To all members here., it would be appreciated if you could spare some time to read this. There has been some strange happenings over the last few weeks which I would like to bring to everyone’s attention.
I apologise in advance that this post is largely negative, however I am sure that almost all members will agree that what I am bringing to everyone’s attention is a serious issue as there has been a clear attempt by some to degrade our businesses.
At Bulk Nutrients and Bioflex we have now been in the industry for some time. As most would know we have spent the last 5 years building the businesses up in a respectful fashion and thanks to the fantastic support we have had, we are now a real key industry player – a real first for a “generic company”.
It has been our policy from day one, to offer high quality products, an honest service, with great pricing as much as possible. We have worked with customers to expand our range and part of our success has no doubt been due to the level of service we offer.
We try to live by the motto that great pricing does not have to mean a reduction in quality or service, which unfortunately with so many types of business (think budget airlines!) is par for the course.
This year we are sponsoring over 20 bodybuilding shows and have built relationships with many promoters and industry figures over the last 5 years. It is our promise that the larger we become, the more support we will “put back” into the industry.
This may be through supporting shows, sponsoring athletes, supporting HCAM online (previously the magazine), Flex Magazine, Muscle and Fitness, Ironman, running fundraisers or becoming involved in message forums such as AusBB (as well as many others).
Every month we have giveaways and special offers on top of what I believe is already a great service
Yesterday was an incredibly sad day for me and one of my staff who attended the funeral of a dear friend Luke Wood. While I don’t want to digress from the point I am trying to make here, the positive of this funeral (apart from it being a beautiful service) was seeing just how close the community was and how many friends we have made.
I recognised and spoke to so many people from all around Australia that I have got to know over the years. Gurus, bodybuilders, promoters, photographers, fans and many people who have become customers of ours. Even reps of other competing companies who we have amicable relationships with (this is about a mutual respect).
Although we have been around for some time, it is only recently that I became a member at AusBB. Before then, it was often the place I would check out contest pics and reports on so I did browse around quite often.
Life over the past few months for me has been tough, With business rapidly expanding, us moving into a new factory and my wife giving birth to our first child a few months ago time has been tight. The result has been less forum time, which means less time to read about bodybuilding and engage members (many of which are customers).
I have a particular like for forums as for me this is when the B/S stops. On forums (rather than in advertising) we get to hear real reports from people on how a product works, people break down and analyse ingredients and for those (such as us) who manufacture pure supplements at great prices – this is where we shine.
If you have a mega advertising budget but not much in the way of product substance look out, you won’t get much love on forums!
Another massive positive for us is the feedback we get, whether it is negative or positive. If we get positive feedback we know we are on the right track, if it is negative then we can work hard to make changes.
Thanks to forum feedback over the years we have refined the taste, texture and mixability of our protein powders (to a point where they are now very well liked), we have modified our pre workout formula to be lump free, enhanced our encapsulated products as well as designed whole new products thanks to members, many of which are very knowledgeable.
In fact, a great guy who I met through a forum (Alchemy from Anabolex) played a very big part in us developing Recover X – which we believe is the world’s purest supplement of its type.
This connection here goes both ways, we get feedback to help us refine our business and its practises, while customers ( as well as any members who are not) get advice from us about supplement usage and nutrition, much of which isn’t related to products we sell.
For those that are also members on sizematters you will know there have been some controversial changes there lately in terms of forums sponsors. Many thought the worse and figured a monopoly was occurring due to the mighty dollar, so perhaps this post will give you some insight as to what went on behind the scenes.
Multiple sponsors on forums can coexist, in fact we have for many years happily co existed with many companies whom offer similar products on various bodybuilding forums as well as other sports forums. It is about having a mutual respect, while companies will often promote what they consider the benefits of their products (as we do with a bit of noise at times) we think everyone would agree that there is a very clear line that needs to be drawn to avoid conflict and affect the members of the board.
I believe that line was crossed on sizematters a few times recently which is why the owners took steps to fix the issue (however unpopular it was to many).
I would like to make everyone aware of some very clear sabotage tactics that another company have been using against us over the last few weeks in an obvious attempt to degrade our reputation.
For both Bioflex and Bulk Nutrients we run facebook pages. These are utilised to service customers requests and issues should they arise as well as promote our range. While this usually runs smoothly, over the last few weeks we have had multiple “fans” join our page for no other motive than to spam our pages with the company that they represents products, as well as attempt to rubbish our products/company.
Some have claimed to be customers of ours, however when running checks we have no details of them having ever bought products from us (yet they claim to have). On top of that, all attempts by us to contact them by pm have been ignored – which to me seems odd if they had genuine concerns.
It appears that theyt are bogus profiles that have been created for no other reason than to rubbish us, which I consider a desperate act.
Unfortunately, this behaviour has also spilt out onto AusBB. I have curiously noted some mention in posts subtly degrading our products (while promoting another companies products) again from “members” who claim to have bought from us. It is not surprising that just like the facebook scenario, these members have only very recently signed up.
Again it seems to main purpose of these “members” is to degrade our business which is defamatory (incidentally something which you can be charged for) particularly as they have never bought a product from us and when we contact them by pm there is never a reply.
From here on in I ask that this stops immediately.
For the person/persons and company responsible I have a few questions.
1) Do you think these sabotage tactics will work in turning customers away from us.
2) Do you think that the effects on your company will be positive?
If you really are intent to rubbish us, at least find real customers who are legitimately unsatisfied with our products/service. While we do work hard to keep everyone happy, I am sure you could somewhat rationalise your negative tactics by finding real customers who you could ask to help you work again st us. While still a low act in my mind, it wouldn’t be illegal.
Likewise, if you are intent on creating bogus members, it may be better to focus on having them promote your products rather than having them degrade ours. Again, it would still be a bit sad, but not as destructive as your current tactics.
Not surprisingly I have had pm’s from people who have become aware of this and from what I can see the biggest effect it seems to be having is on the person/company responsible in that it is detractig from your business. Certainly if your marketing campaign centres around trying to rubbish us (and no doubt other companies) this is a bit sad.
You will notice that I have not named your company. I have done this deliberately as this allows you an opportunity to stop all defamatory behaviour towards us immediately.
If we find one more post on this or any other forum which deliberately degrades us or another message on our facebook page I will do the following.
- Print details in this post about the exchanges on facebook and reveal the bogus profiles.
- Print details on here and links to the offending posts and members.
This will reveal to everyone who is responsible for this. From that point on I won’t hesitate to let everyone I am connected to in the industry (which is masses of promoters and other key figures) know about these low tactics you have employed as well as proceed to build a defamation case based on the evidence we have compiled.
This is your one and only warning.
To any members who have read this, I appreciate your time and you are welcome to give your opinion on what you think of these tactics employed by the company in question.
