# Sticky  PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE POSTING IN THIS SECTION! :)



## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

Hey everyone.

I have long felt that the growing distrust between the consumer community and the 12volt installer community is one of the top threats to our industry. In order to move forward and grow together, we need a way to alleviate some of the issues and in my humble opinion, having a truthful review forum backed up by physical proof is the key.

DIYMA is in a unique situation as perhaps the largest car audio forum on the web; not only are there countless consumers and hobbyist, but also quite a few installers and industry personnel. So it is time to put the strength of this forum to good use by offering a shop/installer review section.

The goal of this endeavor is to allow future potential clients to browse around and hopefully avoid problematic shops; likewise, it will also allow those who do quality work to shine, gain reputation and popularity. After all, I think we can all agree that in an ideal world, it should be the best shops that survive and thrive.

Even though this is on a DIY forum, *this section will be in no way a blind professional bashing platform.* If you simply have a beef with someone or some place that has nothing to do with audio and just want to make them look bad, the truth will come out in the long run and you will be held accountable for it as well. So it flows both ways.

*Here are the criteria I have come up with for posting in this section. Because what we say on here can directly affect someone’s livelihood, I will be keeping a pretty tight control over things...so please read these rules carefully and give everything full consideration before making any hot headed posts that you may regret later.*


There will be two types of threads that will be allowed on this forum.

A. Someone seeking a qualified professional to perform work on their vehicle.

B. Someone who has already had work performed by a professional and want to post a review.

In detail:


*For Scenario A:

1. OP will state the type of work he/she wants performed, list as much detail as you can; how much budget you are allotting, what you want done, and are you providing your own gear. This would allow seasoned professionals to point out potential conflicts in those categories that may lead to "Only shop that can do that type of work for that type of budget are most likely poor ones". Of course, list the geographical location willingness-to-travel radius in your post.

2. Forum members can give recommendations, but they need to be backed up by proof. Meaning, at the very least, tell us exactly how you know the shop, to what extent you are confident in their abilities, a specific name they should talk to and also allow the OP to contact said shop and mention the referrer. At best there should be pictures to showcase that particular shop's work. In other words, you need to personally know the facility somehow, and your name can be dropped to gain rappport. Statements that simply say "xxx shop is awesome” or "yyy shop did my friend's car and he says its badass" will be DELETED. 

*Special note: Shop owners and installers ARE ALLOWED to suggest their own business, but they need to show specific examples of their installation quality, not just fancy exterior shots. Keep in mind that if you toot your own horn, the potential consequences of a bad experience is much worse.

3. Once the OP has contacted the referred shops and made a decision, he/she will reply to the thread telling us which one was chosen and generally for what reason. This again allows experienced forum members to make any last minute suggestions such as in the case that the OP states an ultra-cheap quote was the primary reason.

4. Once the install is complete, the OP will make a review that MUST be backed up by pictures regardless if the review is positive or negative. The pictures can be taken by the installer as long as it shows close ups of the installation; and not a photo of the trunk from 5 feet way for example. Things that are beneath the surface are key and include but are not limited to:

Underhood wiring
Speaker wires passing into doors cleanly
Front stage speaker installation
Wiring bundled and organized
General wiring layout under the beauty panels
Close ups of fit and finish

5. How it sounds can be mentioned but will NOT be considered a major criterion. Simply put there are way too many factors that can distort a review based sound...customers knowledge and experience, how well its tuned, etc. etc. Let us focus on the physical things that cannot be argued and turned into one person’s word against another. A hack job is a hack job and cannot be explained away.

6. Others can then chime in and come up with their own view based on what has been said and shown, this again allows for seasoned members to make a proper judgment on if something is an honest mistake, a random infraction that isn’t a huge factor in the long run or just a plain unforgivable offense.

7. Any thread that lags in those types of responses, does not get updated by the OP, or fails to delivery important information WILL BE DELETED after TWO WEEKS.

For Scenario B:

We follow the exact same procedure except we start at step number 4. But the OP has to list why he/she chose the shop to begin with.*


Again, I hope to grow this sub-forum into something that is useful to both consumers and shop owners/installers alike. Because the sensitive nature of the potential information shared, I will not hesitate to DELETE any thread that I find baseless and not in line with the rules stated above.

It is my hope that I have earned my reputation over the years as someone who is above all, fair and honest. I feel that I am in a unique position to relate to both sides of the story....and I thank you all in advance for your support and cooperation.

Cheers,

Bing


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## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

To ensure I remain objective throughout the whole affair.


*POSITIVE REVIEWS OF ME ARE NOT ALLOWED IN THIS SECTION

NEGATIVE REVIEWS OF ME ARE PERMITTED*


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