I did not renew my subscription to OGR Mag or digital | O Gauge Forum (2024)

Its a very long story and very well deserved.

Btw I don't hate anybody, its a word that I don't like to use but AA come close.

Dave

No, it’s not. People’s OGR magazine subscriptions and OGR memberships have been canceled by AA without notification and without refunding what people paid for their subscriptions. It happened to me and it happened to other people on this forum here.

Yes, it does not paint AA in a positive light, but it is true.

Well, border, maybe (and IMHO treading carefully is always a good policy when publicly criticizing another), but remember that defamation requires not only a *false* statement, but a statement that you *know* to be false. Most of what I've seen posted is either direct personal experience, or events related to the poster by the person(s) who experienced them, so unless it's all made up, and provably so, no competent attorney would even start such a case. Just judging by the number of stories posted in this thread from 'bruised' former members, I'd say a defense would not be hard to mount . . .

So you are saying that AA has no responsibility for the negativity that is being said about OGR and the OGR forum?

Meanwhile this forum is a great place with wonderful and friendly train people with the minimum amount of moderation. The fact OGR has a significant public relations problem does not diminish our forum one bit.

I am also grateful to know that other people have had similar experiences as I have with OGR.

Every week more and more people are discovering and joining this forum and I think that will only increase as the word gets out and people realize that there is an alternative to OGR that is fun, friendly, interesting and informative.

It’s been my experience that the OGR forum has become dominated by a few individuals. Sometimes the information or help they provide is very useful and other times I think it is just self deprecating. One individual who have been recommended by some here for various repair issues proclaims to be “Lionel Factory Authorized Service”. That is not true. He never attended the Service Station training held a number of years ago by Mike Regan and was not even sponsored by the hobby shop that he does work for, Hennings in Lansdale PA. The elder Hennings sponsored Bob Karas, God Rest his Soul, to attend the training and became an Authorized Lionel Service Center.

The individual who claims to be Authorized did attend the MTH training on his own dime but never got the same benefits of a Lionel Service Center, namely being paid to do warranty work and a 50% discount on parts. Lionel has since taken back all warranty work but still allows any of the Independent Service Centers who remained to continue to receive a 50% discount on parts.

Many of the postings on OGR are by individuals wanting to sell items on the BUY/SELL section of the forum. They don’t contribute in any other way.

A customer of mine once said that money was conspicuous by its' absence.

Might the same not be translated to customers, Forum members, and others who do not feel well served by the businesses, organizations, Forums they no longer support? Is it really necessary to go through the dialog of this thread other than to exorcise hurt feelings, or anger?

This is not criticism.

Your decision not to support the other Forum financially should hopefully be satisfaction enough since as I stated at the start of this reply my customer's opinion that money is conspicuous by its' absence may be the most effective rebuke you can give.

I think it is cathartic for people to realize that they are not the only people ill-treated by AA and OGR.

What this really is, is frustration. All the angst, anxiety and anger is because of the desire to be members of the OGR forum. Otherwise why would anyone comment if they don’t want to be there. They would just avoid where they don’t want to be.

Not to discount people’s feelings and opinions about what their experience was. No reason not to believe them, some are awful. I’ve had posts deleted on every forum I’ve belonged to, including this one. It’s only an Internet forum, not that big a deal to me. If I ever get kicked off of anything from the internet, the sun will still rise tomorrow, I’ll still have my trains to play with and I’ll still have my family and friends to enjoy them with.

I don't think that the people complaining here about OGR are doing so because they are "jealous" and want to be members. I think people are upset because they lost money are they were not treated with basic human respect and decency. Besides, we don't want to be a members of OGR. I like being a member of OGF and I am very content. Can you or anyone else tell us why we should want to be a member of OGR? Can you tell us one thing that is on OGR that can not be found here on OGF?

This is more than "It's AA 's forum and he can make his own rules". AA bans people for breaking not only his written rules but his unwritten rules as well. Even worse, he bans people from his forum for breaking his rules while posting on other forums. How is that right?

We have run for 3 pages. Those with concerns about another Forum have expressed their feelings. Let's get back to why we are here to begin with and that is our love for our Hobby and sharing same and helping those that need info about the hobby. Let bygones be bygones and move on.

Today is also 9/11. Lets Remember why this date is so important to all of us.