If a seller asks us to close it and we don't see noticeable amounts of outstanding issues, we will usually close the thread for them. There are a number of nasty things that can happen with offers that aren't available any longer, especially if they were really popular.

Threads with a lot of views attract cookie stuffers and other spammers, for one thing. They also tend to get posts from competitors pimping their "you can't get his, but I have this other" pitches.

And you'll get people who don't use the off-forum support systems starting cascades because the seller isn't responding to requests in threads they believe are dead. Or the inevitable few who aren't happy with something and use access to the threads to slam the seller for things that are often the customer's own fault.

Or the crazed types who will take what started as a small issue and blow it up into an excuse to go to every thread someone has posted and accuse them of ridiculous extremes of badness. This happens a LOT. The most common reason is a seller not offering a refund policy, and a customer deciding they're going to get their $14.32 back so they can buy another WSO and demand a refund for that, too. They don't care if they destroy a legitimate seller's reputation in the process.

That is not a fictional example, by the way. I changed the cents part of that figure, but the rest is real, and happened this week.

If you let those idiots play that game, they'll get other people believing the garbage and repeating the posted claims as though they were true. If you find out what's really going on and delete the posts, the idiots will run around claiming the mods are getting paid off by sellers to keep them from "warning honest members about the scams."

The vast majority of people here are sensible. Still, it only takes one person who can tell a credible lie and muster up the IPs for a few sock puppets to get things started. Then the overly gullible types who want a cause jump in and run all over the forum accusing anyone and everyone they can imagine might possibly be involved of murdering puppies in out-of-state hotel rooms while doing drugs with prostitutes.

So, how does a legitimate customer deal with a repeat seller who jumps from one offer to another and fails to deliver products, honor refunds, or respond to support requests? Report it to the mods. We will close the current offer or warn the seller to fix the problem or lose their access. Provided, that is, there's enough evidence.

Now, if there's a pattern of support issues with a produce when we get a request to close a WSO thread, we just refuse to close it until the problems are addressed. I've had some ... animated ... discussions with WSO sellers who were not at all happy with that response.


Paul

Unfortunately, no ... which goes to the heart of the problem.

For instance, check out [link removed]

Also, see Admin's post, above.

Richard

Paul -

Thanks for your earlier reply, above. I guess there's more to it than I realized.

I've downloaded your WF Guide - Thanks! - and I'll read through it later.

Meanwhile, I take it that I shouldn't post a comment in the next WSO thread he opens, asking him why he didn't support his last WSO ... and will he support *this* WSO, huh? :rolleyes:

The problem is, like I mentioned earlier, that oftentimes a WSO is closed before you can register a problem with a WSO in its thread before that thread is closed. Then what do you do?

You suggested contacting the Moderators if/when a pattern of non-support & the like develops with a vendor. But what about the vendor who has only been unsupportive once .. as far as I know, because this is the only WSO I've bought from him. Besides, why would I want to continue buying WSOs from a guy who doesn't support me on the first WSO I buy from him? And if I don't buy any more WSOs from him,, I won't be able to know if there is (or would be) a pattern, right?!

I take your point - your many points, earlier - that you/the WF can't realistically keep WSO threads open for a long time. But couldn't you keep a thread open for a minimum of, say, 30 days after the vendor's no longer selling the WSO?

And if you did that, you could also have the WF system automatically send an email or PM to everyone subscribed to the thread announcing that the WSO is closed & that the thread will be closed 30 days from now. Or is that more of a problem than I realize?

I'm tempted to try creating a FB page for the vendor/author of each WSO I buy. But I realize that would be a huge undertaking and an impossible, if thankless, undertaking. Besides, FB wouldn't allow it, in all liklihood. Even so, how would you keep it from being abused by "nut jobs" or, for that matter, the vendor's competitors?

Oh well, Caveat Emptor, I guess.

Richard