Silk Road forums

Market => Rumor mill => Topic started by: Nod4Less on May 23, 2013, 12:05 pm

Title: 5 POINT STAR VENDOR RATING SYSTEM - NEW CONCEPT - LOOKING FOR CUSTOMER FEEDBACK!
Post by: Nod4Less on May 23, 2013, 12:05 pm
PLEASE TAKE 5-10 MINUTES OF YOUR TIME TO READ THIS - I AM EXTREMELY SERIOUS ABOUT THIS - PLEASE READ AND THEN REPLY WITH ANY AND ALL THOUGHTS/FEEDBACK - THANKS!

This was taken from the Heroin Vendors thread - I thought this was something that could be implemented across the board on SR to help improve the Silk Road experience.  Dread Pirate Roberts can thank me later!  This is something that is going to hopefully really catch on -- decrease negative occurrences keeps people on SR (especially noobs who might leave if the first purchase is unsuccessful), increase customer service, improve vendor performance, and overall increase efficiency in transaction time (thus reducing resolutions).

It started as frustration as to the inaccuracy/uselessness of the feedback system currently in place (so many problems with it - I could list a million, but my idea would end up being like a Q&A - a 'Yes' or 'No' - simple as that - places ownership of the customer feedback on the vendor, rather than the customer.  In any case, I'd love to discuss this further afterwards and I appreciate any feedback - let me know if you as a buyer would commit to only buying from vendors who participated in something like this - if you as a vendor would participate if it meant you had to live up to your own rules you set for yourself on every transaction or it could affect your score.  Looking forward to hearing what you all have to say about this - it's time for something like this on SR, for sure!!

PLEASE READ TOP TO BOTTOM - GIVE ME 5 MINUTES OF YOUR TIME - ONCE FINISHED, PLEASE QUOTE AND REPLY WITH YOUR THOUGHTS/INSIGHT - THIS IS VERY SERIOUS

(I started this post as something else, which I'll get to later, so I kinda pick up mid-thought... sorry about that)

...it's like, day after day, post after post I'm reading either about some other dealer who is doing their best to do as little as possible - and still - people are somehow still ok with that... ???  As long as down the road (I've read it takes weeks, months sometimes) the buyer gets made whole then magically everything is all good.  Let's draw this up in another scenario that is similar: ordering pizza.  (If you met me, you'd know why I picked ordering pizza - lol...)

You call ABC Pizza Delivery Company who has said written policies about how they do business and according to reviews on their own page - it seems as though they run a tight ship (85%+ on Urbanspoon is pretty great, right?)  The phone rings... and rings... and rings...  Then without much fanfare or without any help from them - you order - abruptly the line is disconnected.  Now, here are the policies:  you are going to get what you ordered, within 30 minutes, and the pizza is going to be amazing -- that is a fair assumption, right?  OK - so 15 minutes pass, you're getting HUNGRY!

25 minutes - O. M. G! you are ready to eat, you get your plates out, your drinks, napkins - everything you've always needed to eat pizza, because it'll be here in 5 minutes. Tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock - its been 45 minutes now.  No pizza man, but you think, oh maybe it isn't the pizza man's fault - maybe it's the roads or the weather - so while you wait, you go online to read up on ABC Pizza Delivery on reddit.  UH OH! 

That 85% isn't looking as swell on here, because redditors give you a little more detail as to exactly what went wrong during that 15% (actually 30%, because half of the complaints were resolved over time and the rating was adjusted) and it is NOT looking good.  You read times where the pizza came and a couple slices were missing, you read times where the pizza took 3 hours to come - even though the website said the pizza was "In Transit" and even when these people called the pizza shop, they were assured it was on its way, and you read where when it finally arrived, the pizza was HORRIBLE!!!  Oh NO!!! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!?!? 

