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UKPBA/Delta Force Link Proof

Missy-Q

300lb of Chocolate Love
Jul 31, 2007
2,524
1,132
198
Harlem, NY
DF leisure owns delta force, Although recently they changed companies to some generic sports group/ charity, as apparently charities dont pay tax on imported products? (please correct me if im wrong, its only from the infomation thats come to me) Its a very shady company.

Anyway, UKPBA is DF they are one of the same, they cliam membership legitimacy through the small print when you sign the disclaimer saying your willing to join UKPBA. hence why they boast 500,000 odd members, which I wish was accurate as that would be alot of paintballers!

Truth is if DF could make more money selling tinned fruit it would be called Delta Fruit, they care nothing about paintball. Staff are paid a slave wage for the hours, and are treated badly, and they give people a distorted view of paintball, which harms real paintball companies and organisations who do so much hard work to keep our sport afloat.
Delta Force/Flying Colours have been around for over 20-odd years. They are a 'real paintball company'.
They have the largest privately owned chain of fields in the country, quite possibly the World, have bought several million pounds worth of equipment, and continue to open fields and invest heavily in the industry. They can order over 1,000,000 balls per week, making them the largest buying field-entity in the UK's industry, and the in the history of that industry.
More people play at their fields than anywhere else in the country, and most importantly, they have a proven marketing system capable of sustaining the above stats.
They have been the pariah's of the UK field scene for 2 decades, and yet have never attempted to defend or protect their reputation - they just get on with their jobs and keep kicking everyone elses ass...

We may not like their methods, but they have the most successful business formula in the UK Paintball field industry and I think perhaps they need to be recognised and appreciated a little more than they are.

If half of what I have heard about Delta Force were true, they would not be around today. For sure.
Their poor reputation was mostly earned by the original owner, who went mad and was put in an asylum. Then Ivan (Turks) bought the business, and Ivan is a straight-up guy. He kept the original marketing machine, because it works, and he invested in all new equipment. I have personally sold more field guns to those guys than anyone else in the UK, so the reports that they don't care, don't provide adequate safety equipment, have old crappy markers etc are false.
Plus, if their staff were paid and treated like slaves, they would have no staff. Disgruntled ex-employee's may disagree, but that's why we call them disgruntled.


I'm no DF super-fan, but be careful what you wish for. There are umpteen threads on here saying how we need to get more people playing - Delta Force are doing this better than anyone else in the country, and yet they are the devil?
Make up your minds people.
 

Soul Doubt

Bhood!
Jul 7, 2009
579
46
53
36
South Wales
Delta Force/Flying Colours have been around for over 20-odd years. They are a 'real paintball company'.
They have the largest privately owned chain of fields in the country, quite possibly the World, have bought several million pounds worth of equipment, and continue to open fields and invest heavily in the industry. They can order over 1,000,000 balls per week, making them the largest buying field-entity in the UK's industry, and the in the history of that industry.
More people play at their fields than anywhere else in the country, and most importantly, they have a proven marketing system capable of sustaining the above stats.
They have been the pariah's of the UK field scene for 2 decades, and yet have never attempted to defend or protect their reputation - they just get on with their jobs and keep kicking everyone elses ass...

We may not like their methods, but they have the most successful business formula in the UK Paintball field industry and I think perhaps they need to be recognised and appreciated a little more than they are.

If half of what I have heard about Delta Force were true, they would not be around today. For sure.
Their poor reputation was mostly earned by the original owner, who went mad and was put in an asylum. Then Ivan (Turks) bought the business, and Ivan is a straight-up guy. He kept the original marketing machine, because it works, and he invested in all new equipment. I have personally sold more field guns to those guys than anyone else in the UK, so the reports that they don't care, don't provide adequate safety equipment, have old crappy markers etc are false.
Plus, if their staff were paid and treated like slaves, they would have no staff. Disgruntled ex-employee's may disagree, but that's why we call them disgruntled.


I'm no DF super-fan, but be careful what you wish for. There are umpteen threads on here saying how we need to get more people playing - Delta Force are doing this better than anyone else in the country, and yet they are the devil?
Make up your minds people.

Your welcomed to your own opinions, as am I. I dont know you or doubt I ever will, and likewise you dont know me. but I have "made up my mind" on DF, and stick by it.
 

Missy-Q

300lb of Chocolate Love
Jul 31, 2007
2,524
1,132
198
Harlem, NY
Your welcomed to your own opinions, as am I. I dont know you or doubt I ever will, and likewise you dont know me. but I have "made up my mind" on DF, and stick by it.
It doesn't matter if you know me or not. The stats I posted are accurate, and the information provided is true. I havn't really stated my own opinion.

....and I have no interest in changing your mind, just in exposing that you're wrong (not just you though, I just chose to quote your post because it was near the bottom.)
 

Robbo

Owner of this website
Jul 5, 2001
13,116
2,157
448
London
www.p8ntballer.com
Soul Doubt, you are not alone in your dislike; I don't really care how much they buy from our industry or how successful their business model is, after all, Al Capone and the Krays ran good businesses if you think market share and profits is the only criterion you use to judge them.

I don't like them because of their deception in terms of that phony UKPBA; it gives a distorted view of that company to customers that know no better ... if they are as successful as you say Missy [and I gladly take your word for it] then why stoop so low as to tell outright lies in their promo? .. you don't see Planet lying their ass off to get sales .. they market professionally with no attendant BS.... I think the DF outfit stinks, not because they are market dominant, it's because they invent a paintball association and pass it off as an independent whilst at the same time orchestrating both their company and the UKPBA ...... it stinks !!!
 

