Secret Santa 2020

[N_Architect]

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View attachment 82557

I'm sure my father in law will appreciate the Wars a lot.

While your father-in-law may surely appreciate the Wars, my take on this is that you should first and foremost appreciate the time, effort and dedication of all those who organized the ATG SS 2020 as well as those who participated in it.

The comment you made re the Wars cream exhibits your dissatisfaction with this particular gift.
What you wrote is more or less the same thing as saying "wtf is that low quality thing, I was expecting more, I do not appreciate it."

Obviously the Wars + Wickham combo barely covered your expectations.
You may as well be technically right, the total value of the packet(s) may not strictly be above the min set limit for the ATG SS 2020.

But shiite happens, and you know it.
You probably know well that few years back we had a member over at the GR wet shaving forum who participated in the Secret Santa and his gift contribution was to ask a friend (???) go and drop off (???) outside the recipients' house a slightly used bottle of Proraso Eucalyptus afteshave lotion, in a plastic carrier bag (if memory serves me well). Yes, bad things happen in life - but they reflect those who do these things, not the recipient of the action.

May be the person who was randomly chosen to send you that ATG SS 2020 gift was indeed a bit tight (for whatever reason).
So to top up for the Wickham Soap sent to you, he may have asked a friend or family member in Poland to send you that Wars cream.
Yes, that shaving cream may possibly cost a couple of quid over there, in the local supermarket.

But coming over here, openly, to casually initiate a kind of fact-finding process, and moreover, again publicly addressing semi-hidden concerns to Lee, is quite disrespectful - let me tell you that.
And to make things worse you subsequently come and attach a picture of what Lee had sent you re the number of packages or whatever else.

You did not possess the slightest degree of discreetness to take this over with Lee via PM (and taking it via PM with him would already be too much).
Absolutely unacceptable.

I have been in forums since 2004, due to the lonely lifestyle I have had as an expat.
In wet shaving forums I have been intensively since late 2009.

Based on this experience, I find the style and quality of moderation in this forum to be truly exceptional and very hard to find elsewhere; and for this we can only thank the team as well as Lee.
This is not a comment to flatter the team, I believe it is realistically echoed by other members here.

Instead of keeping silent and enjoying your gifts and Christmas, you come over and ask questions by posting pictures, expecting answers from people who are not responsible to give you such answers.
All this during the Christmas holiday when all of us are trying to have some joyful moments, and after the hard efforts Lee put into this.

You have genuine intentions to explore this hobby further, but I honestly feel you must find a slightly different way in expressing your thirst to learn more.
So please contribute constructively.

I am very sorry for what I write, but this is how I feel.
A large number of members here I have known them 'online' for many years, have done numerous transactions and built solid trust with them; I have made my mistakes too in the process.

I did not participate in this year's ATG SS but as already said by others it is sad to see Lee expressing reluctance to potentially organize this again.

 

[Deleted member 1881]

While your father-in-law may surely appreciate the Wars, my take on this is that you should first and foremost appreciate the time, effort and dedication of all those who organized the ATG SS 2020 as well as those who participated in it.

The comment you made re the Wars cream exhibits your dissatisfaction with this particular gift.
What you wrote is more or less the same thing as saying "wtf is that low quality thing, I was expecting more, I do not appreciate it."

Obviously the Wars + Wickham combo barely covered your expectations.
You may as well be technically right, the total value of the packet(s) may not strictly be above the min set limit for the ATG SS 2020.

But shiite happens, and you know it.
You probably know well that few years back we had a member over at the GR wet shaving forum who participated in the Secret Santa and his gift contribution was to ask a friend (???) go and drop off (???) outside the recipients' house a slightly used bottle of Proraso Eucalyptus afteshave lotion, in a plastic carrier bag (if memory serves me well). Yes, bad things happen in life - but they reflect those who do these things, not the recipient of the action.

