Everyone read

[JayC]

One of two things is going to happen.

Either we're going to go to this escrow service.. and Shane and I discussed this this morning or the staff is going to completely wash its hands with the classifieds and it will be "Use at your own risk!"

I dont have time to mediate these disputes. Ive tried OVER and OVER and OVER again to put safeguards in place and people just complain. No one wants them until they get ripped off then its "Wah! Help me!"

The escrow service does a couple of things. It protects the buyer and seller from getting ripped off and it provides an avenue of mediation if either party is dissatisfied. This is what these guys do full time. Frankly I think its a small price to pay for that kind of coverage.

Here's a link once again. Im not overly enthusiastic with how the system integrates with the forum but Ive talked to them about a different way to do it here.

http://www.styckyd.com/search

For those people that buy and sell in the parts section and pay a fee, this will not impact you. You're established and I dont consider that private sales. There will be a dedicated forum for that.

 

[QWKRTNU]

I liked the idea of 150 posts.. can't we all just use PayPal and make disputes that way...

 

[JayC]

I liked the idea of 150 posts.. can't we all just use PayPal and make disputes that way...

Paypal has a very limited window in which a comlaint can be filed. Once that window closes, you are SOL. Not to mention that if someone takes your money and empties their Paypal account, even if Paypal finds in your favor, you're still SOL.

 

[coach]

Wow, is there really that much screwing going on in the for sale section??? I guess I'm blind. I've never had an issue, buying or selling.
I have an idea.
Before anyone ( except known members) can sell, they need to register all personal info with the board, you and Shane and whoever else.
Info would include full name, address, driver lic number, phone number...etc. Anyone not willing to give you a few critical pieces of info, forfits their selling rights. Let them pay fees to Ebay or Racing Junk. They dont need to sell for free here. We do not need thieves or cons.
Next, install guidelines.
Timely shipping and payment. I get tired of the guy who posts and then goes out of town for 2 weeks and never answers or pays or ships. If the transaction takes place in the thread, seller must accept the said person as the buyer. Seller must then post when payment is recieved. If payment is not recieved in the said amount of days. He has the right to sell to the next in line.
When payment has posted, seller has so many days to ship. If part is not shipped...seller is banned altogether for 1 week and his ability to sell is suspended for 1 month. Next offense...he's gone. With a post count from 150 to 350, this is his probation period. I think after that, they are established.
I have several friends who are members, but not posting members. They are here for info and wasting their own time. They often ask me to sell a part for them. I will not even sell some of them because of the price they are asking. I police that myself. I do not sell junk and def wont sell anyone elses junk for them.

Last but not least, get your sellers phone number. I just bought a killer set of heads from Terry...1hitnt. I wasnt about to send 1350 buck to a guy on a keyboard. I asked for a phone number and called him. You can tell a shady character when talking. I have met dozens of guy on here by phone. ttaowner, alvarog83, and several others. The guys I talked to would never rip you off. I had 1 guy who wanted something of mine and called me. He cried the blues, needed the part shipped out asap and would send payment on payday...etc. I never got the $$$ and he never got the part.

Last but not least...theres always Bison and a plane ticket. Call him a collection agency!!! LOL
I'll help him collect if needed.

Coach

 

[SGRIM]

Coach,

The problem with that is once we start collecting anymore data than we do we are open to privacy act policies and gov red tape BS...

All time spent on here by admins and mods is voluntary... Busy as life is these days we all have full plates, having to deal with lying SOB's gets old real quick; as I do it all day long


It is a damn shame that grown folks can't not screw each other and force us into a decision like this....

I thinking a poll and let you guys pick between the two options Jay laid out this morning...

There isn't but so much we can do to begin with, banning the bad member and providing ips to LEO is about all we can do....

I love this community and this board dearly, however I refuse to let a few bad apples spoil it for the rest of us...

Speak up everyone on the two options....

 

[coach]

Coach,

The problem with that is once we start collecting anymore data than we do we are open to privacy act policies and gov red tape BS...

All time spent on here by admins and mods is voluntary... Busy as life is these days we all have full plates, having to deal with lying SOB's gets old real quick; as I do it all day long


It is a damn shame that grown folks can't not screw each other and force us into a decision like this....

I thinking a poll and let you guys pick between the two options Jay laid out this morning...

There isn't but so much we can do to begin with, banning the bad member and providing ips to LEO is about all we can do....

