Fork Gaiters - buyer beware

[ClassicVW_imp]

Pechorin75- Did I ever say he shouldn't have reported it?

[pechorin75_imp]

Pechorin75- Did I ever say he shouldn't have reported it?

Not directly, but it seemed to me that your post expressing sarcastic surprise at the poor quality of the product was very easy to interpret as mocking the OP (it certainly seems like the OP took it that way). Maybe you didn't mean it that way...

[emptysea]

Pretty sure he meant it that way...

I appreciated the OP's warning. The "I told ya so" and mocking replies to his post, though? Decidedly unappreciated.

However, they did get me to read a post about gaiters, in which I have no great interest.

[rjk555_imp]

jeez, nice replies. sorry fellas, was just trying to assist. i installed these before the others warned about them, and gaiters seem pretty basic to me, so $25 didnt seem overly cheap or like i was buying garbage.

was just trying to help....lesson learned.

Like Pechorin, I would like to thank you for the report. This is useful information that I didn't know.

[the Ferret]

There is nothing wrong with advising members of possible issues, even repeatedly. Threads fall off the front page, get forgotten, eventually going into the archives and newer members never have the chance to see them without using the search engine. We have members that are hours old and threads that are almost 2 years old now.

[ClassicVW_imp]

I caution anyone to not put words in my mouth. I meant no insult to the poster. I apologize to him if my sarcasm was interpreted as meanness. I never stated he shouldn't have posted it. Being a cheapskate myself, I have been on the short end a couple of times when trying to save a buck and I learned a lesson or two.

I only addressed, I thought with a bit of humor... again, I apologize... that when an item retails in three other places for $100, $125, and $155, and one takes a shot on a similar item for $25, then we should not be surprised it was inferior. I still feel that way.

[pechorin75_imp]

Okay, I'll start from the premise that you didn't mean to insult anyone, because I'm sure that's true. But let me explain where I'm coming from.

First of all, if you make a sarcastic comment, there's always a subtext. That's the whole point of a sarcastic comment--you're saying one thing, but you really mean something else. And because this is all happening online, without the benefit of real-life cues to let others know that (for example) you're just trying to inject a little humor into the situation, it's really easy for others to misunderstand or take offense. Clearly that's what happened in this case (look at the OP's response).

As far as "putting words in [your] mouth"...pointing out why/how a sarcastic comment might be taken poorly is not, in my opinion, the same as misquoting you. And actually, the sentence I think you're referring to was meant to illustrate how a person might "interpret" both your comment and the one ss2wheels had made earlier.

To illustrate my point, here's a purely hypothetical situation (all these words are mine). Imagine that you post something like the following: "Just FYI, I skipped my 8,000 mile valve inspection (I was in the middle of a long road trip, and it wasn't really practical to get to a shop). By the time I got home, I was at 12,000 miles, so I figured I might as well just wait to have the valves checked at 16,000--and it turned out that four were tight and two were loose. So you guys might not want to repeat my mistake!"

Then some other guy posts this in reply: "Me and Joe and Fred warned everybody about this last spring! You always have to read and follow the manual!"

And then jimbo says (in large font): "Wait a sec! You choose to ignore factory recommended maintenance, and we're surprised when things turn to sh**?"

If you were the OP, there, how would you feel about those replies--if you didn't know the people who made them? And in the future, would you be more or less likely to post potentially helpful information that you'd learned from making a mistake?

That's the only point I'm trying to make. I'm not trying to "go to war" with you.

[the Ferret]

Meaning, inflection, and the smile behind the intent is hard to distinguish on the internet, so if we all think about HOW something we say might be interpreted BEFORE hitting the reply button, it will make my job a lot easier, and go along way towards preventing hurt feelings.

Ok guys I think the points have been made and understood. Lets move on. Go for a ride, take some pics, do a ride report.

[Lord Popgun]

We need a popcorn eating smiley

[pechorin75_imp]

It's 30 degrees here, Ferret....I'm not the man you are