May be the person who was randomly chosen to send you that ATG SS 2020 gift was indeed a bit tight (for whatever reason).
So to top up for the Wickham Soap sent to you, he may have asked a friend or family member in Poland to send you that Wars cream.
Yes, that shaving cream may possibly cost a couple of quid over there, in the local supermarket.

But coming over here, openly, to casually initiate a kind of fact-finding process, and moreover, again publicly addressing semi-hidden concerns to Lee, is quite disrespectful - let me tell you that.
And to make things worse you subsequently come and attach a picture of what Lee had sent you re the number of packages or whatever else.

You did not possess the slightest degree of discreetness to take this over with Lee via PM (and taking it via PM with him would already be too much).
Absolutely unacceptable.

I have been in forums since 2004, due to the lonely lifestyle I have had as an expat.
In wet shaving forums I have been intensively since late 2009.

Based on this experience, I find the style and quality of moderation in this forum to be truly exceptional and very hard to find elsewhere; and for this we can only thank the team as well as Lee.
This is not a comment to flatter the team, I believe it is realistically echoed by other members here.

Instead of keeping silent and enjoying your gifts and Christmas, you come over and ask questions by posting pictures, expecting answers from people who are not responsible to give you such answers.
All this during the Christmas holiday when all of us are trying to have some joyful moments, and after the hard efforts Lee put into this.

You have genuine intentions to explore this hobby further, but I honestly feel you must find a slightly different way in expressing your thirst to learn more.
So please contribute constructively.

I am very sorry for what I write, but this is how I feel.
A large number of members here I have known them 'online' for many years, have done numerous transactions and built solid trust with them; I have made my mistakes too in the process.

I did not participate in this year's ATG SS but as already said by others it is sad to see Lee expressing reluctance to potentially organize this again.

From what you wrote it is now obvious why you haven't put any like all this time in any of my SoTD pictures, product acquisitions etc.

I did not offend anyone, I just made a question.

But it's OK, Merry Christmas.

 

[Northam Saint]

While your father-in-law may surely appreciate the Wars, my take on this is that you should first and foremost appreciate the time, effort and dedication of all those who organized the ATG SS 2020 as well as those who participated in it.

The comment you made re the Wars cream exhibits your dissatisfaction with this particular gift.
What you wrote is more or less the same thing as saying "wtf is that low quality thing, I was expecting more, I do not appreciate it."

Obviously the Wars + Wickham combo barely covered your expectations.
You may as well be technically right, the total value of the packet(s) may not strictly be above the min set limit for the ATG SS 2020.

But shiite happens, and you know it.
You probably know well that few years back we had a member over at the GR wet shaving forum who participated in the Secret Santa and his gift contribution was to ask a friend (???) go and drop off (???) outside the recipients' house a slightly used bottle of Proraso Eucalyptus afteshave lotion, in a plastic carrier bag (if memory serves me well). Yes, bad things happen in life - but they reflect those who do these things, not the recipient of the action.

May be the person who was randomly chosen to send you that ATG SS 2020 gift was indeed a bit tight (for whatever reason).
So to top up for the Wickham Soap sent to you, he may have asked a friend or family member in Poland to send you that Wars cream.
Yes, that shaving cream may possibly cost a couple of quid over there, in the local supermarket.

But coming over here, openly, to casually initiate a kind of fact-finding process, and moreover, again publicly addressing semi-hidden concerns to Lee, is quite disrespectful - let me tell you that.
And to make things worse you subsequently come and attach a picture of what Lee had sent you re the number of packages or whatever else.

You did not possess the slightest degree of discreetness to take this over with Lee via PM (and taking it via PM with him would already be too much).
Absolutely unacceptable.

I have been in forums since 2004, due to the lonely lifestyle I have had as an expat.
In wet shaving forums I have been intensively since late 2009.

Based on this experience, I find the style and quality of moderation in this forum to be truly exceptional and very hard to find elsewhere; and for this we can only thank the team as well as Lee.
This is not a comment to flatter the team, I believe it is realistically echoed by other members here.

