mjames — Sat, 30 Sep 2000 17:40:26 +0000

Quote: Originally posted by Amazing
How funny. Having read all those nastiness-filled posts by thinkhost, I was not impressed at all (I know, Ii know, some people think that the individual making the post has nothing to do with the company itself, which is very, very near-sighted of them, since how you act in public makes people very aware of how you might potentially act in other areas).

Now, here's an "apology" that still manages to insult people, and is just another long-winded "me, me, me, my company, hey, this is US!" post. And people just lap it up like the good dogs they are. I am still not impressed, sad to say. Until an apology (a true apology) can be made *without* the subtle little slams on everybody else, and without the "my company is great but others stink" implication, guess what? It isn't sincere and it isn't apologetic. It's just more of the same.

I would never, ever use thinkhost, period. Once you abuse peoples' trust, it's awfully hard to get it back. Anemic "apologies" like the one swallowed up so readily by people in thie thread don't cut it.

If the appology post wasn't good enough for you, I don't know what is.

chicken — Sat, 30 Sep 2000 13:31:22 +0000

Come now, everyone is entitled to their views. Vlad doesn't have to like everyone, but his mistake was airing that view in public, quite unprofessionally. For this, he has aplogized. There's no reason to deny someone the benefit of the doubt, once they publicly state an apology.

I read the other posts, I know what you are talking about. While I might have preferred just an apology (again, I understand how you might view this post as a pitch), I see this post for what it is meant to be.

I lost complete respect from Vlad and his company due to those other posts. The forgiveness he seeks is that of the web community as a whole, and it is going to take him some time to achieve. I wish him the best, and feel this is a good place to start

What Vlad has to learn to balance, is how to let people know that he feels he has the best service available. Even when this is the case, stating so can make people resent you and think you are just boasting (talking out your donkey). I prefer a more subtle approach of, "Just ask our customers what *they* think of our services!" Let them boast for you...

Just a few thoughts...

Fri, 29 Sep 2000 23:36:46 +0000

How funny. Having read all those nastiness-filled posts by thinkhost, I was not impressed at all (I know, Ii know, some people think that the individual making the post has nothing to do with the company itself, which is very, very near-sighted of them, since how you act in public makes people very aware of how you might potentially act in other areas).

Now, here's an "apology" that still manages to insult people, and is just another long-winded "me, me, me, my company, hey, this is US!" post. And people just lap it up like the good dogs they are. I am still not impressed, sad to say. Until an apology (a true apology) can be made *without* the subtle little slams on everybody else, and without the "my company is great but others stink" implication, guess what? It isn't sincere and it isn't apologetic. It's just more of the same.

I would never, ever use thinkhost, period. Once you abuse peoples' trust, it's awfully hard to get it back. Anemic "apologies" like the one swallowed up so readily by people in thie thread don't cut it.

mjames — Fri, 29 Sep 2000 20:44:51 +0000

Nice post, Vladislav. Let's hope that clears some things up and settles some conflicts.

DynastyHost — Fri, 29 Sep 2000 17:18:24 +0000

It's Amazing how far you can go to get clients without backfire.

JP Stones — Fri, 29 Sep 2000 00:01:20 +0000

It was indeed.
Good job Vlad.
JP

Thu, 28 Sep 2000 23:33:06 +0000

That was a nice post Vlad

Justin S — Thu, 28 Sep 2000 21:23:25 +0000

Now there ya go! Exactly what I was waiting for: an apology. Now hopefully you won't make the same mistake twice So let it be written, that on this 28th day of September of the year 2000, Justin M. Stayton has accepted the apology of ThinkHost and will think of him as a good web host.

Maybe if True Hosting would have apologized they would have been respected again? Nah, I don't think so

thinkhost — Thu, 28 Sep 2000 21:13:17 +0000

Folks,

There are certain times in life where one must stop, think, and most importantly evaluate what he or she has done, to see whether the direction of their doings has has indeed been correct, whether on a moral or whatever other level they wish to judge their actions. It is often not easy to admit that you have been wrong, especially not when so much is on the line: the future of everyone who depends on you, as well as your own, and what I am about to state here is not easy by any means for me to say.

The reason I am posting this today is because I am forced by my values to admit that I have inded been wrong. I've been looking over our posts on the forums, and the things that I have done, and I have truly come to realize that although I did a lot of things right, several very critical mistakes were indeed made by me. Mistakes which not only agonized many *good* people, but also reflected very badly upon those who chose to stand with me, whether it be my wonderful team, or our clients and friends who have come to our defense time after time.

The fact of the matter is simple here: I did make very serious judgemental errors over the past few months in choosing to take a firm stance against our competitors and their views, some of whom I've come to regard almost as complete enemies. By taking a Microsoft-like view of "either it is us or them" I managed to get this company going, and to secure a steady stream of signups, but what I also did was create a lot of righteously upset folks whom I had to tumble and push aside in order to get here, and that is not a cost I am willing to deal with. Today we enjoy the prosperity we do based on the fact that I was willing to push aside those who were in our way, and to do things which are really below my moral standard, things that now looking back upon, I very much regret.

The critical problem with my actions was in the fact that I failed to recognize that even though certain competitors were not necesserily individuals that I'd want to respect based on their actions, technical skills. or knowledge at the time, they still deserved respect as human beings; respect which I failed to afford them, because I was too blind pursuing the stability this company so badly needed at the time. That was clearly a huge mistake on my part, a mistake that has resulted in fairly righteous complaints by many individuals.

There were other less crucial but still important mistakes made due to my inexperience at the time with internet netiquette, especially that in a public forum. My responses to clients posted initially within this site were clearly inappropriate, but they were made in good faith -- that is, they were made in response to clients requesting information, and after having come from another forum which clearly allowed such. It was a mistake to make those posts, as I have stated previously and state again. I refused to admit that it was spam, because to me at the time it seemed as if it were something that I didn't intend as spam, it wasn't spam, and by the strict definitions of general rule, it was not unsolicited. However, I am not here to play word games -- within the strict context of this forum, and the rules here, it was indeed.

I can see how this post can (and probably will) be interpreted by many as yet another "lame attempt" (as a friend once put it) by me to gain trust in our company and ultimately new clients, but that is not in any way the case. Our signups are very strong, and I am not posting this because I hope to gain support of those who are critical of my actions, but because I feel that many of the individuals truly do deserve this apology, which is by all means very much overdue.

I sincerely do apologize for going below my values and morals in, and I will do my best in order to clear up my name, and to clear up the name of our firm in any way I can in the future, and I ask that folks give me a second chance. The fight to stick with the values I started with has proven to be far tougher than one could have originally expected, and I apologize for going against those values, and for not affording many people the basic respect they deserved.

Sincerely yours,

Vladislav S. Davidzon
ThinkHost

JP Stones — Thu, 28 Sep 2000 20:40:10 +0000

OK enough of this, I just got a flashback from when Chad used to sit with me and install scripts even though it took most of his day. That was great and that is why TWF is till with dids.com.