Well, now you read another policy, that once you've ordered the pizza, there's no way for you to cancel and call Papa John's (or Pizza Hut or Domino's or the local shop that has 97% on Urbanspoon with only 1 complaint that looks like it came from a disgruntled Mexican food lover (the local shop is called Crust4Less)) - SHIT!

Well, time flies - it's been 2 hours and still no pizza.  You're passed being 'hungry' - now you're so hungry you're SICK!  On top of that, you're PISSED - at ABC and yourself for not going on reddit earlier.  You're just hoping he shows up at any minute because he seems to come through sooner or later, right?

Finally - ABC shows up - 2.5 hours late, with your pizza - and guess what?  Since it took 2.5 hours to get there, ABC threw in some garlic-cheese bread (both are cold, by the way) to make up for being late - they provide you with a list of excuses - but at this point, you're so HUNGRY, you don't even care - you send the pizza man on his way and proceed to CHOW DOWN. 

Later that night, you go on their website and give them a 5/5.  THE END

HUH?! -- Tell me that isn't EXACTLY how it works around here 90% of the time.  If you were talking about ANY other transaction in the world, there's NO WAY you'd give that 5/5.  You'd be calling said pizza company (IRL any of them, pizza hut, domino's, papa john's, etc...) and demanding all kinds of free shit or to cancel your order so you could order with another reputable company.  The funny thing is - ABC Pizza Company would NEVER EXIST - it'd go out of business so fast the Internet wouldn't even be able to catch up.  For SURE they wouldn't have anything close to 85% rating and their site would be littered with pissed off customers' complaints.  A little something extra after an hour or two wouldn't be enough for anyone to give them a 5/5 and say, "Well, after waiting 24 hours for my pizza, I kinda gave up on it, but wow, right after I got home from work - guess who came to the door?  They're really not that bad of a pizza company after all!"

However, this is REALLY HAPPENING every day here on SR - ALL THE TIME!  It's fucking LUNACY!  I just read somewhere, maybe here, that someone received their gear after waiting 5 weeks and they seemed relieved - not putting them down, but where's the line drawn?

I really think the pizza delivery story is a great comparison to what's going on here on SR - and its time we start calling people out.  There's should be a guide to show you what a 5/5 transaction is and what a 4/5 transaction is, on down to 1/5 - maybe each vendor should have to define on his/her vendor page what their idea of a 5/5 transaction is --- on down to 1/5 --- that way, if something happens on a transaction, the customer just says, listen, here's what happened, according to your rating system, that means this transaction was a 4/5 -- and then it's not a blame game and resolution can truly occur. 

I pledge to do just that as a vendor - on my vendor page, I will describe what I think is a 5/5 transaction - and if any part of it isn't lived up to, you have the right to rate me lower.  I'll make it very easy - I'll make it 5 parts - so if I mess up one part, it's a 4/5, two parts would be 3/5, etc...

I think ANY vendor who is REALLY & TRULY concerned with providing top notch service will follow suit.  What can you do as a customer?  You can pledge TO ONLY PURCHASE from vendors who are willing to abide by this system.  I am going to call this "5 POINT STAR VENDOR SYSTEM" - if you want to be a 5-POINT STAR VENDOR, you must include a description in 5 different points what you will provide understanding that each promise represents 1 point of your feedback.

Here's my 5 POINTS:

1) Communication - I PROMISE to respond to any and all messages within 24 hours -- unless otherwise posted that I will be unavailable.
2) In Transit - I PROMISE not to mark your transaction "In Transit" until it is actually dropped off at a Post Office or PO Box.
3) Weight - I PROMISE that I will weigh your bag at least twice to confirm weight - and provided with evidence, if short, it will be replaced at no cost to you.
4) Shipping - I PROMISE to have your package shipped the same day, if you make the cutoff which is 3PM Eastern.
5) Stealth - I PROMISE that I will use skills I've learned on SR to make every attempt to disguise what is being sent to you to prevent LE from intercepting.

