Bowl-Tech Terms of Use
Warning: If you sell,
re-sell, distribute or manufacture a part or service that is used in the bowling industry
you MUST read and understand the
visiting company guidelines The visiting company
guidelines can save you, your company and Bowl-Tech some discomfort. All
visiting companies should be familiar with current
FTC
16 CFR Part 255 Endorsement and Testimonials in Advertising
guidelines.
I know this looks like a lot of stuff to read, but a happy relationship here depends on understanding our community and how it
operates.
If you do not agree to the following terms please do
not continue the registration process and do not visit Bowl-Tech.
Bowl-Tech Inc. does not warrant or guarantee the
accuracy of information posted in the forums. Bowl-Tech members and visitors agree to hold
Bowl-Tech Inc. harmless in the case of losses financial or otherwise as a result
of use of any information or technical data on this site.
You agree through your use of Bowl-Tech that you will
not use Bowl-Tech to post any material that is knowingly false, defamatory,
inaccurate, abusive, vulgar, hateful, racially insensitive, harassing, obscene, profane, sexually
oriented, threatening, invasive of a person's privacy or otherwise violates any
law.
You agree not to post copyrighted information unless
it is owned by you or you have written permission from the owner.
Submission of such information
requires the contact information and/or written release of the owner to be sent
to you for verification purposes, and have it kept on file as proof that consent
was given.
You agree that private messages will not be used to spam. Only authorized
persons will be allowed to collect mass member or visitor information via PM or poll's on
the site.
You agree not to represent yourself as another person,
company or entity.
You agree to identify yourself to the Bowl-Tech
community as a supplier of goods or services that provides such to the bowling
industry. You may do this by providing accurate information in your member
profile. If your status changes, you must update your profile to indicate such.
You agree not to post information that is considered
proprietary or a trade secret.
You agree that you are at least the age of 16.
Your signature in your posts may contain a link to your home page or a business
link to the company you work for. Any others will need site administrator
approval.
Avatar's are governed by site rules and can be removed at the discretion of the
site administrator.
If a vendor or supplier asks you to endorse or promote a product that company
and yourself could be breaking the law and they should be asked to read the
visiting company guidelines.
Bowl-Tech is in no way affiliated with or endorses any companies
mentioned or advertised on the site.
You agree that prior to posting you will review your
companies policy regarding public postings on the internet. Many companies
have policies that limit what can or can not be discussed in public forums. To
avoid potential problems with your employer please ask about your employer's
internet posting policy.
Bowl-tech
will review and comply with requests from properly-identified representatives
from a company or supplier to remove a post that contains proprietary,
confidential information or trade secrets that they
do not want disclosed publicly.
You agree that any posts you
make on Bowl-Tech are done at your own free will in attempt to help other
members or visitors. These posts become a permanent part of Bowl-Tech once your ability to
edit or delete the post expires. (60 minutes from time of post) Removal of any
post is at the discretion of site administrators or moderators. Posts that
violate site rules can be removed at any time. If a post needs to be removed
please contact a site administrator or moderator.
Bowl-Tech Inc. Reserves the right to remove or retain any
message or messages for any reason that is posted in the forums. As a message poster on
Bowl-Tech you retain sole responsibility for the information contained in that
post. You also agree to indemnify and hold harmless Bowl-Tech Inc. and
their agents with respect to any claim based upon transmission of your messages.
Bowl-Tech Inc. reserves the right to revoke your
membership / access or disable your ability to post forum messages or visit the
web site at anytime for any or
no reason.
In the event of any legal action Bowl-Tech Inc. will
cooperate with legal authorities and turn over any stored data such a user
information and IP address logs to assist in an investigation.
Bowl-Tech retains all copyright on all images and
text. Reproduction or use of graphics or text on the site must be done only with
written permission of Bowl-Tech Inc.
Information collected by Bowl-Tech from the subscribing members
during the registration process or there after is used and maintained solely by
Bowl-Tech Inc. The information is not shared or sold to any other entities. For
more details you may read our
privacy statement.
