Vendor Reviews & Complaints
 

Just throwing this out there...

I believe there should be a section dedicated to this. It's great to see the positive and negative side of vendors... especially spending the cash that we do on the cars we work so hard on.

I'm just posting this because I see a lot of posts "deleted" as I remember they were there before... It could have swayed my decision to choose another vendor and not be in the situation I am in now @_@

Thanks and I hope this is being considered!

:tiphat:

+1 :tup:

I see the point somewhat. Some here are to quick to complain before a vendor has had a chance to make right. I also think that somehow it would get out of hand quickly with small complaints. If I did support it all the pro/ cons would need to be on the same page vs multiple postings and pages. Now that I think of Im not sure about it. Some people take bad dealings with a grain of salt while others make it worse than it was.

Yes i understand it can get out of hand and thats where the moderation comes into play. Im sure there is a way to control things but i havent came up with that idea yet. All i know is censoring something that happened to other members or their posts leaves the public clueless to a vendors history. Which in turn prevents a member to do due deligence on a major purchase. I dont know about you, but id rather feel 100% sure (at least closer to this percentage) when buying a major mod for my car.

Again, i havent come up with an idea to do this... Maybe you other members can come up wit some ;-)

yah, definitely have like a score card for these vendors. like a trader value.

^Looks like we got something!

i think this is an amazing idea. Without seeing some of the posts about great reviews/ complaints I wouldnt of made certain decisions that I had. I think absolutely there should be some moderation or censoring because it can get over done, but in the end i think the pros outweigh the cons . All in all, great idea OP !

good idea:tup: they can have this instead of rep power??

yeah an itrader would help big time. kind of like buying from ebay and seeing the 88% rating, then checking out the sour reviews to see why. And maybe something that can review with categories:

Item Purchased: Work VS-XX 20x9.5 20x11 w/ Nitto Tires

Communication Score: 2
Product Score: 9
Shipping Score: 7
Customer Service Score: 4
Overall Score: 5

Additional Comments: Wheels came out great and what I expected. However, lack of communication from vendor gave me a headache and left me in the dark on when my wheels are getting shipped.

-----------------

Sound good?

Yes if this could be done we really need it. All it needs to have is a rating for each of the above mentioned areas. Just put it on the vendors profile. There we can make our comments and they can reply to them without making a cluster of 100 page threads.

It wouldnt hurt to have a portion even for us as far as payment goes. I would like a vendor to be able to trust me to ship an item to me without a core charge knowing that I am trust worthy and responsible enough to get my core sent to them right away.

That would help people keep thier car on the raod while waiting for the parts.

I think this is a great idea, and I my opinion the best way would be to copy the way ebay does it.

Not sure if it can have all those criterias with vbulletin. Might have advanced a lot since I was admin at my350z. But even then, we had itrader ratings for EVERYONE, not just vendors. This also helps with private sales to prevent fraud.

You can add an itrader rating and comment at any time, usually after a transaction, for both seller and buyer. Kind of like how ebay works.

It shouldn't be too hard to activate through vbulletin if it's up to date.

thats a great idea.

I just feel like i want to rate a vendor now... a bad rating so others wouldnt fall on the same experience as i am experiencing now.

On the good side if a vendor is given bad ratings, they would try to find a way to make improvements. and this is a healthy way for a good business.

Without ratings, one vendor would continue doing its bad habit and other innocent consumers will fall for this.

I hope ratings for vendors will be considered soon. Im just tired of hoping for an item which in the end has no result.. and its been nearly a year now :mad: *Frustrated Customer*

I wonder why a feedback rating system has not been implemented? :shakes head:

Preventing fraud against forum member as consumers should be priority one on a forum that allows the selling and trade of products on the forums.

There are plenty of examples on the forum right now where a vendor and member feedback would have been useful.

Sounds like a good idea. But not really a good way of attracting business. If these forums get a reputation of having (for lack of a better word) "difficult" consumers, it may chase away potential vendors.

Just a thought.

I agree. :tiphat:

Consumers are gonna be "difficult" regardless of whether a system is in place or not.

There are plenty of forums who are able to keep a feedback system in place and still have plenty of vendors supporting the forum.

Again, why the emphasis on vendors? This forum is here for the community, i.e. 370z owners, right? The forum members are just as important as the vendors.

Simple: $$$$

+1. A feedback rating system besides everyone's name would be great!

I agree.

A rating system for both Venders and Buyers to make it fair.

I don't like this idea. The primary purpose of this site is a discussion forum, not a business entity such as eBay. The forum sponsors pay for advertising and community interaction.

If this was a business entity, such as ebay, then I may agree. But Vivid, Stillen, AAM, etc are not completing monetary transactions through this site. They may initiate business through here, and make contacts, but money does not change hands between Z owners and sponsors literally through the370z.com

Blasphemy! I demandz a 370Z [BUY IT MEOW!] button!! :stirthepot:

That's true, but then you will just keep getting all these threads from people that are started just to complain about vendors. It will turn into a heated debate and eventually get cleaned/locked just like every other one has. I think this would be a good idea for both vendors and people, but I definitely see how it could be abused to either ruin a member/vendor's rating or to bump it up for no reason.

So you're saying we could rep wh0re... :icon08: :stirthepot:

Yes......:roflpuke2:

:eek:

Not saying we would, but it certainly is possible.

