Rant about reviews

[24storm]

First off i would like to say that i think this site is a excellent source of information with lots of good people who like to help.

But i have a problem with the reviews that we are allowed to post up.

I have read many post of people who have had problems with vendors and people only to have the post locked or deleted.

I have been a member for over a year and when i need something or information this is the first place i look.

I believe if people could post up reviews of their experiences people would know who they could use and who they could not.

I read a thread last night about someone having issues about buying frags and the way they were shipped but we cannot say who it was or what happened.

We are only allowed to put up positive reviews, If that is the case how do we warn others of the negative stuff that goes on.

I am out $1400.00 for equipment that was ordered because nobody could warn me. And i have no way of warning others. I really doubt that i will see the money or product seeing how this has been almost 5 months now.And i know that i am not the only one.

If this post is inappropriate please let me know how i am suppose to get my point across. I mean no disrespect.

I would just like to know how we as consumers are suppose to know who is a good vendor and who is not if we cannot post up what has really happened to us.

Hope somebody can give me some insight.

Keith

[Aquattro]

Keith, it has caused fights, threats of legal action and numerous other issues over the years. We've decided that we just cant deal with the problems it generates. We're just all doing this on our own time so that everyone has a place to get good technical advice and chat with other reefers in the hobby. I know the benefit of saying "Store X is a ripoff, they took all my money and gave me nothing", but we just can't manage the fallout from these posts.
Then there are the others. Store Y sucks. No it doesn't. Yes it does. Goes on for pages. That is not the purpose of the board. We try to be as good as we can within scope of what we can manage, and we, as a group that staff the board, decided we do not have time to manage this type of posting.
Sorry, it's the best we can do with what we've got.

[niloc16]

i feel the same way. i finally took the plunge and ordered online for frags only to receive a completely dead shipment. the shipment was replaced and then 2 more pieces from that one are dead and i have still to get my money back for those pieces. this really ****ed me off because i have been so nervous for ordering online and now this happened.

[Aquattro]

Here's the best we can do.

If you're about to order something online and you're suffering from anxiety, post asking for PMs of others experiences. If you get 50 PM replies from other members saying don't order from the place you're thinking of, then you have an answer. Eventually the stores that screw people will either change, or go away.

[24storm]

If i go asking for PMs do you think people will just start posting in the thread and have it locked down?

Keith

[Aquattro]

Originally Posted by 24storm

If i go asking for PMs do you think people will just start posting in the thread and have it locked down?

Keith

Maybe

[Treebeard]

Just wondering, has an eBay type rating system ever been considered? There could be different categories for each vendor on a scale from 1 - 5. Categories could be Quality, Service, Communication....etc. Perhaps a poll for each vendor?

[Aquattro]

Originally Posted by Treebeard

Just wondering, has an eBay type rating system ever been considered? There could be different categories for each vendor on a scale from 1 - 5. Categories could be Quality, Service, Communication....etc. Perhaps a poll for each vendor?

No, we are not rating vendors at all.

[Chin_Lee]

Feel free to utilize the "Forward" features of PMs that you have received about other people's experiences with vendors. This will allow that person to get the information per verbatim from the original author without any misinterpretations.

[Doo]

I think this is a great topic and I have noticed that in general all the aquarium related forums are lacking some kind of "FEEDBACK" system...

I understand the "he said, she said" stuff would get old fast for the moderators & I respect that.

I belong to another forum called "CANADIANGUNNUTZ" (take a guess) and on that forum there is a feedback system for each time you buy and sell - you simply go to the person you bought from or sold to and provide feedback after each transaction. I think this keeps everyone honest and weeds out the people who have bad intentions...

http://www.canadiangunnutz.com/

Have a look at the link to the site!

I just love how I can go in and look at each users rating before I buy something from them across the country. Each user has a number behind their user name in brackets {ex: Doo(8)} and that is the number of transactions they have made and when you click on that number up comes a page with all the feedback left for them by others.

This works for vendors and fellow members both alike.

Just my though on a system that works for 10,000+ users and might work for us...

Thank you

Originally Posted by Treebeard

Just wondering, has an eBay type rating system ever been considered? There could be different categories for each vendor on a scale from 1 - 5. Categories could be Quality, Service, Communication....etc. Perhaps a poll for each vendor?