notactivethunderonly.com
 

Several things have been suggested in the main forum. I would like to invite a new idea to our board, yours and mine.

Today's idea: Manufacturers.

Do you really not want us involved? And I don't mean just to defend ourselves in misguided allegations. Instead to assist in the education and fun of high performance boating. Do our opinions and ideas matter here or do you feel we are only here to make another sale?

What about this idea: Active Thunder, the manufacturer, stays in the "Active Thunder Owners" forum. We don't cross outside the line if that is where you feel our place should be. Regardless of what bashing occurs, we shut up. However we will openly address your questions and concerns here, in the AT forum.

What would your true feelings be, whether you own a Bayliner, Hyrdrostream or whatever, if we helped you and participated in our own backyard to answer questions? Give our opinions. Offer help. A daily "Dear Abby" from Active Thunder. Would you listen or assume that it was just our sales tool?

A guy wants to know why we use mantex for stringers and our competition tells them it is junk. Want facts or propaganda? Give us a chance....hear our side of the story and listen to yours in a public forum where all of our customers (and non-customers) can input.

You guys heard all the 1956 model Active Thunder Boats had the transoms fall out? Fact or fiction? We answer. If it's a fact and we deny it I am sure we will have a slaughtering. If it's the truth then you will gain good knowledge to help you make an intelligent decision on future purchases. Is that something you would want here?

How about ideas? You know, I only have a handful of customers that offer ideas. New ideas. Better ideas. Wouldn't it be nice to suggest something great that we all have been missing and see it created? Maybe we would get the idea and some of us would wake up and listen to your needs. Build something better for you.

I'm done rambling. We really do try to listen. We attempt to build the best out there and make our customers satisfied. Perhaps that is where their enthusiasm is derived from. It's not pleasant seeing allegations thrown around that are not true or vicious. It's in my nature to respond. However it is not a positive movement on my part or behalf of my company. It's a waste of my time and yours to even acknowldege it.

We welcome your opinions. In this particluar thread we actually are asking our present customers to refrain from alot of "cheerleading" as it has been called. We are really most interested in what the other members and non-AT owners are interested in hearing from the AT-OSO website.

"It's not pleasant seeing allegations thrown around that are not true or vicious. It's in my nature to respond. However it is not a positive movement on my part or behalf of my company. It's a waste of my time and yours to even acknowldege it."



As a manufacturer I would moniter the board and participate sparingly.

Now, get back to work building those kick azz boats....and let the boats do the talking!

Bruce



:D

Exactly what TOO OLD said:D , voice your opinion when you feel needed, Pat. And absouloutly, no one should be slandering each others boats , period. (I'm calmer tonight, and a little quieter:p ) Take care gentlemen;)

Pat you should post this in the General Forum and see what kind of response you get from non-AT people.

and to follow up....

the vocal AT faithful would refrain from posting in the thread you would post in the general forum.

JJ and TD I know, I know...that would be really really hard for you guys...lol:D

The boats speak loud for themselfs, but some times you just get suckered into it.

I think thats what happened, it seamed like you stayed out as long as you could, but sometimes you gotta let em have it.

Good job Pat.

Randy

Pat I am in your “House” so speaking frankly Some people are Just too Stupid or Biased to be educated !Your cliental on the other hand are able to think for themselves.(they are with you)! Otherwise they would buy a Ply rot infested Resin bucket and convince themselves that they were happy with Brand X and try to be content on their little flat Earth

What I am seeing on the board is jealousy and that brings out the worst in Man .the fact they try to knock your Product speaks Volumes about their Knowledge .Keep doing what you are doing! Do not look back at them.

Pat you and AT are a class act

Best Regards

Pat, I for one, am VERY happy you spend time on this board:D . But seriously, one of the great things about this board is the participation of the insiders and manufacturers that make the sport what it is. You have spent more time posting lately and that is a double-edged sword. The company name gets thrown around a lot(all publicity is good publicity), but at the same time you and your product are open to jabs and criticism from the uninformed and unhappy minority.

I hope you and Steve stay around-I really enjoy the trials and tribulations of the poor, overworked AT crew and for those of us that have been following the various boats there is a certain shared excitement as they near completion.

If you decide that OSO participation is not in your best interest then start a board over on your site and we'll all come play over there :D

Steve can be the webmaster-he needs something else to do:D :D

Active Thunder,
I would hope that you continue to post in the General Discussion Area. I appreciate the fact that you take the time to read and respond to peoples concerns. If you or other Manufactures or Businesses posted just in their specific forums I believe a lot of good information would be lost that myself and others would miss out on because I don’t have the time to look at each one individually. I use General Discussion and go from there to follow what might be going on in a particular forum.
I encourage all of the businesses to post and help the people who want to know about their products. Every day I learn something new by visiting OSO about other manufactures and products that I may not be aware of. I have no problem with people showing excitement towards their brand of boat. It exists in everything including sports, automobiles, and brands of beer and on and on. I am on this site because I want to learn who and what is available to me. I want you to market boating related items, services and links. Do what you have been doing all along and help those that want to be helped and forget the few who want to cause trouble.
Sincerely,
Cordell

When you're as passionate about your work and product as Active Thunder, you get defensive about misinformation and erroneous propaganda. I own a small IT consulting business and get upset when my competition or non-clients are speaking untruths. I understand your passion. You guys should be proud of your close involvement with the boating community. Your products only reflect the ideas and values of this community which will keep you competitive for many years to come. You guys definitely got it RIGHT! :D :D :D

Pat keep posting, you've got to be full of knowledge that we can all benifit from ,some (3) are just jealous of who you are and what you own, but I feel it's a privledge to speak with any boat manufacture, I know I'll never see the owner of Baja here, hell I think my next boat will be an Active Thunder, How much for a 25 with a 496 ho? P.S. post on the general discusion also I only came here because I heard you were here :D

Pat,

FWIW......I am new to this form of powerboating within the last year. I do not own an AT. (would like to though) This is coming from someone that usually sits and watches w/o any desire to get involved in flame throwing at all.

