Hardbody Entertainment - your official call-out

[240 is Back]

accept poor product and don't blame the face they put on their advertising - as long as "hes cool"   

if hardbody had put on a sensational show, Flex would be a hero and his stock would be thru the roof.  When you put a wellknown face on something, that celebrity gains and loses with the quality of the product.  That's why you don't see Peyton Manning doing commercials for Dollar General.  You are paid to take the risk to reputation that comes with the product.

Flex's hands might be tight right now, who knows?  Those two men in ties might have told him to shut up now.  Maybe we will never know.  But the tech issues cannot be downplayed - they admitted there were problems, and many missed the Cutler upset.  Flex took the check, so he takes the lumps when things go south.

There are two other people associated with hardbody:

[Tre]

I am complaining as I basically did not get the webcast. That simple. Not that it was poor quality, even though the bit I did see was, but because I missed the entire women's bodybuilding and figure finals, 1/2 the fitness finals and saw not one second of the mens finals at all. I am on the exact same PC, with no changes, that I always use to watch webcasts. I just find it unacceptable to charge me for a product, and not deliver.

If anyone notes my posting style I never rant on like this. But I am annoyed on principle. I have said it a few times, mistakes happen sure, just fix them.

It was because of your post that I decided to get involved.  You're not one to complain, so the fact that you feel you were ripped off here says a lot. 

[Tre]

Ron, I appreciate you coming into the discussion, but on this site, Swilkins is the only person who said he had no problems with the broadcast. 

When there are 15 people complaining and only 1 saying everything was fine, then I tend to think that the 15 are probably more correct than not. 

[onlyme]

The webcast went fine for me at least.  Why ask for a refund? Is your internet connection good? All the extras were pretty cool and worth the small $21.

Thanks Flex

[phyxsius]

Ron, you're right.. Flex wasn't in charge of the technical screw-ups but when this things happen, you face the music and dance the dance.. You can f**k your technical guy backstage but you're the one getting fucked by the people on the stage

[ieffinhatecardio]

The silence from Flex and Hard Body Entertainment is deafening.

[Ron]

if our computor isn't good enough to view it on the 500k, why did it worked on saturday ?

We heard that the 500k line broke or went down Friday night, and that Sprint or whomever was in the Orleans Arena would not bring it back up for the Friday night finals. Thus, they had to resort to the 100k line, which is why there are a lot of complaints.

because I missed the entire women's bodybuilding and figure finals, 1/2 the fitness finals and saw not one second of the mens finals at all.

Now you have a legitimate right for a refund, plus what else you told me, you should get it.

The only question of capability would lie in the connection to the internet and anybody with even the most minimal dsl/cable can handle a 500k stream.

Perhaps, but not a lot of them.

Don't get me wrong, I am not condoning Hardbody's actions and the myriad problems with the webcast. What I am irked is that you guys actually think Flex, while the main guy and spokesperson, is behind all of the technical problems behind this. Come on. There was a team involved in it, and something went wrong in projecting the traffic, server and more as the amount of users were watching it. 

Yeah Ron disapointed me for the first time ever. normaly he understands when we are getting screwed

There are problems, but again, I heard from a lot of people who watched the webcast also and liked it.  The biggest complaint a lof of them had was that it froze and went blank right during Jen Henderschott's routine. They had no complaints on Saturday evening.  But once again, of course there are complaints. We see that here.

[AVBG]

Flex should shoulder the blame he is the salesman/ representitive/ front line of Hardbody, unless they want to publish the names of the tech staff. 

[240 is Back]

Don't get me wrong, I am not condoning Hardbody's actions and the myriad problems with the webcast. What I am irked is that you guys actually think Flex, while the main guy and spokesperson, is behind all of the technical problems behind this. Come on. There was a team involved in it, and something went wrong in projecting the traffic, server and more as the amount of users were watching it. 

Flex was the salesman.  If a guy comes to me door and sells me a set of knives, a subscription to SOURCE, or phallic insurance, he's my guy.

If the knife breaks, I don't call the manufacturer in China.  If SOURCE gives me bad reviews of the latest hiphop, I don't jump Benzino in the bus station.  And if my unit falls off and I need cash to get the little purple pill, I don't ... well...

When Flex sells you something and it breaks, you want to talk to flex.

[thisiskeith12]

Not to be an asshole, but this is why you don't buy webcasted PPV live events. Once I heard there was a webcast and you had to pay for it, I knew I wasn't going to just in case problems may occur such as the problems that actually occured.