I love this community and this board dearly, however I refuse to let a few bad apples spoil it for the rest of us...

Speak up everyone on the two options....

Well you quit dealing with them. Let me do it.
You buy some damn goats for all that grass and get that damn car ready!!!

 

[INEEDAGN]

Shane beat me to it. I see both sides of the story pretty clearly. On one hand, I only deal with known members when I buy so I don't "need" the service, but on the other hand if the service was there I might not shy away from a new member because I know I'll actually get the part. I've skipped some decent deals before because the seller wasn't known on here. But lately I sell more than I buy so I'm not liking the idea of seller fees (i'm sure anyone that sells on here is thinking it, we are all tight asses when the chips are down). I've always thought of any forum as "deal at your own risk" so for the admin to wash their hands completely won't affect me much. I don't know why others expect them to get involved anyway.

Whatever the admins decide, I guess i'll deal with. Because I sure as hell ain't dealing with ebay and craigslist.

 

[TURBOPOWERED68]

i use paypal with a Internet use ONLY CC (NOTHING ELSE)
13 days later and i haven't received a product i CALL my CC and cancel the payment NO stories bought.
Lets try it again but remember if on the 13th day i don't have the product the payment is getting canceled again and i am moving on.
happened once and i didn't loose a dime. What is so hard about this?????

BTW this internet use only CC thing was suggested to me by one of the bank reps where i bank at.
is this too simple??
I admit i do loose out on MO and Check only transactions but id rather pass up a deal over donating money to some POS.

 

[charlief1]

What you've got to understand is that admin and mods get tired and sometimes beat up by members when they get into one of the "deadbeat" feed backs. Lord knows I've been beat up and I know Shane and Jay have as well. It gets really old sometimes to say the least. I very seldom buy or sell on the board these days but I've been burned just a few times and wish I could do some target practice on the member, and I wouldn't be using center mass either. Lately I haven't had the time to get on the board as much as I feel like I should but this place is a second home to me and I really love the fact that we don't have to pay to play.

The info and tech is great and there's only a few members that I can't stand. I've only blocked 2 members since I've been on the board from 07. Most of them are good guys and will help you out if there's a way to do it. There's very few places like this board and it's members. The fact that we get a few rotten apples on here and 99% of the time we catch them before to many get screwed is amazing to say the least. I've been killing at least 4 spammers a week before they post and have caught a few "new" members that have tried to scam someone and I either got to kill them or get one of the admin to knock them off.

If it takes a service to keep the BS down that you've got to pay for then I say do it. I would set a $ limit though. A dispute over less than $100 may sting but it won't hurt that much except for those of us that're broke as hell.

 

[gnbeginer]

my .02 not that it matters. I love my GN. period. I like it when I can come to this board and look up info on what I am working on. This board and alot of its members has put me on/in the right direction when I am stumped. Do I want to see this board go down the toilet with scammers - no. I have bought and I have sold on this board. I have never been ripped off nor have I ever ripped anyone off. Won't do it either. I would like to see this get worked out and make the members happy. If I have to give up some personel info - I guess I'll have to - will I like it - no. Will I pay a fee if I want to buy/sell something on this board - if it makes it so I can have the part I want or need - sure. Won't like it - but I'll do it. I have been on this board since 2003 when I got my gn. Had to do different names due to internet issues and getting hacked a few times. But mostly cuz I forget my password and cant get back in under that user. But I'm old and have severe crs. lol. Anyway - thats what I think.

 

[McClean]

I guess I understand the issue at hand. I hate it because I don't have the time to spend on the forum getting to know people as I have on several other boards I am a member of. I use the board for two main things: information (I love the search function), and buying/selling. I would love to be able to pay a fee/donation amount to be considered an accepted member here so I could continue what I have been doing. I have people here that I hope would vouch for my credibility.

Unfortunately there are people in the world that are only out for themselves. That is true in every selling venue not just this one. Honor, respect, and a good reputation are dying virtues.

 

[Nick Micale]

One of two things is going to happen.

Either we're going to go to this escrow service.. and Shane and I discussed this this morning or the staff is going to completely wash its hands with the classifieds and it will be "Use at your own risk!"............................

.........For those people that buy and sell in the parts section and pay a fee, this will not impact you. You're established and I dont consider that private sales. There will be a dedicated forum for that.

Until a friend mentioned to me about this thread, I did not know there was such a problem in the For Sale forum, and I do feel for the admin guys that have to sort it out.

