banjohangout.org/ Eric Shlange Falsely Represents himself as NON-Profit!!! Internet

While I have had my issues, I am still a participant in the website. I have never seen it to be represented as a non-profit site and found its function to be so good I hired Eric to design my fairly complicated business site. He did this on time with the promised results for what I considered a fair price. He always answers the phone and is willing to help, and i've never seen another bill. I am a licensed detective and have conducted many corporate fraud investigations. THERE IS NONE HERE. I have had several personal off site conversations with other members and I can assure you they were all not the same person.

And here I sit wasting my time replying to it! I haven't do so yet, because I was hoping it would just blow over--sites like this make their money by allowing anyone (even someone posing as someone else) to post false accusations about anyone they'd like, and this generate a firestorm of responses. I didn't feel like adding to the fray. Be that as it may...

I've never represented the Banjo Hangout as a non-profit site. Listing it on www.bitsculptor.com in the non-profit category was done because it makes sense--it's a community-driven banjo resource site. If other potential customers hit BitSculptor.com looking for something along those lines, that's where I thought they'd go. Whether it's legally a non-profit or not isn't the point...I just classified it on my site where I thought it should go.

The Banjo Hangout is a sole proprietorship, owned by myself. I've never told anyone it's a non-profit, or that donations are tax-deductable.

I do make money from the website. I also pour countless hours and (at a minimum) $300/month into running it. If you think it doesn't cost much to run a website that serves 30,000 visitors per day and over 5 million page views per month, you obviously don't understand what it takes to run a website. And we're always working on improvements--anyone who says otherwise probably doesn't use the site much.

Thanks to everyone who has come to the Banjo Hangout's defense on this ridiculous issue. There are always a few bad apples, but by and large, the Banjo Hangout community has been a joy to work with over the last 8 years.

Regards,
Eric Schlange
Banjo Hangout Webmaster

And here I sit wasting my time replying to it! I haven't do so yet, because I was hoping it would just blow over--sites like this make their money by allowing anyone (even someone posing as someone else) to post false accusations about anyone they'd like, and this generate a firestorm of responses. I didn't feel like adding to the fray. Be that as it may...

I've never represented the Banjo Hangout as a non-profit site. Listing it on www.bitsculptor.com in the non-profit category was done because it makes sense--it's a community-driven banjo resource site. If other potential customers hit BitSculptor.com looking for something along those lines, that's where I thought they'd go. Whether it's legally a non-profit or not isn't the point...I just classified it on my site where I thought it should go.

The Banjo Hangout is a sole proprietorship, owned by myself. I've never told anyone it's a non-profit, or that donations are tax-deductable.

I do make money from the website. I also pour countless hours and (at a minimum) $300/month into running it. If you think it doesn't cost much to run a website that serves 30,000 visitors per day and over 5 million page views per month, you obviously don't understand what it takes to run a website. And we're always working on improvements--anyone who says otherwise probably doesn't use the site much.

Thanks to everyone who has come to the Banjo Hangout's defense on this ridiculous issue. There are always a few bad apples, but by and large, the Banjo Hangout community has been a joy to work with over the last 8 years.

Regards,
Eric Schlange
Banjo Hangout Webmaster

On Eric's company website bitsculptor, it shows the banjohangout under the non-profit section. If he's listed it incorrectly, then that is false advertisement. If it is indeed listed correctly as non-profit then some questions need to be answered.

The questions at hand are more important than the identity of the people doing the asking. Eric has not responded. You'd think he'd be interested in these accusations?

Eric has NEVER claimed BHO was non-profit, not once, not ever.

Here we go, another one...This person, Blamethemod, IS NOT listed as a BHO member, unless he not brave enough to use his real name or even his BHO screen name.

What creedence can you give to what someone has to say that won't give their name or even their BHO screen name...OR post using another's name.

As an IT professional I have great admiration for Eric's work on the Banjo Hangout and for the efforts of the moderators like the real Hugh. The individual who submitted the initial complaint misrepresents his/herself as being someone other than they are. Over the years that I have been associated with the BHO I have had direct contact with the site host (Eric) and he has been quite helpful. I have been involved in development work for one of the BHO sponsor companies including authoring their BHO ad. Eric was quite helpful while we were working on that project. In the years that I have been involved with the BHO I have also had occassion to exchange comments with Hugh and have found him to be fair minded.