[240 is Back]

I really wanted this one.  I asked a hundred questions early on about redundancy, bandwidth, logins, refreshes, etc, and Flex never answered.  After a few ppl said it was bad, I put my CC back in my wallet   

[Special Ed]

What did you guys expect from a pathological liar? Flex once tried to sell my pal a vehicle he didn't even own. Shawn Ray, in one of his "I'd rather burn my friend than have him burn a stranger" moods, gave up Flex and the true story of the leased vehicle. He wrote a book filled with lies and left out anything that readers might actually want to know about, like his drug cycles, ninja turtles, and his calf implants. If you haven't learned by now, if it's got Flex Wheeler's name on it, run in the opposite direction.

Special "Would you like your scumbags in Plastic or Paper?" Ed

[AVBG]

What did you guys expect from a pathological liar? Flex once tried to sell my pal a vehicle he didn't even own. Shawn Ray, in one of his "I'd rather burn my friend than have him burn a stranger" moods, gave up Flex and the true story of the leased vehicle. He wrote a book filled with lies and left out anything that readers might actually want to know about, like his drug cycles, ninja turtles, and his calf implants. If you haven't learned by now, if it's got Flex Wheeler's name on it, run in the opposite direction.

Special "Would you like your scumbags in Plastic or Paper?" Ed

Hey Ed,

If you're looking to get published in MD, your going about it the wrong way... Flex has some influence there and speaking your mind like this on the forum aint doing you favours.

Just my 2 cents.

AVBG

[rocket]

I know what you're saying Ron and immediately I thought the same thing about Flex being the focal point but the fact of the matter is that he brought the product here, he endorsed it and it didn't match up to how it should have been.

The problem is when someone like flex uses his reputation to sell the product but then hides behind subordinates (or silence) should the product not deliver what was intended.  Its Flex's responsibility to check that he's not getting involved with people who are incapable of pulling off what was advertised.

The same argument could have been used by Victor Martinez when his employees were busy selling memberships the day before (or whatever) it closed.

[Mydavid]

Serious question here people, is HBE in general in financial trouble?

I mean we all know of Flex's money problems, which were highlighted when Shawn Ray was begging for money for him online. I mean that is really sad, to go from being one of the best in the world at something, to having your friend beg your old fans for a few dollars.

I only ask because the way they are responding to this makes me think they may have cash flow problems. Long term, any fool could figure out it would be good PR to acknowledge the problem and refund some money. A measly $1000 invested in refunds would bring great return in the long term.

Is HBE broke?

I actually was one of them that sent Flex money years ago...i didn't do it to get anything out of it (not even a thank you), but i guess i thought maybe we'd be kept up to date or something like that.

Never again.

Lisa

[rocket]

Just out of curiousity, if you don't mind me asking how much did you send?

[Mydavid]

Just out of curiousity, if you don't mind me asking how much did you send?

You know what? I honestly can not remember...if i did, i'd lay it out here.

Lisa

[Tre]

The silence from Flex and Hard Body Entertainment is deafening.

That's the issue at this point. 

We already know that something went terribly wrong over the weekend.  But the show is done, and that's that. 

Now it's a matter of what HBE has to do in order to make it right and they really should've been proactive in handling the compensation for those who feel ripped off.  They first need to issue a public apology (no need for an explanation of what went wrong) and then provide each customer a reasonable compensation package.

[myt1]

We heard that the 500k line broke or went down Friday night, and that Sprint or whomever was in the Orleans Arena would not bring it back up for the Friday night finals. Thus, they had to resort to the 100k line, which is why there are a lot of complaints.
 

Now you have a legitimate right for a refund, plus what else you told me, you should get it.

Perhaps, but not a lot of them.

Don't get me wrong, I am not condoning Hardbody's actions and the myriad problems with the webcast. What I am irked is that you guys actually think Flex, while the main guy and spokesperson, is behind all of the technical problems behind this. Come on. There was a team involved in it, and something went wrong in projecting the traffic, server and more as the amount of users were watching it. 

There are problems, but again, I heard from a lot of people who watched the webcast also and liked it.  The biggest complaint a lof of them had was that it froze and went blank right during Jen Henderschott's routine. They had no complaints on Saturday evening.  But once again, of course there are complaints. We see that here.

Ron, I don't think any of us think that Flex was there hooking up the wrong cables or anything.  It has more to do with what you said about him being the main guy/ spokesperson.  Combine that with the fact that he was pitching it on all the boards and he was essentially our sales rep.  I am in sales, and electronic components that communicate info over the internet/ phone lines/ or DSL lines are involved.  Shit happens, and things go wrong from time to time.  When my merchants call me up about not being able to run a transaction guess who apologizes???  Was I the one that didn't hook up a surge protector to their terminal, or the company that produced  a defective one? Nope, but I understand that they want an explanation, and need to have it fixed.  I am not a technician, but get them in touch with the correct people to remedy the problem while apologizing for the inconvenience.  I then go back to tech/ customer service to find out what was up, so that I can offer them an explanation and hopefully a solution to avoid the prob in the future...........We have not gotten any of that from Flex..........THAT, is why I am pissed.  He deserves to be called out until this changes.