Instead of keeping silent and enjoying your gifts and Christmas, you come over and ask questions by posting pictures, expecting answers from people who are not responsible to give you such answers.
All this during the Christmas holiday when all of us are trying to have some joyful moments, and after the hard efforts Lee put into this.

You have genuine intentions to explore this hobby further, but I honestly feel you must find a slightly different way in expressing your thirst to learn more.
So please contribute constructively.

I am very sorry for what I write, but this is how I feel.
A large number of members here I have known them 'online' for many years, have done numerous transactions and built solid trust with them; I have made my mistakes too in the process.

I did not participate in this year's ATG SS but as already said by others it is sad to see Lee expressing reluctance to potentially organize this again.

Having participated for a few years I have seen so much generosity in Secret Santa.

In my case this year I was over the moon with my gift. I know also I went way over the £20 limit in fact x3. Why couple of reasons, one I won’t touch on or I will give the game away. But main that I have appreciated my gifts in the past and enjoy my time on here.

As I said in my Christmas post great bunch of gentlemen on here.

 

[Wayne]

I used the TOBS Sandalwood soap and Marvis toothpaste this morning from my SS present. The Marvis was great, never tasted Toothpaste like it, I'll investigate further, it may become a fave brand for me. The soap is what I'd call an old English shave soap, tripple milled with a lather less sticky and dense than recent American Soap but still plenty good enough for a good slick shave. Both great products and several more to try. Lovely!

 

[Northam Saint]

I used the TOBS Sandalwood soap and Marvis toothpaste this morning from my SS present. The Marvis was great, never tasted Toothpaste like it, I'll investigate further, it may become a fave brand for me. The soap is what I'd call an old English shave soap, tripple milled with a lather less sticky and dense than recent American Soap but still plenty good enough for a good slick shave. Both great products and several more to try. Lovely!

Use Marvis all the time now. Check out their website as they seem to be expanding on flavours all the time. Very nice premium brand, great graphics on the box and tube, but what I like is it’s lower foam than the normal supermarket brands.

 

[Cheesepiece]

@RandySp
This all turned quite unpleasant.
Apparently Wars can be had cheaper than what the Secret Santa indeed paid. But since it was recommended for that Secret Santa to try it himself, as it is apparently akin to Speick in that it is a great, underrated performer, but from Poland, Secret Santa himself always had it in mind. It was a bit of a gamble as a gift for Randy in Greece but Secret Santa thought it might be one Randy hadn't tried, which complements the Wickhams which Secret Santa was pretty sure Randy would enjoy.
The Wickhams was then a gamble on scent so Secret Santa ordered the 10ml sample too to go along so that, because Randy has the receipt, shipped directly to him in Greece from Connaught he could exchange it should the scent not be amenable but that he could try it first to make sure, but then exchange the unused tub if it wasn't to Randy's liking.

Re: cost, £5.50 plus £18 (and then shipping to Greece from the UK and Poland) not included in the Secret Santa total). It's only 10-15% over the £20 "limit" before postage.

This particular Secret Santa has shared the receipts for the above gifts to this post for clarity.
I'm not here for a pissing contest and the earlier remarks about data breaches are unfounded and the reasonable causes offered by other members are very close to the truth as to why anyone should think ahead and ship from two different vendors to one Secret Santa recipient.

 

[Deleted member 1881]

@RandySp
This all turned quite unpleasant.
Apparently Wars can be had cheaper than what the Secret Santa indeed paid. But since it was recommended for that Secret Santa to try it himself, as it is apparently akin to Speick in that it is a great, underrated performer, but from Poland, Secret Santa himself always had it in mind. It was a bit of a gamble as a gift for Randy in Greece but Secret Santa thought it might be one Randy hadn't tried, which complements the Wickhams which Secret Santa was pretty sure Randy would enjoy.
The Wickhams was then a gamble on scent so Secret Santa ordered the 10ml sample too to go along so that, because Randy has the receipt, shipped directly to him in Greece from Connaught he could exchange it should the scent not be amenable but that he could try it first to make sure, but then exchange the unused tub if it wasn't to Randy's liking.

