Where to post negative experience with seller in gear swap?

[cody yochum]

Is this the correct forum or is there another more appropriate one?
Thanks,
cody

[Greg Mihalik]

In the Gear Swap thread where you bought the gear.

Assuming you've had some communications and couldn't work out something.

[cody yochum]

Yea that would be cool to do that as well, but how about a thread dedicated to the negative experience with the seller. I mean, if one were to look through the threads in which the seller started perhaps they would see what happened but if I were to create my own thread, it would be much easier for potential buyers to see what happened and possibly prevent the seller from making shady deals in the future.

If that is against the rules, it shouldn't be. I'm sure this doesn't happen too often on BPL since most sellers have morals and standards, but for the ones that don't there should be some way to publicly shame them and have a way for potential buyers to easily identify them prior to making a purchase. Much like ebay has a feedback system, since this is probably unfeasible to create on this forum, why not have threads dedicated to such a cause?

[Greg Mihalik]

Rules? …. there ain't no stinking rules……….

"…why not have threads dedicated to such a cause?"

"Cause?"

Do you have any idea how many self-righteous, indignant, moralistic, "too-much-time-on-their-hands" members we have here? If they haven't sniffed out the unscrupulous bastard, tried and hung 'em, it can't be all that bad or frequent.

Maybe rethink and find a better purpose for your $5 posting membership.

[Ken Thompson]

Fortunately fraud is rare here. Though when it does happen reporting it in the for sale thread of the item in question is a good idea because many will check someone's profile before buying. If they see a problem transaction there they can then decide for themselves. There have been times where some mistakes have been made and retractions needed. Best to keep it all in one place.
My $.02

Edit: +1 w/Greg.

Self policing. We got that.

[cody yochum]

Thanks for the kind words Greg. Although I cannot afford it now I do plan to buy an MLife membership, not all of us have that kind of money lying around.
You guys are all self righteous pretentious bastards so when you make that comment best to include yourself.

[Greg Mihalik]

"…self righteous pretentious…"

Now you're catching on.

And sarcasm, to boot.

[Jerry Adams]

You can post your experience anywhere you wish

If you tried to resolve your issues privately but failed then speak up, might be useful to others – prevent another bad experience

Maybe it would lead to resolution of your problem

Ignore any trolls. I won't accuse anyone else of being a troll, something about not throwing first stone : )

[Franco Darioli]

Cody,
just post it here.

[D S]

I recently had a bad experience with another member in Gear Swap. As of now, it is unresolved, to my satisfaction. I hesitate to post the details because of the way another OP was ambushed when posting about his experience with SMD. Besides, the seller has already edited out the details of the sales ad (which seems to be common here).

[Dena Kelley]

Dean-

Doesn't help this time, but I make a habit of doing screen captures (or with Windows 7 and up, use snipping tool) of the original ad and all communications within that thread (as they can all be edited later). And of course, keep all emails.

At least that way you've got photographic proof later if they shaft you, and can post up the pics to prove it.

And I agree it would be cool to have a single "sticky" type thread where people could post up about bad experiences with a forum seller – a single place to check for a bad apple. Other forums do that. One forum I go to also has a place to post about particularly excellent experiences with a forum seller.

[BlackHatGuy]

Personally, I think that you first try to resolve the issue with the seller/buyer. Sounds like you did that.

If still unresolved, then – without emotion or emotionally charged language – present your side of the story (the facts, not conjecture, and not your thoughts on what should happen. Just the facts.). The other person is free to do the same.

You'll get plenty of responses probably, this is, after all, BPL, and there are always lots of opinions floating around. Some will probably be 'on your side,' some will probably not. Nature of the beast.

But it does let everyone know of a possible issue of dealing with someone via the gear swap on this site.

(WARNING: This statement has not been evaluated by BPL. This post is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any rancorous diatribes from other posters)

[D S]

Still confused as to where to post about my experience. Do I post it here (I don't think it would get much exposure)? Do I post it as a reply to the original sales ad in Gear Swap? Or do I start another thread in Gear Swap and link back to the original sales ad? I think the last option would get the most attention, but don't want to violate any rules (if any).

[BlackHatGuy]

"but don't want to violate any rules (if any)."

There are no real rules.

IMO, post in the original gear swap thread and just alter the subject line to show your dissatisfaction (like add '- negative experience' to the end of the subject line or some such).

[Dena Kelley]

Agree. In the original thread on gear swap. I'd change the subject line to something relevant to get attention, if it just has the original for sale subject line it might get ignored by people not looking for that item. But if it says something like "Joe Blow scammed me!" that would get attention. I fully concur with the earlier post that you must make a reasonable effort to work it out with the other party before you do that, though.

[D S]

Thanks for the replies. I have tried earnestly to work something out for more than 5 days. I did get responses like – the previous owner did that, I never noticed that, glad you got it, I sold it to you for less than what I wanted, and I agree that it's not pretty – for the first couple of days. Then he started ignoring me. I even warned him that I was going to post it on BPL and got no response.

[Dave T]

nm

[EndoftheTrail]

Now that all this has come to an agreeable conclusion, y'all need to click over to Patagonia's 40-50% Off Sale. Got wind of the sale thanks to TJ Christopher's post on Gear Deals. Sale actually includes decent stuff at 'normal' colors and sizes!!

Ben.
The Gear Enabler.

[D S]

OK, I posted it. But, I don't think it will get much attention as the original FS title shows in the index. Easily overlooked – IMO.

[Link .]

I bet these are the latest VERY POOR CHOICE FOR UL BACKPACKING DO TO THEIR DRAMATICALLY REDUCED BREATHABILITY!You can read Richard Nisley's report here .

[BlackHatGuy]

"But, I don't think it will get much attention as the original FS title shows in the index."

That depends on how one uses the site.

I always click on 'Recent Threads', I see the threads with the most recent postings, and the last post (by title) in that thread, so your post is near the top of my results (at the moment, lots of posting on this site so it gets pushed down). But anyone responding to YOUR post in that thread will also have your subject line (unless they specifically change it).

[Dave T]

.

[Ian]

I recently posted a PIF GPS on gear swap and he was the first person to ask for it. I noticed that 100% of his dealings on BPL were through Gear Swap and I guess my first assumption was that he is re selling this gear elsewhere or needs to join a gear 12 step program. He assured me that he wasn't going to sell the GPS and that he would PIF it away when he was done with it.

Since he doesn't interact on BPL other than Gear Swap I can only speculate what he's doing with the gear but in the spirit of innocent until proven guilty, I have no reason to question his integrity so I sent him the GPS. I received a very gracious PM from him after he received it and he assured me that he'll PIF it on to the Boy Scouts or other worthy organization when he's done with it.

IMO…. once is happenstance, twice is coincidence, and three times is a pattern.

To the OP, if I have any concerns about a substantial purchase, instead of a screen shot I quote the seller's product description and then indicate that I'm interested.

[Richard May]

I think an evaluation at the end of a transaction is a very good idea. In places like eBay it's common courtesy to compliment a seller (or buyer if you are a seller) after a successful, smooth transaction.

I just bought a bivy and so far am very happy with how the dealing went. I'll wait till I've inspected the item to post though.

Let others know who's a good seller!

[Gary Dunckel]

Adam Kramer is, that's for sure.

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