I Got Sued...

I'm being sued for my review of the Vulcan Strength Talos all-in-one rack.

Vulcan filed a complaint for a jury trial in North Carolina, where they're located, and they're suing me for false advertising and defamation, alleging I made a highly negative video, which

intentionally made false, misleading and deceptive statements about the Talos product. My review was negative, and I

product. My review was negative, and I stand by it. So, with our lawyer's help I'm going to step you through many of the points of that 16page complaint so I

can respond to them. A complaint is simply their allegations towards us. I

think their allegations are often misleading and inaccurate. I had that rack system for more than 3 months before we published that video, which I think is a more than fair amount of time

to test it and to communicate with Vulcan. We have something like 70 emails

Vulcan. We have something like 70 emails between us and we've had several phone calls as well. I believe I did my due diligence. This lawsuit, in my opinion

diligence. This lawsuit, in my opinion is a bullying tactic. It's intimidation.

Glux Gym is a small family-owned channel. It's just me, my wife, and an

channel. It's just me, my wife, and an editor doing everything. We do not have the money, time, and resources to fight

lawsuits. I assume with Vulcan having as

lawsuits. I assume with Vulcan having as large of a product catalog as they do and having previously sued companies like Rogue Fitness that they have more

resources than we do. So suing for a public retraction, damages, attorney fees, and all costs is obviously a lot for us to worry about. This entire thing

has been very stressful and costly, and the process just started. We've already

paid a retainer to a lawyer and there's a lot of fees and costs that we'll have to pay to fight this. I've had a lot of people reach out to us about helping us do just that. So, if that's something you're interested in, we've set up a

GoFundMe, which I've linked in the description, to help alleviate some of those costs. So, why fight it? Because

those costs. So, why fight it? Because

it's the right thing to do. This could

have huge ramifications not only on consumers, but reviewers, too. If

companies can just threaten or sue people for making honest reviews, then nobody's going to make them because they'll fear the repercussions. Meaning

all content that's delivered to us in all niches will then be tainted. All

right, let's start at the beginning. In

July of 2024, the CEO of Vulcan reached out to us about reviewing their Talos and Forge rack systems. We did eventually get the rack, but it took a while. There was a lot of back and forth

while. There was a lot of back and forth where it was out of stock or I didn't have the space in my gym for the rack and I had trouble figuring out what to order because as I said to Vulcan, the

website is difficult to navigate and understand. This back and forth

understand. This back and forth contradicts the first and 20th points of their complaint where they state I persuaded them and persisted in making renewed requests to send the Talos.

Vulcan even asked us about including and reviewing other items. So, in my opinion, there was a mutual interest in the review. But let's get back to the

the review. But let's get back to the rack build because, as I said, I found the ordering process difficult. For

example, when choosing your options you're only shown four post rack variants. And there's no indication on

variants. And there's no indication on the pull-up bar pull down menu that the single and multi-grip pull-up bars you can choose won't work on a four-post

Talos, even though the four-post racks were shown have a multi-grip bar on it.

I also thought the add additional rack selection section was confusing. Hence

my follow-up email where I'm again looking for clarity on the ordering process. To Vulcan's credit, if you

process. To Vulcan's credit, if you scroll down past the ordering section and the description and look at the include section, there is a note about a

pull-up bar not working with the Talos standalone rack. and they were very

standalone rack. and they were very helpful in helping me figure out how and what to order, but I'm talking directly with the CEO and owner of the company. I

don't think most people are getting that same treatment. Eventually, we did agree

same treatment. Eventually, we did agree on a review, which I stated would be a dedicated review with comparisons thrown in where they make sense. There was no

written contract, no money exchanged and after the review, the rack was given back to Vulcan. Well, I guess technically it was sent to another reviewer so they could review it, but I

didn't keep the rack and I didn't sell it. When the rack arrived in June, we

it. When the rack arrived in June, we had some issues assembling it, which we immediately communicated to Vulcan. I

told them the directions needed work the cables weren't smooth, our cables were loose, and that we had extra and missing parts, among other things. These

things are more or less covered in points 21 to 23 of their complaint they filed. And I will say to Vulcan's

filed. And I will say to Vulcan's credit, the CEO was responsive to me so that I could get the bill done. But 24

of Vulcan's complaint is inaccurate and misleading. I already had the schematic

misleading. I already had the schematic pages. It's the other set of directions

pages. It's the other set of directions that hadn't been sent to me. We'll get

to those next. I don't think the schematics are detailed. They're printed

on 8 and 1/2 in by 11in paper and consists of four steps. The schematics

are just these pictures I'm showing you right now. The Talos is a complicated

right now. The Talos is a complicated rack system because it has an integrated lat pull down, low row, and functional trainer built into it. That's a lot to

cover in four steps. For comparison's

sake, Rep's Aries 2.0 0 has similar functionality to the Talos and their instructions have something like 50 steps. Rep's instructions also have

steps. Rep's instructions also have notations and call outs and they're high-res and detailed. Also, Vulcan's

directions are for a six post rack. My

rack was a fou. After I told them of the issues I was having, they did email me additional assembly instructions, a sixpage step-by-step guide, which

consists of six pages of text and ends with a few pictures of how to route the cables on a six post rack. I did not ever admit to missing the directions the

first time. I said, I don't see an email

first time. I said, I don't see an email from his employee, and Cyrus, the CEO later admitted his employee never sent them to me. I should note I've put

together many systems like this and quite a few that are more complicated like Rogu's Monster Rhino Trainer. If

