Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion The Water Cooler Disturbing Conduct by SVS

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Well its an interesting point you make. However there is an important distinction between how a business conducts itself legally vs ethically.

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It is unethical to bash someone else'e product on a forum?
I think that is going beyond the ultra sensitive point for most any human being.
It is a p.c. world but come on, people have thicker skins than that and there are many other companies that use strongarm tactics to get their way. Are they also being "unethical"?

Your poll is rather slanted, esp. in regards to the last question. Obviously anyone would answer no to that third statement compared to selecting the other two options and the poll shows that result, but there is an insinuation that their practices are incredibly malevolent by using the term 'unethical'.
I don't think what SVS has done is unethical at all. Mudslinging at best and even the politicians do that, but it certainly is not unethical.
We may think it is not very "honourable" but honour and ethics are two different things.

I knew a guy who was selling a product online.
He setup forums and did the whole nine yards, setting up several accounts and having conversations with himself, touting his products. He said it worked but took a lot of his time.

All I am trying to say is this is a common, but deceptive procedure. I expect if I was one of the other advertisers on the website, I would have a lot to say about the practice, and maybe one of them did.? Possibly, the website was guided by their overall advertisement income, and it became necessary to let go of a portion of the income, to remain unbiased.

Personally, I have always wondered if a reviewer of a product has to return the item they returned when finished ? . I do know of one case where after a review of a HTPC, the reviewer got to keep the product. I would think that conduct would conflict with an unbiased review also.

Whenever money is involved, I anticipate that the playing field is not level. Sad, but true.

Randy

I've owned an entry-level SVS sub as well as a record-setting earthquake, and I'm sorry, but Mother Nature's bass extension couldn't keep up. SVS FTW!

Interesting thread.

I have an SVS sub and am very pleased with it. However, they seem to have crossed over the line.

Too bad. I guess that they felt threatened.

SVS issued this statement today. It looks like the inevitable spin control to me but I hope it also suggests a new direction for them on how they will run their business.

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This statement is in response to recent allegations made by the owners and operators of “Audioholics”, an Internet Audio/Video Magazine.

Despite repeated requests from "Audioholics" over the last two months for SVS to renew our advertising contract with their website, SVS notified Audioholics on January 31, 2007 that we would not be renewing an agreement for 2007. Our decision was due primarily to lower than expected returns on our investment based on customer surveys. At no point in these contract discussions, or the recent issuance of an Audioholics “Product of the Year Award”, or during the entire previous year, had the conduct of SVS been questioned by Audioholics as less than honest and productive.

After concluding our relationship, we were surprised and disappointed to learn the next day that SVS was supposedly “fired” by Audioholics as an advertiser. Audioholics apparently used the statements of a forum member as a pretense for "firing" SVS, insinuating that SVS "planted" the forum member to create controversy and boost SVS sales. Not only are these allegations patently false, they are damaging to SVS' reputation. SVS has never asked any Internet forum member to post anything on its behalf. We can only imagine that Audioholics "fired" SVS as a preemptive strike to protect its image (we would assume that no online magazine wants to be perceived as losing sponsors).

While we regularly participate in all the major A/V forums, both to answer questions about our products, and because we are still audio enthusiasts -- we ALWAYS identify ourselves as SVS employees whenever we discuss anything related to our products, or competitive products. We are an internet-direct business, and it should be self-evident that a significant portion of our sales revenue is derived from credible on-line professional reviews and from equally credible comments by satisfied customers.

With that said, it bears repeating: SVS does not tell anyone in the public what to say, and by extension has never paid anyone (or provided other incentives) for posting comments on our behalf. Nor do SVS employees post statements without identifying their relationship with SVS. If a given audio forum member questions what he perceives to be biased and preferential behavior on the part of Audioholics’ management with respect to its various advertisers, that is, of course, his or her prerogative, based on an opinion and motivation of his own. That such actions are beyond our control should be obvious as well.

Professional integrity and honesty are the very core values upon which SVS was founded nearly 8 years ago; without them we would have already ceased to flourish. For the tens of thousands of valued SVS customers, our personal commitment to those values and audio excellence remain, even in the face of spurious accusations such as these, whatever their motivation. An even greater array of new and improved world-class products and continued dedication to open and objective discourse are our promises to you for 2007.

Wow,

so they are telling the opposite of Audioholics.com?

Wow, someone here is lying about the renual of their adds, and I am pretty sure Audioholics would never do such a thing...

At this point, someone is lying.

Opening of some emails would probably shed light on the situation.

Bren R.