Members - I realize there are a number of R230 forum members who have followed forum member Rudeney. He was ordered by moderators to take down his benzbits company signature from his username. He reluctantly took the link down today. Still, he continues to post links to his business via an indirect method via his benzbits account here: https://mbworld.org/forums/sl-class-...tral-rear.html and here: https://mbworld.org/forums/sl-class-...-pmercury.html Before you get upset with me personally, please read from posts #8 onward on the first link. Rodney has made a very lucrative business through his association with Mbworld, and he's not an approved vendor. Yet, he hypocritically posted against another Mbworld contributor, which lead to that member's banning from the forum. Thoughts?

 

Jezz dude, drop it. I know you got a bug up your *** about Rodney, but I don't see him coming after you with each and every post. You have 68 posts, and the majority are getting into pissing matches with other member. Enough is enough.

I only have 46. but most of them have been useful posts, like asking or answering questions.

 

Yep. I sure do have a problem with Rodney being instrumental in getting a forum member banned from the forum while Rodney continues to promote his business. The forum member who he helped get banned has also done a lot of good for a lot of folks on Mbworld. Btw, I don't think the number of posts a member has done on the forum should be an indicator of a person's worth. But, perhaps, the quality of one's post. My post on the X164 A/C system seemed to be useful for about 5,000 views, but then again I've only got as you said 68 posts so it must not be important.. https://mbworld.org/forums/gl-class-...lve-gl450.html

 

[QUOTE=JamesMitchell;7938853]Members - I realize there are a number of R230 forum members who have followed forum member Rudeney. He was ordered by moderators to take down his benzbits company signature from his username. He reluctantly took the link down today. Still, he continues to post links to his business via an indirect method via his benzbits account here: https://mbworld.org/forums/sl-class-...tral-rear.html

(NOTE: I originally posted this reply in the "jacking point" thread, but then say this one, so I removed my post and put it here to be more relevant)

James, a question for you: Where in that post (or any post that I have made) does it state that I am advertising a for-profit business? Even if you remove the sub-folder and filenames for links to documents I have on my website, and you look at just the top-level website, then again, please tell me where on that website you find any advertising of a for-profit business?

You made one factual statement in that sentence: I am not an approved vendor. If having someone buy me lunch or a beer (which is all I have ever received from any forum member) is your definition of "lucrative", then I guess you might have made two factual statements. Benzbits is a hobby - I have a totally unrelated "day job" that is lucrative and pays my bill and buys a few toys. My website is mostly a repository of documents I have collected and created over the years that I find helpful and gladly share. I occasionally (as in a few times a year) do some work for friends, family members, neighbors and word-of-mouth acquaintances. I rarely get paid for that and when I do, it's a nominal amount that hardly pays the hosting fees or my site.

You will also notice that on the website is my cell phone number. If you have a problem with me, please call it and let's discuss things and mot clutter the forum with a bunch of petty arguments.

 

Rodney - When you stop using benzbits.com/XXX, I'll stop calling you out for promoting your business. In a previous post about the Best Scan Tool, you called a forum member a liar about the software they had obtained that you disagreed with. I'm not afraid to take some heat from your loyal followers. But everyone should know that you are being dishonest to our forum when you say that forum members have actually come to see you at your business in Birmingham and that you've diagnosed, worked on, and repaired their vehicles but that you "NEVER" accepted any type of payment from them.

The folks from other Mercedes shops in Birmingham know you Rodney. They also know you have quite a clientele of Mercedes owners whom you help diagnose and service their cars. For those reading this post, Rodney's benzbits.com services are here: http://www.benzbits.com/web/diagnostics.html and here: http://www.benzbits.com/web/repairs.html and here: http://www.benzbits.com/web/other.html. As one of your clients said: "Benzbits helped me keep my C240 going strong, and now they are helping me with my ML350. I don't trust anyone else with my car. - Katie S"

To try to tell forum members that you have not earned clients from your PM's and association with Mbworld is a ruse. So, I guess I'm the bad guy here for making a popular forum member take down your For-Profit business link from your signature. But Rodney, if you're going to tell other forum members they are violating Mbworld rules for advertising without being an approved vendor - and be instrumental in getting a member banned from the Mbworld forum for the same rule you have not followed - then you need to look in the mirror and be honest with yourself and, more importantly, be honest with Mbworld forum members.

 

Don't know where you got your hosting but hosting is 50$ per year for that old mini site you have

 

Let it go-I did not join this forum to have to read your daily rants

 

Yes agree with that, I don’t care how correct you both think you are, or both actually are, the traffic you are creating is ruining the forum experience for the silent majority. A more constructive way forward would be to private message each other or private message the forum moderators and let them perform their role and respect their decisions.

