Being relatively new to the community this thread is a result of my own personal experiences. In the short space of time that I have been here, I've had my fair share of bad encounters with untrustworthy members. It is inevitable with a forum of this size; there are always a few bad apples. My aim with this thread is to simply create a reference point from which I will attempt to try and advise members in what they should and more importantly shouldn't do when they have a bad experience with an untrustworthy member. If you feel like you have anything to add, please PM me and I will amend this post accordingly. So, let's get started. I think it is important that we start with the big "DO NOT" first DO NOT Do not, under any circumstances, create a thread on the forum about your experience. Explaining how member x is a scam artist / thief regardless of how much proof you have is only going to result in trouble. Threads like this are too subjective and are always open to interpretation. As a result the mods simply can't allow topics like this to exist. If you do create a thread like this it will be promptly locked and you will receive an infraction for abuse / harassment. The fact of the matter is that a topic like this constitutes as a personal attack which cannot be tolerated. This is explained in the forum Posting Guidelines. It also explains in the posting guidelines that the staff have the final say on what is appropriate and what is not. Whether you agree with the above procedure or not is irrelevant, you just need to ensure that you stick to the rules. DO Do make sure you follow the advice given below. There are a number of things you can and more importantly should do when you have a bad experience. Do use the iTrader feedback system to leave negative feedback. Make sure you read the excellent iTrader 101 thread first. Do report any posts you feel have broken the rules. There is small red icon in the corner of each post, use it! Do contact a staff member privately to express your concerns. You can find a list of the moderators (and see which ones are online) here. Do use the Reputation functionality to leave negative reputation. Lately there have been an abundance of locked threads with people trying to warn their fellow members of the bad apples in our community. In the majority of cases your intentions will be good but unfortunately the staff cannot allow those kind of threads. Accept it and move on. So be sure to use the iTrader and Reputation functionality and always contact a member of staff privately if you feel someone is breaking the rules. Do not try and take matters into your own hands, leave it to the professionals.
very nicely written. too bad this has been posted i don't know how many times. but keep those thoughts, you'll need em.
I don't agree with your Do Not. I feel members should post about it, and if it gets out of hand then it should be locked and the members will receive punishment. I posted a thread about a bad experience. I didn't get an infraction or any trouble. Sometimes the bad member didn't break any rules, thus you can't report it to the mods.
Your "Do Not" leads me to believe that you don't have much experience here. These threads are tolerated because it helps people to avoid doing business with people. Posting in the "scammer's" thread or calling the "scammer" a name are things that won't be tolerated and those are classified as a personal attack(and hijacking, both against the rules).
Alerting the community for a scammer should be allowed cause scammer tend to leave negative iTrader if the person who got scammed leave it to them, so in next deals if you go check the iTrader of the scammer you'll stay with doubts who the scammer really is so...Fundamented threads reporting scammers should be allowed.
You have to remember that in any case since DP is hosting that such said content they could be liable as well which is part likely why these threads are not tolerated. It's happened before. Libel / Slander suits over forum posts. Any forums that allow that as much as sometimes it should be necessary are technically opening up to liability. I think it's wise to simply use the itrader function since any user can judge a transaction this way before making one. That's what it's for right? It's up to the USER to make the correct judgement in dealings and NOT the DP staff nor website therfor it would make sense to not clutter up the forums with posts about users who are bad (Too many of them anyways) - Plus there is always two sides to every story. Legally a website owner CAN be responsible for the content on their site. I'd be really suprised if since conception DP hasn't gotten a SLEW of cease and decists for that. If a user could prove defamation has harmed their business no matter how slimy they are there could be some hefty monetary damages involved so I fully agree with staff that they do not need nor want a section like this on the site. This is likely why people get penalized for making posts like that. If you were dumb enough to not review the person's trader record prior or willing to risk a 0 trader and gone bad.. Then it's your fault. Not DP's PS I'm not saying this for no reason. We've boughten quite a few things not delivered here too. However most transactions were smooth as silk. A community can not be a babysitting service or hold responsibility for any member's actions well except maybee Shawn's lol.