That you have thus far failed to verify the identity or motivation of the original poster does you and your site a great disservice. You are a party to an obvious misrepresentation of both facts and identity.

As an IT professional I have great admiration for Eric's work on the Banjo Hangout and for the efforts of the moderators like the real Hugh. The individual who submitted the initial complaint misrepresents his/herself as being someone other than they are. Over the years that I have been associated with the BHO I have had direct contact with the site host (Eric) and he has been quite helpful. I have been involved in development work for one of the BHO sponsor companies including authoring their BHO ad. Eric was quite helpful while we were working on that project. In the years that I have been involved with the BHO I have also had occassion to exchange comments with Hugh and have found him to be fair minded.

That you have thus far failed to verify the identity or motivation of the original poster does you and your site a great disservice. You are a party to an obvious misrepresentation of both facts and identity.

As an IT professional I have great admiration for Eric's work on the Banjo Hangout and for the efforts of the moderators like the real Hugh. The individual who submitted the initial complaint misrepresents his/herself as being someone other than they are. Over the years that I have been associated with the BHO I have had direct contact with the site host (Eric) and he has been quite helpful. I have been involved in development work for one of the BHO sponsor companies including authoring their BHO ad. Eric was quite helpful while we were working on that project. In the years that I have been involved with the BHO I have also had occassion to exchange comments with Hugh and have found him to be fair minded.

That you have thus far failed to verify the identity or motivation of the original poster does you and your site a great disservice. You are a party to an obvious misrepresentation of both facts and identity.

As an IT professional I have great admiration for Eric's work on the Banjo Hangout and for the efforts of the moderators like the real Hugh. The individual who submitted the initial complaint misrepresents his/herself as being someone other than they are. Over the years that I have been associated with the BHO I have had direct contact with the site host (Eric) and he has been quite helpful. I have been involved in development work for one of the BHO sponsor companies including authoring their BHO ad. Eric was quite helpful while we were working on that project. In the years that I have been involved with the BHO I have also had occassion to exchange comments with Hugh and have found him to be fair minded.

That you have thus far failed to verify the identity or motivation of the original poster does you and your site a great disservice. You are a party to an obvious misrepresentation of both facts and identity.

As a member of the Banjohangout for over 4 years this report has me thinking. I feel I need some questions answered.

The website obviously makes profits off of sponsorships.
There is a banjo hangout union where you pay $30.00 for a cheap T-shirt. Where does this money go?

In addition, the owner wants to charge for elite lesson listings on the website. If the goal of the website is to serve banjo players worldwide why would they charge for this? Is there a need for more money to be poured into the website? I'd like some verification on the need for this? I haven't seen any upgrades on the website. It doesn't cost that much to host a website like this on the internet. The moderators aren't even payed.

There are numerous other income generating areas on this website. It is my understanding that this money should go back into the hangout. I won't believe this is the case until proven otherwise.

I thought to be a non-profit organization you have to have a board of directors, trustees. As far as i know, there isn't one for the banjohangout.

The owner has quite a number of non-profit organizations (((ROR redacted)))
I find it fishy. I could be wrong, but i think it should be investigated.

CLICK here to see why Rip-off Report, as a matter of policy, deleted either a phone number, link or e-mail address from this Report.

As a member of the Banjohangout for over 4 years this report has me thinking. I feel I need some questions answered.

The website obviously makes profits off of sponsorships.
There is a banjo hangout union where you pay $30.00 for a cheap T-shirt. Where does this money go?

In addition, the owner wants to charge for elite lesson listings on the website. If the goal of the website is to serve banjo players worldwide why would they charge for this? Is there a need for more money to be poured into the website? I'd like some verification on the need for this? I haven't seen any upgrades on the website. It doesn't cost that much to host a website like this on the internet. The moderators aren't even payed.

There are numerous other income generating areas on this website. It is my understanding that this money should go back into the hangout. I won't believe this is the case until proven otherwise.

I thought to be a non-profit organization you have to have a board of directors, trustees. As far as i know, there isn't one for the banjohangout.

The owner has quite a number of non-profit organizations (((ROR redacted)))
I find it fishy. I could be wrong, but i think it should be investigated.

CLICK here to see why Rip-off Report, as a matter of policy, deleted either a phone number, link or e-mail address from this Report.

As a member of the Banjohangout for over 4 years this report has me thinking. I feel I need some questions answered.

