Official Luthiers Forum!

You're kidding. That dude ripped off like half this forum. Hate to rehash it, but you don't get to do that and have it just go away...
I was like 17 at the time and $100 was a huge deal.

Got surprised by another partial refund of $100. Only $100 to go.

Lance,
I paid for Classified access a few days ago. Can you please grant me access when you get a moment. Thanks-----Chris

It's been clear for quite some time that the OLF is on autopilot but I had no idea this other stuff was going on, yet again. It's disheartening.

George :-(

Just got Lance's final $100 he owed me. Happy to close this chapter.

Not getting access to Classifieds after paying seems to happen a lot. I have that problem, can anyone help - Mike G

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guitarsbygiltzow.com

Message Lance, he should respond quickly.


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I did that and no response. Will do that again

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guitarsbygiltzow.com

I've always had quick response time from Lance.And I've bought maybe 5 sets of wood off him as well. it's a shame the customer service is so spotty. The classifieds used to be a great resource but seem to be almost dead.

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https://www.instagram.com/fostinoguitars/
https://www.facebook.com/PuraVidaUkuleles/

Hate to resurrect this thread, but messages have gone unanswered and I paid for access a week ago.

Any tips on getting access to the classifieds? Hoping Lance will see this

Yes, he should. But he doesn't. I am VERY disappointed in Lance, and I don't want to hear any excuses from him, or any OLF'rs defending him until he stops being an absentee landlord.

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"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

Chris,
As a contributing member I can understand you may be a bit disappointed at what you perceive as an absentee landlord, but as a long time "squatter" I appreciate all the free content the internet has on offer, and am glad Lance is willing to allow the forum to run without providing much remuneration.
Recently Amazon and others have been looking at e-zines and other properties they have purchased and decided to end those that were not turning a profit. Some "tech" companies who have operated at a loss to grow their company are finding it much more difficult to turn a profit and vulture capitalists are worrying they never will. Many internet based companies are trying to squeeze a few more nickels out of their user base, and getting push back from them.
As a non-contributing member I don't think Lance owes me anything, I'm just glad the forum exists. I sincerely thank you for your contributions, pecuniary and otherwise.

Anyone who paid a fee for a service not provided is entitled to an answer and the service. I think Chris is right.

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Peter Havriluk

Same issue here. No response from Lance.

Gary Davis

I think it is important to distinguish between two issues.

One issue is Lance’s to deal with: what economic model works best for this forum? I hope Lance makes decisions in that regard that keep the forum going.

The other issue is: regardless of whether, and how, the forum makes enough money to stay afloat, is Lance responding to basic communications, like when new people want to join the forum, or when new people want to participate in the classifieds? I hear about a lot of problems in this regard. I really wish Lance would make better decisions about this. Ignoring people is not a good strategy in any endeavor.

If the first problem (not making enough money) leads to the second problem (not taking care of necessary tasks), I hope Lance realizes that dealing with things in that way can only make things worse.

If anyone on the forum actually does communicate with Lance, it would be good to spend some of that time talking about what I just said.

When I joined the classifieds I simply emailed him and he gave me access within hours. That's all you have to do. He doesn't seem to check forum private messages, just email him.

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Instagram: @jfrenchluthier

Does anyone think it is reasonable for the owner/administrator of a forum to ignore his private messages on his own forum?

I’m not judging Lance; maybe there are things going on in his life that mean he can’t put time/energy/money into the OLF right now. There is a difference between judging Lance and acknowledging that there are issues, so that they can be addressed. I’m doing the latter.

Deleted

Am I remembering correctly that the classifieds are an annual subscription? Because now that I think about it, I don't remember the last time I paid for it and it's certainly been more than a year I think and I still have access to it. So apparently it's not about the money it's just that Lance is absent.

Yeah, seems like I used to get a renewal notice. Haven't really kept track of that...

Pat

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Pat

Nice!!

I paid the annual dues twice thinking I’d forgotten to pay the first time. I never did receive access to the classifieds - that was 4+ years ago - I finally gave up

Lol! Wow, maybe that's why I'm not getting any love on my items over there!

Pat

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Pat

I still think the admin email is the actual issue somehow. The automated responses that are supposed to happen when a user signs up for classifieds or a new user signs up are not happening. Whatever widget is configured with send of behalf of rights to the admin email is not working.

I’ve tried to create new accounts over and over and never get the account activation email. We have one person joining the monthly zoom meeting who can’t even log into the OLF because his account is not activated.

I’d like to use my own social media to drive people to the site and the zoom meetings but I won’t do it until they can actually sign up.

Sorry if that sounds grumpy, I don’t intend it that way.

Now soapbox time - I have paid to Patreon monthly since there was an OLF Patreon. I pay the money for zoom so we can have the monthly meetings. I signed up for recurring classified payments (regardless if they are working or not). I’ll keep doing those things since I get a lot of value from the people here, the relationships I’ve built and the archive of the forum. This cannot happen for new participants if the mechanics of the site are busted.


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This is you being grumpy? You need to try harder!

Perhaps Lance could be persuaded to transfer ownership of the OLF. It would not be hard to transfer this site to a modern forum system on a VPS for about $1000/year.