Question about how to report a complaint.

gerardo1000

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I had a bad experience with a seller on line, that usually lists on Reverb. com, and I would like to alert other forum members. Is there a proper section in this forum where I can file my complaint? And if so, can I name the seller and report conversations? Thank you for your advice.
 
I'd say it is a Reverb issue. If the ukulele was purchased here, and it was a shady deal and the person won't respond, then I think an appropriate post in the Marketplace would be warranted. But as Reverb is its own thing, and probably has its own ways to report bad transactions--that's where I would start.
 
Provided you have some objective evidence of this seller's misdeeds, I don't see why you couldn't post it on the forum for an open discussion.

Free speech, as long as it's civil and in peoples' best interest right?
 
I'd say it is a Reverb issue. If the ukulele was purchased here, and it was a shady deal and the person won't respond, then I think an appropriate post in the Marketplace would be warranted. But as Reverb is its own thing, and probably has its own ways to report bad transactions--that's where I would start.
I totally agree. Reverb does show ratings resulting from buyers' reviews of Reverb's sellers, but those reviews are carefully checked by Reverb to insure that they are fair & factual.

IMO, reviews of sellers should be carefully reviewed by forum moderators before they are posted on UU. Otherwise, unfair reviews can get posted, with headlines such as, "Why I no longer recommend brand x." And then, in reading the OP's review of brand x & its seller, it might turn out that the poor review stemmed from a minor issue such as personal preferences not being met, even though the seller was given no opportunity to fix the problem.

A careful reading of a negative "review" might make it clear that the negativism is baseless. However, damage to the seller & the product is already done by the wording of the topic's headline alone, and some folks don't take time to dig into details and assess a review's fairness & accuracy.

If UU's moderators are too overloaded to check negative reviews, I feel that allowing unmoderated reviews of non-UU sellers is an accident waiting to happen, and a possible invitation to vitriolic contention between UU members..
 
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Before you post on any forum about a transaction on Reverb, you need to contact Reverb about it. It would have to be a very big issue that could not be resolved before I would even think about posting on a forum. I've read a number of those kind of posts and I have to say, most of the time posting on a forum was not the proper thing to do.


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Uke Talk is a forum for talking about ukulele experiences. There is nothing wrong with posting a story about a negative experience. I am sure it will generate a lot of discussion and interest. Whether you name names wont really matter, unless you do it in a way that would lead to a judge awarding the costs and damages to the other party when they sue you for slander.

I agree. However, from my own experience here:

1. Take a deep breath and wait a day or three before posting something negative. After you communicate with Reverb, the circumstances may completely change.
2. When writing something negative, think of yourself as a reporter and not writing an opinion piece.
3. Don't make the title of your thread outrageous or even too negative. You can't change the title, and you may wish you could if the situation is corrected.

Good luck in getting the problem corrected.
 
bellgamin said:
MO, reviews of sellers should be carefully reviewed by forum moderators before they are posted on UU. Otherwise, unfair reviews can get posted, with headlines such as, "Why I no longer recommend brand x." And then, in reading the OP's review of brand x & its seller, it might turn out that the poor review stemmed from a minor issue such as personal preferences not being met, even though the seller was given no opportunity to fix the problem.

I am going to respectfully disagree with this.

Reviewers should be allowed to be as positive or negative as they would like within reason (i.e. no blatant swearing, insults) to protect free speech as much as possible.

Once you start having reviews "carefully reviewed" (i.e. censored) you are introducing a publication bias. The reviews posted are no longer representative of what people believe, but what the moderators specifically choose to allow.

As for what is an "unfair review" should be up to the discretion and judgment of the reader. What may seem unfair to some could simply be open honesty to others.
 
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One of the things we have going for us here at UU, while the forums keep going (has anyone heard anything further about this) is the overall positivity of this place.

When there are problems, one of the best aspects of this forum is that it isn't a place for people to "just" complain about a problem, but to do something about it.

From time to time, we have a member who acts as a vigilante about a particular brand--they had a bad experience, and therefore they make sure that every time someone posts about that brand, they continue to let people know about that experience. Enya is one good example about that.

