Team-BHP: Harassment for New Joinees!
NOTE: In a recent communication to me, Team-BHP highlighted the fact that they are now deleting rejected members’ accounts from their system, and are also confirming/rejecting memberships within a week. See my last update below, dated Dec 10, 2010.
Recently, Team-BHP has come up with a new policy that all new registrations will have to be “approved” by them, and only after that will their membership be confirmed. And till then, the new joinees pretty much cannot do anything on the site, be it posting queries or responding to posts (see image below).
To help Team-BHP in deciding if you are “worthy” of being a member, all new registrants are required to answer a question “Why do you wish to join Team-BHP?” as part of the registration process. You are expected to provide detailed reasoning as to why you wish to join the site, what is your level of interest in automobiles, etc. And there is a warning not take this lightly, since based on the reasons you provide, they will decide whether you really are member material or not!
Now, let’s put aside for a moment the fact that in a competitive environment, one cannot afford to be this arrogant. Even so, we would still expect that they be prompt in confirming or rejecting registrations, and that they let us know about it. It’s only basic courtesy! However, it’s been a few months now since I registered on the site and till date I have no intimation as to whether my membership has been confirmed or rejected.
I’m sure ultimately Team-BHP will realise the folly of its policy. Because if they want to continue to have quality members who have valuable information to contribute, they will have to give up their snootiness and arrogance and relook at this sarkari type of policy of keeping new members on hold and harassing them in this way.
Besides, I somehow don’t agree with the argument that this move is necessary to ensure quality of posts. Well, for one, that’s exactly what moderators are for. They can delete, move or merge posts which they feel are contravening guidelines. That apart, I’d like Team-BHP to remember the shining example before us, that is Wikipedia. The main differentiating factor between Wikipedia and other such sites (and indeed, the reason for its unprecedented success) is that it is truly a democratic website. Anyone can add or edit any page there, provided the changes are backed by legitimate references, and the senior contributors ensure the upkeep of quality. Surely, if Wikipedia can do it, Team-BHP being much smaller in comparison can certainly emulate it.
As for me, well, I’m not interested anymore! It’s a competitive online world, as I said. There are numerous other excellent sites and forums where I can participate and exchange knowledge on automobiles.
Hope Team-BHP gets its act in order soon, for its own good!
Oh, and one more thing! I would request Team-BHP to kindly delete the accounts of those people whose membership they don’t approve, or at least allow them to re-apply from the same user ID. I think it’s grossly unethical to retain people’s accounts even after rejecting them. I think someone could actually take them to court over this!
UPDATE: Nov 28, 2010
Just noticed that one of my blog posts has been plagiarised on one of Team-BHP’s threads by one Mr. Souvik, who also appears to have happily claimed it as his own!
Have raised the matter with Team-BHP. Let’s see what happens.
My original blog post: http://www.vijaypadiyar.in/blog/2009/02/how-to-get-ration-card-in-bangalore
Plagiarised post on Team-BHP: http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/shifting-gears/80761-ration-card-bangalore.html#post1867439 (by Mr. Souvik, dated May 3, 2010)
UPDATE: Dec 5, 2010
Team-BHP admins responded to my email and have added a link attributing the article to me. I thank them for taking the necessary action. See their email below.
From: “Team-BHP Webmaster” <webmaster@team-bhp.com> Sat, 04 Dec 2010 16:19:33
To: meHello,
Please note that it is COMPULSORY for members to provide due credit wherever
applicable; in fact, it’s a part of our rules as well as the infraction
system. The said post has been edited and a link to your blog has been
inserted.Sincerely,
The Team-BHP Webmaster
My response:
From: “Vijay Padiyar”<xxxx@xxxx.com> Sat, 04 Dec 2010 19:09:59
To: “Team-BHP Webmaster”<webmaster@team-bhp.com>Thanks a lot. I appreciate your personal intervention.
I will mention this on my blog.
Regards
Vijay Padiyar
http://www.vijaypadiyar.in
UPDATE: Dec 10, 2010
It appears that Team-BHP has taken action on two of the points raised in this blog, namely:
1. Deletion of rejected members’ accounts from the system, and
2. Early intimation of acceptance or rejection of membership.
I am sure many people will appreciate this. See the below mail from Team-BHP to me, which was basically a continuation of the above mail thread.
