Mechanism to rate shops and sites to protect OzBargainers

Make it so on 27/05/2013 - 12:44

I am one of the people who got stung by the "CompleteBaby" scam, and have also been very frequently stung by DSE's "price/stock error" tactics. I have also at times purchased "bargains" which turned out to be melons. I am getting to the point where I wonder whether the enjoyment of finding bargains outweighs the bitterness of these negative experiences (not to mention the financial balance).

I think Ozbargain needs a shop-rating mechanism where people can indicate whether:

  1. they went ahead and purchased a deal (which is a stronger affirmation than a '+')
  2. they had a successful transaction
  3. they had a negative transaction (whatever be the reason, e.g. out-of-stock, not arrived)

The next time a deal from the shop shows up, others can see the track record. I am not talking about detailed eBay-like feedback, just '+1's for the above criteria. I think these three metrics alone will show what the DSE's and CompleteBaby's are really worth.

If members enter (1), then it also provides a mechanism to alert those who purchased if the deal turns sour.

Site Discussion

Comments

  • scotty on 27/05/2013 - 12:55

    How can these be verified? Thinking about that along gives me headaches which is why we are currently providing store rating from both ProductReview and StartHere. For example any BigW deal and scroll down to the Store Profile

    http://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/104618#storeprofile

    You'll see ratings from both ProductReview and StartHere. You can also submit reviews to ProductReview. For StartHere review it requires that you've actually done a transaction through them, which in our opinion these are better quality verified reviews but they support far less shops.

    • Make it so on 27/05/2013 - 13:11

      I admit moderation is painful, which is why I would want to keep it really simple.

      Problem with things like "productreview" is that it is quite generic, and accommodates for the greater bulk of sales, not addressing the fringe which Ozbargain is interested in (the real bargains). You couldn't tell from the productreview ratings that DSE's "extreme sales" are often bogus.

      I'm hoping there could be something which accommodates for the type of purchases which Ozbargainers make, and which allows the smaller-but-reliable retailers to be rated.

      • scotty on 27/05/2013 - 13:22
        +1

        I think it's more than moderation, but the verification that someone actually made a purchase and had a good / bad interaction with the merchant. We see that all the time in the comments — lots of "he says she says" that moderators too are powerless to verify. Last time I talked to ProductReview they actually have a dedicated team going through every review, and even that I doubt they can be sure all reviews are genuine.

        Also people are usually whinging by default, which is why most retailers with large number of reviews on ProductReview have crap ratings. People tend to complain when things don't work out for them. And stores with small number of good reviews on ProductReview? Sockpuppet much? :) Yeah it just doesn't work that well.

        • Make it so on 27/05/2013 - 13:31

          Okay, fair enough. Then how about about just a button that says "I purchased this".
          Nobody will be able to whinge, but others can see that some members (probably) committed to it, and these members can benefit from the ability to be notified if something is amiss (if Ozbargain adds a "report as scam" option). I think it could provide interesting stats, even if they are not 100% truthful.

        • scotty on 27/05/2013 - 13:37
          +1

          Then about about just a button that says "I purchased this".

          Yes these will come sometime :)

          I guess I wasn't saying that these features will never happen. I'm just putting them in the "too hard for now" bucket temporarily, and will take a look once we complete a few other features.

      • ozhunter on 27/05/2013 - 13:42

        The problem is some members like to post price errors that hopefully would be honored or clearance from sales like Dicksmith and Officeworks which vary from store to store and almost always have little to no stock.

        • Make it so on 27/05/2013 - 13:47

          Which is why we need some mechanism to give an indication of whether people actually had success with this, or whether they wasted their time.

        • ozhunter on 27/05/2013 - 14:05

          I think having a Low Stock/Clearance section in the forums would be better/easier.

  • neil on 27/05/2013 - 13:55

    Regarding the Complete Baby incident. There was no indication that the deal would go so sour. Nothing on Google or any other service regarding the company. Even one of the moderators bought from that deal. Not much you can do to prevent this situation.

    • Make it so on 27/05/2013 - 14:04

      The fact that there was nothing on google was in itself reason for concern. I know this now. I do not think I will buy again from a store which has absolutely no record of delivery whatsoever.

      But I agree - some things can't be easily foreseen. Pretty bold to set up a dummy Magento shop and simply scam people out of possibly $x00,000's. I guess they rely on people's apathy to report them to authorities.

  • tonester on 29/05/2013 - 10:27

    Pre- and post-purchase voting?
    http://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/97192

    • Make it so on 29/05/2013 - 11:04

      Votes need to be visible in future deals, though. But I suppose it's the same principle.

  • KBZ on 07/06/2013 - 02:13
    -1

    DSE's "price/stock error" tactics

    You weren't stung, you still got your money back. People make mistakes and systems aren't perfect. You make it sound like you were entitled to a 'bargain' that was either caused by human error or an imperfect system. =/

    • Make it so on 07/06/2013 - 11:33

      You weren't stung, you still got your money back.

      The fact that I got my money back does not change the fact that I got scammed, nor that the website was intentionally trying to defraud people (which is what this thread is about - a way to tell to what extent you can trust a business to "deliver").

      People make mistakes and systems aren't perfect.

      Mistakes by people and systems, sure. But if it happens often, and if a business continuously advertises stuff they haven't got, then it's either neglect or a sales tactic. Even an "imperfect system" is not an excuse to dismiss blame or liability. It's not fun having to drive back to DS to return a product which turned out to be used because the "brand new" unit I ordered online didn't exist in the first place. I'm "entitled" to get what I order.

      All I'm saying is I want some quantifiable metric that tells me whether to waste my time and money on a bargain, and what the risk of loss or frustration is.

      • KBZ on 07/06/2013 - 15:48

        All the DS bargains were mostly low stock to begin with, they weren't advertised, they were posted by individuals on OZB to share with. And some if not most were in stock but as it's a superb bargain gets taken by others who are swifter etc, does not make you entitled to one as the stock gets low.

        DS price errors aren't there to scam you, it's not purposely done to as the definition to defraud or swindle individuals.

        It's not fun having to drive back to DS to return a product which turned out to be used because the "brand new" unit I ordered online didn't exist in the first place. I'm "entitled" to get what I order.

        Not being sarcastic. Really that happened?

        • Make it so on 07/06/2013 - 16:26

          Yes… it happened. Did a "click and collect", got a call from the shop manager saying "we do not actually have a new one, but I have an ex-repair which is brand new because they sent a new one in exchange". I agreed to take it, got home, and noticed it clearly was not new. The repair paperwork clearly confirmed it was the original unit sent in for repair. Took it back to DS, who were hardly apologetic. Asked if they can at least give a discount on another model, but they refused.

          I'm not really against DS and buy plenty of stuff there. I just think there's an opportunity to assist with "expectation-management".

        • KBZ on 07/06/2013 - 16:49

          Wow that's horrible. I'm not defending DS for their faults but there are so many whingers on ozb complaining about the clearance deals that are low stock and they can't find stock and don't know the definition of a clearance sale.

          But Yeh their staff can be quite incompetent and deceitful from what I read on the comments section.

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