I hate that bs crap. I've given so much stuff away over the years it's
crazy. Most all of us are into this because we love it and our cars.
This guy needs to be run out of town.
Post his name on a gay dating website. If you can't get your money you might as well have a little fun.
OUCH! How do you get screwed for 20 grand.
I disagree that it creates an air of distrust. It has proven effective on two websites I am members of (I mod one of them). There have been no flamefest that I can recall since their implementation. Feedback is almost always positive with the rare occasion of a negative. However, that one negative can save someone else from the same troubles. Even if there is a negative it can still work out for the person receiving the negative. The feedback forum gives both buyer and seller a chance to post what, if any, resolution has been agreed to to fix the situation. BTW, here is one example of the guidelines set for the feedback section on one of the forums...Personally, I'm not 100% sure I like the idea of a feedback section. I'm just afraid a new guy with '0 feedback' might not get the parts he needs. I dunno, it kinda creates an atmosphere of distrust. We'll be reading 'he said he said' feedback postings instead of talking about our a-bodies.
To make life easier for everyone, please follow these simple guidelines in your negative feedback:
First, keep everything civil. I understand that you are upset about wasting your time and money to be hosed on a deal, but every thread that I've seen that claims that so and so is a thief and a liar, turns into a pissing match. Please try to keep a level-head, and post the facts as you see them.
Second, please post a link to the thread in question. This will help everyone be able to see the ad, and what went on there.
Third, let the other member know that there is negative feedback against him via PM. Sometimes, the other party doesn't even know there's an issue. Other times, this may kick them into motion on fixing the problem.
The above are just requests. The following is not.
Unless you have something pertinent to say, stay out of it. If you got hosed by the person, leave your own feedback. If you had a great experience, leave your own feedback. I will delete posts that are not on point.
If we can all follow these simple rules, we should be able to more quickly weed out those people who are trying to take advantage of us...
I get about 2 or 3 requests a month from people asking me to help them track down someone who has ripped them off on a transaction on eBay, HC, Bassgear, etc. I'm more than happy to help out, but the one thing I have noticed is that a lot of people don't protect themselves as much as they could. Here's a little checklist to go through that I posted over on the Dudepit that can help you guys avoid a lot of grief when doing a deal with someone you don't know.
In the future, I hope everyone here checks out people before they do business with them. A lot of you guys here buy and sell a lot of gear, and if you know the person...great. But if not make sure you get a home phone# a work phone # a cell phone# home address etc. check out the info too. Call the person. If you think they gave you a cell# as a home or work # - check it out here:
www.fonefinder.net/
It will tell you if it's a land line or a cell and what city it goes to.
Reverse the phone#s and addresses they gave you to see where they go. Argali is really good for this. You can also reverse the address.
Just go to www.argali.com and download their program.
If you think the address is a mail drop you can check that out as well at http://www.finaid.com/scholarships/maildropsearch.phtml
If you want to find out who owns the address they give you to send payment to you can also go to
www.skipease.com/property.html
Select the state and county of the address. A lot of them have online databases, but you can call the tax assessor as well and find out who owns that property.
These are just a few of the free online resouces you can use to protect yourself and verify the information the seller gives you is accurate.
Ask for references from other people they have done business with. If I'm shelling out $100 for an effect pedal or $3000 for a bass, I want to know if the person is honest or not,
Make sure the info they give you checks out before you give up any of your hard earned cash. An honest seller won't be offended in the least when you ask them for this info.