WTF is wrong with bad seller/vendor experience threads?

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luke strawwalker
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#1 WTF is wrong with bad seller/vendor experience threads?

Post by luke strawwalker »

WTF is wrong with bad vendor threads? John Pursley's having a cow over on YORF over DannyRMissile (or something like that LOL:) posting his bad experience buying a kit off Feebay that wasn't what he expected. Apparently, the seller convinced him it was a good kit that was intact but "had been resealed" and they made a deal off Feebay, he pulled the listing and mailed him the kit after he paid for it. When it arrived, he opened it up to find it looked like cold *oops you said word #1 and a bunch of parts were missing and the tubes crushed and generally in his opinion was worthless *oops you said word #1. Guy gave him a refund but is riding his ass to return it "yesterday" and apparently he's not moving fast enough for the seller's happiness on the return, getting shitty emails from the guy and stuff, says his health problems and issues are preventing him from sending it back "right now". Okay, he refunded the money, so go to the damn post office and drop it in the mail to the guy... sounds like he was "right quick" sending it to you, and was "right quick" about giving a refund-- fair's fair... get the friggin' thing in the mail back to the guy and "problem solved". I can appreciate "health problems" and "life issues" (Lord knows I've had enough to deal with lately-- Dad's been in the hospital twice over the last few weeks, once for a week and went home like 2-3 days and went back in for another 2-3 days in the hospital, and I've been running my ass off back and forth the 100 miles to Shiner and back the last few weeks... ) BUT DAMN, like I said, fair's fair, make an extra effort, get the thing mailed back, and tell the guy to pound sand.

Anyway, that's the backstory. The REAL point I'm making here is that JP is basically raising hell with anybody DARING to even DISCUSS such things "in a public forum". My immediate answer to that is "like hell"... EVERYBODY has a right to discuss stuff that THEY'VE EXPERIENCED OR SEEN FIRSTHAND, or to express an opinion on what they've heard secondhand. I don't understand people that have the attitude that you "shouldn't be allowed" to discuss something that might put someone else in a "negative light" because *they* consider it to be "smearing" them. Ya know, there's an old saying in retail... make a customer happy, he MIGHT tell 1-2 people. Make a customer MAD, and he'll BE SURE to tell at least TEN people! Ya know what else-- THAT IS AS IT SHOULD BE!

Yeah, I think we should probably go more out of our way to send a "boo-ya" out to good vendors who treat us right. I have NO PROBLEM calling out someone who isn't holding up their end of the bargain, either. If they didn't want to be "smeared" (as some people want to call it) then they SHOULDN'T HAVE DONE WHATEVER PISSED OFF THE CUSTOMER IN THE FIRST PLACE! Are some people assholes, BOTH buyers AND sellers? You betcha! I saw PLENTY of asshole customers working in retail... no doubt about it. I've seen plenty of assholes selling stuff and being crooked about it, too. But to suggest that *even discussing* one's own experiences with a seller/vendor is "wrong" is just plain wrong thinking in my book.

Does anger or vitriol sometimes creep through due to the frustration or mistreatment someone's experienced in such situations?? Sure... we're human, it happens. Does that "invalidate" what happened?? No, not IMHO. Does it mean we hate the person who did something that caused us to have a bad experience and we want them dead or severely harmed for life because of it?? NO, although for some people, in some situations, they MIGHT feel that way... (I know I've had some experiences with people that, to this day, I wouldn't *oops you said word #2 on them if they were on fire because of how they screwed me over at some point... but there's VERY few). Does that mean we "shouldn't be allowed" to warn others that "hey, this guy did this, that ain't right, so ya better watch yer back if you buy from him" and LET THE READER DECIDE... I'd say "of COURSE WE SHOULD"!