I have no problem about people posting about their experiences...but I'd also like to see that people have made some effort to correct a situation before posting about it.

A couple of recent examples are a thread about Bonanza, where someone is complaining about their ukulele and wanting to sell it, without contacting Bonanza about it (and then Pete from Bonanza posting to say, "Please contact us, and we'll make it right); a post about UkeLogics reviewing the strings, but the person being unwilling to do what Joel asks and to contact Joel to see if a better solution is possible (he literally BEGS you to do so on the packaging).
 
I totally agree. Reverb does show ratings resulting from buyers' reviews of Reverb's sellers, but those reviews are carefully checked by Reverb to insure that they are fair & factual.

IMO, reviews of sellers should be carefully reviewed by forum moderators before they are posted on UU. Otherwise, unfair reviews can get posted, with headlines such as, "Why I no longer recommend brand x." And then, in reading the OP's review of brand x & its seller, it might turn out that the poor review stemmed from a minor issue such as personal preferences not being met, even though the seller was given no opportunity to fix the problem.

A careful reading of a negative "review" might make it clear that the negativism is baseless. However, damage to the seller & the product is already done by the wording of the topic's headline alone, and some folks don't take time to dig into details and assess a review's fairness & accuracy.

If UU's moderators are too overloaded to check negative reviews, I feel that allowing unmoderated reviews of non-UU sellers is an accident waiting to happen, and a possible invitation to vitriolic contention between UU members..

Well said, bellgamin; I agree with the sentiments you have shared.

I do also agree that folks should be allowed to share their experiences. Yet, in the past, and I’ve been on this forum for almost 8 years now, I find that when people do post negative feedback or criticism re: brands of ukuleles or experiences at companies that sell ukuleles, etc., it is my impression that, often times, these sorts of issues tend to lead to more harm than good. Things can escalate quickly and get very ugly on such threads. It’s both upsetting and sad when this happens as, more often that not, rifts are created amongst members, and furthermore, reputations of good people with good intentions, trying to do good things, get tarnished.

Remember that once something is out there in cyberspace, it’s out there, for good, forever.

We all make mistakes; I feel that people should do their best to resolve issues within parties concerned, thereby allowing a chance for corrections to be made. Often times, when this is done, those feelings of wanting to post criticism often dissipate as the matter is resolved.

I do understand that, sometimes, unfortunately, things may not resolve and that those feelings of wanting to share public criticism remain. If this is the case, I would only say that, if it were me, proceeding with caution in sharing critical feedback publicly is the best route. If the feedback is shared as information in a helpful way, than, hopefully, it will be taken at that, and not as a means of causing harm to anyone.

This thread is generating helpful, important points of view; I hope that the OP will hopefully find some clarity in how to move forward. Healthy, productive conversations are good things to share on the forum. I realize that folks may not agree with me, here, in what I’ve written, and that’s ok. We can still all enjoy being together on the UU for ukulele and community.

Peace, everyone. :)
 
...a post about UkeLogics reviewing the strings, but the person being unwilling to do what Joel asks and to contact Joel to see if a better solution is possible (he literally BEGS you to do so on the packaging).

Side bar, but, I agree, Choirguy, I just received my new Uke Logic strings from Joel a few days ago and he does just that; the paperwork that he includes with the strings illustrates that he really does care and wants to make sure you’re 1000% happy!
 
Side bar, but, I agree, Choirguy, I just received my new Uke Logic strings from Joel a few days ago and he does just that; the paperwork that he includes with the strings illustrates that he really does care and wants to make sure you’re 1000% happy!

I haven't yet tried Uke Logic strings, (probably will in the future), but my reading of the "negative" review wasn't something to get fixed - it was just someone's personal opinion that he/she didn't particularly like those strings. A lot of people have expressed the opinion that they don't like the strings that Kamaka ships with and that doesn't seem to have concerned people. A lot of people also really like the Kamaka strings. Why is this different?

