Does anyone believe ebay user ratings are not manipulated somehow?

Hi, I don't how it's done but I am sure some sellers inflate their ratings with phony positive feedbacks. If a seller has a lot of negative feedbacks, then you do get useful knowledge, but very good feedback scores are of almost no value.

Here's one rather dishonest policy change by ebay:
In the past you could choose "see negative feedback only". Yeah, posative is nice but the stuff you want to learn (is the seller is reputable) is easier to determine by viewing the negative comments.

Another sort of sleasy change is that now ebays in other countries are considered separate companies, although their auctions show up in ebay, and they have the ebay logo on their page. Buying from one of the overseas ebays seems to have a lot fewer buyer protections...a fact you probably won't learn till after you are ripped off.

Now ebay has adopted the policy of sending you unsolicited spam. They sort of have you by the balls because you cannot afford to filter ebay or you might screw up your communications with actual ebay trades that you are participating in. Of course eventually you can figure out how to change your preferences to not be spammed. How long should implimenting a change like that take in this age of computers? They say 10 to 12 Weeks. Yeah right! That is basically just spamming people against their expressed wishes for 3 or 4 months.

I know it is frowned upon at Wilders to badmouth other organizations and so on, but these are skirting pretty close to fraudulent practices. Obviously these are just my opinions based on my experiences. That said, I still like and use ebay -- it's terrific!, but I am very aware of the dangers. I really feel sorry for someone if they are new to the system because there is a good chance they will be "eaten alive".

Be twice as careful as you think you should!


-HandsOff

 

Well HO,

It's kinda like this. I have a Bro who is a Cardiologist and everytime I see a new drug advertised on TV I phone him ASAP. I say: "Bill, I just saw a new one....I think I have symptoms and it only has a few dozen side effects! Should I get it...Huh...should I..should I...Huh?" He always hangs up w/o replying!!

Whats my point?? I dunno! But my Bro sends me a gallon of Lilac de Fleur cologne every Xmas. If you think Buckie's baked bean residue is bad ... WOOH!

Truth in advertising is oxymoronish, Yoked ed

 

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OMGosh Eddy!!!!

You are tooooo funny!!!​

 

Oh yeah....yore laughing now! Beej musta tole yoo I munched my car. Adjuster is coming tomorrow....it's gonna cost me at least $500 out of pocket!

Still Boo Hooing, Poor...poor ed

Ps...I'm gonna ask Chise how many quid or lbs. that is in Brittanic money!

 

Ed-

When you think about it, it would be really messed up to be eaten alive. African Wild Dogs are famous for doing just that. Imagine, you just lying there, and this pack of dogs is chowing down on you. You just think, "This sucks! Here I am watching these things eat me. And I'm alive to see it! This has got to be just about the worst experience in my, soon to be former, life.

What's my point. Sometimes you watch the feeding from a Toyota Landcruser painted like a zebra, and sometimes you don't!



-HandsOff


P.S. - I do not want to hear a word about Jeeps, Range Rovers, or Hum Vee's

 

Ahh---Ed, there's an easier way of getting the extra iron in your blood than "munchin'" your car, cheaper too.

 

Great post HO...written in the true fashion of a 10F missive! I have no idea what in hell you're talking about but it makes perfect sense to me!!

Understanding in Ugga Bugga, Hip ed

Ps...Jeeps..Jeeps, Range Rovers..Range Rovers, Hummers..Hummers!!

 

Oh..bloody ell Beej,

Is Geritol an antidote to combat the effects of all that Preparation H Big Beckie sent me a while back? Wait...just one minute! I know that mares eat oats and does eat oats and little lambs eat ivy but not that ant(s)-eat-oats!

I'm so confused....I'm gonna go and read HO's post again!

I feel better now, ed

Ps...if nothing else...name the song and artist!!

 

Sorry to hear about the car, Ed. And $500, wow! But, in a way, congratulations! It's been a long time since I've been in an accident and not blamed the whole thing on the other party. I mean, maybe you do blame them, but at least I haven't heard that.

Anyway what I do isn't really lying and committing fraud. Everyone does it. Well, almost everyone.

I don't want to disturb you in your time of mourning, but now is the time to think about how to screw them over the replacement car rental. Time is money! One time (no lie) I got over $3,000 out of the enemy for car rentals. Ah! Those were the days!


HandsOff

 

Yeah...well, the Ins. Co's run a pretty tight ship nowadays. As it was getting dark the offending party, a deer, just hit an ran. It cudda been a doe, a deer, a female deer! Ray ... nobuddy got hurt (cept the deer). Me, some names I can't repeat (that I called the deer), Fa, I still had 10 miles to home. So, I'm walking more these days, La, a note to follow la (as in Lala ). "T" the only model I can afford to rent, an that brings us back to dough, dough, dough, $$$.

The Ins Adj was supposed to be here last Wed. Couldn't find my house which, while in the boonies, is on a State Hwy. What a load of deer droppings! Anyways, Amber, the Adj, is supposed to show up today! Wifey has cautioned me to behave just in case she lives up to my expectations. I tested the defillibrator last nite to be sure it's in working order. Maybe Amber will stay here "Forever"!

Mt faculties ain't whut they used to be, Panting ed

 

Yeah, you could be right about the insurance now...I guess they have to make it up some way. It was fun trashing the rental, though. You can't take that away from me!

If you think Amber's hot, wait until you see Paula at the car rental. Oops! Paula moved to Oregon, forget it!

You gotta admire those deer for there courage. A 3,000 pound hunk of metal (not to mention you) bearing down on the dear at breakneck speed, and it is content to stand there and give you the finger!