Like I said in the other thread-- there was a LOT of hullaballoo on BOTH sides of this issue during the entire "Sheri-gate" thing when Sheri's Hot Rockets was stiffing people left and right, who'd PAID (in some cases HUNDREDS of dollars) for kits they never received, with the whiners and hand-wringers coming out of the woodwork trying to squash ALL DISCUSSION of such things. Sorry for Sheri-- she had life problems that were regrettable, but that's not an excuse to stiff people and not deliver goods you were paid for IN GOOD FAITH. That is, IMHO, being a CROOK, pure and simple. Same thing with the jackasses that ran "LAUNCH" magazine. People to this day STILL will jump my *oops you said word #1 for mentioning the fact that I got STIFFED and RIPPED OFF by these CROOKS after trying to support them and their magazine, IN GOOD FAITH, by paying for a three year subscription IN FULL just a couple months before they folded... AND NEVER GOT A REFUND, or any "similar goods" (like other magazines they were publishing at the time... if they were HONEST businesspeople, they'd have 1) offered full refunds for all paid subscriptions beyond the final issue, and/or 2) offered to send one of their other magazines in lieu of a refund instead, or 3) offered a PARTIAL refund based on a proportion of your unfulfilled subscription length. Did they try to do ANY of these things to "make it right"? NO, THEY CUT AND RUN, which is what CROOKS do! Yeah, I realize they had financial problems and the magazine went under. I realize that they didn't originally set out to screw people over, including me. I realize they didn't intend for it to go under. Seems to me it was wrong decisions (which I'd define as *oops you said word #2-poor management) that created the situation. They could have done *something*, but they didn't even TRY. They just kept the money, issued a "so sorry" half-assed apology, and STILL have people willing to lick their boots TO THIS DAY because they didn't "intend" to become crooks! Course, if maybe they'd have spent more of that subscriber money on the actual magazine production costs instead of blowing it to make themselves look good and have people fawn over them, maybe they could have met their OBLIGATIONS to the subscribers...

At any rate, free discussion of such things, it seems to me, is the hallmark of a free society. When such discussion is stifled by "well meaning" people, for whatever reason (legitimate or illegitimate) it does us ALL a disservice.

What say you?

Later! OL J R :)
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#2 Re: WTF is wrong with bad seller/vendor experience threads?

Post by Joe Wooten »

I thought John was a little out of line there, but it did make for an entertaining thread.......
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#3 Re: WTF is wrong with bad seller/vendor experience threads?

Post by Ghrocketman »

As I stated over on YORF, there is NOTHING wrong with publicly (website or otherwise) BASHING the FECAL MATTER out of bad vendors and bad ebay sellers.
There is NO WAY IN HELL you could convince me the seller did not know he was sending Danny a total pile of crap and hoping to get away with it.
I don't care if he had 100% positive feedback for 3000 sales let alone a measley 300.
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#4 Re: WTF is wrong with bad seller/vendor experience threads?

Post by luke strawwalker »

Glad I'm not the only one that feels that way, or feels that JP was having a rather visceral reaction to something, at best, that's a minor issue. It doesn't figure. Oh well. Opinions are like buttholes-- everybody's got one.

I just can't figure people who think that such things are verboten to discuss publicly. It's ridiculous IMHO. Usually people who think that way just want to silence possible criticism, for whatever reason. It's the same reason that some vendors/service providers are opposed and fight against sites that "review" certain products or service providers, like "Angie's List" or other such sites. Usually it's people who are worried about criticism damaging their "reputation", usually because such criticism is warranted. Rather than "clean up their act" they'd rather silence people who might give them less than stellar reviews.

I'm really surprised that JP would do that. Oh well. Like I said, everybody has their own opinions.

Later! OL J R :)
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#5 Re: WTF is wrong with bad seller/vendor experience threads?

Post by Ghrocketman »

If what happened to Danny happened to me, my public bashing of the seller would have been described as "Fuming Vitriol" and that is exactly what such sellers should receive. Keeping things 'quiet' to be resolved privately does NOTHING to ensure dirtbag sellers do not continue their deceitful behavior.
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#6 Re: WTF is wrong with bad seller/vendor experience threads?

Post by luke strawwalker »

I'm with you GH... if you don't want to face the harsh light of criticism and being exposed and labeled as a "crook", then don't do crooked stuff. Pretty simple, ain't it. What I can't figure out is John's part in all this... he just lurks 99% of the time, but comes out swinging over some nobody on Feebay stiffing a guy on the forum who then makes it public?? It doesn't figure... It's like the guy is his best friend or favorite nephew or something. Either that, or else he's having a kneejerk reaction because something similar had happened to him at some point as a vendor/seller.

Still, even if something like that (admittedly highly speculative) assumption is true, then how does that motivate one to EXCUSE nefarious activities on the part of another vendor. Like I said, I just don't get it... unless it's just the plain old misbegotten idea that NOTHING "bad" should ever be said about a vendor/seller, no matter what, because it's somehow "unseemly" or "improper". I call bollocks on that one. People that think that way deserve to be screwed over in the light of day by people who would easily have been exposed for their misdeeds upon others...