From: “Team-BHP Webmaster” <webmaster@team-bhp.com> Thu, 09 Dec 2010 15:31:23
To: MeSure thing, Vijay! It’s only fair, and we would expect due credit for our content too.
BTW, we just read your blog and noticed the following comments:
“Oh, and one more thing! I request Team-BHP to at least delete the accounts of those people whom it doesn’t approve for membership, or at least allow them to re-apply from the same user ID. I think it’s grossly unethical to retain people’s user IDs even after rejecting them. I think someone could actually take them to court over this!”
And:
“Even so, we would still expect that they be prompt in confirming or rejecting memberships…..”
Just a note:
- All rejected memberships are now hard-deleted from the system.
- The maximum turnaround time is one week, and each application is informed within this period…whether they have been approved or rejected.
Can we request you to update your blog and / or remove the inapplicable comments?
Thanks
The Team-BHP Webmaster
My response:
From: “Vijay Padiyar”<xxxx@xxxx.com> Thu, 09 Dec 2010 23:52:11
To: “Team-BHP Webmaster”<webmaster@team-bhp.com>Sure, I will add your response below to my blog.
I have nothing personal against Team-BHP, I just disapprove of this particular policy which I feel does not do an objective job of screening an applicant.
Thanks
Vijay
Rahul
Same problem I was facing with team-bhp.com So i left and joined a new site automobile site called http://www.indiagarage.com. I am already being a member there no post in moderation, good way to communicate moderators, administrator. I my name on Indiagarage is Rockzer.
Amit
Haha, this has become like a club for “Team BHP” rejects! I’d agree with most of you that getting “rejected” or “accepted” by Team BHP is in itself not a big deal, but making such an issue of it seems to suggest that you chaps seem to think its a big deal! Think about that.
Muzammil
Dear Vijay,
I once noticed a big error on team bhp website where someone claimed that engine oil needs to be changed some 8000 km for a santro.
To correct that I required registration, but they didnt allow me to register.
I didnt had the time to redo the whole process of registrations.. so I just left the idea of correcting it.
Was going through your ITR1 article when this link came up.. happy to find that!
Keep the good work going….
Vimal
Hello
Its time I too joined the rejected club. Wasted hours trying to register cant do that anymore. Had enough. If they care soo much then would be better atleast to pin point what exactly I missed out. All they say is this
We are sorry, but your Team-BHP membership could not be approved.
As you might know, the “Why Team-BHP?” and “Which Policy?” fields play a crucial part in the selection of our Members. We are very particular about the answers you provide in your application, so do give them some thought when applying. Please pay very close attention to the guidelines provided on the registration page, as disregarding any of them will negatively affect your application.
Pretty sure have written some quality english. And also would be obvious from what I had written I have taken time to write it and not just for time pass.
Their reviews are good But other than that nothing is . Just people saying Congrats on new car, Nice color bla bla…
Sundeep
Team bhp guys are f’ing out of their mind. They are not testing English, neither even Automobile fluence.
They are fucking testing their “user applicatoin rejection system” sitting out there. Bunch of losers.
Mac
Team-BHP is by far the best in automotive, car audio etc. They have enough resource to give this information and they are top listed in google search. So , atleast for now, they can enjoy this position and can show arrogance and harass the new joinees. I tried to register 2 times. Once as casual and next time, with honest and serious mind. And though I am not an expert, i know pretty much about bikes, cars , audio systems etc. But they asked for more information and I replied, ” i dont think it is necessary good bye.” Eventhough they are the number one, it is not absolutely necessary for me to get their help or registered with them. There are plenty of other options too. So , guys, please do not visit their site and reduce their hits. And let us promote other sites and help them to reach the top in google searches. This is not for team- bhp to get down and change the attitude. This is to mark the beginning of their end. Let Do it man!!