-HandsOff

 

Dang....yoo sure manipulated mee on that one H/O! I was hopin that wee cud compare user ratings between Amber an Paula. Amber cuddent make it cause she had to wash her hair so Griselda took her place. I was terrified the whole time she wuz heer.

Mebbe I'll get lucky the next time I hit somethin!!

Demolished in Lostfenders, Airbag ed

Ps...I hadda be doin between 35-40 mph and the bags didn't deploy...just curious!

 

Well you can be thankful for that, at least!

Beyond pure, dumb luck, most passenger airbags at least can be turn off for the benefit of child passengers.

I've got airbags on both doors the steering wheel and the passenger dash - and this is only a two seater. I'm just waiting for the day I hit a speed bump, they all inflate, and I'm shot out like a seed squeezed between your fingers!



- HandsOff!

 

I guess what you're saying is if I'm to have an unavoidable head on collision w/a semi-trailer truck, instead of hitting the brakes, I should up my speed to at least 60 mph. That way the 4 airbags will keep me intact so the EMT's won't have to search for body parts.

Makes sense to me!

Accelerating theoretically, Edsel

 

When BB had her accident, she was doing 35 and hers didn't deploy either. We called Ford to have them checked out and they said their designed not to go off under 40-45 MPH. So I guess head on collisions only hurt if your doing over 40, so suck it up Ed and take it like a man, and quit your whining. http://www.my-smileys.de/smileys2/4_9_7%5B1%5D.gif

My ears are hurting in Huntsville
Headachey BJ

 

Hey Beej,

Sounds logical too mee! Like they're goin to tell yoo: "Oops..it's our fault...let's settle this quietly! So...if I'm doin 35 mph in my Nash Metropolitan an a Humvee smacks me doin 80 mph....his bags deploy saving his buns an mine don't relegating me to pushing up daisies.

Sounds fair to me!!

Flowering nicely in Bloomington, Petals to the metals ed

 

No, what I'm saying is airbags are expensive and since you are still alive I would say the airbag made the right decision. I really think the whole airbag scene is a little iffy. Anytime there is something that I can't really test and verify that it does what it is supposed to I am skeptical. And by the way, if you are just doing 35 and an oncoming truck is doing 35, you might want to believe that it would be like hitting a wall at 70 mph, but unfortunately for you, that is not the case. since the truck has many times the mass of your car (I'm thinking 18 wheeler here) it has a tremenous amount of momentum. You would be...well think of it this way: You probably are familiar with the fact that when people are hit by trains its very common for them to be knocked right out of their shoes...and trains aren't going all that fast. Man those people fly like you wouldn't believe! anyway my point is, no...speeding up is just not good physics!


-HandsOff

 

Oh...now I get! Kinda like the irresistible force (Mongo Truck) meeting the totally removable object (Honda Element) Syndrome. I think we covered this in the "Einstein" thread. Contrary to popular belief the 35 + 35 mph = 70mph gambit is a total illusion. To the person in the Honda it's really more like 180mph.....to the Semi driver it's like running over a kitty cat. The dead or alive question will be answered just as soon as I get to my Dr. The soonest I could get an appointment is July 16th but I had to change that cause that's Big Buckie's B'Day an I don't want to miss it! The status of my operating system will be determined sometime in Nov as the good Dr. is booked solid!

I've sat thru a number of RR safety training courses, and yes, the videos you are shown just before lunch will make you lose your appetite!

Another excellent point you made is that speeding is not a good physic! "Baked Bean Man" is the solution and the problem!!

Animatedly suspended in Limbo, Piecey Parts ed

 

Really? They had you watch those things too? You know, there is a common cultural thread that runs thru the U.S., G.B, and Australia that just is not found anywhere else in the world. You know the one.

Back when I was in driver's education, they used to (probably still do) show us footage every day of the most gruesome nature. There is no describing shock I felt and the near total daze I was in the first time they zoomed in on Miss Didn't Wear a Seatbelt. But you know how it is...you kinda get used to it. By the end of the course we were like seasoned road warriors, ready for anything!


-HandsOff

 

Ah yes...Driver's Education!! We had the most up to date modes of transportation at our disposal. Well HandsOff... we were given HandsOn instructions on how to saddle up and which foot to put in the stirrup so after getting on you were facing forward. Not an easy task for someone w/two left feet on the right side of the vehicle!

Just horsing around, Giddy-up ed

 

Sounds nicer than our class.

I still can't believe we did this. The was a makeshift driving area for us to practice in. it was an oval track with a "+" that divided it into quadrants.

Somehow, the instructor would just sort of dissappear and there we all were. We would play this game where the cars would drive straight at each other and when you got to the intersection you would just randomly turn left or right without slowing or stopping. It was amazing. At any moment your luck could fail, but somehow the cars just gracefully breezed by each other, as if it were some strange sort of ballet...

-HandsOff

 

Yeah...well...try that w/yore HandsOff the wheel an just using your nose! Beej, w/his spinning top, wud win the contest HandsDown!!

Intersectionally challenged, Cloverleafed ed

 

Then there's this girl I know would lives up in the hills where the roads get pretty windy. She confided in me that she likes to drive with her eyes closed for as long as she dares...It's nice knowing you are indestructable!


-HandsOff

 

Sounds like a winner! I'd put her up for sale on ebay and use the proceeds to get in on the lottery for Natty's affections!!

She's a goth darned sweetie!!

Punching tickets in Ohoho, Rocky ed

 

She was really nice. It's liberating to do stupid reckless things. Is Natty really a goth? They look so cool, but I don't like the real thing...you know...


-HandsOff