I'm having trouble assembling the Talos I'd imagine the average consumer would have an even harder time. Also, the two sets of directions seem to have been

written completely separately because they don't reference each other. And

none of the directions, nor does the 3D virtual model showing every detail of the project, ever show the pulley bracket that Cyrus and I emailed back

and forth about while I was having issues with the cables and assembly. On

the contrary, the directions and model all show the older pulley bracket that apparently Vulcan had stopped using. The

same ones I believe this email is telling me they didn't send me, but that I had already installed on the rack.

Also, in response to my initial feedback, Vulcan agreed the directions needed work and acknowledged my issues with the rear crossmember. Yet they

later in point 31D of the complaint they contradict that by saying it can only logically be installed one way and that the directions clearly show proper

installation. Here's step one of the

installation. Here's step one of the schematics. The step when you install

schematics. The step when you install the rear crossmember, there's no indication of the orientation of this rear crossmember. If we zoom in, these

rear crossmember. If we zoom in, these are the holes they're referring to in the complaint. I also don't see any

the complaint. I also don't see any mention of its orientation on the stepbystep directions, but with that part being 3x3, it has symmetrical

mounts and can definitely be installed upside down. There are other points in

upside down. There are other points in their complaint about assembly. 31F

states, Gluck claims falsely that the lap pull-up bar doesn't fit properly. It

does when the product is assembled correctly. Well, neither set of

correctly. Well, neither set of directions show or make mention of the holder. The only picture of a forpost on

holder. The only picture of a forpost on the Talos listing isn't high definition.

So, you can't reference that either because it's too grainy. So, I looked at the 3D model that shows every detail of

the project and copied that. I do not know where else you could put those and store the bar. Even with all of that though, we were able to eventually

assemble it and we got their new brackets on correctly so that we could test it. Although I did still have

test it. Although I did still have issues with the cables and pulleys which Vulcan brings up in 31A, B, and C and potentially other places. The

complaint can be found online, like my review, and I've linked them both in the description, and you can read the filing yourself and make your own judgments.

The complaints that I just listed, in my opinion, are misleading as they don't tell the full story. B talks about pulley grooves, but Vulcan is using

several differentiz pulleys in different locations. And they're not refuting the

locations. And they're not refuting the portion of that same statement, that rant they call it, on how I thought some of those pulleys were too small for the

diameter of the cable they were using. C

says, "I falsely assert that the user can't adjust cable tension from the trolley." This is misleading because in

trolley." This is misleading because in the clip they're referring to, I'm talking about how I have two different cable lengths on the left and right side

of the low row. Both sides are too loose. But it's the unevenness I'm

loose. But it's the unevenness I'm talking about. And I can't fine-tune the

talking about. And I can't fine-tune the cable tension to get those two cables to be the same length when I pull the bar.

The bar is lopsided. I want it even and balanced. When I'm talking in the

balanced. When I'm talking in the review, I show a clip of me adjusting Rogu's Indie where they use a bolt that allows the user to fine-tune the tension. It's a similar tension system

tension. It's a similar tension system that you'd find on Reps and other systems. Yes, you can adjust the cable tension on Vulcan's trolley. It can be

set to one of three positions, but if the cables are loose, no matter how you adjust them, that tension system doesn't

work. All I can do is make them looser.

work. All I can do is make them looser.

A loose cable allows the floating pulleys to move during use and increases the likelihood that the cables will fall off the pulleys. We've talked about that

very thing happening in videos like our Fringe Walrus review. My other problem was if their cables have a tolerance of 1.75 in and they're telling me that the

majority of customers don't think an inch or so of slack is a problem and that everyone has different preferences.

This is what 31A is talking about. And

to me that shows they know about the slack. It's intended and they don't

slack. It's intended and they don't think it's a problem. Also, I talked with their CEO on the phone about many of my issues with the rack in July. And

in that conversation, he admitted that he didn't know how companies like Rogue and Rep as well as others implemented trolley cable tension systems. That's that bolt system I just showed many

companies use. And the CEO said as a

companies use. And the CEO said as a small company, they weren't able to research or purchase other systems to find out. I'm paraphrasing that this

find out. I'm paraphrasing that this conversation took place by phone four months ago. I told him he could look

months ago. I told him he could look online. Rogues and Rep's directions are

online. Rogues and Rep's directions are hosted publicly and clearly both show how to adjust their systems and they even refer to keeping the cables tight

removing slack, and that the cables will stretch over time. So, in my opinion after putting together a lot of these systems, it makes sense that we need

tight cables that were able to adjust.

