Should we give negative feedback for flakes?

[warnerwh]

I've had people flake out after saying "I"ll take it" or something similar. They PM you back and forth a few times and after a date is set you never hear from them again. They obviously couldn't care less that you are keeping a time slot in your day for them and are obviously still children. Starting today unless there's a reason to not give them a negative for flaking on me I am going to start giving negative feedback. Also I will include the back and forth PM's for all to see in their feedback. Thanks

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[warnerwh]

I will not post private messages under those circumstances but I will save them. I had not thought about why not to post pm's but you are right @deadeye. Hopefully if more of us are more vigilant these people flaking out will start thinking first. I don't believe I have ever left a negative but without repercussions these people will continue doing what they've been doing.

 

[Akx39]

I think if they agreed to meet up eith you at a certain time/place then they are somewhat at fault. Does it warrant negative feedback? I'm not so sure.
I always tell the person I will call/text them the day of the meeting to make sure that the deal is still on.

 

[fredball]

OKAY for those of you who are itching to leave negative feedback
So you have a member contact you to buy something and no deal or time is commited to by you or said buyer and he gets his feelings hurt because he's going to dictate to you how you should conduct your sale and leaves you negative feedback .Even though zero deal has been made.

 

[warnerwh]

By the sound of the replies most if not all of us are inclined to not leave any negative feedback even when it is justified.

 

[AMT]

If nobody ever left any negative feedback, we'd all have positive feedback.

That is what the system is supposed to be used for.

Lot's of flakes are coming out of the woods now that Armslist is a pay-site now. Also flakes and gougers are joining because of "the panic".

As stated before, and confirmed by @deadeye, from your original post, in my book that would warrant a negative feedback.

 

[arakboss]

I've had people flake out after saying "I"ll take it" or something similar. They PM you back and forth a few times and after a date is set you never hear from them again. They obviously couldn't care less that you are keeping a time slot in your day for them and are obviously still children. Starting today unless there's a reason to not give them a negative for flaking on me I am going to start giving negative feedback. Also I will include the back and forth PM's for all to see in their feedback. Thanks

I have had this happen recently. I would say yes to leaving negative feedback and save the messages they left you saying "I'll take it" for example.

 

[P7M13]

No harm done, why bother. There's already enough negativity in the world.

If God wills it, the deal will happen.

I have done over 200 deals, many with zero feedback, and had one "negative"
Experiences Selling:
I've had people contact me and arrange to meet, then back out at the last moment. No big deal.
I've had people contact me, arrange to meet, then crickets. Texts and calls to confirm, nothing. Still, no big deal.
Had one guy buy, transfer the money, then call back and ask for a refund, explaining his circumstances. No big deal.

Experiences Buying:
I've arranged to buy from folk, my work schedule gets in the way, and either been late (after notifiying) or rescheduled. No big deal for either side.
I've arranged to buy, wife discovers my plans and puts the kabosh on it, and backed out explaining and while the seller may have been miffed, they didn't indicate that.
I've arranged to buy, put a deposit on the gun with the agreement, I'm looking at other guns, will notify within a day and if I back out, forfeit the deposit. Forfeited the deposit, and got a crappier gun that cost more. Live and learn.
I arranged a trade while on the East Cost. Found I would hate the gun if I owned it and backed out. Seller left negative feedback. In the aftermath, I've done several deals with that individual, all positive. We've laughed about it together - the guy who ended up buying it turned out to be a righteous PITA, and I found the gun I was going to trade had a broken extractor.

 

[Sniperwannabee]

yes

 

[GWS]

I feel your pain. I have had a few people flake out on me the same way. I never gave them negative feedback and all of them no longer visit this site.

I agree
If I haven't had to leave my house, I don't bother with them at all. Also won't deal with them ever again.

 

[Mikej]

By the sound of the replies most if not all of us are inclined to not leave any negative feedback even when it is justified.

No, we ARE inclined to leave negative feed back. We're (At least I am) just discussing at what point, and what degree, of "Negative" the feedback should be.

No harm done, why bother. There's already enough negativity in the world.

If God wills it, the deal will happen.

I have done over 200 deals, many with zero feedback, and had one "negative"
Experiences Selling:
I've had people contact me and arrange to meet, then back out at the last moment. No big deal.
I've had people contact me, arrange to meet, then crickets. Texts and calls to confirm, nothing. Still, no big deal.
Had one guy buy, transfer the money, then call back and ask for a refund, explaining his circumstances. No big deal.