Good Posting etiquette
* Try to keep your remarks positive. If you
have nothing good to say about it don't say it at all.
* Support and abide by Moderators direction.
Bowl-Tech has several moderators that help manage the site. They are given as
much authority as a site administrator when it comes to enforcing site policy.
Moderators are also here to help. Feel free to ask them or a site admin for
advice or any questions that you may have about Bowl-Tech.
* Help out the new guys. Remember everybody
including yourself was a beginner once. Be patient and helpful with everybody no
matter what level of experience they have.
* Keep posts on topic. If you start a thread
please make sure it is in the correct subject forum.
* Be specific with topic heading. That is the
best way to get attention. Do not post topics that just say "Help" and please do
not post topics of a technical nature in the general discussion forum. If you
are unsure where to post a topic ask one of the forum moderators or the site
administrator.
* Do not type in ALL CAPS. Typing in all caps
can be considered yelling and offensive.
* Avoid "Which is better" posts. These types of
post often end up with hurt feelings. It is ok to ask for specific information
on a product that will help you make a decision on which is better.
* Do a search. Prior to asking a question try
doing a search for the topic to be sure it has not already been discussed. This
could save you time.
* Would you want your mom to see this post?
When posting a message in the forums make sure the topic is not offensive or in
any way abusive to other members, visitors or a company.
* Be factual. A posting that says "XYZ's
product sucks" will probably get you booted from the site. And could cause legal
issues for yourself. If you have a specific complaint or issue with a product
and you use technical and factual descriptions of the problem you are having it
would not be considered defamatory but an informative notification to the
products producer of a specific issue.
* Promoting A product. We have no problem with
posts that tell how a product or service is working. Our community is about
sharing experiences good or bad. Excessive promotion of a product, company or
service could be perceived by moderators as self promotion or posts by that
vendor, company or service provider. These situations are investigated and can
be very embarrassing for those parties involved.
* Take it up with the producer. If you have a
problem with a product do not use Bowl-Tech to try to get it solved. Make sure
you have FIRST contacted the company involved to resolve any warranty or product
issues.
* Agree to Disagree. You are not going to agree
with every post you read on Bowl-Tech. If you wish to make your disagreement
public then please do so in a respectful manner and explain your disagreement.
Help / Work Wanted Forums.
* Postings will be by approval only. Questions
about jobs should be sent to the originator by private message or by contact
means in the ad. Public postings of questions about jobs will not be posted.
* Posting Approval is not an endorsement.
Posting approval by Bowl-Tech is done to insure that no public comments are
posted about the help wanted or work wanted ads.
For Sale / Wanted Forums.
* Postings In For Sale will be by approval only. Approval
ensures that each posting has the following information. Bowling center name,
phone number and contact person name.
* Posting for Center to Center Trades or Sales
Only. Each posting will have to have a bowling center name, phone number and
contact name or it will not be approved.
* For Sale or Parts Wanted Posts In Classifieds Only. For Sale or Parts
Wanted posts are ONLY allowed in their proper classifieds forums. This rule also
applies to links to classifieds outside the Bowl-Tech server.
* Posting Approval is not an endorsement.
Bowl-Tech approval of a post does not signify an endorsement by Bowl-Tech or its
management. Posting approval is done to ensure at least the minimum required
information is on the ad and that non bowling center ads are disallowed.
* Buyer Beware. If the deal seems to good to be
true it might just be too good to be true. Be very careful who you deal with.
You can ask a person if they have sold anything on Bowl-Tech before and ask them
who they made the deal with. Contact that person for a reference.
* Purchase Disagreements. If an issue arises
that results in a disagreement with a purchase or sale via the Bowl-Tech forums,
the parties involved must solve the issue on their accord. Any and all
information on the accounts such as contact info, IP addresses or what ever info
legal authorities may need will be turned over upon request.
Visiting Company Guidelines.
