Perceived professionalism...........

[sworks]

Originally Posted by Rooney

Very true, but what about fact based complaints?

And tbh, when you have some moderators who are friends with the people who are being complained about it becomes very hard for them to be impartial.

It's a unique problem faced by clubs like this where the moderators are enthusiasts and members too

Firstly, fact based complaints. There are actually very few complaints that the moderation team hear about. We sometimes pick up on some threads but unless we're notified of any outstanding issues then it's quite rare.

Some moderators are good friends with some traders, myself included. You have to be as impartial as you can be but that's not just traders that's the general membership. If I wasn't being impartial I would expect another moderator to point it out to me behind the scenes and have a discussion about my views and theirs.
From a member point of view I think we need a rating system as in my opinion a trader would be seen as being endorsed by the club and so selected for work. From a moderator point of view it's difficult to say if somebody has done sub standard work or not as you are dealing with opinions and not all the moderation team, like the members, have an in depth hands on knowledge of the cars and what would be a good or bad repair

[Captain Crappycrimp]

I have dealt with many traders, seen the horrific work of others, been help and been ripped off. How some people get a good reputation is beyond me and why people don't complain about shoddy work or practices is also something I don't understand. An Ebay style feedback score would go a long way to sorting out the problems with traders but and its a big but, there are also members who are not traders and rip of their fellow enthusiasts with dodgy parts and cars and seem to get away with it.

[Rooney]

I know it's hard, don't get me wrong.

I don't think ratings are the answer either because ratings can be manipulated with very little effort.

All it would take is the forums equivalent of the dodgy goals panel with an arbitrary ruling that the trader (if found at fault) can honour or be shown the door.

A simple complaints process, complainant sends reebs their case together with supporting evidence. Reebs invites a response from the trader/member. The dodgy goals panel review the content and make a decision. Repeated infractions lead to suspension of trading status. Further infractions = removal of that status and forfeiture of fees paid.

Surely not that hard to implent and would at least assure members that complaints are reviewed even if the outcome isn't always what either party would hope for.

[clf]

Are there any sites similar to 'checkatrade' or 'ratedpeople', where when traders sign up to become traders, they must also create some kind of profile on a 3rd party site, unrelated to the forum. (I appreciate the above mentioned sites, may require payment - I havent looked into them, just mentioning them as examples). In their profile, they must also link to the profile on the review site.

Hopefully then, the third party site (if such exists) would allow for it to be impartial and transparent. It may also open up new business for the trader from outside the forum too. It would also allow people to read reviews and make their own mind up without threads becoming slanging matches and being shut down/deleted.

On a personal level, I have only got good things to say about the few traders I have dealt with, and have been lucky not to have negative experiences (and that extends to the general membership that I have bought from too). This also goes for advice also, which has always been freely given. I kinda hope too, my subscription payment goes in some way to reducing the traders' subscription costs, but maybe that is me being a little idealistic lol - but without the traders here, I would not have had the confidence of spares availability that I had when I was buying the car. (I know it is not all on the traders, but it is the traders that stock and store the parts, that 'outsiders' believe to be NLA and fear our cars)

[Bolin]

Another problem with a ratings or feedback system is that sometimes poor workmanship might not come to light until a year or two after the trader did the work - could the rating/feedback be changed retrospectively?

And how could such an ability to change it be ensured not to lead to abuse of the system i.e. the trader and customer later fall out but the actual work was OK?

I can see it being very difficult to create a totally fair and foolproof system.

As for the original question, I think that for newer members seeing names in bold blue probably will install confidence, but older members who have been on here a few years will be more wary.

[Snetty]

Retrospectively introducing a ratings or similar proposal is not going to make the current situation any better. If this kind of approach was to work it needed to be implemented from the beginning.
Poor service and workmanship does need to be investigated, maybe by a group of impartial respected members separate from the mods. Hopefully to a satisfactory conclusion for both parties.
Just my pennies worth

[Mike Noc]

There must already be some form of vetting in accepting Traders on the forum - I was amazed after talking to one of, if not the, foremost experts on Rover 75s in the UK to hear that he was refused trading status here.

[Rooney]

Originally Posted by Snetty

Poor service and workmanship does need to be investigated, maybe by a group of impartial respected members separate from the mods.

The problem with respected members is the number of times they're the problem.

Our now banned former regional secretary was a respected member until he wasn't.

The trader who ripped us off is a 'respected' member.

[topman]

Originally Posted by marinabrian

Is there more credibility is bestowed upon that member than a standard member?, perhaps a view that a trading member is somehow vetted or indeed endorsed my the club itself

Personally i don't view them anymore or less regard than a normal member. When someone becomes a trader i see that they've paid some extra money and nothing else. That's not a criticism just that I see it more as an advertisement here rather than an endorsement by the club.

[Simondi]

I tend to agree with Mark (Sworks) on this.

Personally I think a ratings system would be a step forward however it is only workable if genuine reviews and ratings are given - personality shouldn't come into it.

The issue with this would be that one person's bad experience could detrimentally affect a traders otherwise good rating

I suppose traders could open a feedback thread, thereby allowing potential buyers to put on record their experience - but again one bad experience could cause a lot of harm.

As a mere mod I'm afraid I don't know