If I fail at any of those, I PROMISE to make it up by communicating with you as the customer and coming to an agreement - or I understand that you'll be leaving a feedback of less than 5/5.

You as the buyer PROMISE to leave an honest and truthful feedback - if only 1 of the 5 points was missed, you leave a 4/5 and your detail should include which one of the 5 were missed and how (without leaving too much detail to expose stealth information, etc...)

This makes the entire feedback system completely OBJECTIVE rather than SUBJECTIVE - which leads to people being too nice or too harsh and it also removes the awkwardness for some people who are too nice or non-confrontational, gives them a system they can refer to that was created and posted by the vendor himself.  The vendor said it, not the customer, so it puts full responsibility on the vendor.

Also, the vendor can make his 5 points whatever he wants to - the cool thing is, the customer can see what those things are, and if the vendor says - "I PROMISE to ship within 2 weeks of getting your order" - then you can set your expectation accordingly.  How many people will order from him?  Not sure.

I would LOVE to hear your feedback, ideas for changes, support or non-support for a system like this - would you as a buyer only buy from a 5 POINT STAR VENDOR?? Would you as a vendor agree to 5 POINTS if you knew that buyers are only buying from these vendors, but it required you to meet these requirements every single transaction or risk a 4/5 or 3/5??

I think the best part about it is, if the vendor creates the 5 points - he can't argue against himself -- it removes the customer from having to own any of it.

I can't wait to hear from you all - I think this idea is REALLY going to take off.  I am probably going to post something in the rumor mill about this idea - maybe copy and paste this in there.

N4L
Title: Re: 5 POINT STAR VENDOR RATING SYSTEM - NEW CONCEPT - LOOKING FOR CUSTOMER FEEDBACK!
Post by: Mr. Fluffles Schrodinger on May 23, 2013, 12:49 pm
Sorry, I only read

PLEASE TAKE 5-10 MINUTES OF YOUR TIME TO READ THIS - I AM EXTREMELY SERIOUS ABOUT THIS - PLEASE READ AND THEN REPLY WITH ANY AND ALL THOUGHTS/FEEDBACK - THANKS!

This was taken from the Heroin Vendors thread -.... ABC Pizza Delivery...

...25 minutes...
...reddit...
...WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!?!? 

 - SHIT!


Here's my 5 POINTS:

1) Communication - I PROMISE to respond to any and all messages within 24 hours -- unless otherwise posted that I will be unavailable.
2) In Transit - I PROMISE not to mark your transaction "In Transit" until it is actually dropped off at a Post Office or PO Box.
3) Weight - I PROMISE that I will weigh your bag at least twice to confirm weight - and provided with evidence, if short, it will be replaced at no cost to you.
4) Shipping - I PROMISE to have your package shipped the same day, if you make the cutoff which is 3PM Eastern.
5) Stealth - I PROMISE that I will use skills I've learned on SR to make every attempt to disguise what is being sent to you to prevent LE from intercepting.

If I fail at any of those, I PROMISE...

PROMISE...

This makes the entire feedback system completely OBJECTIVE rather than SUBJECTIVE - which leads to people being too nice or too harsh and it also removes the awkwardness for some people who are too nice or non-confrontational, gives them a system they can refer to that was created and posted by the vendor himself.  The vendor said it, not the customer, so it puts full responsibility on the vendor.

Also, the vendor can make his 5 points whatever he wants to...

N4L

I think I get you, though, and it's a decent concept.  There could be some downsides to it.  Most people need things kept pretty simple. The majority might just get confused with the reading and instruction and what have you.
It could have upsides, as well. It may encourage detailed opinion with reduced fear of repercussion. An overall good rating could be given even if the stealth was nonexistent.

I have desired a more detailed rating system for a while.  My idea was just three columns with "stealth|speed|product" or something.  These things will come, I'm sure.

Now, off to Reddit to find out what the Pizza delivery boy was doing at a preschool with Heroin....