their bid, members here were called stupid asses for nibbling and in the end, the member that started it all bid again with a higher bid. Seems like all of it was to scare others off so he could go back and win the item. Then in the end he lost it by 5 bucks and then laughed at the winner for bidding so much.

I don't post here much anymore because most of the times I do, I get some help, but I also get insulted about my system, etc. Lately it seems this club is less open to input from all but a select group. If you're not in that group, your input or opinions aren't welcome.

Excellent post -- and you are correct, this one incident may be the catalyst for me to make this sticky thread, but it's not the only incident of "bullying" here on Polk's forum. Thanks for reminding everyone of these recent events.

~Justin

amulford

I think we need to understand what happened, and then call it. I remember the thread, and I for one sided with the original buyer from the onset. The seller posted his speakers for auction, and they were won by a party. The seller reneged, citing some reason such as a lack of traffic. Well that doesn't fly in my opinion. He had every opportunity to pull the auction, he did not. I actually think, and this is my opinion, the seller wanted more money AFTER he found out he could get more.

Then he tried to justify his actions here. Bad idea, and he got it both barrels. So be it. If you mess with the hornets' nest, you are GOING to get stung.

OK, he apologized. Apology accepted. I think the kid should get his speakers for the price he won them. But that's my opinion.

As far as the wolf pack, yeah we get a little harsh. I guess it comes with the feeling of family we've created. In the same respect we probably would have transported them for him (the seller) had this deal went as it should. Or helped him to figure out how, at the very least. It could have been as positive as much as it was negative.


As far as the select group bullsh!t, it's just that. You might see some folks more, that's because they contribute more. Some skins need to be thicker. And to those who do care, the realization this is an internet board needs to recognized. I do not fall into that camp.

That's my 2 cents...

ben62670

This thread is a sticky for a reason. Don't be the red lettered example.