The website obviously makes profits off of sponsorships.
There is a banjo hangout union where you pay $30.00 for a cheap T-shirt. Where does this money go?

In addition, the owner wants to charge for elite lesson listings on the website. If the goal of the website is to serve banjo players worldwide why would they charge for this? Is there a need for more money to be poured into the website? I'd like some verification on the need for this? I haven't seen any upgrades on the website. It doesn't cost that much to host a website like this on the internet. The moderators aren't even payed.

There are numerous other income generating areas on this website. It is my understanding that this money should go back into the hangout. I won't believe this is the case until proven otherwise.

I thought to be a non-profit organization you have to have a board of directors, trustees. As far as i know, there isn't one for the banjohangout.

The owner has quite a number of non-profit organizations (((ROR redacted)))
I find it fishy. I could be wrong, but i think it should be investigated.

CLICK here to see why Rip-off Report, as a matter of policy, deleted either a phone number, link or e-mail address from this Report.

As a member of the Banjohangout for over 4 years this report has me thinking. I feel I need some questions answered.

The website obviously makes profits off of sponsorships.
There is a banjo hangout union where you pay $30.00 for a cheap T-shirt. Where does this money go?

In addition, the owner wants to charge for elite lesson listings on the website. If the goal of the website is to serve banjo players worldwide why would they charge for this? Is there a need for more money to be poured into the website? I'd like some verification on the need for this? I haven't seen any upgrades on the website. It doesn't cost that much to host a website like this on the internet. The moderators aren't even payed.

There are numerous other income generating areas on this website. It is my understanding that this money should go back into the hangout. I won't believe this is the case until proven otherwise.

I thought to be a non-profit organization you have to have a board of directors, trustees. As far as i know, there isn't one for the banjohangout.

The owner has quite a number of non-profit organizations (((ROR redacted)))
I find it fishy. I could be wrong, but i think it should be investigated.

CLICK here to see why Rip-off Report, as a matter of policy, deleted either a phone number, link or e-mail address from this Report.

I am also a moderator for the Banjo Hangout. How anyone would believe that a moderator would HAVE to make up 9,000 people to help the Hangout make money is amazing.

As a moderator I barely have time to moderate much less spend time posting pretending to be 9,000 other members.

No one has ever said the Hangout is non profit, any money taken in from the members is strictly voluntary. Advertisers know what works, and advertising on the Hangout works; hopefully someone is making money since that is what keeps sites like the BHO going.

As for whether or not that is Hugh posting, absolutely not. The man has way more integrity then to post BS like that. Hugh has always been nothing but helpful to the folks on the hangout while helping to maintain the site as the family friendly place that it is.

The original poster obviously has an ax to grind against Hugh. The report is totally false, and frankly rather stupid.

As with any online community you will have persons that don't feel their contributions were felt to be exemplary and they didn't receive the pat on the back from management, you will have disgruntled persons. You will also have some that want to rebel against the rules and then feel slighted because they were warned not to do such a thing again. Somewhere within this paragraph lies the person that filed this report.

I've never seen where the banjohangout.org was stated to be a non-profit organization of any type. Why should it be anyone's business if Eric makes money from this endeavor, hopefully he does make some money, which will help to keep the doors open for the rest of us to enjoy the place.

As far as I know you could sign up and become a member and have access to read & write anything you wish as long as it is within the guidelines, have access to 100 megabytes of space to post pictures and music for absolutely no monetary payment of any kind, ever. You can even sell personal instruments and not be forced to pay any fee, only an honorary contribution system exists.

The person that wrote this thing to the ripoffreport did so under the pretense of being Hugh because they didn't have the backbone to do so under their own name.

This so called report should be removed from this website as there is no merit to it.

As with any online community you will have persons that don't feel their contributions were felt to be exemplary and they didn't receive the pat on the back from management, you will have disgruntled persons. You will also have some that want to rebel against the rules and then feel slighted because they were warned not to do such a thing again. Somewhere within this paragraph lies the person that filed this report.

I've never seen where the banjohangout.org was stated to be a non-profit organization of any type. Why should it be anyone's business if Eric makes money from this endeavor, hopefully he does make some money, which will help to keep the doors open for the rest of us to enjoy the place.

As far as I know you could sign up and become a member and have access to read & write anything you wish as long as it is within the guidelines, have access to 100 megabytes of space to post pictures and music for absolutely no monetary payment of any kind, ever. You can even sell personal instruments and not be forced to pay any fee, only an honorary contribution system exists.

