cooldude581 wrote:
perception is 9/10ths of reality...

i remember when i first came on the forum... my first post was about a well known poor interaction ms company... there was a lot of heat on the thread (i never got to see it)... JJ had to take all of it down...

for various reasons i was absent from the forum for a while... and mert sent me this:

Where'd you go?From: Mert
To: cooldude581
Date: 07/24/2009 09:58PM
Hello! It seems you may have gotten caught up in a bad thread that Jacob deleted. But, I remember you. Hope you come back and post/share with us again. The deletion certainly had nothing to do with you.
Proverbs 15:4
The soothing tongue is a tree of life, but a perverse tongue crushes the spirit.
"God gave us two ears and one mouth. So let us listen twice as much as we speak." Unknown

cooldude, thanks so much for sharing your story about Mert. Mert is a genuinely good person who is truly on everyone's side. She reached out to you privately, with no drama, not involving anyone else, because she cared about your feelings and wanted to help. I went through a disconcerting period here at the forum, and Mert also reached out to me, again privately, to reassure me. Flash also reached out through PM to comfort me.

Mert, Flash, thanks for all you do for all of us quietly and behind the scenes.

AustinMom - All true. Those who reach out to comfort and support one another are highly appreciated. Your post is thoughtful and interesting. Thanks for sharing.

Mert also reached out to me via PM....I was touched that she cared. She's objective, kind and helpful, as well as being a strong mentor. Several others did as well, it meant alot and kept me going when I thought "what do I need this for". Mary now gives me the giggles, Ilbar is a friend as well as Steve who has helped me so much with my hotel woes...it's good to praise and not forget. I pass jobs on as well. "One hand washes the other"!

We needed this thread, some are more senssitive than others, the strong ones should help the weaker get strong. Unforunately, we all don't come from a good place. We are a unique society, us MS'er's!!!!

I could not agree with you more AustinMom. that is why it really disturbed me when I came across this post today as I was killing time and searched "Mystery shopping forums" This was posted on another forum. What do you think?

"
"MsFreedom has very few posts that are not years old. Mystery Shop forum is a very negative forum. The big players there are anti MSPA, anti certification and anti most everything that does not fall into their little world."

For those of you who are not familiar to MSFreedom it was at one time a very popular forum, but has not been active for at least two or three years now.

I beg to differ speaking only for myself, as being for certification, education and not anti MSPA...although I don't know what they do for the shopper. I was on MSFreedom for a long time and enjoyed it up to the end
when it started going under and money was asked for, that was it's demise.
I notice nothing was said about V, that wasn't a negative forum....really!
I don't believe that stuff..it is only one opinion, probably someone from V., wrote it

Barbage - I can see how someone could get that impression, depending on which threads they read and/or how much they're on the forum, but the comment is vague, assumes too much, and is not entirely correct.

There is a strong anti-MSPA certification feeling on the part of many members, just as there is a strong pro-certification attitude on the part of some. I have not seen many speak for certification on this forum. The anti-certification posters either seem to express themselves more often, or there are more of them. Either way, more speak against certification on this forum than speak for it. The poster is interpreting this to mean the forum is negative. Not so.

If the poster read only my postings, it would be determined that this forum is totally positive regarding MSPA certification. That, too, would be wrong.

Posting Guidelines do not establish this as a negative forum in any way. This is the most widely posted shopping forum on the internet. Anyone unaware of this fact is not paying attention.

I cannot identify what is meant by "everything that doesn't fall into their little world". This sounds like general mudslinging. I prefer specific mud, so I can address it. What makes up "everything that doesn't fall into their little world'? I also resent the "little world" comment. Who is this deciding my world is little? Do they have a big one? Is it bigger than mine? How can they know?

I am pro-certification. Nobody cares. Others are anti-certification. I don't care. I am not against the MSPA. Good grief, I work for some of those companies. We have a positive forum. We express ourselves.

Don't let it get you down or disturb you that someone criticizes the forum. If we didn't get criticism, we would know for sure we weren't doing anything and were totally useless.

Barbage, The quote is ridiculous...google Oprah and you'll find pages of folks that say negative stuff, so what, does that mean there is no good about her. I'd be very careful taking a quote on cyberspace and placing too much belief in it. We that have been directed to good companies, that have found out who does and doesn't pay on time are the winners. That might be why their are two sides to a coin, decide for yourself which side suits you. Nothing is always one way, I'd say for the 20% nonsense, I'll stay for the 80% information and sharing.

MS Freedom is saying bad things about this forum? Bah-humbug. They posted a negative, accusing us of being negative?! Squirrely.

I found this forum and others a few years ago. Tried them out and settled in here. I was welcomed and made to feel right at home. Jacob lets us run with ideas, complaints and even utter nonsense. We attempt to police ourselves. I have tried to give back, just like many have done, and continue to do, for me.