Ok, this thread seems to have gone from one person's announcement regarding another forum coming online, to SMART bashing.
I, for one, am impressed with how SMART USA has conducted business, both in general, and in regard to my purchase of my vehicle. I am not going to take the time to respond to the 'trash talk', however I will say that in terms of service and customer support after the sale, Smart Center Bloomfield has gone way above and beyond what any other auto manufacturer, US or otherwise, has.
After my purchase, I had not one or two, but many emails from Samantha at SMB making sure things were going well. When's the last time someone at Ford, GM, Toyota, .....has done that? Also, Rick, the manager at SMB has opened up his dealership up not once or twice, but at least 3 times that I know of for Smart owners to get together and learn about their cars, providing detailed instruction and cars in a variety of disassemble for us to inspect and learn from. SMART USA has been very open to any and all suggestions from their customers, with the latest being the rolling out of the social networking site.
If your experience with your purchase has not been good, it's more than likely a dealer issue and should be dealt with as such. I'm sure the people at SMART USA headquarters would love to hear constructive comments, as it appears that customer satisfaction is high on their priority list. That's what is going to keep this little gem selling here.
Most of us were not around for the rolling out of this site, and I am relatively sure it was not without it's glitches. The fact that there was not an open invitation to everyone has ruffled feathers, that's too bad, but from my perspective, they are doing things the way they feel is correct for the benefit of their customers. If people choose not to use that site, it's their right. Trashing it for others is not appropriate.
If this has offended anyone, I'm sorry.
Smart Teacher,
I'm not sure who the targets are for your trash talking comment but let me at least clear the air for myself!
1. I am glad your experience has been great at Bloomfield Hills. I am not shocked that they have great customer service seeing as how the smart USA headquarters are on site.
2. I have been happy with the service at my dealership but it is obvious that not everyone has had an excellent experience with their dealer. You are correct that these are dealer issues but they do need to be brought to everyone's attention including smart USA to see if they can be corrected and improved.
3. I am very happy with the fact that smart USA has brought the smart to the US and I believe they have dome many things very, very well. I have had frequent communication with Dave Schembri and Ken Kettenbiel and believe they are committed and caring and dedicated to the brand and to the owners.
4. That is not to say that they haven't made what I believe are many mistakes primarily in the area of constant, consistant and helpful communications. Where I have concerns I have expressed those concerns directly to them.
5. I applaud them for attempting to develop an enthusiasts site. I was invited as a beta tester and I think I have more posts on the site currently than anyone. I am trying to support their efforts. On the other hand it remains unclear to me what the benefits of the site will be relative to SCOA.
6. It is my fervent hope that they use the site as a direct communication opportunity to the owners and I would have been thrilled if they were direct participants and would respond to issues on the site but I understand this is not the case which I believe devalues the site from what it could be.
7. I for one will continue to be supportive of the brand, the site and the management of smart USA but at the same time I will express myself to them when I feel their support is sub standard or where I feel they could improve.
If all of this is bashing so be it. IMO it's a better world when we challenge each other and work to improve process on a continuing basis rather than accept things as they are.
I too have been up and about on the new site. I call it "Smart Lite".
It's main function so far seems to be to bash our site SCOA, (which we all know is perfect in every way. )
They do have a bit of an attitude though, as you can read in the posts on this site from Stuberman and SmartTeacher . Ra-Ra smart usa will be the theme there, so never will be heard a discouraging word.
But the site, designed to be a kind of Auto "You Tube" should be popular among the kids and perhaps gain future sales for Smart. A2Jack.
I just wanted to point out that we too have many social networking components to the site but we primarily concentrate on content as king.
But for those of you like me who enjoy the interaction with other members and getting to know each other please feel free to befriend other members, customize your profile, and share information about yourself. To get a better idea of what this looks like, please fell free to visit my profile! http://www.smartcarofamerica.com/forums/members/smart/
and don't forget Jwight's profile... it's a very active one as well! http://www.smartcarofamerica.com/forums/members/jwight/
It's main function so far seems to be to bash our site SCOA, (which we all know is perfect in every way. )
This is a little disturbing since I have been waiting impatiently to get my invite so I could post and PROMOTE the SCOA!
A forum that moderates out all but the positive, to me, is a waste of my time. I don't always agree with mmeat, or sometimes think oldmike is a little harsh. But sometimes it takes posts like that to foster debate or bring everyone back to reality. Besides, how interesting would it be here if no one ever got razzed about using pink text or trying to get others to tell them exactly what color to buy?!
This is a little disturbing since I have been waiting impatiently to get my invite so I could post and PROMOTE the SCOA!
A forum that moderates out all but the positive, to me, is a waste of my time. I don't always agree with mmeat, or sometimes think oldmike is a little harsh. But sometimes it takes posts like that to foster debate or bring everyone back to reality. Besides, how interesting would it be here if no one ever got razzed about using pink text or trying to get others to tell them exactly what color to buy?!
does this site moderate out links to other smart community sites?
does this site moderate out links to other smart community sites?
I have no clue from personal experience about the official smart social networking site. But based on posts here, I would say they frown on promoting other sites. Some of the others here with logins may be more capable of answering that.
As for the SCOA, I don't believe it is "prohibited" to mention other sites, but to me seems to be a "posting faux pas".
I have no clue from personal experience about the official smart social networking site. But based on posts here, I would say they frown on promoting other sites. Some of the others here with logins may be more capable of answering that.
As for the SCOA, I don't believe it is "prohibited" to mention other sites, but to me seems to be a "posting faux pas".
We seem to cross link to all sorts of other forums here. I often mention and link CsC. Other posters from around the world come often and link their sites. I've never heard SCOA complain. A2Jack.
does this site moderate out links to other smart community sites?
I have seen no evidence that there are any restrictions on the smart insiders site and also no evidence of any censoring of anything at this point.
The current membership is a bit rah rah but most are from Michigan, bought their smarts at the Bloomfield dealership and have had some direct contact with Dave Schembri and the staff so I think you can expect them to be rah, rah. The question is what will happen when it opens up to all.
While I am a bit cynical about the future of the site, it surely deserves to earn it's reputation over time and with a broader audience before we judge it too harshly.
We seem to cross link to all sorts of other forums here. I often mention and link CsC. Other posters from around the world come often and link their sites. I've never heard SCOA complain. A2Jack.
Well, there you have it.... from someone with much more experience here than me.
I think forums should be viewed as "communities" or "neighborhoods". Once you move in and find it is a wonderful place, hang around and enjoy the company. If you move in and find out it is home to a bunch of crackheads, or they start moving in, then find another and move. Simple as that.
We all share many common interests, like small cars, high gas mileage, and....ummm..... CRAP, What were we talking about?!?
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A2Jack.
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