Background:
Previous posts have addressed how aftermarket parts and services vendor Equilibrium Tuning employs a marketing strategy that includes elements of deception and unfair business practices.
In the last post on Understanding EQT, it was shown how EQT uses these tactics to Undermine Competitors. In this post, another tactic EQT employs, Discrediting Consumers, is discussed.
Information Sources:
When it comes to getting information about products available for their cars, consumers have a limited selection of sources.
The vendors selling products advertise. These businesses’ customer service can also be contacted directly, which is another way of advertising for the business. A third option is to share information in enthusiast user groups.
User Group:
Automotive enthusiast forums and social media groups thrive on candid, peer-to-peer feedback. These groups are promoted as a place for consumers to share information with one another.
Issues:
The problem for consumers stems from the conduct of EQT employees in these user groups. In principle, employees of the businesses are allowed to participate in these consumer owners’ groups to advertise their products and answer consumers’ questions about the products they sell.
When a business representative openly claims to override consumer opinions, the core trust that fuels community discussions is compromised.
Examples:
Here are some examples of EQT owner Ed Susman discrediting the opinions of Mk7 owners:
Note: Ed Susman claims that Cobb Tuning works more closely with the EPA and CARB than any other aftermarket company. He emphasizes this is a fact. As a Cobb dealer, and therefore standing to profit from this assertion, Ed Susman must have proof that this is true, or else he is engaging in deceptive advertising. – FTC Truth in Advertising
Note: Ed Susman claims that EQT tunes have been proven to be at least as reliable as all other options available. This is a statement about an objective fact that must be supported by evidence, or else it constitutes deceptive advertising. – FTC Truth in Advertising. I have previously discussed the issues facing EQT in this regard, and showed how Ed Susman bullshit consumers when facing scrutiny for his claims.
Consumer Awareness:
When companies join consumer owner groups, they must respect the access they have been granted. If businesses fail to do so and discredit the opinions of those consumers, the group becomes another biased information source, undermining the trust that the group was built upon.
In this post, several examples of Equilibrium Tuning owner Ed Susman discrediting consumer owners in social media groups were presented. These examples illustrate how a business owner can exploit consumers and dilute the benefits to the user group to benefit their business.
… I don’t feel the need to adhere to strict professionalism standards…
Edward Susman – Owner of Equilibrium Tuning INC
Remaining aware of this conduct can help to curb it. Bringing this conduct to the attention of group administrators and requesting that they enforce ethical standards among business participants can help curtail this kind of detrimental behavior.
Consumers should also ask businesses for evidence when they make objective claims about their products. Truth-in-advertising laws exist to protect consumers from unscrupulous companies. If a business is unwilling to substantiate its claims, consumers should exercise caution.
Conclusions:
This post discussed how online discussion groups for Mk7 owners offer a way for owners to share information without the bias inherent in information originating with companies selling products to those consumers.
Evidence is presented showing that Ed Susman, the owner of Equilibrium Tuning, discredits Mk7 owners in social media discussion groups. Ed Susman also makes unsubstantiated claims about products that benefit his business.
Failure to substantiate product claims is misleading and violates Federal Trade Commission Truth in Advertising laws.
References:
Previous posts have discussed evidence of other instances of misleading and deceptive conduct that spanned several years.
- Equilibrium Tuning unsubstantiated claims about product performance
- Equilibrium Tuning misleading claims for independent product testing
- Ed Susman’s false statements about the flow bench that I use
- Ed Susman’s false statements about my consideration of data
- Ed Susman’s false statements about the testing I’ve done being flawed
- Ed Susman’s false statements about the testing that I perform being limited
- Ed Susman’s false statements about me being a hack
- Ed Susman’s false statements about questions I emailed to the business containing “demands”
- Ed Susman’s false statements to another consumer who commented on my review
- Ed Susman’s statements about professionalism being optional
- Ed Susman’s false statements to a performance shop employee who questioned Ed’s claims
- Ed Susman makes threats to suppress a consumer review
- Ed Susman bullshits a consumer on social media
- Equilibrium Tuning unsubstantiated claim about tune reliability being OEM-like.
- Ed Susman’s false statements to consumers about a tune reliability post.
- Equilibrium Tuning false advertising of independent testing.
- Ed Susman’s bullshitting has consequences for consumers.
- Ed Susman’s bullshitting a consumer about the ARM Motorsport intercooler.
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