Please consider the rest of us who are bored to tears with this ongoing war being served up on the forum

 

Folks - I realize this thread is not conducive to making our R230s awesome. I didn't start this mess - Rudeney did. I recently purchased an SL55 and was looking for various diagnostic tools. I followed the debacle of the thread Best Scanner Tools. In this thread Rudeney jumps up on his high horse and proclaims the forum member Pmercury to be wrong. And Rudeney then set out to ensure he got banned. All the while Rudeney has continued for the past 10 yrs to defy the Mbworld rules and advertise his Mercedes diagnostic and repair business in Alabama. Guys - don't shoot the messenger here. Rudeney ensured Pmercury was banned and just yesterday he continued his proliferation of his business through the Jack Points thread. I've received a number of Pm's regarding this matter all in favor of having Rudeney cease his own shenanigans. I'm not in a popularity contest. But Rudeney and his backtracking on his dealings with his business is full of it. Here are a few of the (with permission) PMs I've received:

"Rudny needs to stop stirring up trouble with his antics about others making money from the forum and should focus on following the rules of forum rules."

"Rodney has a solid Mercedes repair business in Birmingham and has made it even more successful with his association with MbWorld. Complaining about others making money isn't right."

"I believe techs who have formal knowledge of MBZ should be allowed to discuss their experiences on the forum. To have the benzbits owner Rodny criticize others for engaging other members for their benefit is not right. He has done the same thing for years."

"Kudos to you for taking a stand against a behemoth Rudeney. I once asked for a vin decode and it came back with his company signature benzbits with a vin decode at the end."

In the words of Rudeney (Rodney): "When someone comes to the forum and professes to have better parts, processes, or software, and but only offers it at a price, that is where I become extremely skeptical. When this person then becomes argumentative and belligerent, that's when I take action." Well, Rodney, I've taken action too. You ran a forum member out of the forum and helped to get him banned. BANNED! When you stop and listen to what's been said here and you, yourself correct your ways on the forum, perhaps troublemakers like me will stop calling out your disingenuous ways. The choice is yours.

 

James,

Just let it go. It has gotten to the point for me (and I am pretty sure I am not the only one) that when I see a post from you, I am just going to assume you are complaining about something and will just not waste my time reading it

 

Kenny - You could have easily not clicked on the this thread, but you wanted to - perhaps out of curiosity. And now you want to label me as a "complainer." I'm racking up the names now: idiot, novice, jerk and now complainer. That's fine. Well, thanks for at least having the fortitude to at least state how you feel. You are in the minority compared to the 16 PM's I've received over the past few days in support of calling Rudeney out for his hypocrisy and for banning Pmercury. Perhaps there is an ignore feature on Mbworld so you don't have to drudge through my posts.

Best,
James

 

Matk - "I've ruined the forum experience for the silent majority..." I did PM forum moderators. They did have Rudeney remove his signature link. But just yesterday, he continued to proliferate his business through a link in the best jack points thread. This is the same guy, who last week had another very informative forum member get banned from Mbworld. So, perhaps there is an ignore feature on Mbworld so you can put JamesMitchell at the top of the list. I find Rudeney's behavior offensive to the entire forum. And I've got the fortitude to call him out on it. Cheers.

 

But Rodney played no role whatsoever in getting anyone banned. None. I contacted MBWorld about a member trolling me with advertisements, and they acted accordingly.

 

The forum does have a mechanism to deal with this, if you choose to use it. You can go to User CP, under Ignore List you can add a name, then further posts from that person will not be shown on your forum feed. It’s a last resort but when necessary can prevent certain individual members from souring your whole forum experience.

 

In a post above this one, you said to @KennyK that if he didn't like the thread, he shouldn't have clicked on it. And you're probably right, but this, is like one of those wrecks you can't keep your eyes off, so here I am.

Here's my beef with your comment above, about Rodney proliferating his business through the link on "Jack Points" thread. The man posted an image from the Mercedes WIS at someone's request, FOR FREE.

Yes it's hosted on Benzbits, but to find out that Benzbits is a business, you actually have to make the effort to back track it to the domain. That's not something 90% of our users here would do, unless they were looking for additional information. One of the advantages of having your own domain is that you can host all you files, photos whatever, and you don't have to upload them as attachments. When I had my own domain I did the same exact thing. The only people that tried to backtrack a posted image or file were those who were trying to find the source so they can see if there was more stuff there. 95% of the regular visitors didn't care or didn't know how to do it.

And you come up with this conspiracy theory that Rodney somehow is profiting by posting a few photos or PDFs that are hosted on his private domain. Now that's a real stretch....

 

Hey guys, are all your SLs in perfect running condition?
Lets talk Mercedes and drop all this mambo-jumbo before all the knowledgeable members get banned or better yet, leave on their own.
What you say if we ask to have them reinstated under just one condition- no more arguments.

 

James Mitchell just continues to post his extremely wordy rants. NOBODY CARES. Just stop this nonsense!!

 

FFS give it a rest, I have no wish to have to block individuals so that’s not a solution for me, I’d rather utilise an inclusive forum with the ability to read all posts regardless of whether I agree or disagree with them. The Moderators have been involved I think? It’s their forum, trust and respect them.

If you feel that strongly that you don’t agree with what they do, then go and start your own forum, which you can of course moderate in any way you choose. Some of the recent posts show the Forum Moderators a complete lack of respect.

 

Please stop moderating. I am working on these issues and will resolve after the Holidays. Thank you.

Bob