Is the Cathe thread a fair assessment?

[jordan]

Do you think the relentlessness of the current Cathe thread reflects a fair assessment of Cathe’s business? (I had to shorten my title question to make it fit)

I’ve been a Cathe customer for years and I have never had a bad customer service experience. I really enjoy her products and my health and fitness have benefited from them. I very rarely post on Cathe’s forum, but I think it is a good place for people to get together and share their enthusiasm for fitness. I think Cathe’s site has a lot to offer and it is free. I don’t agree with every business decision that SNM has made, but I feel the same about other businesses. I’m so inspired by the people that Cathe inspires. The success stories that I’ve read say a lot about why people feel so strongly about Cathe. I recognize that people have strong feelings for their favorite fitness instructors because many instructors have motivated people to make changes that have impacted their lives in profound ways. I think people use home fitness products for so many reasons that are personal to them. I feel one of the reasons VF is here, is to be supportive of everyone who has decided to enjoy fitness through video/DVD/CD or other home based programs.

So thank you to VF, Cathe, and all the instructors that have inspired me to get up and move to improve my health.

jordan

[LynnO]

Jordan, once again, great job violating the board's guidelines!

Your poll has no unbiased answers and manages to take several hits at the VF posters instead of asking a real question.

If you don't work for Cathe, well, it's a little frightening and somewhat stalkerish.

[jordan]

Originally Posted by LynnO

Jordan, once again, great job violating the board's guidelines!

Your poll has no unbiased answers and manages to take several hits at the VF posters instead of asking a real question.

If you don't work for Cathe, well, it's a little frightening and somewhat stalkerish.

I don't see where I violated the guidelines or took a hit at anyone. We are here to give advice to people about fitness instructors and their business practices. The current thread is one of the most viewed and posted to threads on VF and it brings up a lot of questions about Cathe's business. I tried to add to the no and yes choices with I would recommend Cathe to other VFers or no I wouldn't recommend Cathe to other VFers, but there is a limit to the length of the poll answers. It is hard to continue a discussion once the topic goes OT and it can be hard to follow. I don't see how my choices are biased, but there is always a way to make a full reply if your answer isn't in the poll choices.

I'm sorry you feel stalked, but truthfully I just haven't followed anything you posted lately. Many of the same people post to the same threads.

jordan

[Mollie F.]

Originally Posted by LynnO

Jordan, once again, great job violating the board's guidelines!

Your poll has no unbiased answers and manages to take several hits at the VF posters instead of asking a real question.

If you don't work for Cathe, well, it's a little frightening and somewhat stalkerish.

jordan, if you aren't being paid by Cathe for your efforts, you probably should be.

[jordan]

Originally Posted by Mollie F.

jordan, if you aren't being paid by Cathe for your efforts, you probably should be.

Why should I be paid? Is everyone on VF who gives their honest opinion paid? Or is this a way to target people for giving an opinion that may be different than yours? Is this the new direction of VF to control discussion? Are we hoping that everyone has a bad experience with fitness instructors?

I don't get it,
jordan

[Hej]

From what I understand Cathe stopped being the topic of converstation in the "Cathe thread" several days ago... Why the need to open up the issue once again so it can all be rehashed over and over here? For someone who is against virulence it is rather a strange poll to post at this particular time. JMHO.

Hej

[Kathryn]

I think WWWendy has on at least 2 occasions confirmed that Jordan doesn't work for SNM/Cathe, so why keep insisting that she does?

Jordan, I wouldn't know how to answer this poll, first because I'm not sure what you're asking: A fair assessment of what? It's a long thread, which started to address one topic (how SNM/Cathe was addressing what they considered negativity on their forum) and ended up being a bit broader discussion of Cathe/SNM and their customer service (along with other topics).

Second, what 'relentlessness' are you refering to (it does seem a bit like taking a hit at VFers?)?

Thirdly, the three answers seem rather scattershot and don't address the same things.

There is a lot of middle ground between "Cathe has made mistakes (in what, I don't know) but overall she has done a good job" (at what? I'm again not sure if you're refering to CS, how she moderates her website, or her products?) and "the thread reflects the experience (on the web site? with her products?) of a majority of VF Cathe customers".

[jordan]

Originally Posted by Hej

From what I understand Cathe stopped being the topic of converstation in the "Cathe thread" several days ago... Why the need to open up the issue once again so it can all be rehashed over and over here? For someone who is against virulence it is rather a strange poll to post at this particular time. JMHO.

Hej

I don’t think anything is being rehashed, as the original thread is still up and running even though it has veered OT. As I said before, the current thread is one of the most viewed and posted to threads on VF and it brings up a lot of questions about Cathe's business. It appears to be very important to the people who want to keep the thread active and on the first page of the forum. On the other hand, maybe we need an OD forum. Either way, I don’t see why this discussion is so objectionable. We have had polls opened based off other threads in the General Discussion Forum before.

jordan

[Messe]

Originally Posted by Kathryn

Jordan, I wouldn't know how to answer this poll, first because I'm not sure what you're asking: A fair assessment of what? It's a long thread, which started to address one topic (how SNM/Cathe was addressing what they considered negativity on their forum) and ended up being a bit broader discussion of Cathe/SNM and their customer service (along with other topics).

Second, what 'relentlessness' are you refering to (it does seem a bit like taking a hit at VFers?)?

Thirdly, the three answers seem rather scattershot and don't address the same things.

There is a lot of middle ground between "Cathe has made mistakes (in what, I don't know) but overall she has done a good job" (at what? I'm again not sure if you're refering to CS, how she moderates her website, or her products?) and "the thread reflects the experience (on the web site? with her products?) of a majority of VF Cathe customers".

Good points, Kathryn. I also agree with Hej's assessment:

From what I understand Cathe stopped being the topic of converstation in the "Cathe thread" several days ago... Why the need to open up the issue once again so it can all be rehashed over and over here? For someone who is against virulence it is rather a strange poll to post at this particular time.

JMHO, but starting this poll now does seem like an attempt to reopen an issue that's no longer being discussed in the thread. I have no idea who Jordan is or who she does or doesn't work for, but I must admit that I don't understand why this poll was started unless it's an attempt to reopen a discussion that's basically run its course.

[KarenP]

Originally Posted by jordan

I don't get it,
jordan

I think that you have been asked this question several times over the years because besides seeming to have a lot of inside knowledge about the business, you also seem to always defend some of the more questionable business practices of the company. There are plenty of people here who are die-hard fans of various instructors and their DVDs, but you're the only one I can think of who is a die-hard fan on a business. So that's why I think you get asked this question.

As for why that thread has gone on for so long, I think there is a lot of pent up anger towards SNM that has built up over the years, and people are expressing it. I hope the company takes something constructive away from this and is able to improve itself.