Page 1 of thinking of doing a web site for bad on-line companies

It seems that there is interest in providing information on bad/disreputable online companies who have given customers either shoddy goods or poor service. I have been a recent victim of this after buying a dvd player from techtronics.com. I read a recent thread entitled "a good place to buy a dvd player from" and to my surprise it seems like it could be a widespread problem. Since in my view I was robbed of £32 by this company and with no chance of getting it back, I thought I would put up a web site telling people about this company. After reading the above mentioned thread I think maybe I should put up a site for ALL bad experiences with online companies and if people send discriptions of the dealings they have had with such companies(both good and bad) then I could print them and also put up a league table of good/bad companies.

I would like people to please respond to this thread if they think it is a good idea and also to give me some idea of the interest that there may be in such a site.

Also any ideas for the site would be helpful also.

Thanks

Colin B

This is going to be a new forum on this site in the next week. The current delay is that we cant think what to call it - ideas so far...

`E-tailer Horrors`
`Bad E-tailers`

Any others?

Mark
DVD Reviewer

This item was edited on Saturday, 13rd January 2001, 16:24

Watch what you say about Techtron*cs ... they can be a real pain in the arse if they have a problem with you .... unless you like solicitors fee`s I would tread very carefully ....

Steve

How about

The Bradford City Forum?
or
Changing Rooms forum?
or
Gime Back my Money Forum!

Thanks for the advice Steve. I woundn`t know how to do this site and watch was put into the site if I am putting readers comments so I see what you mean. I had originally thought that as long as I wrote what actually happened and it was my opinion that that would be all right but I can see how I could get myself into deep waters unless I watch my step.

I actually think though, that the good companies would welcome such a site as it would encourage good practice if bad practice will be advertised. I know there are good retailers out there but how is anyone to know until they use a particular company, after which it`s too late.

If anyone could give me advise on how to go about this safely, this be a great help as I really do want to do this. If DVD reviewer is to do a site like this first then all well and good but it would still be good to have another site as well; the more the merrier

Well judging by this forum which, sadly is hijacked by people that just want to insult certain companies and people at every given, predictable opportunity. It would be funny to see some of them served with writs.

But receiving poor standards or being ripped off does need addressing
but with honest facts. (Not negative slander.)
If an individual wants to express and post his dissatisfaction of a company, his full name and address should also be shown.
Then they might think first and have a little more respect !

As it is very easy to hide behined a stupid "CB Radio" type handle name and `run your mouth` annonomously otherwise the handfull of people who
practice this on this site would have been smacked in the mouth long before now.

Thereafter, certainly it would be a good idea to "out" bad companies but both sides of the story would need to be seen. I personally would always be outspoken on a forum should someone try to con me, and i would not fear court action because what i was stating would be "straight up!"

Although i have been to court on numerous occasions for what we might call "DIRECT ACTION VISITS" which is why i wont buy mail order.
So buy your goods personally, "FACE to FACE" then you will know who to see should problems arise. Take no crap.....its Black & White simple to me.

I totally agree with you Jason, but in some instances if you want a certain item, you have to buy on the net if you don`t know any other way.

For instance, I wanted a multi region player and whilst some companies have shops too, I don`t know of any near me, so the internet was the only answer.After getting one from Techtronics and having a bad time with them, I ended up getting a philips player and because of Allen Verth`s region hack method it meant that I could by from a shop and do it myself.

I also wanted to buy region 1 dvd`s and could not find a place to buy from in the high street so again had to use the net. I found a good company in Play 247.com but when I ordered my first disc, had no idea if it would actually come or how long it would be. My first disc the highlander had a very poor picture indeed and they kindly let me send it back for replacement and refunded my postage for having to do so. This is what service should be about. I now only buy from this company because I found a good one. There are probably other good ones too but won`t risk trying to find out so have stuck with them. This is the whole problem, online buying IS a good idea if you find the right place. In Techtronics I chose wrongly, in Play247 I chose right but I still could have chosen wrong there also.

I still want to buy online and would do so from a few places if I knew where to go. You`ve been put off completely and I don`t blame you but that is such a shame and I am not going to let one bad company put me off, as I would then be the loser.

Maybe your looking at it the wrong way?

Maybe it should be a Good Business forum where people post messages about how good the service was from a particular business.

That way you would know that business that are mentioned are well liked and used and ones that are not are not?

makes sense to me:)

Jaxon I agree with you!
Those people who just slag others off are scum:P

This item was edited on Saturday, 13rd January 2001, 19:14

I take your point about a good buisness web site but think about this;

Before I bought from techtronics I looked at their letters page from other customers. The vast majority of them said how good the service was but were only talking about how quickly (or on the odd occasion not) they got their player. There were no postings about what happens if something goes wrong with the item or indeed how they were treated by customer service. Obviously they wouldn`t print bad press about themselves but the point I`m trying to make is that if you don`t have views from customers who have been treated badly, as well as treated well then there would be no balance. Plus you may have customers who THINK that a particular company is good just because they got the product and it worked fine and have had no cause to use customer services of that company, indeed if the player I had purchased from Techtronics had worked properly then I would have had no further dealings from them so would have said that it was a good company to deal with, if you see what I mean. I said that the company I buy dvd discs from is good because when I had a problem, they were polite and sorted my problem out without any problems. So, I think you need both good and bad experiences to make fair judgement on whether a company is good or bad , and there needs to be several people writing about the same company before a fair judgement can be made. Does this sound right to you.

Some people think the are made up but I couldnt possibly comment:)

I wouldnt go of the word of the company before buying from them I would ask people who have done business with them.