Silk Road forums

Discussion => Silk Road discussion => Topic started by: Baraka on July 01, 2013, 08:30 pm

Title: Vendors bribing sellers to change their ratings?
Post by: Baraka on July 01, 2013, 08:30 pm
I know there are few rules on SR governing buyers and sellers. So what are the rules regarding changing ratings in exchange for money or cash back? Are there any at all? If not, then some vendors' feedback ratings do not truthfully reflect their transaction history. And vendors with some really bad ratings can be made to look squeaky clean when in reality they're anything but.

Thanks guys. FYI I'm a buyer not a seller.
Title: Re: Vendors bribing sellers to change their ratings?
Post by: Baraka on July 01, 2013, 08:38 pm
Goddamnit. I meant BUYERS not sellers in the title of this thread.  >:(

Can a mod change the title so that "sellers" is replaced by "buyers"? I don't see any options that would allow me to do that.
Title: Re: Vendors bribing sellers to change their ratings?
Post by: enpiping on July 01, 2013, 08:47 pm
If not, then some vendors' feedback ratings do not truthfully reflect their transaction history.
Even if there were regulations in place regarding bribing--which would also challenge the process of vendors giving extra product to buyers after they've had a bad experience, which I think is a good business practice--it wouldn't change the fact that all of the vendors' ratings to some degree already don't "truthfully" reflect their history.  I think the best practice when picking vendors is to take in the reviews holistically (i.e. take a look at all the reviews and weigh them out) and read reviews on the forums in particular, where buyers have much more room and engagement to attempt to accurate express their experiences with a given vendor.
I may have misinterpreted your original post here though because it seems to me that you might also just be talking about buyers low-balling vendors in hopes of being able to blackmail them, thus affecting the vendor's rating?
Title: Re: Vendors bribing sellers to change their ratings?
Post by: AnonymousAddict on July 01, 2013, 09:11 pm
Vendors Negotiate with buyers all the time about their feedback
Title: Re: Vendors bribing sellers to change their ratings?
Post by: Baraka on July 01, 2013, 09:18 pm
Quote
I may have misinterpreted your original post here though because it seems to me that you might also just be talking about buyers low-balling vendors in hopes of being able to blackmail them, thus affecting the vendor's rating?

Nope. Although that's the flipside of the coin. I'm talking about a buyer having a legitimately bad experience and posting appropriate feedback about it, then being asked by the vendor to change the feedback to a 5/5 and erase the negative comments.
Title: Re: Vendors bribing sellers to change their ratings?
Post by: enpiping on July 01, 2013, 09:35 pm
Nope. Although that's the flipside of the coin. I'm talking about a buyer having a legitimately bad experience and posting appropriate feedback about it, then being asked by the vendor to change the feedback to a 5/5 and erase the negative comments.
If the vendor is offering to "make it right" in exchange for altering the feedback, I don't see much of an issue with it and think it happens pretty often.  On an optimistic level, it's the vendor admitting they fucked up and are trying to "make it right."  However, I think it's up to the buyer to decide whether or not they'll accept the offer.  If the vendor bullies them though, that's an issue and it seems like that happens often enough (read the customer support forum or some of the posts on the silk road subreddit).
Title: Re: Vendors bribing sellers to change their ratings?
Post by: Tessellated on July 01, 2013, 09:48 pm
Giving an unhappy customer money to make them happy is not bribary, it is refunds and reperations. If buyers end up happy at the end then why shouldn't the stats reflect that?

In cases where I made an error and got a low feedback I have contacted that buyer to negotiate a refund plus some free tabs. I do it because I want better feedback, and I do it because I fucked up and I want the customer to be happy and return.

Bribery exists when exchanges of money are taboo. In a business deal it is no bribery to intice the other side with a better offer.
Title: Re: Vendors bribing sellers to change their ratings?
Post by: enpiping on July 01, 2013, 10:09 pm
In cases where I made an error and got a low feedback I have contacted that buyer to negotiate a refund plus some free tabs. I do it because I want better feedback, and I do it because I fucked up and I want the customer to be happy and return.

Bribery exists when exchanges of money are taboo. In a business deal it is no bribery to intice the other side with a better offer.
I definitely agree, and it makes sense, as it ends up benefiting both parties involved in the transaction.  On the flipside, I have read of buyers accusing vendors of bullying them into positive feedback by suggesting that they'll "blacklist" them with other vendors; now that is just bad practice.
EDIT: I'd also consider a vendor who puts effort into rectifying a situation, like you clearly do Tessellated, a vendor I'd like to do business with.
Title: Re: Vendors bribing sellers to change their ratings?
Post by: tedrux on July 03, 2013, 10:05 am
if i received the package and it was satisfactory I'm probably rating 5/5. but now I'll start doing 3/5 so I can get paid. thanks for the info :p jkjk
Title: Re: Vendors bribing sellers to change their ratings?
Post by: danknugsdun on July 03, 2013, 11:09 am
If we made a bad mistake we would always give compensation to our customers.

If we done our job and a customer was unreasonable and complaining when there is nothing wrong they would get a big fat penis in their batty and told to be on their way.

Luckily we do not have to deal with people like this very often :)
Title: Re: Vendors bribing sellers to change their ratings?
Post by: Tessellated on July 04, 2013, 07:00 am
hey infowars please restrain from such an obviously useless post like the last one here. It really does not help none of us and it fucks up the thread for people who want to use the forums in the right way. Not Cool

It is a trollbot, not a person.
Title: Re: Vendors bribing sellers to change their ratings?
Post by: HelpMeHelpYou on July 04, 2013, 10:29 am
I've had the opposite of this happen. I'm a vendor and I had a buyer try to blackmail me with negative feedback if I didn't send him more shit. It really pissed me off. I honestly don't mess with anything sub-par. I'm not a habitual drug user, but I test literally everything I stock for safety and quality control. I honestly care about my customer base, too many people DON'T care. I always message buyers with tips, limits, do's, and do nots. Anyways, I got it worked out and he fucked right off thank god. I'd rather take an asshole giving me an undeserved bad rating than bend to some dick trying to blackmail me. Needless to say, that dude is cut right off!

As for the topic, I think it should be ok. Say you genuinely fuck up and want to make it right, you should be able to reimburse the buyer with cash or drugs to make the sale on par with what you intended. If you make it right, then you deserve that 5, you know? That's what it's about, dishing out what you claim and sticking to your word. Honesty, honor, and respect above all.
Title: Re: Vendors bribing sellers to change their ratings?
Post by: Tessellated on July 04, 2013, 04:56 pm
I've had the opposite of this happen. I'm a vendor and I had a buyer try to blackmail me with negative feedback if I didn't send him more shit...

If someone tries to blackmail you for more shit, just send them some shit. Dog is good. Don't use your own, DNA lol.
Title: Re: Vendors bribing sellers to change their ratings?
Post by: joolz on July 05, 2013, 01:31 am
place is fast becoming a cess pit 
Title: Re: Vendors bribing sellers to change their ratings?
Post by: druff1138 on July 05, 2013, 01:37 am
MarijuanaIsMyMuse, MIMM, GoingPostal, whatever once started a thread threatening people who gave him/her bad feedback by "blacklisting" those that left negative feedback. I could not believe the mods let that one fly.
Title: Re: Vendors bribing sellers to change their ratings?
Post by: joolz on July 05, 2013, 01:42 am
MarijuanaIsMyMuse, MIMM, GoingPostal, whatever once started a thread threatening people who gave him/her bad feedback by "blacklisting" those that left negative feedback. I could not believe the mods let that one fly.
me either begs the question why? any  ideas   :-\