Experiences Buying:
I've arranged to buy from folk, my work schedule gets in the way, and either been late (after notifiying) or rescheduled. No big deal for either side.
I've arranged to buy, wife discovers my plans and puts the kabosh on it, and backed out explaining and while the seller may have been miffed, they didn't indicate that.
I've arranged to buy, put a deposit on the gun with the agreement, I'm looking at other guns, will notify within a day and if I back out, forfeit the deposit. Forfeited the deposit, and got a crappier gun that cost more. Live and learn.
I arranged a trade while on the East Cost. Found I would hate the gun if I owned it and backed out. Seller left negative feedback. In the aftermath, I've done several deals with that individual, all positive. We've laughed about it together - the guy who ended up buying it turned out to be a righteous PITA, and I found the gun I was going to trade had a broken extractor.

You forgot to mention the guy that kept you waiting in the hot sun, in mid summer, in the unshaded parking lot of Uwajimaya for 30+ minutes. He never even called you to let you know he'd be late because, like an idiot, he doesn't carry a cell phone. And what a GEM, you didn't leave negative feed back.

 

[SectionChief]

Negative feedback is warranted for flakes (in my opinion) if:

1. 'Buyer' asks to hold item (2 days or more) until payday and then either goes quiet or non-responsive approaching or past the end of the hold period. During this time other offers for the same item were rejected because of 'Sold Pending funds'.
2. 'Buyer' agrees to meet and is a no show and gave no communication to prevent wasting time.
3. 'Buyer' does meet and is suddenly short on cash and wants a deal or renegotiate when the item is exactly as advertised

 

[upstate88]

I have only had one negative experience here, and it was a brand new member. I should not have sent him the money, but I really wanted a new pocket knife. Never did get the knife, and lost $115. Moderators were responsive and fair, and did the best they could. The cut off for me would be setting a time and not having them show up, unless there was a call letting me know. Drunk shopping, second thoughts, and buys remorse happens, but a no show should get negative feedback. Time is valuable.

 

[RedneckRampage]

It has been horrible lately. If you say you will take it, or we have a deal, and then you stop responding, you are getting negative feedback, I don't care if we didn't even make it to the you not showing up part, it is a waste of time and others should know that is how you work. If you say you will take it and then have a legit reason for backing out, fine, I understand, or if we meet up and you don't like what I have to offer, again, fine. No shows and ghosts will always get feedback.

We also need a time waster icon. So often I get people offering me a trade or a cash offer, then nothing, or asking a random question without even the courtesy of a reply after you answer. Example - I get a PM saying "nice rifle, what kinda ammo comes with it?", I reply with what I have, then nothing, WTF?

 

[MfnLeadFarmer]

The flake I encountered here was a gold member with hundreds of positive transactions. Sadly this was to be my 2nd transaction here. The person agreed to the place to meet; however, he wouldn't agree to a time. Rather, he just asked that I message here on the board when inbound (which sounded reasonable given his reputation) I messaged profusely (as I had somewhere else to be) before, during, and after I had arrived at the meetup location.

I didn't receive a response until the following week which consisted of a limp apology about not responding or showing up. The irritating thing is that he didn't seem to care that he had wasted my time. Some peoples' kids...

 

[RedneckRampage]

The flake I encountered here was a gold member with hundreds of positive transactions. Sadly this was to be my 2nd transaction here. The person agreed to the place to meet; however, he wouldn't agree to a time. Rather, he just asked that I message here on the board when inbound (which sounded reasonable given his reputation) I messaged profusely (as I had somewhere else to be) before, during, and after I had arrived at the meetup location.

I didn't receive a response until the following week which consisted of a limp apology about not responding or showing up. The irritating thing is that he didn't seem to care that he had wasted my time. Some peoples' kids...

I will not attempt to meet with someone until phone numbers are exchanged and they have replied to a text or answered a phone call before I head out.

 

[MfnLeadFarmer]

I will not attempt to meet with someone until phone numbers are exchanged and they have replied to a text or answered a phone call before I head out.

I get that. Honestly I typically operate on this premise. However, this time I saw his positive feedback history as well as being a gold contributor and thought this would remove all doubt. Lesson learned.

 

[Ironbar]

Hmmm. Tough call. I recently had someone flake on me for picking up the reloading gear I was offering, but I had another person in the wings and he stepped up and took it so no big deal.

If it was something that I was wanting to buy, and I had made special arrangements with the seller, and the seller flaked then I'd feel better about leaving negative review.