Nishant
Team-BHP is a site which is run by an arrogant man called GTO. What he do is like a mad king giving infractions, rejecting memberships etc. He keeps on praising JBL, VW, Honda, and all those jeeps etc. All other members keeps on praising him. He never infacted a member when he typed a one line which included “Great work GTO”, “WOW GTO” , “Well done GTO”, and I say they all are BIG IDIOTS with GTO being king of all. They have rejected my memberships for around 10 times and when they approved and I was banned on the same day as I objected a member for making fun of Honda city in comparison to VW Vento. Most team-bhp posts contain posts like “Nice pictures man”, “congartulations GTO”, “GREAT work sidindica” and what not. He run this site like he is the master of all automtive companies. I say go and get a life GTO, this site will be downgrade because of the arrogant nature of you and your bunch of jokers moderators. I am sure sites like Automotiveindia will be number one site beating Team-BHP. their is no democracy in that site, its just like a king and his slaves. That idiot GTO says that he never funds from a car company for advertisement but I see all ford fiesta and verna advertiseemtn flowing on that site .God save team-bhp.
fun2drive
Now team-bhp has come with stupid features like thank you button at every post. And members there are fool enough to say “WOW GTO”, “Congrats GTO for this feature” etcetra.
team-bhp going down day by day.
Rahul Navalkar
I tried registering with teambhp twice but was rejected.
It did piss me off but the fact of the matter is GTOs review of the Fiat Linea Tjet plus was spot on.
I eventually bought the car in Jan.
I think they are trying to be like Apple… exclusivity appeals to many who are willing to overlook any flaws.
The only thing is nowadays I notice there are many car parts, audio and accesory dealers who are members and keep pushing their business which is a real put off>
teamfiatindia is a good forum for Fiat owners and its enough for me!
indica
Team-bhp is nothing but a group of jokers. I am member their and know them best. These idiots formed this website by copying concept from xbhp. I wonder why xbhp filed a court case against them for copying their idea. xbhp started way back in 2000 whereas this crap was started in 2004.
KENLITTING
i also tried four times for teambhp but got rejected cranky biased web site said my introduction was not upto mark foolish guys dont ask for automotive intersts or knowledge
they want hifi boasting i dont care i joined gearheads.in and automotive india
hari
Wow, they think they’re the IIT of online forums. Well as far as I’m concerned the WWW is big enough. The people who run those forums just come across as arrogant and retarded snobs.
Good thing I found this website. I wrote back a rude message to those thick-headed losers, but I doubt they will understand my message.
What a bunch of losers.
sid jain
HI VIJAY!
I HAVE BEEN REJECTED NEARLY SIX TIMES. GOD KNOWS WHAT IS IT THAT BHP SAYS PAY ATTN TO GUIDELINES.
Vishal
Hi Vijay,
Very nice blog, I am suffered from this strict policies and out off world questions at the time of registration however being a fan of valuable members over there I tried 20 times and got approved membership on 21st attempt but the actual story starts here. I got infractions within 2 days saying “Grammar and Spelling mistakes” Everyone know that English is a second language for Indian, so there should be limit to check accuracy, and personally I prefer Team BHP for Auto related information and not for MBA study. After the infractions I remained inactive for sometime because there is one more policy that, if you collect 10 infractions you will be banned for 1 month from forum. Sadly, on one fine day I went through one thread which I liked very much and I posted my appreciation there and with in 10 min got 5 more infraction followed by nice message that “You have been banned for the following reason:
Poor spellings & grammar. Second warning”
My post was of 2 lines with approximate 5/6 words, Will it cause Poor spellings & grammar which can impact the look/performance of the forum?
Anil
The readers’ worries are 101 % true. Why does anyone want to be so picky about new joinees and block interested community members?
I was rejected 2 times from registering with this site… I dont know if mouthshut or carwale are better or worse, but I loved the community here. I ‘ve stopped attempting to register again, and would like to remind the webmasters that there are always n number of options in this competitive web world…
umang
above guy is arkin..i can confirm that! most infamous guy on all car forums and banned for his kiddishness (tbhp, aci) lol..oh sorry let me move out before he lodges complain!!
Anonymous
If you scroll down, you will find a post by me, promoting theautomotiveindia.
http://www.vijaypadiyar.in/blog/2009/07/team-bhp-harassment-for-new-joinees/comment-page-2#comments
However, I take my words back, because of the attitude of the owner. The members and mod team are all gr8 friends of mine, and are great people…..except for the owner. Perhaps its just that it was a misunderstanding between us, but I would highly recommend “www.gearheads.in”. So far, it is THE best Automotive community, but it can get Off topic, and once in a while, some comments are not so “child friendly”. For all the “New car launches” “Traffic Rants” “What Car” etc., Carwale forums is the place. The autocar forum is not that bad either. There are a couple of other uprising forums right now, but it’s too early to comment.
