Soaring Community Consumer Warning

3 months later he comes back to bully me into pulling my "for sale" ad off SoaringCafe instead of saying "Hey Bob, hope your ad on my site is getting you prospects. Keep me in mind for your new glider needs such as panel instruments, waxes etc." Now that won't happen, will it?

While I wouldn't purport to speak for Tim, I suspect he greeted this news with some relief. He doesn't allow you to use his free service the way you want to and the next thing is you post a "Consumer Warning" to the world. I can only imagine what might happen if you were unhappy with something you'd actually paid for.

Bumper has his finger on it. This is much like real estate "exclusive listings" (New York City) vs. "multiple listing services" (almost everywhere else). The difference is that unlike real estate, these guys don't make any money by simply listing a glider for sale. They count on the ads to bring people to their sites. And to promote good will and get their names out in the market (a mixed blessing in this case).

There is an argument to be made that a virtual multiple listing service (e.g., W&W with no restriction on listing a glider elsewhere) might get more traffic if pilots knew they could come to Tim's site and find everything. Of course, the reverse is true, too; if all gliders are also available on the other sites, he might lose traffic he now gets because anyone looking for a glider must check his site frequently.

Which business model to use is up to the vendor. Soaring is a tiny market and as expensive as these gadgets are, I suspect these guys aren't making big bucks selling them to us. Calling someone out because you didn't like a vendor's policy on a free service seems to be hitting below the belt.

In the past, I used to mull over a posting like your original one overnight and read it again in the morning. Frequently I edited it heavily or even deleted it entirely. Nevertheless, on a few occasions I was criticized for something I said; not so much my opinion but for the way I voiced it. When I realized I was out of line, I felt better admitting it, apologizing, and moving on. Pilots didn't seem to think any less of me for that. We've made a lot of noise about a minor episode but the impact to reputations could linger even after the flying weather kicks off. Just a thought.

Chip Bearden
ASW 24 "JB"
U.S.A.