BOI Category? Review the buyers and sellers of garter snakes

[Stefan-A]

One of the Finnish herp forums I use has a feedback system, where you can give a positive (+1), neutral (0) or negative (-1) point and leave a comment. So far, I haven't gotten a single review one way or another, despite the fact that I've done several transactions through the forum and nobody's had any reason to complain (to my knowledge). A single negative one, from a someone with a personal grudge, could potentially ruin my reputation there. In theory, a person could also start multiple accounts and/or leave multiple negative reviews and there is no way to respond to a misunderstanding or outright lies. This sort of system, with points but no discussions, favors the reviewer regardless of who's right. It's not even word-against-word, only the accuser's word is given any room.

A system that enables discussion would turn into what we see over at Fauna (at least the last time I was there), which is essentially a sad parody of a trial. The forum I mentioned earlier did have a system like this before. I got a couple of positive reviews then and no negative, but others weren't so lucky and no, the truth doesn't necessarily prevail.

I don't know if word of mouth is any better, but at least it's not built into the forum, rigged in the favor of one party, or likely to start a public fecal storm.

[infernalis]

One of the Finnish herp forums I use has a feedback system, where you can give a positive (+1), neutral (0) or negative (-1) point and leave a comment. So far, I haven't gotten a single review one way or another, despite the fact that I've done several transactions through the forum and nobody's had any reason to complain (to my knowledge). A single negative one, from a someone with a personal grudge, could potentially ruin my reputation there. In theory, a person could also start multiple accounts and/or leave multiple negative reviews and there is no way to respond to a misunderstanding or outright lies. This sort of system, with points but no discussions, favors the reviewer regardless of who's right. It's not even word-against-word, only the accuser's word is given any room.

A system that enables discussion would turn into what we see over at Fauna (at least the last time I was there), which is essentially a sad parody of a trial. The forum I mentioned earlier did have a system like this before. I got a couple of positive reviews then and no negative, but others weren't so lucky and no, the truth doesn't necessarily prevail.

I don't know if word of mouth is any better, but at least it's not built into the forum, rigged in the favor of one party, or likely to start a public fecal storm.

I simply must agree with everything said.. (except the fact I have never participated nor even looked at any Finnish forum)

I know for a fact that several very good people have been slandered horribly on fauna.

Furthermore it's human nature to complain rather than praise.

A transaction goes smoothly, no one says a word. If someone gets a bug up their hiney, they tend to go mental finding fault.

On to the hypocritical side of things, I remember once upon a time, right here on Thamnophis.com, there was a big slander campaign against a certain "Bob" who was catching blue phase Pugets and selling them.

The very same people who were posting all sorts of crap about the guy either owned a snake they bought from him, or were out gathering wild specimens themselves.

This "do as I say, not as I do" mentality is the greatest flaw in such a system.

[twgrosmick]

Furthermore it's human nature to complain rather than praise.

A transaction goes smoothly, no one says a word. If someone gets a bug up their hiney, they tend to go mental finding fault.

While I agree I feel as though the thamnophis community (from what I have seen) is in no way like the group of people on fauna. Garter snake keepers, while there are exceptions, seem to be in a group all their own. I think that the +1, 0, -1 along with a comment is a great idea.

[infernalis]

While I agree I feel as though the thamnophis community (from what I have seen) is in no way like the group of people on fauna. Garter snake keepers, while there are exceptions, seem to be in a group all their own. I think that the +1, 0, -1 along with a comment is a great idea.

So why not just start a thread like everyone else does, similar to this

"My snakes arrived today from (insert seller here) and I am very happy"

problem solved.