About teambhp, I appreciate their apparent efforts to maintain the quality of the forum, but I’m afraid, it’s not quite right.
One word of caution: Being a member of an Automotive community and/or spending time reading it will not necessarily make you very knowledgeable about cars. Ultimately, though they do clear your basic doubts, and give you some amount of knowledge, ultimately, these forums are all about making friends, sharing ideas, discussing about stuff like traffic, analysing about car sales, knowing about what’s right for your car, and such.
That is the reason why, my post count is rather miniscule in the forums I am in, except one.
BTW, if you are into scale model cars, scalemodelcarz.com is HEAVEN!!
Ciao guys.
Hiten
I’d like to know why team-bhp expect quality members. Do they pay for posting comments or suggestions on their website? If they continue with the same policy for long time, soon we’ll find only adminstrators on their website.
ME
guys look at what Michael Berenis fromt the examiner is saying “haha yea team-bhp is ran like a viking slave ship.. i’ve never seen such an uptight group of people before”
http://www.examiner.com/sports-car-in-tampa-bay/team-bhp-indian-automotive-community-forums
Nits
Hi guys,
I am also one of the rejected guys on team-bhp. I had very interesting information & photos of an upcoming vehicle & wanted to share it on that forum. But now I am going elsewhere. Team-bhp, you missed some interesting scoop.
Lokesh Sharma
For all who got rejected from T-BHP,
Try “Gear Heads”.. here’s the link – http://gearheads.in/
It is growing at a crazy speed and you find most of the Team-BHP members being a part of this community also.
Cheers
Sharma
Mukesh
Dear Vijay even i was a member of Team-BHP.
I had registered around 2008.
After the new rules they have created, they have rejected my membership.
I don’t know for what reason they have made this.
But i can still login with that id but not post anything.
It says denied permission to view this page.
I am already fed up sending them several mails.
Can you help me getting registered with it.
My User id is \mukeshus\
Deepak
Quality members? Thats a joke. 99% of members at TBHP contribute nothing, and most who do are arrogant ***holes.
I am happy that I got myself banned. Story is below, and just see the reason for the ban.
http://www.bikeszone.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=6827&p=67796&hilit=tbhp#p67796
Vishwas
Very true Deepak the same mind went in my mind in fact they collect wrong information.And say sorry whats the point there?? i mean they have to carry on the information inspecting correctly.
Debraj
Hi,
I am always interested in automobiles. Other than driving, I am also interested in automotive electronics related to ECU and CAN bus. few months back, I purchased a Scan gauge and wanted to share the info on teamBHP. But moderator swiftly denied my membership because my “essay” on “why do I want to join team BHP” was not good enough. Now I decided not to join the team BHP and instead I would roll my own video on my you tube channel.
Mridul
I fully agree with by “Peter”. I rarely visit that stupid and (very) biased website. I joined http://www.theautomotiveindia.com/forums/ that is great site with bright future…
Anonymous
I used to be a member on theautomotiveindia, heck i even canvassed for them, asking ppl to jn it, but to cut a long story short, you are better off just reading on teambhp rather than passing time on that chat forum theautomotiveindia.
Regards
rohan
Guys I too faced this issue. Team BHP has become a bania shop where people are sold info only about manufacturers who pay up.
here are few points to highlight it:
1. I read a lot about my Figo in the TEAM-BHP review section and it was highly praised there. However when it recently won the ICOTY 2011 award and a thread was started, within a day the same thread was pulled off without notice(competitors paying to remove it?). Even my post was deleted without any explanation. I raised a mail to the moderator but as expected no one has come back. See more in the attached pics.
When it’s all over the news and journals, I don’t think a popular site like this will miss out such info but that’s exactly what’s happening here.
2. Infact there is no info in the bike section too about Honda Twister winning the 2011 award.(again competitors money involved I guess)
3. Icing on the cake is that the Hero Honda breakup too is not being covered for the sake of negative publicity surrounding the Hero group.
have written my own review about TeamBHP in mouthshut too
http://www.mouthshut.com/review/Team-bhp-com-ssrtntmpln
Rgds, Rohan