Live Stoner Chat FREE Seeds Equipment & Honesty

[true]

Ive had free seeds and heavily discounted equipment from various suppliers on the understanding Im going to write up my experiences using this stuff.
Ive not really mentioned this in my posts (perhaps I should have). In terms of seeds it is not unknown that most seed manufacturers do plenty of give aways.
Hey and why not, its a great way to get the product out there and talked about right.

Here's the thing though, does this free stuff effect the writing we do?
Is that a good or bad thing?
Are we all telling the truth, the whole truth and nothing like the truth???
For me Ive had free seeds from Dutch Passion of which at the time was a real thrill.
The first plants I ever grew were Dutch Passion over 15 years ago. So it was an easy deal, I already loved them!
I can honestly say Ive never had a bad Dutch Passion strain in my life. Hardy and easy to grow mostly!

Next up are Alien who make various DWC/RDWC kits. I got a huge discount on there RDWC Pro kit on the understanding I get pen to paper.
I have about 4/5 weeks left on this first ever RDWC adventure, so Im yet to conclude what I really think.
I can tell you though already I have some negatives to discuss.

This has me concerned as I want to be honest but dont want to upset Alien.
By the way the folks at Alien are top flight people.
So here I am, Ive taken stuff on the understanding I will do a write up.
There is an unwritten rule here (I think) that the write up is going to be positive. Have I sold out already?

When I took this stuff on I had no issues at all.
Im pretty blunt and to the point but now Im thinking about what I really think and the guilt sets in.
Its a quandary and I wonder how many other growers on here are influenced by similar circumstances.

The Grow Northern lights have had a huge hit on this forum lately.
I wonder who got free lights or heavily discounted.
I wonder if like me they find it hard to write the truth. This could effect if they get free/discounted kit in the future.
Dont get me wrong Im not having a go at anyone in particular!
Im not saying this is right or wrong!
Im saying it goes on, its not discussed and its not open and upfront.

In future Im going to disclose any free or discounted items right from the start.

Your thoughts AFN :tiphat:

 

[woody]

Fair play to you mate. Well if you have to write a negative view of someones equipment/seeds do you really want more, even if they are free?
You could even just do some pros and cons but i totally understand not wanting to put down someone after they've been decent enough to give or discount you some stuff.

Although i trust most of whats written on this forum and would be really disappointed if i bought something on recommendation from a senior member and the review was biased

 

[gbd]

I've always wondered this too. I have seen people talk about free strains they were given as if they were greatest thing in the world in the public forum, but when asked about them via PM they have quite different opinions. Thanks for the thoughtful post!

:tiphat:

 

[MedGrower]

I think it is everyones personal decision to make do they choose to be a sellout or not. I haven't gotten any discounts ever from anything on basis of me writing about that particular product to anywhere but I understand that it is the manufacturers wish and hope that the review would be positive. I think as long as there is no written agreement on such, the reviewer should give their honest opinion and experience on the product and nothing else. Everything else would then be lying and deceiving for your own personal benefit, and if you choose to be that kind of a person, I can assure you that nothing good comes out of it.

I believe that in practise this doesn't happen too much but at the same time you should always remember to remain sceptical about everything. You can fool some people some of the time, some of them all of the time but not all of them all of the time. That's why I always check multiple user experiences and reviews about anything I am interested of buying rather than just relying entirely on some random review of some dude I don't know.

 

[Corgy]

Question is when being honest and objective becomes "negative". Surely there is room for improvement in most products, and pointing out any hands-on improvements and suggestions for a better product should be a boon to manufactures.

When was the last time you heard Jeremy I-will-rearrange-your-face-if-I-don't-get mah-steakie review a car without pointing out all the deficiencies that rankled his ire.........along with the thrills that took his fancy.

And yes, anyone who receives free or discounted goods with the understanding that a review will be published, should say so, IMHO.

Rep sent for posting this, Truely.......!

 

[MedGrower]

Question also is about your relationship with yourself; Do you respect yourself enough to be sold out by some free or discounted stuff to be someones lapdog?

I take an example. I was involved with one record label back in the days who was a major customer of one unnamed music magazine and paid a HUGE amount of money to them to publish adds in their paper. This surely was one major source of their income but it never did reflect on their reviews on the albums published by that record company. Some they liked a lot and some they totally trashed with really really harsh words. That's how it should work. They certainly respected themselves enough and stayed in the business and everyone in the company understood the unwritten rules of game real good.

 

[armanidog]

From what I've seen on this forum, posts/thread titles seem to all disclose free equipment or free seeds.
Anyway, if I'm reading reviews in the New York Times or on forums like this I always take things with a little pinch of salt until I learn to trust someone's reviews. It takes time to build up trust.

 

[Peteey010]

I personally think a review of any product be it seed light dwc etc should be a fair report even if the stuff was free. If it was no good say so that's how companies improve things from customer feed back.
You can say somethings crap without having to say crap

 

[TaNg]

This is where documenting with pictures comes in,if it's done well with regular updates it would be difficult to deceive,or am I very nieve lol saying that I have seen some yield claims that I didn't believe but I think that's bravado more than anything.

 

[pop22]

Ive had free seeds and heavily discounted equipment from various suppliers on the understanding Im going to write up my experiences using this stuff.
Ive not really mentioned this in my posts (perhaps I should have). In terms of seeds it is not unknown that most seed manufacturers do plenty of give aways.
Hey and why not, its a great way to get the product out there and talked about right.

Here's the thing though, does this free stuff effect the writing we do?
Is that a good or bad thing?
Are we all telling the truth, the whole truth and nothing like the truth???
For me Ive had free seeds from Dutch Passion of which at the time was a real thrill.
The first plants I ever grew were Dutch Passion over 15 years ago. So it was an easy deal, I already loved them!
I can honestly say Ive never had a bad Dutch Passion strain in my life. Hardy and easy to grow mostly!

Next up are Alien who make various DWC/RDWC kits. I got a huge discount on there RDWC Pro kit on the understanding I get pen to paper.
I have about 4/5 weeks left on this first ever RDWC adventure, so Im yet to conclude what I really think.
I can tell you though already I have some negatives to discuss.

This has me concerned as I want to be honest but dont want to upset Alien.
By the way the folks at Alien are top flight people.
So here I am, Ive taken stuff on the understanding I will do a write up.
There is an unwritten rule here (I think) that the write up is going to be positive. Have I sold out already?

When I took this stuff on I had no issues at all.
Im pretty blunt and to the point but now Im thinking about what I really think and the guilt sets in.
Its a quandary and I wonder how many other growers on here are influenced by similar circumstances.

The Grow Northern lights have had a huge hit on this forum lately.
I wonder who got free lights or heavily discounted.
I wonder if like me they find it hard to write the truth. This could effect if they get free/discounted kit in the future.
Dont get me wrong Im not having a go at anyone in particular!
Im not saying this is right or wrong!
Im saying it goes on, its not discussed and its not open and upfront.

In future Im going to disclose any free or discounted items right from the start.

Your thoughts AFN :tiphat:

when you write it up your job is to both praise whats good and critic what is wrong. Just do so in a constructive matter. Explain the points that stand out in detail, good and bad, then make suggestions as to how you think it could be fixed! THAT is what is expected of you. Honesty is what they want, just word it in a manner fitting of a review. Don't bash it, but do explained in detail. And if in the end, any company doesn't like your review, who cares? As long as you can feel good about it, that you gave an honest review, then you did your job as it should be done!

:Sharing One: