Internet censorship the new Tacony product!

[vacuumdevil]

I wasn't sure which form to put this in so it will go here.
I got a call at 8:30 this morning that the current company I work for is account is getting suspended. Due to my videos in employee who does stuff on his own time on no associate with the business.
Apparently Simplicity/Riccar cannot handle a little criticism. I will say I have several videos promoting their products as well that are now removed as requested.
As somebody who is sold Tacony products for years and made them a lot of money I see this as a below-the-belt below.
I don't believe anything I've ever said is so bad or exposed anything that needed a cover-up or censoring. They have a right to freedom of business as I have a right to freedom of speech.
I wonder what vacuum lands thoughts are on a vacuum company intimidating people into getting press their way?



http://https//youtu.be/duafR-xo-OA

 

[hank]

That makes me never want to purchase their products actually. Limiting opinions they don’t approve of is bad for them in the long run. They should take peoples issues with their stuff as a chance to make it better...

 

[fcs3]

Hey vacuumdevil

In the U.S. a private company (whether their stocks are "publicly held" or not)
is pretty much a dictatorship. They need only comply with business law, and to
some extent employment law regarding ethical practices.
Companies will uphold the CEO's and major shareholders' personal political
or "moral" views, even if they impinge on employees' or customers' rights.
The Hobby Lobby suit is a good example.
Simplicity/Riccar, Tacony, and whoever will run their companies according to
their best interests, only until compelled by lawsuit to change a given policy.

 

[vacuumdevil]

@fcs3 Very true they have every right as a business to run it the way they want. But my point is this makes them look way worse. If they had reached out to me I would have been happy to help them with research and development and fix the problems they have.

 

[kirbysthebest]

Just curious

What are they wanting as a concession in order to Un-suspend the account?

Freedom of Speech is actually only guaranteed in political/government arenas. When it comes to an employer, or someone the employer depends upon for livelihood, they can quash the "freedom" part of your speech in order to insure that their product is presented in the best light as they see it.

This not to say that Tacony is any worse than any other corporate entity. They are just trying to bring the soldiers back in line.

 

[dysonman1]

I don't believe you.

Let's say the store you work for is ABC Vacuum (made up name). ABC Vacuum has an account with Tacony. Tacony will not suspend ABC Vacuum's account unless it's in arrears (non payment) OR ABC Vacuum has failed to comply with their written dealership agreement with Tacony.

Tacony (as a company) could hardly care less what some random repair man employee does on you tube UNLESS it would be slanderous to them. In which case, ABC Vacuum wouldn't be called, the You Tube account holder (i.e. You) would get a cease and desist letter from the attorneys.

 

[fcs3]

I totally see your point vacuumdevil

They seemed to relish the idea of unsolicited testimony praising their
products and those of their manufacturing partner. Perhaps they viewed it as
positive to have this freelance advertising on such a popular video site.
But, I take it you are not associated with a professional advertising firm,
nor are under specific contract to promote these products.
Thus, your "free speech" is an asset when all the reviews are splendid.
But it is a liability when any of these companies hears the least negative
comment.
As far as Tacony telling Simplicity/Riccar how to conduct their YouTube campaign,
Any company can apply legal leverage to any other they're contractually
associated with, if the offended company feels they can and should act.
Whichever company pulled your vids did so with the approval of the other.
My guess is the company you represented on YouTube may replace your vids
with slick, professionally produced segments, hosted by a handpicked
professional company spokesperson.

 

[carolinaguy1996]

I've seen people review Tacony products on Youtube. It's not fair.

 

[vacuumdevil]

@dysonman1 That's what I don't understand why I have never been contacted by them directly it always seems to trickle down through our representative. My channel is relatively small and reaches a small audience. There are much larger YouTube channels example" Doug demuro" who make companies look far worse, Then me simply stating they could improve a few things.

Apparently because I do work for a dealer who sells their products that somehow puts the dealer in violation of of the dealer agreement.


As I have repeatedly stated I do not represent any vacuum shop or any vacuum brand with "performance reviews" . I prefer to keep the dealership I work for as Anonymous as possible.

 

[tseg]

Public relations is tricky business. Sorry to hear of their path forward.

 

[sharky]

Well, I think it is never a smart move for a company to try to silence people on the internet. Nevertheless, you will be the one losing out on this matter. You will be regarded as the troublemaker and your boss will have no other chance than to get everyone in line.

It does not matter if a man heavily affiliated with Tacony believes you or not. I think that you are probably more open and outspoken than it is smart to be in these days, therefore I tend to believe you.

Free speech is important, but so is compliance when running a business. Nevertheless, for my part I'm grateful for the opportunity to see for myself how overly complicated Tacony machines are and how they are doing compared to other brands. This may not be appropriate for an employee to do - but don't put your job at risk for a vacuum cleaner. Let's hope for some sort of Streisand effect and maybe your employer will make up his mind about which partnerships are worth following through.

 

[hank]

They must not have much faith in their products if they are so worried about your videos, this actually says a lot about them as a company... Ive seen alot of your videos, probably all the tacony ones. I don't recall you ever bashing the machines (even though people on here will say different (fanboy-ism)), I do however remember your praising the symmetry line as will as the supralight varieties. Who knows maybe you are just the tip of the spear so to speak, maybe they will start doing it to everyone else who associates with their products that works in a vac shop.

 

[vacerator]

Oh my word!

I can see both sides. It seems the world of online reviewing is as volatile as the stock market. I take it with a grain of salt. Part fact, part opinion. If I like the review, or have a small doubt, I go to a store and ask to have the product demonstrated in person. Then I hear can real world sounds, etc.
I saw the Riccar product review and didn't find it degrading of the product. Who builds a perfect machine? It would cost a fortune.
That said, I am not one in favor of censorship.
Not a direct parallel, but didn't Larry Flynt win that one?
If I don't like it, I can simply not look at it.
So then, at the preceding introduction to any infomercial is a disclaimer: "Views and opinions of the product do not in any way reflect the advocacy of this station, or it's owners, or share holders."
If you are the registered youtube channel owner, isn't this part of it? Where to draw the line? The vacuum shop wants customers. Tacony wants customers.
A friend purchased a vacuum from a specialty shop and after two weeks decided they din't care for it. The store graciously gave full credit toward another machine.

 

[beko1987]

Sorry to hear this has happened to you, it does smack of them shutting you up, although I guess the contract with the shop probably overrides this...

Happy to host your videos in question on my channel if it helps? I don't have the files though...

All the best for the future though, keep us updated on any developments

 

[huskyvacs]

I don't know if you knew this or not, but because of everything being on social media now, companies have ghost employees that patrol youtube/facebook/twitter and whatnot on a daily basis for certain words and search terms related to the company.

One of those people likely found your video (whatever the original title was) by searching for that, watched it, and reported you to the company you work for, and because of youtube's rules, you got reprimanded because a 3rd party reported you for hate speech violations and/or what they constitute as harassment.

If anyone here goes dump diving, there is a forum on reddit about it, and on that forum when you are talking about some dumpster finds, you are asked to censor the name of the location you found them at. Like say "paperclips" instead of "staples" because that way the company cannot google it or know where it came from.

 

[bisonian]

It's important to keep in mind, as others have noted, that this is NOT a "freedom of speech"/First Amendment issue. The First Amendment protects you ONLY from GOVERNMENT censorship.

That means you are free to say what you want without government interference. It does NOT mean you are free from consequences of what you say. You can say a private company makes bad products. In turn, the company can take legal action against you. Your employer can fire you. Those are the consequences you risk.

 

[fantomtechguy]

Wow

I can't believe they did this.

If I made a Vacuum and sent it to you, I would WANT you to criticize it.
Thats how I can fix mistakes and make my products better.

To keep it PG, screw Simplicity/Riccar and let's boycott them.
I will be throwing my Riccar in the trash after this post.

 

[human]

Yeah, I just read that Apple just fired a corporate employee because he allowed his daughter to video him showing her the features of his pre-release iPhone X and the video went viral when she posted it online. Pretty harsh.

The bottom line here is that corporate entities are pretty territorial about their messaging and go to great lengths to maintain control over it. The fact that you are an employee of one of their dealers and presumably shoot your videos at the store, regardless of whether you are on the clock or not, it would be easy for a casual viewer to misinterpret that as meaning that you're speaking for the store and/or the company.

In the corporation's eyes, your actions as an employee are, in essence, the store's actions and your independent videos are seen by the corporation as rogue messaging on the part of the store, especially since you're shooting the videos on their premises. And since they have the store's phone number but not yours, it's easier for them to exert pressure on the store to discipline what they say as a misbehaving employee.

Corporations are often very specific about what their franchisees can and cannot do. Often, there is verbiage written into the franchise agreement to codify those limitations. If the franchisee does things prohibited in the agreement or fails to do things that are required in the agreement, the franchisor has the right to take punitive action, up to and including suspending or even revoking the franchise.

 

[luxlife]

Just a curious question......

Have you tested any other brands with the particle meter that "blow" a perfect score of zero? It seems that only the Miele machines do this in your reviews. I'm not bashing Miele. (I've owned a few)