Yes, as 31A states, Vulcan did offer to send me new cables sometime after I sent my initial feedback to them. But why

don't they provide the correct length to begin with to all customers? I

understand the cable tolerance, but that's why there's a floating pulley system where you can adjust for tension and the trolley cable adjustment system

within the Talos. those two things exist so you can tighten the cables. If you're

sending cables that are too long, then they can't be tightened. And as I mentioned earlier, I'm talking directly with the CEO and owner of the company by

phone and email. My experience is not that of a typical consumer. They know my review will get a lot of exposure. My

channel is why they approached me about reviewing the Talos. So, I don't think it's far-fetched for me to think that customers wouldn't be offered that same experience, especially because there's

no mention of being able to contact them about the cable length in the Talos listing. So, how would your average

listing. So, how would your average consumer even know that's something they can do or that it's something they should look out for? Despite all that

and after having the rack for over 3 months, I still hadn't filmed a review until I got a phone call from someone contracted through Handy Buddy that said they were coming to get the rack. The

gentleman on the phone told me he was having trouble getting in contact with Vulcan, so he reached out to me. I was a bit taken back by that, which is why I emailed them saying I'd have appreciated

a heads up before sending someone to my house. Yes, I had given them the option

house. Yes, I had given them the option to take the rack back and even told them they could do so, but nobody ever confirmed with me they were going to.

So, I told Vulcan that because of the issues we've dealt with and because they've been selling the rack for years since 2023, that we're going to publish our review because we feel that we owe

it to the consumers, our viewers to share the review. I felt like we had played email and phone tag long enough.

This didn't seem to be going anywhere and the fixes we had discussed wouldn't have addressed many of the other issues my review mentions that their complaint doesn't, like how the Lo can apply

pressure to your feet, which could injure you. I felt like they were

injure you. I felt like they were offering band-aid fixes that didn't address major problems and that the Talos was an outdated design that had too many flaws. Morally, I think

publishing the review was the right thing to do. But as I talked about in our review video, there's a lot more downsides of posting a highly negative

review than upsides. This lawsuit being a perfect example of the repercussions even though in my opinion, and to the best of my ability, everything I said in

that video and this one is true. As for

Vulcan insinuating, I fabricated a negative and incendiary review of a small manufacturer because a negative review of products from large manufacturers would impact my revenue.

And then they specifically call out Rep and Rogue. I've got a few thoughts

and Rogue. I've got a few thoughts there. Number one is that Vulcan's

there. Number one is that Vulcan's affiliate percentage is set to 12% for us, which I believe is our highest affiliate percentage. Meaning the Talos

affiliate percentage. Meaning the Talos which was valued at over $4,000 would pay out around $500 per affiliate

sale. To put that in perspective, Rep's

sale. To put that in perspective, Rep's affiliate percentage is 5%. So, a

similarly priced product would pay out well under half that. Rogue's affiliate

percentage is even less than Rep's, and they remove their free shipping from the purchase, so they're effectively paying an even lower percentage. Number two is that Vulcan's argument ignores our

history of not only being critical to Rogue over the years, but to so many other companies. We've been harsh on

other companies. We've been harsh on Titan Fitness many times and they're another large manufacturer. When it

seemed like every other reviewer really liked Fringe Sports DNA 1.0, I was very critical of it. Fringe is not a large company, and they addressed my criticisms and made a version 2.0, which

was much better. rep made a version two of the Aries which demonstrates they recognize the flaws in the designs of their first version. And number three is that Vulcan is ignoring my positive

reviews of a lot of other small manufacturers. We really liked Maxim's

manufacturers. We really liked Maxim's rack, which was a similarly priced all-in-one style rack. That video came out within a month of the Talos video.

We were the first to cover dialed motion and at the time they were relatively unknown in the space. I thought that system was great and our channel is full of positive reviews and coverage of

small businesses. And number four is

small businesses. And number four is that when Vulcan took the rack back they sent it to another reviewer. So

literally the same exact rack I reviewed went from my house to that reviewers. I

was told the rack was going back to Vulcan. The other reviewer had no idea

Vulcan. The other reviewer had no idea my review was coming out, even though Vulcan at that point knew it was. That

reviewer had no idea it was the same rack they were receiving. And after

going through their own independent testing process, they also didn't give it a favorable review. So, like I said feel free to read the complaint and watch our review and make your own

judgment. Subscribe, check out our

judgment. Subscribe, check out our GoFundMe, and our Patreon if you want to support the channel. Thanks for watching and I'll see you next