New promotion for ASUS W1N & S5N notebooks (FRAUD POST!)

freeman1978 has been unregistered from notebook forums because freeman1978 actually works for Asus and has another screen name "ASUS Cust Rep"

Here's a post of him introducing himself under his other screen name:

http://notebookforums.com/showthread.php?t=41258

This is far from the first time a company has done this and what we work hard at catching. We do not want posts made by companies trying to play our members as their meat market. I have nothing against Asus and I don't want any member hating them for this, but I feel it's your right to know even if it makes me hated for announcing the truth. I was happy to see "ASUS Cust Rep" register to answer people's Asus questions, but I just find this wrong.

Makes you wonder how many other major forums out there companies post on and the mods don't watch for it and catch it.

And if you're wondering, the answer is no, I wouldn't knowingly let ANY company do this type of marketing to our members incl Sager. It's not that he shared info on a promotion, it's that he's pretending to not be affiliated and is trying to hype it up from what his "friend" told him. You'll notice I mention this in the rules.

Thanks Adam.

I for one, am really surprised by this. That is really lousy on Asus' part. Especially after the rep said he was leaving the forum for personal reasons or whatever, which he obviously didnt do.

I will be regiestering a complain with Asus on this one with my Asus rep, presonally. I am floored, not by this happening- as it does- but by Asus doing it.

Eric

Maybe if there wasn't a disclaimer (end date) and a "thanks" for the business, it wouldn't have been so obvious Sounded like it was being sold anyways.

Suprised that it was a rep for a global manufacturer and not a reseller wait... either way


Just this one incident has actually shifted my views of the company. Next time I want a deal from someone, I'll look on their site, a deal site or the deals section. Bad word of mouth travels fast. (ok, so it's not bad customer service that I experienced, but it is the customer rep!)

That guy acting as customer rep was.. well, being a dumb young kid. Its really unfortunate- but not unwarranted- that you have had your views shifted of the company. But... one post by one dumb rep shouldnt change your views on the quality of equipment either.

Anyhow, ranting aside, I let my own Asus rep know- a different guy- and he agreed it was a tragic mistake. Every company has dopey employees from time to time, or employees that have brain bereft moments... Asus is no different.

I am obviously biased in that I do work with them, and know the guys that have been around for awhile, and theyre good folk. I am sure I am violating forum rules at this point, so I will zip it. Just know that Asus knows about this, and has contaced Adam about the situation to hopefully smooth it out a bit.

Eric

Do you guys know what his username is alluding to? Freeman 1978...sounds like it contains a message.

My bet is his last name is Freeman, and he was born in 1978... but I'm full of theories and other things...

-myrkat

I didn't want to go on about it in my post, but I was hoping that the guy would come back to read it and feel bad, so I kept it short. One bad apple doesn't ruin for me, and it doesn't represent the product quality itself (even if they are a rep.... hmmm )

I'll stop there, I just didn't want people to think that I was so shallow

Hey MN-

Not a bad ploy, I didnt see that coming! From what.. I would guess... mr rep dude aint allowed to come back from his boss. I assume.

Er... I know nuthing!

freeman you just lost a possible asus customer

Well this was against the rules of the forum and also against basic ethical rules, but you shouldn't count the whole company and their products out for the actions of one person. If your family was the company, it would be like your girlfriend dumping you because your cousin got caught speeding.

Doh! She dumped you because he was speeding! Thats harsh Kronus, I hope you feel better soon...

Seriously, the bad part is the guy could have posted as himself stating the offer- and it would have been fine. Why he was pretending to be someone else was just.. dumb, as it was unnecessary. Which speaks more to one guys moment of moronitude than anything else. Asus has never been anything but a very classy show to my business, so... kind of tough. Every business has to weed through a few dumb kids now and again. Asus rep never seemed to get the whole concept of the message board beforehand anyhow, always asking people to PM him. Wierd, I dont get it.

Anyhow, you deserve better Kronus. Of course, now I think youre lame because your girlfriend dumped you... haha...

Eric

I think Asus is a stand up company and they quickly addressed this issue without trying to walk around it to the point many have in the past. I'm sorry I had to make an example of an Asus employee when so many have tried this route Asus did in this post and much worse.

I want the info on the site and the forums to be as honest and unbiased as it can be and have written the rules and moderate in such a way that I think will be as close as we can get to that. I take it extremely far to the point of getting a warrant for the ISP to release info on a troll or someone trying to market.

I want to welcome Asus and other companies like Asus to come here and answer questions and hope all the members do as well. It's tough to do because you're a target, everyone wants to take every problem and question directly to you and put you on the spot because you work there. If your answer to something is not what they want to hear you are asking to get flamed.

Asus wishes to "close the communication gap between the manufacturer and the actual users" (as they put it perfectly) and it appears they completely agree this post should have never happened. So I say we move on and chalk it up as a bad PR move everyone can learn from. I'm not speaking for them, just calling it as I see it.

Asus is clearly a hot topic that may rate its own section to better focus on it and the community of people that are Asus fans. I eventually want to add many more sections as we see them needed and find potential people to moderate those sections that stand out. There's many things we're wanting to add, but add them correctly the first time so we're not dragging people around and confusing them with hundreds of sections.

An Asus section would be great!

Adam, since you are visible here, I just want to voice thanks for this forum. As I was deliberating, Sager was at the top for a bit and there was no doubt that I would have given PCTorque first consideration because of this forum. You provide it with minimum interference despite all the talk of other brands and other sellers. That is a class act, IMHO!

hmm honestly who knows if his friend really did tell him... and maybe personal reasons is the same things as I'm resigning or being fired so I say give him the benefit of the doubt and let him explain himself considering how many things he explained for us so far

I totally and utterly agree. Although this probably the first time im slightly ashamed in having an Asus product. Oh well, bad PR move.