Hi Peter
I hear you, its a tightrope.
let me tell you what recently prompted me to think about this.
i recently advertised something on here, a well known and popular member got in touch, and begged me for the item, he told me it was jsut what he was looking for, and could he please have it, he would have it for defo next week, and took all sorts of oaths and promises regarding the purchase of the item.
I didnt really want to sell it, but i needed to raise some money within that week to pay something, so i agreed. i told the other two people who where interested that they couldnt have it, and they where not best pleased.
a months passed without hearing anything from this member, i have PM'd him several times regarding this, and he just ignores me, what troubles me about this, is that i know for a fact that this isnt an isolated incident, and this member has done this to several other forum members, and keeps coming out with all sorts of BS. i dont think its malicious, i just think he sees something on the spur of the moment, wants its, says he will have it for defo, then backpedals with all sorts of garbage to get out of it.
I went back to the 2 other forum members who wanted the item, they didnt want it, after feeling like second best, and TBH, i cant blame them.
The thing is, we have all had sales fall through for no reason, or reasons out of our control, i recently went to buy a 200mm F5 reflector from a forum member, and i had every intention of buying it, i was going through court proceedings at the time to get access to my daughter, and got hit with a hefty bill to pay at the same time, as embarrased as i was, i went back to Jason, and told him that something had come up, and i was really sorry to have let him down, he was fine, because i had been honest, and upfront, and he had understood my plight, all because of communication. My partner seen that i was really down because of this, and bought me an OTA the next week, but thats beside the point.
I think just leaving positive feedback completely negates the system, as you would never know of anything bad, if quite simply its never listed, and TBH with the community on here, i dont expect anything bad to be said about anyone anyway! its just an observation, about being proactive, my intention isnt to stir trouble, but to put forward ideas for debate, to be discussed and deliberated by us, and the staff.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Waxing_Gibbous
TB,
I sort of agree but....
I'll fess-up here and say I'm coming from the other side of the fence.
About 7 years ago I sold a 400mm 2.8 FD L lens on a photoforum.
My ad said "its broken, its knackered, aperture selection not working, focus mechanism loose, cosmetically rubbish, possibly used to club snakes, but optics A-1" (which they were). I made all the disclosure I could. I asked and got $US800 dollars with no quibbles about condition.
But the buyer p***ed and moaned on-line about receiving a crap lens and how I'd ripped him off. Fortunately the community was quite savvy and noted that $800 for that lens was cheap even if it was filled with mice!
But he was a long-timer and seemed to make it his business to try and trash my name. I threatend legal remedy but he would not demure.
I eventually took him to court and won $10,000 + costs but I had to leave the forum as the damage was done.
So, in principle I agree with you but you had better be in the right, because the same libel laws for print also apply to the internet!
"He who steals my purse "etc etc...
If you claim "X" tried to rip you off or deliberately sent you faulty goods, "X" could claim an honest miscommunication and unless you retracted you'd better bring cab-fare to court 'cuz "X" is going home in your Beemer. You could 'IMHO' your statement, but that doesn't always fly.
This is where the moderators have to get involved. And do they really want to waste observing time sorting out disputes in which they have no vested interest?
The 'no-negative' system works buy exclusion: Sales in Buy & Sell forum but no positive feedback, would be a good indicator of a duff seller.
It's not perfect. But it avoids on-line wars and you can still PM somebody with warnings about a seller. As long as they're not "shot-gunned", PM's are (I believe) treated as private conversations / communications where no statement of fact is assumed.
Geez, that took longer than I intented! 
Sorry,
PJH |