Well the time has come for me to following the ever increasing trend and step aside from anything to do with the management and running of Aussieveedubbers.

I am aware that there are some people within the Volkswagen Community I do not see eye to eye with, I make no apologies for that BUT it has never been my intent to have anyone misalign their dislike of me with either AVD, Custom Vee Dub or the Manx Club of Australia.

As a result I do not wish for this to happen anymore than what it already has so I am in the process of signing over Aussiveedubbers the business to Andrew to run with from here on in. I am sure all of those who know him will be more than happy with this decision as he is a lot more level headed and politically correct than I will ever be.

In relation to Custom Vee Dub I have not had anything to do with them from a business perspective for almost 2 years and I resigned from all Manx Club positions at last years AGM.

I will be the first to admit it has been an interesting ride of ups and downs, late nights and early mornings and endless hours or trying to sort out issues. I have a file with more than a few letters from lawyer’s, solicitors and disgruntled business owners who have taken exception to things that have been posted on the forum by members.

Yes that’s right I am the guy who has been sending out the invoices and answering the letters when things have gone south and solicitors have been paid. Funnily enough none of these have been as a result of anything I have written or posted myself.

On a good note though I have also seen some of these issues rectified and businesses which were going to take legal action over the years have then become sponsors, it is a crazy world.

I have met some great people through AVD and learnt a lot along the way. I will admit I have pissed some off but that is always going to happen online where it is hard to convey tone and intent at the best of times.

AVD would not be what it is today without Jim’s original idea, Andrews endless hours and fixing those issues, I can only hope to one day understand and the sponsors who put those little flashing banners at the top of the page. So a big thanks to them for allowing AVD to become what it has and providing the support to keep it going.

Anyway that is enough babbling on ……

Enjoy your posting and please don’t let any of these or future issues get in the way of what we use to all come here to do, post and learn about Volkswagens.

Regards,

Brad

Brad,

Thank you for your services to Aussieveedubbers. Without you and Jim, I doubt we'd be in the position we are in today.

I hope you stick around to post, even though I know that you lead a very busy life both professionally and personally.

thanks,
Andrew

Man the AVD worlds are crashing Sad to see you go, thanks for helping make avd what it is today, good luck.

Thanks for all your efforts here Brad

Cheers
Matt

Eraser,

The world is not ending. The reality is that the back room work I and Brad do is practically invisible to the average user of this site, and we like to keep it that way.

This site is all about you folks, not us.

thanks,
Andrew

Thanks Brad and Andrew - it's a great forum to be in...

Cheers
Chris

Brad asked me to demote him, and is now a normal user.

I will be asking over the next week or so for expressions of interest in becoming a moderator, and asking existing moderators to step up as administrators. If you're interested and have time, please PM me. I'll forward your application to Moderator's Paradise.

thanks,
Andrew

I learned a long time ago you can't please everyone. Life would be boring if everyone thought the same

Good luck with your future endeavors.

Geez Louise! I had no idea all this stuff went on behind the scenes! Kinda detracts from the fun of it all....

Brad i just checked your profile after seeing a comment you left on Blup58 karmann sale thread where you state you spent a bit of time under his car. Checking out your profile lead me to this thread. Anyway even though i wasn't aware in the roll you play with this site i just want to say thanks mate. Ive got a lot out of this site and it seems to be thanks to blokes like yourself...as well as a few others by the sounds.

Now that your just a normal pleb like the rest of us....and seeing you just live up the road....feel like coming and taking a look at my Karmann i bought on Monday Seriously!

Thanks again Brad!

Ant

thanks for everything Brad,

you've done a great job, hope you stay around!!

Thanks for all your hard work Brad!

Brad, I didn't know of your back-room involvement, congrats for the effort that is obvioulsy quite thankless at times...

Brad, sorry to hear your stepping aside but can understand your call. You will always be part of AVD's roots and in getting us to were we are today

It sounds like it will free up a lot of your time, enjoy the new freedom

Andrew's a superstar so you have left us in good hands

Brad, it's a shame really. Hope we can all learn from our mistakes.

Andrew. with all of the changes going on, might be time to send some dear departed members an email to encourage them to come back. what do you reckon eh?

Unfortunately internet forums and blogs allow people to get out in public and say things they would normal not do if face to face with another party they may have an issue with, Dutch courage

It also gives them the false belief they can slam a business they may have been dealing with and who's services they have not been happy with; or try to dirty an individuals name in public

These things can leave the forum liable for allowing these things to be published openly online and also give AVD administrators the big task of dealing with legal actions against us

Best practice is to deal with any party you have a grievance with directly face-to-face, over the phone, letter, or email. Vent privately with family and friends to get it off your chest

Also look at what you might have done to contribute to a situation.

I've worked in customer service for sometime now and so many people have been their own worst enemies (ignorant in how things really work, only interested in how they believe it should work for themselves; trying to swing a deal with everyone they deal with and never happy if it doesn't go their way; not reading the fine print of a contract and then pleading ignorance ... the list can go on and on) but always look to blame the other party. Unfortunately some people are naive and can fall victim to unscrupulous businesses then it is a matter of going to Consumer Affairs to investigate. Some people don't understand contracts and can truly not understand the terms and conditions, they should not sign until they do understand.. legal advise

... yes reputable companies will try and bend over backwards for a positive outcome for a customer with a problem or complaint, but we do so often cringe as we gather information

Hopefully we can see politics on AVD take a back seat .. come on we can do it!!

thanks to all who did it up front or out back