Originally Posted by
agarose2000
I'm not a BD-lover by any means, but also not a hater.
I've been on the forums for at least 3 years now.
I have made MANY calls for legitimate references to unquestionably "shill" posts that BD has put up.
NOBODY has delivered. Somebody previously put up 5 links, and after reading thru them (they were quite entertaining, actually), it was obvious to me that on the 6th page of controversy on each post, the person was clearly not a shill - any "shill" would have ducked out long, long before that point.
It is entirely possible that there were some questionable practices prior to me coming onboard, but in terms of recent activity, I haven't seen a single post on that is convincingly pure BD-shill. In most cases, it's an excited person eager to post about their new bike that they are really excited about, and I'd probably feel the same way if I paid what they ask for their Ultegra bike lines and found that it was the real deal. (I ride a Cervelo, BTW.)
I did dig as far as 2+ years ago, and there were in fact some QC issues back then that while infrequent, did seem suspect, such as a big post on a BB being nonremovable on a higher-end bike, and some definitely subpar customer service. However, that BB issue seems to have been solved on the mid-hi level bikes (MANY breakdowns of the immortal pro and other similar bikes with no problems), and judging from their really good Ebay ratings (I think sprtymama was a seller), it seems customer satisfaction on the whole is extremely good now.
I'm making yet ANOTHER call out to point out some REAL BD-shady posts on the forums in the past 2 years. If it's really such a prevalent problem, there should be at least several convincing ones.
I do however, definitely think that this particular review of the Wellington is on the damning side for quality control, and I would not recommend anyone to buy it based upon the original fair review that the OP put up. (To also be fair, I wouldn't recommend ANYBODY to buy a similarly equipped $350 bike, even from an LBS, and expect QC in all the details.) The other bikes which are more expensive and have better components, particularly the Immortal and LeChampion have gotten particularly good reviews. The Kestrel bikes don't seem to be especially discounted over their LBS pricing as mentioned previously - if you want to score a true BD-deal, you have to go with their house brand.
This is a hollow argument. How in the world could we absolutely positively one-hundred percently uncategorically prove it to be a shill? That's the whole point of the BD strategy. In general, you can't prove it.
We have shown you several REAL shady and convincing posts, you however choose not to believe they are REAL shady or convincing. In fact, there are even posts above and in other threads about Mike offering a discount to BF'ers for good reviews. There are also posts where people have been asked whether or not they were compensated in any way and the members do not reply to these questions. You are sticking your head in the sand and then telling us it's our job to pull it out.
How is your argument any different than me going into every BD thread and posting something that says, "I am stating once again that unless you can prove you are not a shill then you must be". And just like your query, this is something that can not be proven. That's why there are 100 threads about it a month.
Your argument is also similar to those who don't believe we put a man on the moon or that there was a holocaust or that evolution exists, etc., simply because you weren't there when it happened. It is not our job to PROVE anything to you. If you are incapable of noticing trends, similarities, etc., so be it.