Re: cost, £5.50 plus £18 (and then shipping to Greece from the UK and Poland) not included in the Secret Santa total). It's only 10-15% over the £20 "limit" before postage.

This particular Secret Santa has shared the receipts for the above gifts to this post for clarity.
I'm not here for a pissing contest and the earlier remarks about data breaches are unfounded and the reasonable causes offered by other members are very close to the truth as to why anyone should think ahead and ship from two different vendors to one Secret Santa recipient.

Unfortunately, a lot of people here misunderstood what I said. I never implied that these products were "cheap" if they were sent by one person. I just thought that there was a second person that sent me only that cream and since I am not the one that made the rules for the minimum price, I thought to find out what happened.I didn't mean to offend you, because as I said before, I was almost sure that someone else sent me the second parcel. Nevertheless, I apologize to you if I insulted you unintentionally. As for the others that jumped to conclusions and supported someone else here that has an empathy towards me and waited for an opportunity to slander me, I really don't care.

 

[Boycie83]

Posted my SOTD yesterday but forgot to post it here as well. Had a great Christmas Day shave - thank you again to my SS:

 

[p.b]

Thank you secret Santa
I shall enjoy trying out all of my presents. Especially looking forward to trying the ASL. It’s one I’ve been interested in for a while

 

[culcreuch]

Sunday 27th December


SMF 2007 LE Silvertip - Cyril R. Salter (Tallow) - Katana/Treet Classic (Carbon) - Worth pour homme EDT

It seemed appropriate to use my Victorian Style brush with my new traditional scuttle and soap.
Thank you Secret Santa. I just love ceramics.....and the soap performs really well

 

[Nishy]

Unfortunately, a lot of people here misunderstood what I said. I never implied that these products were "cheap" if they were sent by one person. I just thought that there was a second person that sent me only that cream and since I am not the one that made the rules for the minimum price, I thought to find out what happened.I didn't mean to offend you, because as I said before, I was almost sure that someone else sent me the second parcel. Nevertheless, I apologize to you if I insulted you unintentionally. As for the others that jumped to conclusions and supported someone else here that has an empathy towards me and waited for an opportunity to slander me, I really don't care.

Randy I don't wish to drag this out as it's not in the nature of the thread. However, I do feel compelled to comment. I agree you never directly implied the products as being cheap. Mentioning that the cream is about £2 in Poland possibly inferring you feel it is. Likewise claiming a data breach is a form of slander (without set evidence) similar to the slander you perhaps felt through certain posts you received. What I'm trying to get across is it's tit for tat and should be dropped following your above apology? I hope so anyway. Lastly I may be blasted for being on "team mod" again but Lee definitely didn't deserve to be pointed out for something outside of his influence. Randy we have both had frightening and miserable 2020, we should look at the positive through this generosity, solely organised by Lee, who didn't even receive anything as far as I'm aware.

 

[Nishy]

Back to Secret Santa. I will post pictures up shortly, received two lovely soaps, both that I have never tried. A selection of nice blades and a few bits and bobs. Thank you again to SS for taking the time and effort to send me this. Stirling 'the Duke' is something I would never have bought but will now

 

[Cleanfoam]

Back to Secret Santa. I will post pictures up shortly, received two lovely soaps, both that I have never tried. A selection of nice blades and a few bits and bobs. Thank you again to SS for taking the time and effort to send me this. Stirling 'the Duke' is something I would never have bought but will now

Yes Nishy - pictures should be a requirement of SS....get your finger out!

 

[Wayne]

Yes Nishy - pictures should be a requirement of SS....get your ringer out!

Just the presents will be fine

 

[Deleted member 1881]

Having read all your comments,it seems that many of you have formed an alliance against me and although I explained my way of thinking,you won't change your minds. Since I don't want to be somewhere that I am not welcome,you won't hear from me again.

I wish you the best.