Deleted Post

I just deleted a post that was quite disparaging of a telescope vendor, a supplier and their business dealings with one another. The deleted post had nothing to do with optics, and a lot to do with allegedly shady business practices.

The general content of the recent vendor-supplier thread does not violate the TOS, and may contain useful information.

Specific allegations personal misconduct are over the top IMO and potentially libelous.

Let's keep the conversation on topic OK?

- Jim -


[COLOR="Blue"]From the TOS: Users may not use the Astromart services for... transmitting material that is harassing, libelous or is otherwise objectionable. [/COLOR]

- post edited to be very clear that the deleted post had nothing to do with optics. -

I think that was a mistake, though YMMV...

Why? Because there are few (no?) other places on the Net that are as informative and helpful as astromart. Anyone seeking knowlege will probably end up here at some point in their search.

Sadly, there are also few other places where the information, filtered through the various sources, is likely to be 1) honest, and 2) reliable. Here you get enough opinions that it's possible to tell what a 'consensus' is..... elsewhere, you often lack enough data to make a decision.

Will an unnamed vendor "object" is he's the recipient of a negative post? Sure--business is business and nobody likes to be the target of negative comments, true or not.

Does his protest automatically mean the post is 'objectionable'? No, of course not. In fact, that thread had some pretty darn helpful information in it re the relative quality and availability of some APOs. I'm glad I read it.

That's not to say that NOTHING is objectionable. But if you start pulling non-slanderous posts simply because a sponsor doesn't like them, Astromart can lose credibility. And it's credibility that makes this a better site for data than other places.

This was a normal conversation:

-Some people said "A."

-A vendor said "B."

-In response to the vendor, some said "no, you're wrong, it's A", and other people said "well, you may be right but we've got some written proof of A; where's your proof of B?"

And that was about as bad as it got. Nobody insulted the vendor. He may stand to lose business IF "A" was true.... but that's an issue of honest information, not objectionable speech or bias.

If I could (hypothetically) buy a lx200 optical set for cheap in a Chinese tube with a downgraded focuser, I'd love to know about it and share that fact with others. And I doubt anyone would protest if it was Meade they were talking about.

Preserve honesty. Restore the post.