* Companies or Individuals who supply our industry are welcome.
We strongly encourage companies or individuals who supply the bowling industry to
participate on Bowl-Tech.
* Advertising in the Forums. Unauthorized
advertising in the forums is completely un-acceptable to the members and
visitors of the
site. The members and visitors of Bowl-Tech have gotten used to an environment where they do
not have to wade through piles of advertising to get to the discussion topics.
Advertising without consent can work against your company. Many members and
visitors will not
do business with a company that violates Bowl-Tech's advertising policies.
* Asking members/visitors to endorse products. Asking a member or visitor
to endorse a product
is against site policy and can get you into legal trouble. Be familiar with FTC
guidelines
FTC
16 CFR Part 255 Endorsement and Testimonials in Advertising
guidelines.
* Do not initiate a thread on your product. If you start a NEW THREAD on
Bowl-Tech about your product or services or a competitors it will be removed.
Initiating a post of this type could be considered self promotion. You may
respond to a post about your product if you are providing technical support or
facts for the issue being discussed. There are details for this type of post
below.
* Postings comparing one product with another.
These kind of postings from a known vendor or employee of a vendor are
considered advertising or propaganda and will be deleted from the system. The
originator of the post will be removed from membership or blocked from visiting
site. This could also include
ban of any future membership or visiting by IP blocking.
* Posting http links. You are allowed to have
one link and a phone number to your company along with your name in your
signature lines at the bottom of your posts. Links promoting web sites will be
allowed at the administrators discretion. Links to items for sale are not
allowed.
* Posting of Service or Technical Bulletins.
Technical bulletins from manufacturers or suppliers are very much welcome and
have a home on Bowl-Tech. They can be placed in any of the sites Technical Reference forums
at Bowl-Tech. Postings in these forums are approved by moderators prior to
public posting. If your topic does not have a Technical Reference forum you can
request that we ad a new forum or where it could be uploaded to. Please direct
your questions on this to
Mike Wilson
* Information about advertising. Advertising
information can be obtained by contacting the site administrator via private
message or by filling out the advertising
info form.
* Member / Visitor has a problem that you have a solution
for. In direct response to a post you may send that person a Private Message
with your solution.
* If a member / visitor has a problem with
a product of yours and you would like to address it, you can do it one of a
couple of ways.
1. You
can send a private message.
But a private message will not provide the solution to others who visit the site
or see the post.
2. You
can post a public reply with a solution to the problem. The post must fit within
the following guidelines.
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1.) |
Identify who you are and what
company you represent. |
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2.) |
Offer corrective suggestions
specific to your product. |
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3.) |
Do NOT present manufacturer
comparisons. |
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4.) |
Do NOT present product
or price comparisons. |
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5.) |
If you have an online document
that may lend assistance you may post a link to THAT document only. |
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6.) |
You may post your customer
service or tech support phone number where a member or visitor can contact your company
for a solution in a direct reply to a posting about a problem with your
product. |
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7.) |
Avoid any reference to pricing in a post. |
**Considerations**
| * |
Posting public could be considered good PR by
demonstrating a public concern for the issue and willingness to address the
problem quickly and could help many others at the same time while keeping
with the spirit of the Bowl-Tech community. |
| * |
If you think your post may be in violation of any of the
above guidelines then it probably is. There are thousands of Bowl-Tech
members and visitors that do not support or want to deal with any unwanted advertising
within their community. Please respect their wishes. |
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| * |
Remember Bowl-Tech members and visitors are or could be potential
customers of your company. |
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* |
We have several companies that
actively advertise on Bowl-Tech. Out of respect for these agreements we do
not allow any |
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self promotion or advertising in
the open forums other than the "New Product Introduction" forum. That forum
is purchased for a 30 |
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day period by the vendor to
present their new products. |
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Thanks for visiting Bowl-Tech we are glad you have
decided to join our fine community. If you have any questions do not hesitate to
ask.
Bowl-Tech Inc.
