Understanding RTAW Business Ranks

MASA · Post by **MASA** » Tue Jun 17, 2008 4:09 am

In order to keep everything above board MASA has for some time required all businesses participating on RTAW to register their details with us and to have that association displayed on their RTAW Forum User id through the use of a Business Rank. We understand that there are numerous pros and cons in doing this however we believe that it achieves the most balanced outcome for all parties including forum users and businesses.

Please be aware that the registration process that MASA has which results in businesses being allowed to participate or advertise on the RTAW Forums is in no way an endorsement of any of the participating businesses. Quite simply MASA does not have the means or resources to make a judgement on this. Any dealings that you as a forum user have with any participating business should be made using your best judgement and as always we encourage you to use the buyer beware principle.

Following is a brief description of the various ranks and what it is that they mean.

RTAW Registered Business
A user with the RTAW Registered Business has registered their details with MASA and has the business details in the signature of their RTAW Forum User Id which is linked to their listing in the RTAW Business Directory.

MASA Partner
MASA Partners are those registered businesses that have enrolled in the MASA Business Partnership program. Typically this involves supporting MASA or it's members in some way. Examples of this include member discounts or prize donations to MASA Competitions. We certainly encourage you to consider supporting those businesses that support us through this program.

MASA Premium Partner
Periodically MASA reviews the contributions of our Business Partners to MASA and it's members and bestows the rank of Premium Partner on those business that have made the highest level of contribution. Typically there will only ever be a select few businesses in this category and it is based on contributions over the previous 6-12 month period.

RTAW Business User
An RTAW Business User is a subcategory of RTAW Registered Businesses without the signature requirements. Typically this rank is used where a user with a business link wishes to post solely as a hobbyist or the identification of the business is not required for reasons such as the persons role within the business. A user with this rank may not use this user id to promote the business they are associated with in any way including making comment on their competitors.

Exempt business users
Those users that qualify as an RTAW Business User and who are also a member of a MAS may apply to the committee of their society for a full exemption from displaying a business rank or signature. The MASx Committees will make their decision based on their view of whether that individual seeks to use that particular id to profit from their business connection. The exemption may be rescinded at any point in time if the user id is used to promote the associated business.

RTAW Unregistered Business
This rank is used to denote users that have signed up to the RTAW Forums but have not registered their details with MASA. Once identified they are given this rank and asked to complete the registration process. Failure to do so results in the user account being suspended. If you notice a user who is related to a business in some way without a business rank of any kind please use the "report a post" feature to bring it to the attention of the RTAW Forum moderators.

If you are a business user and would like more information please see the <a href="http://www.masa.asn.au/masa/content/blogcategory/68/172/">business section on RTAW</a>.