You're only hurting yourself more and more every day by staying silent Flex!

[adipo8]

Flex Wheeler - Buyer beware

[irejistirred4deena]

Hey Ed,

If you're looking to get published in MD, your going about it the wrong way... Flex has some influence there and speaking your mind like this on the forum aint doing you favours.

Just my 2 cents.

AVBG

Don't worry, Flex will screw that up too and Special Ed will be in bold type right next to the Rambling Freak

[CQ]

It was because of your post that I decided to get involved.  You're not one to complain, so the fact that you feel you were ripped off here says a lot. 

Now you have a legitimate right for a refund, plus what else you told me, you should get it.

Thank you both.

It's just the principle of the matter. How is our industry to grow if we do things like this? It reflects on all of us. It is not the webcast messup that is the issue, it is the lack of dealing with it after spamming the boards. Taking money, while not providing the service is not good PR. On a positive note, although I already did, I really appreciate bb.com free, and decent quality webcasts now.

[Rick Lohre]

OK so I told myself I was not going to touch this topic again....oh well here goes....

Facts
-I did have issues with webcast as well. 
-I too posted quite a few messages here about it.
-I ranted and raved that Flex spammed us here.
-I cried about the quality and cut outs.
-I then realized, this is not HBE Forums or HBE Customer Call Center.
-I got over it and decided to stop b!tching and contact THEM not GetBig & not Mayhem.
-I was satisfied at the response I recieved from them.
-I retracted comments that I had made before I had the opportunity to speak to them personally.

ON Problems with the webcast: Well I know it seems like a cop out, and I hate them as much as you, but give yourself a few minutes that maybe we all should have spent and ACTUALLY READ the "Terms and Conditions" on their site.  If you didn't agree with it then, you should not have purchased.  Myself included.  While the cutouts sucked and did interrupt my viewing, I was able to re-view them the day after.  I would have loved...LOVED to see every routine as it happened LIVE, but hey oh well, I saw it the next day.  Not optimal, but once again "Terms and Conditions".

ON Flex "Spamming": I understand your beef with Flex Wheeler on spamming, but like Tre says, he didn't hook up the cables himself.  This board could probably also do without the descriptions as to why he didn't or shouldn't have anything to do with the technical side...  He is a businessman and knows where and how to sell his product.  Nuf said.  I don't care about past issues...if you do, then you probably didn't buy the webcast and really shouldn't have anything to gripe about.  Technical difficulties are for the behind the scenes folks, tech service and in the end customer service to deal with. 

ON Refunds:  HBE does have a website themselves.  They also have e-mails and phone numbers available for you to contact them.  I suggest you try them...I don't think they are going to come on here in a hostile environment and address our concerns.  When you buy a used car, take it home and the tire goes flat the next day....you don't go to the local pub and rant and rave....do you?  You go to the dealership and talk to them about making it right.  If and only IF you do not get satisfaction, is further action necessary. 

All this aside, I really enjoyed the show and think that it was extremely entertaining.  While I was not there, I heard through the grape vine...through people who attended and athletes who competed that this was one of the BEST "O"s to date that they have been to/competed in.  I wish I could have been there personally, but maybe next year    I won't subject Julie to attending an "O" she's not competing in! LOL

Anyhow, I just wanted to post my thoughts. 

Rick Lohre

[rockyfortune]

Why would you buy a webcast for this shit? Webcasts are notoriously shitty....but oh, i forgot, flex wheeler is the industry liasion so it must be reputable!!!!!!

industry liasion=bullshit artist

[Tre]

Appreciate the thoughts, Rick.

But here's why airing issues on GetBig is important - 10 people sitting at home and unhappy with the service might think to themselves, "Oh well, tough cookies.  I guess I just got taken."  Same 10 people posting on GetBig now realize that there are 9 other people who experienced the same problems they had...and now they've got a combined voice.  Their collective voice reaches others who now realize they were not alone in not getting what they'd paid for. 

Now HBE looks out, sees that a large part of its soon-to-be-former customer base is ticked off, and decides that it needs to make a serious move before this PR nightmare gets any worse. 

The fact of the matter is that people have contacted their customer service lines and not gotten a satisfactory result. 

As in most cases, GetBig is once again and part of the solution, and not the problem.