Derogatory Comments about Service providers

Alla the Jimboomba post, 205 views but so far I was the only one to say what is the point of such a post? It may be justified if there were sufficient clarity but it was sadly absent.

Hi Wayne and Sally

Sometimes a bad experience 'on the day' can cause us to judge a business rather harshly. I am a firm believer in telling everyone about the good experiences rather than bad. This is a much better approach. It also works in favour of readers. Supposing one day we get to town XXX and need a mechanic. We find there are five in town, and one has been given a bad report on the forum. It is still a gamble of which if four to pick, and maybe the guy who gave the member bad service has been sacked, or the business changed hands, or would have been good for us anyway. If someone says mechanic YYY was good to us, that is the one we choose. Easy.

Good news stories please.

Motherhen

Hi Porl,
I think I will have to do further research, as I do not recall that post,
what was the post number please?? ........
I do thank you for taking the time to comment .... and enjoy your weekend!!

Hi Motherhen,
I agree that there (appears) to be little of the "Good News Stories" ..... and too much of the .... (maybe) ..... "woe is me , I've been ripped off (read ... caught)" .. tales....

Maybe it is something that we can do, promote and as a group, change!!

Hi Landy,
Thanks for taking the time to comment!

Enjoy your travels too!! ... :-}

Cheers,

Wayne & Sally.

I suppose its how bad the service you get is, which determines if you then decide let other people know about. I see nothing wrong in naming and shaming a business if they have done the wrong, and if all the info is stated and true then people can then make up there own minds.

Word of mouth is what its all about, and there is no place quite like the internet to make a name for yourself, either good or bad.

Although in a perfect world i would prefer to see only great comments too, but some people dont operate there business like that, and have no concern for the customer.

I believe that in the old days it was hard to find bad service, nowadays its hard to find good service.

On a different note, i have heard great things about Wooders Garage whom i brought a scangauge from, i really do recommend them for excellent customer service and great postage times.

Cheers

I agree with The Boss, although I greatly admire Wayne and Sally's attempts to stay positive always.
Only too few businesses realise that their reputation (for good service, for instance) comes on foot, but will vanish on horseback, if they don't perform up to expectations. I firmly believe in praising those who deserve it - and will, when the time is right. But telling it the way it is, when their service or the product sold by them is second rate or even worse, is often the only way these businesses will listen to the public's voice.

Hope to see you soon down under,

JWW

I disagree with not alerting others to a company, business, organisation, or product that did not meet expectations, even if it was just once.
This is even more relevant if an issue was followed up with the management but not resolved satisfactory.
It is then up to other potential customers to make a decision about whether they utilise that service or product.

As for a good service or business, I have read many positive posts on this forum, promoting and recommending a particular service or product received or obtained.

It's not about bagging a negative experience, but warning others to be that bit extra wary before committing to a product or service that may not live up to preconceived expectations.

I take negative comments with a "little bit of salt" but will also research or prepare a bit more, before making a decision.

Any litigation brought against a complainant, will also have a negative impact on that business, unless there are exceptional circumstances.


Bill.

Ever done jury service?
You hear the case for the prosecution and the accused is undoubtedly guilty.
Then you hear the case for the defence and your opinion is often changed.
IMHO only form an opinion when you’ve heard both sides.
You are more likely to be able to take a positive comment as being gospel.
Myles.

I agree that we tend to look and highlight our negative experiences more than we perhaps should, and we should have a balanced approach to the various service providers that we use.

However I see nothing wrong in alerting others to problems with particular service providers, providing they have had adequate opportunity to rectify the particular issue/problem.

For example, I have previously posted about the extreme poor service I personally have experienced with ARB. I have not done this lightly - many avenues have been pursued to rectify the problems but the end result is that they are not interested and don't care. On the other hand, my local 4WD centre has been terrific, along with Ironman when I had an issue with suspension.

Hopefully the amount of good service experiences can outweight the bad experiences in the future!

Geoff

I can see good and bad points from Naming & Shaming, most of them covered above. However, what about pricing? I put a post here some time ago about the local dealer trying to charge me more than twice the (roughly) quoted price. No parts were needed, though this was given as the reason why they couldn’t give a firm quote. It was a routine service procedure! After a few days the post was moderated and completely removed.
I used the link provided by the mods to question their action, no reply was ever received from them.
Regards Lyndon

Good service does not require praise , that is what you as the customer / consumer is already paying the service provider for , However a service provided above and beyond the norm definitly deserves praise,, By the same token any service / goods that fall below what would be construed as "good" should also be advertised otherwise the mediocre will never have the incentive to lift their game. Will be interesting to see how the star rating for food service providers that is to be implemented by Brisbane city council affects the industry.