We won't all agree on what we like or dislike, but someone should be free to do a review even if they're not thrilled with the strings. There were a number of great reviews, so I'm glad for the balance of someone being able to say that they had a different experience. We're not a one-size-fits all group of people, and I'm more likely to order the strings with realistic expectations rather than thinking that they're going to be magic.
 
I haven't yet tried Uke Logic strings, (probably will in the future), but my reading of the "negative" review wasn't something to get fixed - it was just someone's personal opinion that he/she didn't particularly like those strings. A lot of people have expressed the opinion that they don't like the strings that Kamaka ships with and that doesn't seem to have concerned people. A lot of people also really like the Kamaka strings. Why is this different?

We won't all agree on what we like or dislike, but someone should be free to do a review even if they're not thrilled with the strings. There were a number of great reviews, so I'm glad for the balance of someone being able to say that they had a different experience. We're not a one-size-fits all group of people, and I'm more likely to order the strings with realistic expectations rather than thinking that they're going to be magic.

Yes, Joyful Uke, I see your point — thanks for sharing this. Please let me also say that my point in re: to Choirguy’s post was only simply to note the fact that Joel includes paperwork with his orders which specifically addresses reaching out to him if someone isn’t 100% happy with their purchase of his strings — I only know this because I just, literally, received my very first order of Joel’s Uke Logic strings three days ago. When Choirguy noted this about Joel, I was only trying to second this notion — as a side bar. Thanks for allowing me to clarify. :)
 
I find it interesting that we haven't heard from gerardo1000 the original poster. I wonder what he thinks of our suggestions.
 
Yes, Joyful Uke, I see your point — thanks for sharing this. Please let me also say that my point in re: to Choirguy’s post was only simply to note the fact that Joel includes paperwork with his orders which specifically addresses reaching out to him if someone isn’t 100% happy with their purchase of his strings — I only know this because I just, literally, received my very first order of Joel’s Uke Logic strings three days ago. When Choirguy noted this about Joel, I was only trying to second this notion — as a side bar. Thanks for allowing me to clarify. :)

Got it.
And one of these days I’ll probably get some Ukr Logic strings to try, too. :)
 
I think the thing that bothered me about the ”review” of UkeLogic wasn’t the opinion (we are all welcome to like what we like) but there were specific criticisms that could have been brought to Joel’s attention, and he promises to try to make it right.

So few people do that—go to Martin with a string issue and see what happens.

But more importantly, what if that feedback then ended up with a product that made things better for everyone?

If you’re willing to write a review and express your displeasure with the strings, if the company asks for feedback and you don’t offer it, you’re really not helping anyone

And yes, I am idealistic enough to think that we’re all in this together—even though I know that isn’t always true.
 
I had a bad experience with a seller on line, that usually lists on Reverb. com,

It sounds to me like the bad experience was not through Reverb .
 
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My opinion: If there is a problem with a seller, do all you can to settle it with the seller, being reasonable about it. The seller does not control shipping prices or damage during shipping. Maybe it was simply a matter of miscommunication.

If no agreement can be reached, the buyer should do a lot of thinking about how serious the problem is before complaining online about the seller If he thinks the problem is worth broadcasting, he should do it calmly and briefly, including significant facts. Sending a copy of the post to the seller would also be a good idea so he can present his side of the problem.
 
I have found good advice here in this post. I have some online businesses including online shops and I can say that we have made a hard job to make our clients satisfy and we are proud that we already have regular customers. I've seen some words about being polite, help to find the right services or products, and so on. It is good but you must customize your business in such a way that most of the processes will be automated and client management is among sich processes. Scale your online business, use different CRMs, tools, and instruments for your marketing and management companies. Hire salesforce developer who will help you with implementing Salesforce CRM as I think it is the best for client management. And try to think like an owner of a large and successful company that sells millions of products per month and at the same time tries to feel like a client of your own business. If you can do this, there will be no problems with clients and there will be no need to make any complaints. We have never done such things even if our clients were not right. It is a waste of time. Think about your business and boost it.
 
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