Monday, May 17, 2010

GunPal Is Not GunPal Anymore...

...because they have changed their name to GPal instead.

Here is, in part, what they say about it on their web site:
"GUNPAL is now GPal" and "As our userbase grows, so must our appeal." Maybe they really mean in order to make their userbase grow, they need to appeal to more folks. I mean, WHY CHANGE THE NAME TO APPEAL TO OTHERS SINCE IT WAS ALREADY WORKING SO WELL AS TO MAKE THE USERBASE GROW!

That name change made them lose their appeal for me so I asked them to close my account and remove my information from their files. I sent them an email explaining I was dissatisfied with the name change because I believe it to have been indicative of a less than forthright showing of support for gun owners and also asking them close my account. They sent me a reply almost immediately afterwards but as I see it they are not sticking to their guns so I asked again that they close my account.

I apparently deleted my original email to them about this issue but I do have their reply to me and my second email to them. So, I am copying them below for you to read if you want to do so. As for me, well I cannot use Paypal to make or accept payments for firearms related transactions and I will not use GPal, so I suppose I'll have to stick to the old fashioned method of using a Postal money order.


**********

From: support@gpal.net
> To: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
> Subject: GUNPAL SUPPORT Ticket [#206132] SUPPORT TICKET: XXXXXXXXXXXX
> Date: Fri, 14 May 2010 09:49:26 -0700
>
> Support Ticket #206132
>
> Dear GLENN BARTLEY,
>
> Sorry you feel that way, but it couldn't be further from the truth. GPal is and always will be committed to supporting second amendment rights. That will never change. The CEO and all top execs and other founding employees at GPal (myself included - and I'm the President) are avid firearm enthusiasts who will never waver in our commitment to serve this community. However, if you wish to cancel your account over a prediction you have about something that may or may not happen years down the road (and certainly will not happen), I suppose that's your choice. It was a pleasure serving you and I hope you will change your position when you realize GPal will always be dedicated to upholding your rights when others will not.
>
> Your business is extremely important to us, we sincerely hope this response has answered your questions. If not, please reply directly to this email or create another ticket via the support request on the GUNPAL website.
>
> Thank you for choosing GUNPAL, the leader in transaction-neutural payment processing.
>
> - The GUNPAL Support Team.
> http://www.gunpal.com/
>
support@gunpal.com



RE: GUNPAL SUPPORT Ticket [#206132] SUPPORT TICKET: GBARTHGWT@MSN.COM‏
From: glenn bartley (XXXXXXXXXXXX)
Sent: Mon 5/17/10 8:18 AM
To: support@gpal.net

Gpal,

The thing is even though you say you will not change your support of the 2nd Amendment, it is apparent you are already stepping back from it by removing the word "Gun" from your company name in favor of making more money without it being there out in the open. If you were so committed to gun owner rights as you say you are then you would not need to change your name to appease a wider base of people, including those who are not supportive of gun rights, yet that is exactly what you have done no matter how much you want to say it is not what you have done. You have bent over backwards to appease those who are neutral and those who do not support the 2nd Amendment to make a buck. You could have kept the name and tried other marketing ploys to get a wider base while still letting people know - up front - that you are strong supporters of the 2nd Amendment!

As I see it now, the GunPal name was fine for you to begin your business, so you could lure in firearms owners with your gimmick of a name, and now once you figure you have attracted enough gun owners you change the name and want to appeal to everyone including those opposed to 2nd Amendment rights. I sort of figured it was coming when I first saw your home page on the Internet. Any site using a name like GunPal and having a race car picture on its home page instead of a picture of something to do with firearms was obviously not what it seemingly claimed to be or at least not as strongly as it claimed to be. Now you have proven it to me. Sure, you still accept any type of legal transactions but you first came out as a gun owner friendly site - so much so, and so proud and supportive of it, to call yourselves GunPal. Too bad you did not have the courage to stick to your guns.