The person that wrote this thing to the ripoffreport did so under the pretense of being Hugh because they didn't have the backbone to do so under their own name.

This so called report should be removed from this website as there is no merit to it.

As with any online community you will have persons that don't feel their contributions were felt to be exemplary and they didn't receive the pat on the back from management, you will have disgruntled persons. You will also have some that want to rebel against the rules and then feel slighted because they were warned not to do such a thing again. Somewhere within this paragraph lies the person that filed this report.

I've never seen where the banjohangout.org was stated to be a non-profit organization of any type. Why should it be anyone's business if Eric makes money from this endeavor, hopefully he does make some money, which will help to keep the doors open for the rest of us to enjoy the place.

As far as I know you could sign up and become a member and have access to read & write anything you wish as long as it is within the guidelines, have access to 100 megabytes of space to post pictures and music for absolutely no monetary payment of any kind, ever. You can even sell personal instruments and not be forced to pay any fee, only an honorary contribution system exists.

The person that wrote this thing to the ripoffreport did so under the pretense of being Hugh because they didn't have the backbone to do so under their own name.

This so called report should be removed from this website as there is no merit to it.

As with any online community you will have persons that don't feel their contributions were felt to be exemplary and they didn't receive the pat on the back from management, you will have disgruntled persons. You will also have some that want to rebel against the rules and then feel slighted because they were warned not to do such a thing again. Somewhere within this paragraph lies the person that filed this report.

I've never seen where the banjohangout.org was stated to be a non-profit organization of any type. Why should it be anyone's business if Eric makes money from this endeavor, hopefully he does make some money, which will help to keep the doors open for the rest of us to enjoy the place.

As far as I know you could sign up and become a member and have access to read & write anything you wish as long as it is within the guidelines, have access to 100 megabytes of space to post pictures and music for absolutely no monetary payment of any kind, ever. You can even sell personal instruments and not be forced to pay any fee, only an honorary contribution system exists.

The person that wrote this thing to the ripoffreport did so under the pretense of being Hugh because they didn't have the backbone to do so under their own name.

This so called report should be removed from this website as there is no merit to it.

Its unbelievable that someone has nothing better to do than try and deface a reputable web site. I have been a member there since 2004 and have the utmost respect for the owner and the moderators. The owner has established rules and the mods do a great job enforcing them and they do so to keep it a family oriented site. I have never been asked by anyone who owns or operates the banjo hangout for money. I'm guessing this is someone who couldn't abide by the rules and has been locked out and is trying to hurt the site. I suggest that people go and check the site out. It wont take long to ruin this trolls credibility.

I've been with the Banjo Hangout for a year. It was never represented as a nonprofit organization in all that time. There never has been a misrepresentation of the facts and the person who claims to be filing the report is not who he says he is.

The BHO is a valuable site for which many of us glady pay membership dues to help keep it going. Eric and his team of volunteers provide a valuable service to the banjo playing community. It is the best example I know of a working on-line community. It is family friendly, polite and a rich source of information about banjos and banjo playing.

The fact that it is still up is either because you haven't bothered to investigate the truth of the charge (in which case somone needs to investigate this website) or it's because you are using controversial posts like this which rip popular and respected websites in order to collect personal information about the users who must register with you in order to post.

If so, I repeat. Someone needs to investigate whether ripoffreport.com is what it claims to be or whether it's a big phishing expedition.....

I'm just sayin'

Tom King

I am a moderator on the web site banjohangout and I can assure you that I do not use "ghost" accounts or participate in any non-ethical or deceptive behavior. I have been frequenting this website for 3 years now and have had many online interchanges with Hugh, the gentleman who allegedly wrote this report, and I know him to be honest and dependable. His "work" on the website is to add to the discussion and make sure that discussion follows the posted rules and regulations of the forum. He categorically denies writing this "rip off" report and is quite angry that it is attributed to him. I feel it is the work of a disgruntled forum member. I would like to see a full investigation of who wrote this material. This is a website for banjo enthusiasts pure and simple, and the idea that it is some kind of scam is utterly ridiculous.

I know Hugh Willingham and he did not write this letter. The accusations are absurd -- 90000 ghost accounts?? That is impossible. There are over 25,000 members on the Banjo Hangout. The site is well run and the members show respect for one another. This is report is clearly filed by disgruntled coward who doesn't have the guts to use his own name, so he has to steal someone else's.

