Bad trade numbers on the up?

[palmer234]

Just looking on the first page of the general discussion there's a few thread about people having problems. I'm in this situation myself but have never seen this much bad activity on these forums!

My question is, if we can't name and shame, to help out our own community to stop this from happening, then what can we do?

I think the forum rules should be loosened in situations like these, because it's just going to happen over and over again!

[Boo-Sabum Ben]

But, if trades go up its only reasonable that more problems come up too. So what may in fact be happening is just the number of trades on total is going through the roof, bringing both good and bad with it, rather than just current sales going bad from good!!

[johnnyj]

Re: Bad trade numbers on the up?

I agree palmer , this forum is now got a very bad rep with airsofters to the point a lot of players I meet refuse to use it . most common reasons are " too many kids scamming " and " i don't want to get ripped off "

In the last couple of trades/sales of RIFs i have been approached by more what i suspect are kids then reg players that are over 18

The mod team do a good job trying to keep on top of these people but far too many people are still getting ripped off

[North West Outpost]

Re: Bad trade numbers on the up?

While I fully understand your situation and would like to see a genuine list of people to avoid trading with.

I think it would be very easy for one of the scammers to turn the tables on the innocent party. Afterall they allready gave you a bad day by taking your money or item.

It would make a lot of work for someone to investigate and would they really have the authority to take action or pass judgement? Maybe it would be better to pass on the information to the police if you have a genuine case. I am not implying you don't I'm just generalising. Then surely we should be allowed to post that you have reported someone to the authorities.

[joff]

Re: Bad trade numbers on the up?

Another forum used to lock the sales thread until a member sent their ukara to an admin

[weekenny]

Re: Bad trade numbers on the up?

As Midas said too hard to make sure the list is genuine. At present my only negative feedback on here is from someone who ripped me off with a tatty gun that was supposed to be as new.

[Tiercel]

Re: Bad trade numbers on the up?

You could just stick your head in the sand and pretend its not your problem, then whine about how nobody appreciates you? Isnt that what the general staff consensus towards the classifieds seems to be here?

Its a right pain though because I had someone lined up to buy my G36, then they pulled out because some turd scammed them out of an item theyd bought so they decided they werent buying anything off here ever again.

Dickbags.

[eyley]

Re: Bad trade numbers on the up?

Another forum used to lock the sales thread until a member sent their ukara to an admin

Most of us reputable people have our UKARA on our profile. Mods can (and i assume do) check us out?

I've never had a bad deal on here - maybe it's because i'm picky and before I contact someone about buying I check their ratings out - if they look suspect, I go without the item or buy it somewhere else.

[North West Outpost]

Re: Bad trade numbers on the up?

Another forum used to lock the sales thread until a member sent their ukara to an admin

You also have to remember that appart from the advertising for Zero one, no one gets payed for any of this so giving a mod additional work for something they do for ''fun'' isn't going to work unfortunatly.

EDIT

It is the sellers responsibility to ensure the buyer has the appropriate defence. It doesn't have to be UKARA.

Obviously the buyer has responsibilities too. But if they are a stupid kid who thinks it's good to buy an airsoft pistol and keep it stuffed down their trousers to impress their mates, they are not going to give a stuff.

[Bluegill]

Re: Bad trade numbers on the up?

Another forum used to lock the sales thread until a member sent their ukara to an admin

Whilst I'm in favour of sentiment in Palmer's initial post, this particular action would be ridiculously difficult to impose as the mods are unpaid volunteers. To make it happen, threads would need to be closed and opened more frequently than Jordan's legs AND the amount of time needed to clarify hundreds of numbers a month would be exceeding sense.

In thought, it's a good solution but unless there's a team of paid mods who have to be active for most of the day, it's not going to happen.

F**k me, triple ninja'd

[madwelshman]

Re: Bad trade numbers on the up?

I dont think the mods would need to do much at all tbh...

a name and shame policy, mods then lock the "accused" profile, untill he can clarify or fix the issue he has caused, job done.

No need to check ukara ect, thats the sellers responsibility, there are plenty of mods on the forum now, throwing thier weight around, give them some work to do, they said yes to the offer of a mod role...

Name, shame and ban the i.p's of bad traders, before this forums rep is dragged so far down that any decent buyers and sellers find forums elsewhere, if not, we'll be left with "what battery/am bestest gun" threads and nothing else...

[jonnyhal]

Re: Bad trade numbers on the up?

i think it would help of threads in the classified where not locked so you could then post saying 'i will take this' if nothing else it would stop the same item being sold more than once!

[B.E.N.]

Re: Bad trade numbers on the up?

I think the problem is that once you name and shame somebody, it can be abused and without substantial intervention from somebody (who isn't getting paid) it'd be a administration hell-hole... For example, I could suddenly just decide that Boo-Sabum Ben (just an example!) needed naming and shaming, and that would probably hamper his ability to flog anything for the time it took to sort it out...

There's also the problem of where the responsibility of mods or the forum owners ends, how long will it be before a user gets ripped off and decides it's the forum owner's responsibility to do something. I can understand the "All or Nothing" position held by Z1. When I worked at Bauer Media, we launched a series of huge websites and were advised by our legal team that if you purport to "moderate" you can be held legally responsible if you don't remove something sensitive in good time. If you don't claim to moderate at all, it's not your issue.

Perhaps a similar stance is taken on the sales section because of reasons like this? The forum owners DO offer their escrow service, but I don;t think anyone ever takes advantage of it though?

I guess the problem is, classified sales are not really in the interest of the forum owners, they make no money from it at all, and who can blame them for wanting as little to do with it as possible? They are not a charity after all...

[Lonewolf873]

Re: Bad trade numbers on the up?

i myself had an issue recently, with a guy who sold me a less than adequate rifle for the discription and unfortunatly i was in a very trusting mood when i brought it and sent the money by gift (im a dick, i know), i took photo,s and put a link up to the original thread and i opened this in the "lost souls" section, i didnt accuse the seller but i stated the facts so that other buyers could make there own decision.

the thread was removed by a mod within an hour so all i could do was leave negative feedback but i contacted the user and said that i would ask for it to be removed if he refunded me the money it would cost me to get the working rifle he sold me working again, he agreed and ive heard nothing since.

i think a "rogue traders" section where people can put up links , pics and only the facts of the sale (no witch hunts) so that people can make an informed decision before buying from that user again may be very usefull.

it may just scare some users from being less than honest with there sales threads.

[madwelshman]

Re: Bad trade numbers on the up?

Nah, you can defend yourself clearly on the thread if need be, or dont frack people off in the first place, tough love, there is no enforcement on the boards, this is the issue.

If you want to trade, do it right, first time, or at least keep the person informed if your having issues, if not, name and shame.

Only way to get rid of the kids selling shite, and the scammers not selling anything at all... we all make mistakes, send cash by gift, forget to post something ect, but the harsh name and shame will soon weed out the bad eggs