Let me ask you this: Could you imagine the National Rifle Association removing the word rifle from its name and changing it to the National R Association to appeal to a wider base? Think about it, think about how lame it would sound to gun owners. Think about what you would have thought and about how you would have reacted to it had the NRA done that. It is just what you have done to your own name, so what should gun owners think about you?

Now, I do not see why I should support you. Your name change is just like any other change that has come about in the world where guns are concerned but where the bottom line was not gun rights but money in someone's pocket. Change a name to make more money - so if you found out you could make millions why not change a policy or two also for your profit. Maybe you won't, maybe as you say you will always be a strong advocate of gun rights but on what should I base my belief or disbelief of that? Should it be based upon what you say or what you do? I choose to believe what you do or have done is the best indicator of what is to come. Your removal of 'Gun' from the company name then is a harbinger of things to come as I see it. So please, go ahead and remove my account from your service.

Thanks,
Glenn Bartley



**********
Notice anything funny about their reply to me. They have changed their name to GPal to appeal to a wider customer base, however; they keep using the GunPal name throughout their reply such as by calling themselves the GUNPAL support team and telling me thank you for choosing GUNPAL. Whom are they trying to kid? I guess when using the Gunpal name seems convenient to them they will keep using it. I signed up for them because I believed they fully supported the 2nd Amendment and gun owners. That would have meant that they would have always been right up front about it but now they have become squeamish about using the word gun in their name I have to wonder how long it will be until they drop firearms transactions as being allowed when using their service. Maybe that will happen and maybe not but I do know for sure that they are not being up front about showing their support for the gun owning community and remember this is seemingly what they based their whole service upon when they started in business and why I and probably why thousands of others signed up for their service. So why should I support them now that they are not that up front about it. They may not be sticking to their guns but I'll stick to mine.

All the best,
Glenn B

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I reckon you've got it real wrong. By pulling out now you risk their viability.

You can pay for anything with it. If someone were to buy fishing gear or lentils or tractor parts with GPal then they get more money to improve things. It doesnt stop you buying ammo as well. In fact you can buy ammo and fishing gear at the same time.

It costs a fortune to build these systems. That's why paypal had it locked up and can play God with your right to buy things. The real issue is getting to a profit quick enough to stay viable and not lose your house, car etc.

If they go broke, you dont get to pay for guns easily and you are back to square one again. Why not quit the service if they actually change their behaviour, not their name. You wont be the only one then, and they'd deserve it.

John

Glenn B said...

As I see it, it is their behavior they have changed. They have changed the way the showed their support for gun rights and ownership. They used to be up front about it. Now I believe they were only up front about it in order to gain their original user or customer base or in other words as long as it suited them. Then in order to make more money it seems they have decided to throw away the theme by which they attracted gun owners and now they want to appeal to everyone and only in the name of profit. That is fine, it is their business and they can run it how they se fit.

The thing is there are two kinds of business - those who see profit as the main goal and those who form themselves around a theme and while wanting profit do not place profit as the most important aspect of their business but profit because of the theme being held to, the theme remaining the most important. Themes can be almost anything like delivering excellent quality, made in America, a line of western clothing, religious in nature, patriotic in nature, or even support of gun owners and gun rights. This company has already started to abandon the theme which I think was their lure for gun owners to sign up for their service. It was not a sell anything theme at first, and yes I know that has been their policy all along, but the theme was they were there for gun owners and offered gun owners a way to make transactions that companies like eBay and PayPal would not allow.

I was attracted to them because of that theme. I was quite content using postal money orders if I bought or sold a firearm online. The only reason I signed up for the GunPal service was because of their theme to support gun owners and gun rights and because, as I saw it, they used it as the theme on which their service was based. I would bet thousands of gun owners thought just like me on that point. Then profit became more important. As I said, that is okay for the company because it is the company's choice and it is there business. It is not okay for me though and that is why I asked them to close my account.

All the best,
Glenn B