I don't see the point of this whole Discussion Board. Supposedly it's for sharing our experiences with buying, selling etc. If you can't name the seller in a legitimate complaint
Decent buyers and sellers would have nothing to worry about. Most people do the ‘right’ thing by each other. It’s just the odd bad apple we have to worry about.
No one should fear the truth, nor of telling of their experiences – fair or foul. If you’ve got your facts right I’d support anyone putting it about. Large enterprises can easily squash smaller people, no doubt about it, but quite often it takes the action of a solitary figure to bring about change for the better.
And as far as liability is concerned I like to think of it this way, if someone pinned a note on the staff notice board at your place of employment and someone took offence it would be more sensible to respond/take action against the writer than to sue your employer.
And as far as liability is concerned I like to think of it this way, if someone pinned a note on the staff notice board at your place of employment and someone took offence it would be more sensible to respond/take action against the writer than to sue your employer.
Not a suitable comparison - best to consider it this way... The writer of a defamatory article is rarely the one that gets sued, the person / company who publishes the defamatory article is the one held accountable, so if someone is a website owner / operator, and they have full control over what is and what isn't published to their site, guess who's in the hot seat, or at least has a cheek on it? 😉
Decent buyers and sellers would have nothing to worry about. Most people do the ‘right’ thing by each other. It’s just the odd bad apple we have to worry about.
No one should fear the truth, nor of telling of their experiences – fair or foul. If you’ve got your facts right I’d support anyone putting it about. Large enterprises can easily squash smaller people, no doubt about it, but quite often it takes the action of a solitary figure to bring about change for the better.
And as far as liability is concerned I like to think of it this way, if someone pinned a note on the staff notice board at your place of employment and someone took offence it would be more sensible to respond/take action against the writer than to sue your employer.
It only takes one bad apple to ruin the reputation of a decent seller.
It takes the action of a solitary figure to bring about change for the worse as well.
The difference between a workplace and the internet is also significant. "Pinned notes" on a staff noticeboard that are derogatory/false are usually pinned up gutlessly and anonymously. A web based forum has a larger potential audience. Posting on a name-and-shame forum could also be anonymous, with posters not even having had a transaction with the seller they shame. These Lithium/eBay boards have the safeguards of a sign-in process that verifies a member's eBay credentials AND has a reporting facility, moderation process and suspension policy.
What safeguards would you think a name-and-shame forum would have? If there was a requirement to sign up to the forum, then what would stop me from signing up with a user ID of essel_emporium to name and shame a competitor of mine?
There would be ways of providing useful information to buyers and sellers in ways that avoid legal action. For example, a tally system that records hassles with users may be possible. Where ‘complaints’ from different users continually identify poor behaviour of the same user a rating could be determined for them: the number of complaints within a certain time period. And if the rating of any user reached a certain level that might be determined as excessive the usercode might be published.
I’m thinking of something of the nature of the way our credit rating is determined. The experience of different retailers contribute toward the good or bad reputation of each of us.
There are moves afoot to rate medical practitioners. If for example the number of successful outcomes of a surgeon performing particular procedures were recorded and their performance ratings were publicly available and you had a choice of going under the knife with a surgeon whose patients generally were more successful than the alternative and you had the choice of doctor you might find it a useful service, and you might be inclined disregard any notions of who your choice might offend.
Such a rating service of ebay buyers and sellers, if anyone has a mind to do so, would be very useful. It would also be a better system than the current feedback arrangement.
There would be ways of providing useful information to buyers and sellers in ways that avoid legal action. For example, a tally system that records hassles with users may be possible. Where ‘complaints’ from different users continually identify poor behaviour of the same user a rating could be determined for them: the number of complaints within a certain time period. And if the rating of any user reached a certain level that might be determined as excessive the usercode might be published.
I’m thinking of something of the nature of the way our credit rating is determined. The experience of different retailers contribute toward the good or bad reputation of each of us.
There are moves afoot to rate medical practitioners. If for example the number of successful outcomes of a surgeon performing particular procedures were recorded and their performance ratings were publicly available and you had a choice of going under the knife with a surgeon whose patients generally were more successful than the alternative and you had the choice of doctor you might find it a useful service, and you might be inclined disregard any notions of who your choice might offend.
Such a rating service of ebay buyers and sellers, if anyone has a mind to do so, would be very useful. It would also be a better system than the current feedback arrangement.
Four points and then I'm done:
1 - a tally system is still flawed as anyone can set up multiple user identities to make false claims against another member (or ex-wife, ex-husband, ex-boyfriend etc) to 'fool' the tally system into thinking they are unique complaints.
2 - the credit rating system is a complex system with checks and balances, and even then they get it wrong some times. It also has the backing of major credit providers. A name-and-shame forum would attract aggrieved buyers or sellers who are just looking for an avenue to vent, leaving it open to exaggerated posts and claims.
3 - doctors, operations, and choosing a surgeon are a lot different to buying from a bad seller on eBay. Operations can be life and death, normally a bad eBay experience is about being upset and disappointed. The doctor rating systems I have read about are Government backed and run utilising vast amounts of data, not based on one or two whinges about doctors on a public forum!
4 - The feedback system is flawed, but it does provide an avenue for buyers to warn about bad seller experiences . . . . . as well as an avenue for sellers to have defamatory feedback removed without having to engage legal professionals.
If that was the case wonder how many sellers would name and shame buyers who bid and never pay. I am a seller and a buyer, believe me when I say Buyers are the ones with rights on Ebay, Sellers have none Ebay does not do anything to protect sellers at all. I have lost count how many unpaid item cases I have had, people who do not read item descriptions properly, even to the point where one buyer messaged me asking for a refund because the item they received in the mail was broken. I simply asked them for a photo to show me, and their only response was I have to go and find my camera. Scams run both ways on ebay and Ebay doesn't care, the difference is as a buyer you have protection and it doesn't happen everyday but as a Seller you see someone trying to pull something over you almost everyday! Also as a Buyer you have many choices of Sellers to choose from, read their feedback but don't rely on it as a seller I am waiting on over 100 feedback from people who have bought from me and I have never heard from again or they have bought again from me but just can't be bothered leaving feedback. Instead contact the seller and ask them questions if you have doubts about purchasing an item from them find out what sort of person they are and how important customer service is them. Do they value you as a customer, do they value their own reputation? Good Luck in the future and hope you are able to avoid the Scammers out there.
