Recently, Team BHP ( http://www.team-bhp.com) has come up with a new policy that all new registrations will have to be "approved" by them, and only after that will their membership be confirmed. And till then, the new joinees pretty much cannot do anything on the site, be it posting queries or responding to posts (see attached image below).
To help Team BHP in deciding if you are "worthy" of being a member, all new registrants are required to answer a question "Why do you wish to join Team BHP?" as part of the registration process. You are expected to provide detailed reasoning as to why you wish to join the site, what is your level of interest in automobiles, etc. And there is a warning not take this lightly, since based on the reasons you provide, they will decide whether you are really "member material" or not!
Now, let’s put aside for a moment the fact that in a competitive environment, one cannot afford to be this arrogant. Even if we forget that, we would still expect that they be prompt in confirming or rejecting registrations, and that they let us know about it. It’s only basic courtesy! However, it’s been a few months now since I registered on the site and till date I have no notification as to whether my membership is confirmed or rejected!
I’m sure ultimately Team BHP will realise the folly of its policy. Because if they want to continue to have quality members who have valuable information to contribute, they will have to give up their snootiness and arrogance and relook at this "sarkari" type of policy of keeping new members on hold and harassing them in this way.
As for me, well, I’m not interested anymore! It is a competitive online world, as I said. There are numerous sites and forums where I can participate and get and share knowledge on automobiles, Mouthshut being one of them. Hope Team BHP gets its act in order soon, for its own good!