Anyone care to do the math? The author, whose writing style does NOT match Hugh's, claims to be Hugh. Also claims to have time to maintain several thousand accounts. Claims that I am actually corresponding with her or him, when we're messaging back and forth.

Do the math. Given the finite numbers of hours in the day, who has time to message individually with all the actual people, keeping a clear distinction between the alleged ghost accounts who do well with spelling and grammar, and those who don't?

If you got a message offering you 30% of the millions hidden away by a murdered Nigerian cocoa farmer, you wouldn't believe it. Why would you put up on your website, a letter that is equally unbelievable?

The people who fall for the Nigerian money scams are considered fools. What words may we use, to refer to the staff of the Ripoff Report site, since they gave their credence to the person pretending to be Hugh?

As a member in good standing at banjohangout.org, I can assure the reading public that this site, its owner and its moderators are all of impeccable character, honest and forthright. This site does not claim to be non-profit, or even not-for-profit. It is a legitimate business that gains its revenue from advertisers, sales of goods and services, and donations. Besides the claims in the above report that simply stretch credulity, it seems obvious that someone has an axe to grind with the moderation staff and hopes to stir up attention and controversy. Rest assured, there is no controversy here. No one will stand by the claims of "9,000 ghost accounts" established to sell more advertising; they cannot because it simply isn't true.
If the site owner is turning a profit, it is simply a testament to his good business sense, dedication, and hard work.

First off - I am a moderator for the Banjo Hangout so I definitely have "inside information" if such a term is appropriate to something as transparently benevolent as I believe the Banjo Hangout to be.

I have been an active and appreciative member of this website since 2004. I have made numerous donations over the years and I will continue to do so indefinitely.

I feel honored to have been accepted as a moderator on this website - I believe it truly is an incredible resource for banjo and banjo music enthusiasts of all stripes.

This site enjoys a worldwide following of active members from all walks of life. Total newcomers to banjos can engage in discussions with seasoned professionals - muscians, banjo makers, recording artists, music teachers, retailers...

all sorts of folks regularly participate and anyone familiar with banjodom would be amazed to see some of the names that are "regulars" on "The Hangout".

We have more than 25,000 members and a great deal of them are actively participating in a vibrant and very dynamic community exchanging all sorts of information - and I am personally very proud of being able to use the term "WE" in reference to this site.

All of this is free to any person that wants to become a member. Along with access to the forums, members have the right to post pictures, their own videos and music files and maintain daily blogs on their own homepage. The amount of bandwidth available to post music and videos with a FREE membership is truly amazing.

Nowhere, at any time, in any place, during the countless hours I've spent on this forum, have I ever read anything representing it as a non-profit venture. I've never seen any moderator or the site administrator represent it as being a nonprofit venture - ever.

It seems perhaps that the complaint was written by someone that took the mistaken notion that all websites with a .org name are by definition non-profit websites and ran amok with it. It seems obvious to me that it was done with malicious intent and I'm interested in seeing what laws if any may apply to this. To my mind it's clearly libel.

But not only do I think it's malicious slander - I also find the notion that Hugh is creating ghost accounts to participate in forum topics in an effort to inflate the numbers to attract more advertisers to be absurd - it's ridiculous and malicious and I'm sure any member of the forum being attacked would gladly set the record straight.

This is the obvious work of a disgruntled website member (ex-member, more likely). The allegations are unsubstantiated and untrue. To libel 2 upstanding men such as Hugh and Eric and then hide behind the anonymity of the internet only goes to underscore and substantiate that the author of this originating document deserves no further recognition or attention from us. Eric runs a fine website and it is supervised and moderated by a fine volunteer staff, including the likes of Hugh and many others. I applaud their website and their continued fine work and will continue to enjoy my visits there.

Sincerely

I'm Hugh Willingham and I did not post this crap. Ive been a Mod on BHO for years... My guess is that I know just who the this person because the date is the same as a jurk I locked out...I think a little note to the FBI may clear this up.

If you don't think this is the real Banjoman AKA Hugh, look me up on the Hangout.

Hugh

Eric Schlange the owner of this rip-off web site is trying to get the Google ads to stop showing this valid complaint. Trying to have this complaint pushed to the back of the Google results! Nice Try!



Eric...do you need me to "post the rules" of the internet like I have to do on your site?

Oh BTW............BUMP!

Hugh