Oh no, we would never do that! AK would surely put an end to us if we ever did that... :wtf2: :stirthepot:

:tiphat:

Yes, but the forum is focused on our discourse, not our personal business transactions.

And as far as the vendor ratings, it would be corrupted too easily. Sure, you'll have honesty in reviews for the most part, but you could also have people deliberate smear one of these businesses for no good reason or on false pretenses.

I just think that it buys the site nothing.

Stop being so damned rational... :shakes head: gawd! You just won't let the trolls have their fun will you?! :inoutroflpuke:

You guys don't even know what a troll is! My avatar sig is a joke for AK. I'm an ethusiast just like the rest of you. All my post have been towards a car discussion rather than word games to get my post count up!

:ugh2:

I'm just sayin that vendors should have some type of guidelines! They shouldn't be able to over promise items to customers, knowing well there 3-4 months out from filling orders!

think about it!

Vendors can make a killing off pre-orders/hopes & dreams

I've been there and done that. It can be easily prevented if a vendor is policed on what's in stock. True, a customer is an adult who can call and ensure that items are in stock. That low level of trust shouldn't be a factor when buying car parts.

But it shouldn't be left to random users to perform that policing, because there are trolls on every forum, and no I'm not talking about you. I agree that automotive companies need to be held responsible. I just don't think that this is the proper venue. It's just my opinion. It's not like I have a direct line to AK or anything.

:tup:

I agree with you on the validity of a post from random member...

Maybe why some forum put a post count in place to post in certain sections...or a certain post level to even create a thread. Promoting use of the search button!

Maybe that's something the administration can look into....

Oh its nothing personal, so don't worry. :tiphat:

In terms of 'policing' vendors and keeping track of what all they have 'in stock' vs what they order for you... How do you propose we as a forum do that? Do you mean someone needs to physically go through their warehouse's on a weekly basis and log every wheel set/intake/cbe/etc they have and update a thread instead of bumping order threads? :icon08:

Usually vendors only keep 2-3 of high volume items in stock because they know those will be good sellers. But anything you want that's custom made, or things made outside the country you HAVE to accept as a customer there might be a wait. And it might be an extensive wait depending on just how customized your item is. Especially with wheels, as Bullitt said in that disaster of a Venaci wheel thread, wheel manufacturers only make so many of a given wheel in a given size in a given offset at a time. Then those have to wait until a whole container is full. Then those still have to wait until a whole ship is full. And then that ship has to make it from Port A to Port B. Then unload and get all the containers to customs... And Customs sometimes goes by smoothly, but then again sometimes [Insert: Usually] takes forever...

I understand not getting the best communication from a vendor, but sometimes the problem is not with the vendor at all, they cannot help it if the manufacturer isn't giving them 100% of the details on every single order they submit. 95% of the vendors on this forum I've seen have been very helpful to their customers, and the threads reflect that. There's a reason you don't see certain vendors having negative threads made. If there is a legit gripe with a vendor, honestly you won't even see a thread about it because the issue will be resolved respectfully through the vendor and the member via PM or telephone or in person. 10 times out of 11 the threads you see are from people who just get butthurt cause their super custom item didn't get here in 5 minutes like they wanted it to because they don't accept the fact that to be special, you gotta wait. :ugh2:

Chris hit the nail on the head with that one. Most vendors, believe it or not, DO NOT stock all of their offered products. Sometimes they get them from third party wholesalers or distribution companies. The perfect example is Volk/Advan wheels. Unless they are importing directly from Japan (99.99% not likely), they are getting Volk/Advan from Mackin. Mackin stocks most Volk wheels that are likely to be sold quickly, but most orders will need to be special ordered from Japan.

I don't know of any company that buys 100 sets of Volk wheels to stock them, because Mackin has the biggest buying/stocking power in the entire US. At most I've seen 5-6 sets, and even then they're getting them from Mackin.

With no safeguard in place or at the very least some form of user feedback like trader feedback, this forum is a feeding ground for potential fraud and shady business tactics/sales.

At the very least, a trader feedback should be in place like many other forums do.

We get that no money is actually transferred through the forum, but that is irrelevant especially legally. Whoever owns the forum is providing a place for business to take place. The forum provides the way for vendors to contact consumers and vice versa, there has to be a system in place to keep consumers and vendors aware of transaction history and potential problems with vendors or consumers.

Right now there is no protection for the consumers. I understand that vendors bankroll this site, but without consumers, this forum and its vendors wouldn't be around for too long.

^Agree!

At the end of it all, it's your money and having the ability to research vendors would greatly help where you want to spend it.

Would you buy from this guy?

eBay Feedback profile for lowcostpowertools




Exactly.

Do your research outside of the forum, then. And even if there was something in place, new vendors would be a crapshoot.

I respectfully disagree. This isn't "the370zmarket.com". You're not putting in paypal information or anything. Nothing is stopping you from doing research on these companies outside of this site. You just want the legwork done for you.

So, you'd rather have possible user review fraud take the place of vendor fraud? Look, fraudulent vendors don't last long here. But if you just have the ability for random Joe User to enter a review, then what's to prevent troll reviews or even focused and deliberate falsifications from a rival company? And you're right, without consumers this site wouldn't last long. Neither would it last if the sponsors defraud the user base. You think AK is deliberately having his users shafted by forum sponsors?