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Perhaps this isn't the right place to write my rant, but something has been bothering me and I guess this is as good of a place as any. As I read the daily posts on the feedback forum, it occured to me that people have been misusing that service. It seems to me that the feedback forum is there for those who had deals go wrong have a place to alert others of questionable activity. Why then do so many people who have absolutely nothing to do with a particular bad deal feel the need to post their unsolicited opinions? The forum has turned into a court of inquiry where each interloper tries to determine guilt. Maybe I,am wrong, but it seems to me that was not the original intent of the feedback forum. Everybody has their own opinions, and you know what they say about opinions....[/b]

wb3cez wrote:Perhaps this isn't the right place to write my rant, but something has been bothering me and I guess this is as good of a place as any. As I read the daily posts on the feedback forum, it occured to me that people have been misusing that service. It seems to me that the feedback forum is there for those who had deals go wrong have a place to alert others of questionable activity. Why then do so many people who have absolutely nothing to do with a particular bad deal feel the need to post their unsolicited opinions? The forum has turned into a court of inquiry where each interloper tries to determine guilt. Maybe I,am wrong, but it seems to me that was not the original intent of the feedback forum. Everybody has their own opinions, and you know what they say about opinions....

Excellent observation! I also wonder about this.

The answer is simple. Others, may have also had similar dealings, with one party, or the other, or contradictory dealings, and have input. The forum, is about getting the best information out there, for the perusal, and digestion, of anyone who may be contemplating a deal, with the person in question. The more they know, the more they have an opportunity, to decide, based on their own criteria, whether or not, to trust an individual, in a transaction. Personally, I want all of the information out there, and let the buyer decide.
Every honorable seller, is likely to have a dissatisfied customer, or two. That's just normal. Some folks are NEVER happy, no matter how much integrity there was on the part of the seller.
But, when a seller begins getting multiple negative feedbacks, with a similar theme, it becomes a pattern, that helps a buyer decide, if they want to take a chance on the seller.
Personally, I prefer for all the laundry to be aired, ant let the INFORMED buyer decide, rather than throwing caution to the wind, and holler "Caveat Emptor!!!"
Posts, which have no substantive bearing, on a particular subject, of course, are out of line. But, sometimes, you'll get a "What was the outcome of this situation", post, and I believe those are totally legitimate, as it is simply prompting someone, who may have pulled the trigger too fast, to make right, the wrong accusation, he either implied, or outright alleged.

I used it a lot to scan the horizon for bad sellers/buyers.

One way to cut out the nonsense is to allow only the two parties to post and not individuals with their comments regarding the issue. Keeps to the point and cuts out the nonsense. But, it is now what it is...

Not a bad idea, except that often times one party, or the other, never realizes that a post has been made about them, and therefore doesn't respond. While this is not a bad thing, in the case of a positive feedback, nor much of a real problem, ikn the case of deserved negative feedback, when someone is unfairly sullying the name of another, not responding, can have a devastating effect on their reputation. I don't know about everyone else, but I am not so self-absorbed, that I think to go and "search" for posts about me. But, now that you said that, and I have given this response, I think it might be a wise move.