I find it very interesting...

...that when the site was upgraded all of my vendor reviews were removed from the vendor ratings section, although I had the most complimentary things to say about all of them. Interestingly, none of my vendors were LIW advertisers...

I am very happy posting here, appreciate and even LOVE the friends I've made here, AND plan to stay here, but there are A LOT of things that I've been finding very shady and *MAYBE* a bit unethical. This is very upsetting for me, as I am one of the longest standing members on the board.

LIW, care to comment?

Jenn; I just checked and saw that mine are gone too At first I thought that since they were a few years old they only imported the recent ones, but then I saw one from 1997!

Too bad - I know my photographer was trying to build his independant business and probably didn't have the cash flow to advertise yet but I know a few people contacted him based on my reviews and recomendations, and if his business grew he might have become an advertiser.

I guess if it is now only for advertising vendors the heading should say so...

Karen you are absolutely right ~ there should be a heading saying that ONLY LIW advertiser's reviews would be posted, but then again, they would have to ALSO state that only POSITIVE LIW advertiser's reviews would be posted.

It's a shame that this board is no longer the honestly helpful place it once was. Big Brother is on the job in a major way. I guess this is now only a place for brides to meet and chat. If anyone wants to help someone else they need to do it on their own time.

I think it was very nice of you to post a review of your photographer to help him get his business off the ground. It makes me sad to know that other can't benefit from your good experience.

I'm sure the vendors who advertise on here pay a lot of money to do so. Now, if I were a vendor paying a lot of money, I would be pretty p0ed if another vendor, who doesn't pay to advertise, was getting all these wonderful ratings and, essentially, free advertising. Now, raving about a vendor who does not advertise on here, in a thread is different than posting an official review, IMO. Also, would you pay a lot of money to advertise on a site if people could post terrible things about your business? I don't think LIW has a problem with us posting negative feedback in a thread, but a review is a more official thing, and IMO, I think that this is a business, not just a place for us girls to come and swap ideas, feedback, etc. I don't know. But then again, maybe I would be mad too if my review disappeared. Just thought I'd share how I see it.

You are both entitled to your opinion, however, had you been posters back when the site was TRULY about 'Brides Helping Brides', and not 'Website Promoting Vendors' you'd probably better understand why we are upset.

I can't say that I'm really upset about it, but I am a bit disappointed. My photographer did a great job and I posted an honest opinion which is what they were asking for with vendor reviews. Same with my florist.

Sure it's a business, but if the advice is limited then it's not as valuable a resource, and as I mentioned, if you give a growing business a hand up then maybe they'll become an advertiser. I know when I first joined I was frustrated that I couldn't find much info on my reception hall.

I think I had contact info my reviews and that may be what caused them to be deleted. Maybe if that was the stipulation - no contact info - review only - then it would be more acceptable.

I can definately see both sides here, but I have to agree with Rachel.

If I were a paying vendor on this site and was losing business to other vendors being promoted on the site without paying to advertise here, I'd probably be a little bothered.

JMO

If the only vendor reviews that are going to be carried on here are those that are from advertising vendors then that should be stipulated somewhere on the review site. I have to agree with Jenn and Karen on this issue. This site is more and more about advertiser promotion and less and less about brides past and present being able to give honest and helpful info about whichever vendors they used.

Most of the vendors that advertise on here now (including a few that I used for my wedding) were not here when I got married. In fact one of them learned about this site from me and now advertises here! I think that positive vendor reviews on LIW actually get LIW more advertising business. I have seen it happen over and over again where a bride or two uses and raves about a vendor and then everyone starts using that person. The vendor then starts advertising here and gets even more business.

I personally don't think there is any point to a vendor review section that contains nothing but positive reviews about advertising vendors. It's sort of biased in my opinion. If someone has a bad experience with an advertising vendor or uses a non-advertising vendor that they have had a fantastic experience with it should be there too.