I would just like to make some comments and a suggestion after seeing all the members and staff input.

It is my opinion that the For Sale forums was a great aid in building this board, as well as it is a great factor in helping turbo Buick owners fund their cars and hobby.

We were able to get needed parts reasonable, and sell un-needed parts to help fund our hobby, or more accurately, our passion.

Certainly something needs to be in place to prevent "scammers" to prey on us, and we need to feel comfortable in dealing with each other.

It seems to me Jay's proposal above has much merit.

If the guys who sell parts as a business have a forum, maybe this could be expended to include trusted members who have also demonstrated credibility over a period of time and have a proven record of good dealings.

Unproven and new members would use the escrow service for selling their parts until they qualified for current forum.

I know this sounds like a monumental task to decide who and when a member could be allowed to post in the general For Sale section, but I think many of the moderators have a good handle on this and would be fair in their judgement.

Personally, most of the parts I sell are from customer's that have up-graded their cars, and just want to be rid of the parts. Lots of the "stuff" I sell is well below market value, so the added expense and time of an escrow sale would not be worth the trouble in many cases.

Too bad the world, and board, has changed and this problem has developed to epic proportions even in our every day life.

I certainly appreciate Shane and Jay allowing us to at least have a voice in dealing with this issue, thanks to you both.

 

[QWKRTNU]

I would just like to say over the last 2 weeks I have ordered 3 parts off the board. Received them all.. no problems...

 

[Nick Micale]

After 2 hours of reading this thread including my non-exsistant typing skills, a simple thought popped into my mind after I posted that should be rather easy to implement.

Just make it a requirement that anyone posting an item For Sale, MUST include real name, address and phone number.

I know this a really odd internet method, but I bet it will keep the scammers away and it will make it very easy for verifying to whom you are sending the $$$$.

 

[asd60303]

I don't sell or too much on here however I think there needs to be a better feedback/trader rating system. Go on svtperformance.com or pbnation.com and check out how it's done on those sites. The feedback is listed right next to the username; makes it quick and easy to leave feedback or look at someone's feedback rating.

 

[projectmoneypit]

After 2 hours of reading this thread including my non-exsistant typing skills, a simple thought popped into my mind after I posted that should be rather easy to implement.

Just make it a requirement that anyone posting an item For Sale, MUST include real name, address and phone number.

I know this a really odd internet method, but I bet it will keep the scammers away and it will make it very easy for verifying to whom you are sending the $$$$.

bad part about your idea is the (bad) people will now know where to go to steal parts if they chose to. I have 2 shops full of a variety of parts and am not home for 26 hrs at a time. Luckily i live in the country and my neighbors are real trigger happy. But if the neighbors are not home the pit bull and dob will keep them out, but some people might not have any protection from theives. You really cant separate sellers and be totally fair about it as i sell parts to members on here who have purchased from vendors who sent them junk but they will not comment on here for fear of being bashed and when they try and discuss returning the parts to the vendors they are responsible for shipping charges and with such things as hoods and core supports they will be out too much. I think the only way to handle this is for buyers to buy at their own risk, it is not the boards responsibility to police this (in my opinion).

 

[SGRIM]

There is no way to make eveyone happy...

 

[TurboBob]

There is no way to make eveyone happy...

thats for sure. But one thing we all agree on is that the parts trading is one thing that keeps the community strong, and that the bad apples are in the minority.

I have bought and sold a few things over the years, and have never had any issues. I have had more problems with USPS and UPS losing and destroying stuff.

Bob

 

[CGASTON]

After 2 hours of reading this thread including my non-exsistant typing skills, a simple thought popped into my mind after I posted that should be rather easy to implement.

Just make it a requirement that anyone posting an item For Sale, MUST include real name, address and phone number.

I know this a really odd internet method, but I bet it will keep the scammers away and it will make it very easy for verifying to whom you are sending the $$$$.

Nick,

I said that as soon as this thread was posted. I believe that the information that is post as the individuals rename must be posted and verified via PAYPAL or Credit Card. Now with all of the vendors on this board, this could be easily done. I have no problem posting my information, since I have done since day one and will continue to do so.

Being a VET in the Military of the Intel Corp and volunteer in the Police realm, I find it suspicious of people that have something to hide.

 

[highboostgn]

I like the idea of an "ebay" type rating system. If everything goes smooth then you keep a high score. If you screw someone over that score drops. With that said there should also be a comments block letting both buyer and seller explain the incident.