So at how many rip offs does the board admins ban folks?

Seem that you see lots of repete offenders and the list of unhappy folks per month is way beyond reason. Could be the lack of admin action that keep the brazen in business here.


Gotta say as a board admin myself, 1 bad deal with good proof and your gone.
Though we never have to do that, well once but when he found out about 30 members lived near by he fixed it. Don't mess with bikers.

Dam my luck none live near my scam artist.

 

if they get banned, they will just come back under a different name.

If people would read the feedback boards a little more, maybe they wouldnt buy from the rip-off artists

 

I know you're probably upset because you feel you had gotten taken by another user on this forum - though I'm not taking sides as I've only read your report.

In your case, the user in question has no iTrader Feedback. He has been a registered account since 2005. Doing a search on his user name shown one (buried) post about a past dealing:
https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/clas...ml#post3418471

Hopefully you took the time to search and see that above post. If you did, you took the risk. If you didn't search to see the above, then you didn't utilize the tools available to you. Either case, I don't think you can really blame staff for this one. It was there for you to do the research and make the decision.

In your case, you state you have sent a money order and used signed confirmation. You then state the local police were told, by the seller, the money wasn't received but the seller sent the item. It doesn't take a lot to realize something is wrong here. First, if you have a signed confirmation, you have proof and should be acting on it. What are you doing with it? Second, who would send the product out if they didn't receive the funds? In this case, I would expect the shipper to provide some proof the item was sent or they are responsible.

My point above, is something must be missing here? If the story is correct and full, how are we to resolve and know any better if the people involved and have direct access to the evidence can't get the situation squared away? We don't have evidence of signed confirmation for the seller receiving funds. We don't have any evidence that the seller sent any item out.

I'm not quite sure what math is being used to arrive that the "unhappy folks per month" is beyond reason. Our Classifieds section is one of the most viewed sections of the website. That, coupled with the amount of active users, and the fact that two people don't always agree on what condition an item is in as opinions can differ (ie: see how many people call their cars "mint", for an example) and it's easy to see that this can occur and will never completely stop.

In addition, there might be more negative comments in the Classifieds Feedback forum because people are more inclined to post when there is a problem instead of posting to compliment or praise a person and the transaction.

As a proclaimed forum Administrator, I'm sure you realize there isn't a lot an Administrator can do to prevent or stop the "unhappy folks per month" issue. I won't get into the specifics, but you should know exactly what I'm talking about and why it's not a simple lock-out. Some mistakenly believe it's simple and preventative.

We provide the users (buyers and seller) some tools to help them make a better decision. We provide this Classifieds Feedback forum, as well as the iTrader rating system.

It's up to the user, in the end, to make the smart decision based on the information they have, as well as asses the risks involved.

We have taken care of a few known users on this site, but we don't advertise it or the actions taken. In addition, as indicated above, if an account is banned, then they can create a new account and likely get atleast one unsuspecting user before getting known because they have a "clean slate" rather than having an account that has notices via the iTrader and Classified Feedback forum. As you state you're a forum Administrator, I'm sure you realize this as well.

That said, I would be happy if someone would want to help make the Classifieds forum more safe. Fact of the matter is, when this topic surfaces every once in a while, it's easy to complain and blame the staff rather than offer legit help or accept that the decision is ultimately between the buyer and seller. I will be blunt, that the same few who frequently are a bit baised and threaten to "ban" anyone on the spot if they had the power, will likely not be used. A neutral party/person is required.

In addition, in nearly every case that has been brought up, the user in question either has no negative, or 1-2 negative, ratings mixed in with well more positives. On eBay this would be par for the course given the all sorts of types of people out there that also can have difference of opinions. I don't see how, given people have differences of opinions, some people cannot be pleased, some people have rare events, that you can use a one-strike and you're out policy - unless there is a very good case shown that the party involved flatly scammed the other person. Given that we are not involved with any transactions to track and record any events, it makes it difficult for us to really know the full and true story.

In the end, again, it's up the parties involved to make the smart decision based on the information and tools they have access to.

If you have any legitimate ideas and have ideas in ways to help, please PM me and the staff can discuss it.

Thanks.