Later! OL J R :)
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#7 Re: WTF is wrong with bad seller/vendor experience threads?

Post by Ghrocketman »

I think bad things should ALWAYS be said about vendors/sellers if they violate the trust of the BUYER. If you cross me, I will relentlessly BASH someone until they go WAY above and beyond to correct the wrongdoing.
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#8 Re: WTF is wrong with bad seller/vendor experience threads?

Post by luke strawwalker »

Quite true-- the customer IS ALWAYS right...

But like most truisms, nobody seems to stick to that anymore... Sadly.

Later! OL J R :)
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#9 Re: WTF is wrong with bad seller/vendor experience threads?

Post by Commander »

At issue with these kinds of reviews, posts, comments, etc. is the trustworthiness of the commentator. The perception is often there that the commentator is writing from a sense of altruism and just trying to help his fellow man. The vitriol of revenge can be seen in some that go over the top. If we are the target of that vitriol, the threshold of what is an attack piece and what is a true negative comment becomes lower for the revenge factor. The more the attacker goes on with trying to iterate his/her negative position by stating items he does not agree with, the more likely the attackee is to see it only as "hit piece".

As an outside observer, we must often weed our way throw the comments and try and make a decision. The amount of effect the comments can have is often disproportionate to the overall evaluation. I recall a year or so ago researching a refrigerator my wife wanted us to buy. Of the five comments, four being the basic one line type "good item, happy I bought" variety, one caught my eye. It really ragged on the fridge, claiming it had this problem and that problem; that when they talked to the service tech called to repair the fridge, the tech stated that they had seen this problem numerous times...... ad nauseum. Just that one comment almost put me off from buying the fridge, even though my wife really wanted that one. I finally stepped back, started looking at other things and ended up buying it.

In the thread mentioned from the other site, if it is the one I saw a while ago, the plaintiff was concerned they couldn't get their money back as quickly as possible when the defendant stated they were ready to refund on receipt of the bad goods. In other words, the seller was going to make good to the buyer once the article had been received. This is a standard procedure in retail. However plaintiff was having issues with getting the item shipped. I assume at stake here is some sort of time issue with getting good ratings from ebay. In that case, the buyer should be as quick as the seller has shown in resolving this issue, in my opinion and not put undue burdens (bad ratings) on the seller due to buyers inability to quickly end the transaction (returning the merchandise). At this point. both have agreed the transaction wasn't mutually beneficial and should be negated. To unduly delay and then point the finger of blame at the seller for the initial problem, which the seller has taken all means available to correct, is disingenuous.

All of course in my opinion.
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#10 Re: WTF is wrong with bad seller/vendor experience threads?

Post by luke strawwalker »

Yup...

I said that the buyer should be as quick in returning it as the seller was in sending it. IMHO that's only fair. I understand the guy has health problems, but ya know, you made the effort to buy the thing, made the effort to get a refund, and made the effort to comment on it-- step up and mail the damn thing back already!

As for 'reviews" well, I don't put TONS of stock in them... I read a lot of stuff on various farm related sites about "NEVER buy a (insert manufacturer and make/model/type equipment here)... they're complete pieces-o-*oops you said word #1 that won't work worth a damn." Usually the person making such assertions either 1) doesn't know what the hell their doing 2) doesn't know how to set it up right to do the job 3) trying to do the job with improper circumstances (too wet, too dry, wrong crop conditions, etc) and 4) usually won't read the *oops you said word #3 manual to save their life. I repeatedly stress in such situations "if all else fails, READ THE MANUAL!" That solves about 80% of the problems. Probably 10% is "something's busted or out of spec and not working right" and the rest is "user error/improper conditions" or just flat out asking it to do something it was never designed to do. I find this sort of thing is very common in EVERY mechanical device, not just farm equipment. Only a few percent of the time is it actually a lousy, "Monday morning" piece of equipment that's full of bugs and just built like a total POS.

Yeah, some vitriol is going to come through. If you're trying to be objective in warning people off, though, one should keep that to a minimum. Otherwise you just look like a dissatisfied douche who's going to complain NO MATTER WHAT... which kind of invalidates your argument in the first place IMHO.

Later! OL J R :)
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