Soul Doubt

Bhood!
Jul 7, 2009
579
46
53
36
South Wales
It doesn't matter if you know me or not. The stats I posted are accurate, and the information provided is true. I havn't really stated my own opinion.

....and I have no interest in changing your mind, just in exposing that you're wrong (not just you though, I just chose to quote your post because it was near the bottom.)

I would class what you wrote as an opionion, backed up by your facts sure, but an opinion none the less. Which as ive said your welcomed to have. I personally never said you would/could change my mind in my post, I stated that I had a clear viewpoint on DF. As for saying I (and others) are wrong for having an opinion on DF, that seems a little unfair.

I think knowing you would matter as I could read your posts in a different light with a greater understanding of the kind of person you are.


Anyway, i'll leave it at that otherwise it will spiral off topic.
 

Soul Doubt

Bhood!
Jul 7, 2009
579
46
53
36
South Wales
Soul Doubt, you are not alone in your dislike; I don't really care how much they buy from our industry or how successful their business model is, after all, Al Capone and the Krays ran good businesses if you think market share and profits is the only criterion you use to judge them.

I don't like them because of their deception in terms of that phony UKPBA; it gives a distorted view of that company to customers that know no better ... if they are as successful as you say Missy [and I gladly take your word for it] then why stoop so low as to tell outright lies in their promo? .. you don't see Planet lying their ass off to get sales .. they market professionally with no attendant BS.... I think their outfit stinks, not because they are market dominant, it's because they invent a paintball association and pass it off as an independent whilst at the same time orchestrating both their company and the UKPBA ...... it stinks !!!

Robbo, your post sums up my thoughts to a T :)
 

Robbo

Owner of this website
Jul 5, 2001
13,116
2,157
448
London
www.p8ntballer.com
SD .. Missy Q is an insightful and intelligent individual, make no mistake about that; his angle is different from ours in that he's always been on the industry side of the fence where money is the bottom line.
I'm not in any way suggesting he's mercenary, he isn't, he just looks at things a little differently from most which for the most part, I really like.

He's not one of the bad guys, I promise you that ..if he was, I wouldn't be his friend and he wouldn't be on our site ...
 

Missy-Q

300lb of Chocolate Love
Jul 31, 2007
2,524
1,132
198
Harlem, NY
Soul Doubt, you are not alone in your dislike; I don't really care how much they buy from our industry or how successful their business model is, after all, Al Capone and the Krays ran good businesses if you think market share and profits is the only criterion you use to judge them.

I don't like them because of their deception in terms of that phony UKPBA; it gives a distorted view of that company to customers that know no better ... if they are as successful as you say Missy [and I gladly take your word for it] then why stoop so low as to tell outright lies in their promo? .. you don't see Planet lying their ass off to get sales .. they market professionally with no attendant BS.... I think their outfit stinks, not because they are market dominant, it's because they invent a paintball association and pass it off as an independent whilst at the same time orchestrating both their company and the UKPBA ...... it stinks !!!
I haven't seen the promo, but my question would be; 'Does it work'? If it does, and they aren't breaking the law, then that would be classed by many as smart business.

I feel I need to make myself clearer - You don't have to like Delta Force (most don't). I have run fields where they were my competition, and I didn't appreciate their street-sales tactics much, especially when the players showed up at our field to redeem their vouchers.

My first point is that the Industry has ostracised and bad-mouthed them for years (unless they've been selling to them). They are pretty much universally hated, and receive no help or support from any organisation in the UK (that I know of), in fact they can only expect the opposite - to be knocked and kicked for whatever they do. So, with that in miind, why should they care about the fed's, or the traditional industry group's, or any other organisation's feelings? They simply aren't interested in all that stuff, and don't consider it. They have no friends to keep happy, so they do what they want. They are simply operating in their own business-bubble, and making moves to increase their player base. Just like everything else they do, we may not like it, but there sure isn't a law against it, and it would be classed as common in many other business sectors.
Your example of Planet is not 'apples to apples', as Planet sell a brand, and need to maintain a positive profile in a global industry, and to do that you have to strive to get along with everyone and be seen to further the common good. These guys don't operate in that same category.

My second point is that the Delta Force model works. If you believe that they give their first time players a terrible experience and put them off for good (I have heard this a lot, and even said it myself) then what does that say about their marketing model?

If they are able to spend 20 years packing paintball fields and making them very successful businesses (more than most), without retaining any customers, then I believe that makes their marketing model even more impressive - bordering on miraculous actually. Are they really able to find new people to shoot 1,000,000 balls per week? Really? Wow! How come the UK industry isn't one of the healthiest on the planet? I think it's far more likely that they do retain many of their clients. With that said, and the plethora of threads on your site with people scratchin' their heads and wondering how to expand the game at grass-roots, it makes me wonder why people think that they 'don't care about paintball at all'. If nothing else, if I was earning half a mil per year from Paintball, I would care an awful lot about it. There is a lot to be learned fron the Delta Force model. It may not be perfect, but it's the most effective one I have seen in my 25 year tenure.

I get that you don't like DF, and why. I don't like Smart Parts, and you know why, but I never thought they were bad businessmen, or didn't care about paintball, etc.