I have no issue with reports of either good or bad service. I just ask that they are considered and accurate, particularly if you're bagging a service, product or provider.

I currently have a poor performing product back before its distributors and am waiting for their response. I'm hoping that the response will be positive and I will ensure I post either way. In doing so I'll include all the circumstances accurately so other forum users can make an informed decision. I think providing feedback either negative or positive, is a valuable service amongst a community of like minded individuals as it provides material for consideration when choosing products and spending your hard earned bucks. Again, I think that it must be considered, comprehensive and accurate. Don't let it's value be diminished by emotive responses.

Cheers Mick

Where a business is condemned by one poster initially, then it's also taken up by others also imparting their negative opinions, you can be sure there is a problem to some degree with the business.

However, where the poster says a business is 'fantastic' it may also be a realistic post, but there are so many fantastic business's out there they most often go unreported, because we all expect them to be fantastic and if you read the relevant post it usually mentions a low price.

I don't believe I’ve ever read a negative post of any advertiser on here, does that imply all the advertisers have no problems?

Would you be game to post a negative post here about any advertiser?
I don't think so, but you are quick to post positively, that’s just human nature, as we like to protect our 'family' not denigrate it.

Maîneÿ . . .

Thank you for your post Wayne and Sally. These issues are worth discussing, particuarly when people seem to think they are being helpful by warning others of their (negative) experience with a company.

Defamation laws have developed over several centuries to provide recourse for people whose reputation is or is likely to be harmed by publication of information about them.

Whilst defamation is in fact the most complex of all law, the threat of defamation is used widely. The issue with being threatened with this law is that the expense of defense is so high that people usually retract/remove their statements, which gives accusers the ability to use a claim of defamation as a means of chilling speech rather promptly. It is often used as a scare tactic - as it is just as difficult to have a court accept your claim of defamation and even consider a case. Very few cases actually make it to court as a result.

On ExplorOz, our site Terms of Use and Forum Rules clarify that what you post is your responsibility and we are safe from complaints made against us for what you publish, however you can be made liable if a court agrees in a case proceeding against you.

That said, ExplorOz is not interested in being the legal hot tub for all your complaints against others and businesses even when it is relevant to our industry. We did not create the Forum for the purpose of giving those with complaints a soap box - and any misuse of the sites high profile position in the industry is a misuse of our service.

Our Forum rules are here to protect the user experience and guide the general code of conduct that we have determined is appropriate and acceptable - from our point of view. They also ensure we can protect ourselves, and our reputation. This is why we have the Moderation Complaints rule.

It is important to realise that it is NOT the role of the site management nor the Forum Moderators to distinguish truth or fiction of posted Forum content. As of you intelligent folk have stated, there is often two sides to the story and it is not the role of us, nor this Forum to determine truth in anything posted here. However, it is simply in good faith that our moderators will moderate a post for "Defamation" if it is very clear that the purpose of a post is purely to harm or damage the reputation of another. Our moderators are not actively able to "monitor" and read every post and often the accussed will contact us first to complain about what has been posted. In every instance where we receive a complaint about a post that names a company with the intent to cause harm to their business by publishing information about them we will remove the post. Keep in mind that you can also assist by using the Moderator Alert button if you are unsure about a post you see.

Hope this information helps with everyone's understanding of "our" defamation rule as it applies to the ExplorOz Forum and rules in general.

Michelle Martin
Director - ExplorOz Advertising & Marketing

Good thought Wayne and Sally

I am concerned that the anonymous 'naming and shaming' on a forum like this, where the named party gets no right of reply, may lead to vindictive consumers unfairly badnaming a service.

I work in a service industry, and it may surprise you to know that some (many) consumers are absolute scumbags that should 'named and shamed'. It would be nice to be able to warn other businesses that this person is trouble, doesn't pay, is rude to reception staff etc.

My concern is that a scumbag consumer can unfairly attack a business with whom they are in disagreement, even if it is the complainant who is completely in the wrong.

Bob