I think the moderators on here should have a block list (thats stops members selling items) on sellers that people are having issues with to protect the buyers, there are a few current threads which cleary people have been ripped of by other members.

Whats peoples views on this.

Yes people can re register but again only a few issues and the new account would be blocked so it will protect better than nothing

 

Having been involved with moderating a site albeit non car related, I imagine that having mods chase around after a determined rip off merchant would not be an effective use of their time. Unfortunately forums and along with many other networking sites can be fooled by such things as the use of proxy servers or the person doing the wrongs can simply have a buddy elsewhere with a different IP do the leg work. Buying is an aspect of the net which exposes all of us to elements of risk which we either accept or decline. Perhaps a fixed thread where one can flag up problems with sellers could be an option if something like that is not already available here in a similar form?

 

Yes im not sure which is the best solution but im sure sumthing can be done as people are paying for the use of this site yes its not a lot at £12 a year but surely there can be a perminant post at the top of the sales section with a list of sellers who have given members bad experiences.

Just feel sorry for the guy who has bought 4 pots and recieved sumthing that obviously wasnt 4 pots

 

To be fair, the moderators have done a bit to try and cut down on dodgy people, the traded score is one of the biggest ones helpers out there (but nothing stopping them doing one good sale then ripping people off after that)... there is also getting people to use the trader score too (i used to have to send a PM asking people to leave me feedback)

The only thing they are missing, is to charge people to post items for sale. I pay my membership, but others can come on here and sell goods without it. Chances are, scammers wont pay anything to sell items, so would turn away and sell somewhere else.

You will then get the genuine people who will come and say "im not paying to sell my stuff" and go somewhere else....

I know what its all about as I used to own an owners club myself.

 

I agree that there ought be some way of dealing with such issues. It's also the kind of subject that can be emotive and ideally suited to its own section where buyers can look to see if there are reported issues with a seller. In such an area, a poor buying experience and any subsequent putting right by the seller, which actually resolves an issue could be available to see. That would in some way help buyers have a slightly more informed decision and it would keep sellers on this site on their toes.

 

Can I butt in please? I don't want to sound like I'm blind; but where are these threads?

Are the buyer/sellers non-paying members? i.e Did the party involved ignore all of our advice and circumvent safety measures put in place, or by doing transactions via PM and paypal gifts?

If thats the case, then I hate to say it there is not much more we can do.

Just to add we don't read everything on here; Only what we happen to trip across. If someone wants a moderator's attention, then they must report it directly to ourselves. I'm being frank here, but with not even being made aware of what is going on, how are meant to block someone over something we don't even know has happened? For example negative feedback on iTrader automatically reports the transaction, so if a user repeatedly get negative feedback it will become obvious to us something is not right.

If people don't use iTrader, then we are non-the-wiser. Nor anyone else either.

Anyway, when such a dispute arises, who are we to belive? You may say that people have been "clearly" ripped off; I often disagree, it rarely is clear. Bear in mind the person complaining may actually be lying or exaggerating, or simply made incorrect assumptions. In the past, threads saying "Ive been ripped off" and then going to the usual rant almost always end up in a complicated issue where the involved parties blames each other. And then ensues the problem of who do you to believe; The one who speaks the best English? The one with the highest post count? or the one who makes the most accusations? Especially when goods are claimed to be incorrectly described (i.e one man's meaning of "mint" would be classed as manky by someone else). Its difficult to decide who to believe. Ultimately this ends up with no action being taken, but in cases where we are made aware of it, its noted for future reference. So if the same user does it again, we then know for sure who the curlprit is.

And its been made worse by disgruntled people signing up new IDs to intentionally harass or make false accusation against another party or getting their friend to do so as well (it has happened). Even if the "friend" thinks he's helping, he is actually just making himself and the mate he is helping look like the guilty party and not the real fraudster.

Its not helped when issues ARE resolved amicably and nobody has the manners or decency to post a follow-up saying the matter is settled. So people assume its on-going or just fizzled out into nothing.

There has been the odd instances where it is evident that where someone has repeatedly messed others about. In the cases we have been made aware of it, the curlprits who are paying members have been dealt with and no longer allowed to post in the sales sections. Non-paying members aren't dealt with in the same way, as people shouldn't really be dealing with them in the first place.

So in a way, the system is already in place, albeit manually. But its totally down to the users to help us: report it, use itrader, DON'T get freinds or alternate IDs rally around and bully/harass the other party. Say what happened, don't lie or exaggerate, use clear and proper punctuated English (otherwise we struggle to understand), keep your cool. And where possible post what proof you have (pictures, invoices, tracking numbers, screen captures of PMs etc).

To be blunt whilst I can ask you not to deal with non-paying members, we won't stop you. Some people will not listen to our advice and that is the crux, how are we expected to help people who don't listen to our advice?

That advice being: Don't do transactions via PM - do it on the board (only exception is passing on a phone number or address, do the rest of the conversation on the related thread), avoid non-paying members. Don't use the gift option on paypal. Always use insured postage with tracking numbers. If possible, deal face to face. If in any doubt what-so-ever, walk away don't go ahead with the transaction.

I know this doesn't seem to be the most helpful attitude from a moderator, but for us to help, we need users to be ALOT more vigilant and more proactive in using iTrader and keeping trading activities in public view.

 

Ali-b - the thread stated is this one
https://www.scoobynet.com/scoobynet-...718-sorry.html

 

As said - this is a non paying member and we've not had any complaints about it. There is no negative feedback, so we would never know.

We've put links and stickies on the site to explain what safeguards we have put in place, and how to use the trader system.

There really is only so much we can do.

 

Oh, and I've raised the issue in the Mods forum now, so we will be discussing it.