I have yet to see you or anyone from this owner's forum reply to a thread without someone asking a question about your product. Just makes sense to me, if someone asks a question about your brand of boat, your gonna reply. Duh! I find it really hard to understand some of the threads that were started based on what I've seen. Just don't understand how you guys could be guilty of boasting about your boats when someone asked you about them! Sheesh.

Anyway, I thought your actions in the general forum were a class act myself. You did a hell of a lot better than I would have under the circumstances. I actually found the replies to WCC quite humurous and justified myself. I'm quite sure others agree.

You, and the people in this forum have made me feel welcome even though I am not one of you. I will remember this when the time comes, trust me.

I wish more of the manufacturers would get involved like yourself. I'd give anything to be able to talk w/ someone from Wellcraft on here. I don't see it happening though. I'd be willing to bet the the Baja guys agree with me about their boats too. They'd love to have someone come on from the factory and answer their questions.

I realize that you have to reply in the General Discussion area with a certain amount of unbiased. If you didn't it would be taken all wrong. Probably worse then it already has.

Don't change a thing. Your owners, this forum, and OffShore boaters will all suffer if you do.

Peace.

Buck
#183

Pat,

I'd like to see all manufactures post. Most manufactures are scared to actually post. They fear more damage than good will come from it.

I remember the one moron that bashed your boats in H2O's post a couple of months ago. I LMAO as you put him in his place. These 10 post wonders need to be ignored. We have a lot of comedians on the board. This makes some posts very entertaining. If some of the comments were given in person one would know that a person is joking. The writing style of some members comes out funny. Another member can mean the same thing and it touches a nerve.

MInightRider's parody with AT compared to a Bayliner! I like AT's but LMAO at the post and hopefully most others did too. After seeing B4M's picture I wondered if you guys could do that for me if I purchase a 37'. A beak and left handed throttle's, that would be cool!!!! I don't want to be charged the 42' price. :eek: Keep posting! I hope to see you and your boats over the summer.

Dan

I wish more manufacturers were involved with the message boards. However, it can be a double edged sword as we have all seen.

I think it is a breath of fresh air that you have ideas and want to share them with the boating public (this board.) And you are willing to listen to our ideas. I say this because the custom boat industry as a whole is severly lacking in the customer service department. Whether it be pre-sale, sale, post-sale, or repair service it can downright suck to buy and own a new boat.

Please continue to post in the General Discussion area. Only the short sighted will believe that it is only a sales pitch.

My ideas:

Customer service after the sale. This isn't revolutionary but few manufacturers truely take care of the customer after the sale. Especially with warranty repairs.

More useable storage space designed into the boat. It woud be nice to have convenient stowage for the fenders.

Built in ice chests that have built in insulation.

If you want more women saying yes to their husband "go ahead and buy the bigger boat" build a useable head that you can actually move around.

Easy access to the deck for docking. Especially from the cockpit up and over the faring.

I'll probably think of more later
:D

Well said Pat. I too agree that more manufacturers should play a part on this board...both in their respective forum and in the General Discussion area(because we know that's where all the dirty laundry gets aired);) It is important to keep your finger on the pulse of the performance boat owner to find out what their likes and dislike are. In the end, it can only make your product better and your customers happier.

About my post:

As any intelligent human being can see, my original thread which started all this was not directed at you, the manufacturer, merely at one or two individuals who incessantly post about AT, whether the thread warranted it or not. I hope you read my posts in my ActiveThunderOnly.com thread and can see what I am talking about. The final straw was this MassiveThunder individual who initiated the thread in the Apache forum...way out of line.
When the pesonal attacks came, I retaliated as any red-blooded male would and after I got over it, I laughed at the whole thing...life is really too short to worry about such trivial things


In closing, I would like to say that I love ALL performance boats and this is a great place to come and hang out with people who share the same interest. If we didn't all share this passion, this place would not exist and spirited debates would not take place!

Please continue to stay involved. I feel no need to re-iterate what everyone else just said. I agree whole heartedly.

Stay. Educate us about your hull design and construction or just hang out and debate the merits of thong bikinis -- either way don't go. I want more participation from manufacturers, not less.

Pat,
I think its unanimous so far. Please continue to post in and out of the AT area. Keep up the great work.:)

LakeRacer, who's been spilling the beans to you on our 37 redesign????

I think you just hit every nail right on the head! Hopefully pictures in the next week or so will show that we listened to what you and what many other current and potential future customers had said, too.

"LakeRacer, who's been spilling the beans to you on our 37 redesign???? "

Not me;)

I need to get a few more AT owners out here in AZ to play with:D

What I have mentioned are things that I've noticed over the years. I've been boating for 9 years and have looked at a ton of boats. You start to see a pattern that is evident in all boats. At least for me and my wife and our tastes.

For us, speed isn't the most important thing. We like having stand up headroom, a large head, and a few amenities to make overnighting comfortable. But that's just us.

Nice to know that you are listening. If I didn't owe so much on my boat right now, you and I would be talking about my next purchase! :D

Well, I hope you guys stay around OSO. Mingle around and put your .02 in where ever you see fit. I for one am glad to have you on board.

Just my .02:D

Pat, did you hire a guy named Steve again? That's worked out SO FRICKIN' WELL in the past. :D