Admin
Admin - Webmaster
It has come to my attention that there have been at least a few incidents with members not fulfilling their part of a transaction agreement.
Carseat Swap is based completely upon the honor system. We have no way to verify members' identity, require credit cards, provide feedback for transactions or any other means of regulating safe exchanges of goods and/or money. It is not unlike Craigslist. There is no fee to post new items for sale/trade/wanted on Swap, but you also get no benefits of a secure transaction that an auction service or escrow service can provide.
Unfortunately, this makes Carseat Swap very susceptible for those who would take advantage of others. The moderators and admins have almost no way to determine the truth of any claim or resolve a dispute about a transaction. The forum announcement ( http://www.car-seat.org/showthread.php?t=9937 ) is very clear that the buyer must beware. We highly recommend that you setup a private ebay auction or use a respected escrow service with any member that is new to you or anyone you do not trust completely. It is also very reasonable to ask for Car-Seat.Org member references or ebay feedback ratings. You may also want to contact other swappers about a member, too- if someone is known for not being fair on Swap trades, word will get around quickly. The forums currently have an i-Trader utility for frequent swappers. This information may or may not be reliable. It can be found in the "Feedback" tab of any member's profile.
On the other hand, we will also not tolerate repeated abuse. If you cannot resolve a problem with another member, please send Admin a private message or email with the username of the member and a brief explanation. If enough members report the same user, I may request more information to confirm that a transaction was initiated (link to the thread, Paypal receipt, copies of email/PM, tracking number, etc). While I will not mediate the outcome, I may post the username of repeat offenders on this public thread, initially requesting that they resolve complaints. Ultimately, with repeated abuse, their accounts will be restricted or banned.
Another option is for members to post themselves, using a reply to this thread. This can be done even if Admin has not had enough private complaints about a particular user in order to post on behalf of other members. In making a single reply to this thread for a transaction, you may politely request shipping or payment for an item from another user. This is also helpful in the case the other person involved in the transaction has their PM/email option OFF or they have not responded satisfactorily to your private requests. User replies to this thread will be moderated, so please be polite and simply state the username of the other party and a request that they ship/pay in regards to your transaction. Followup responses will not be approved, please use email or PM to resolve your transaction and not this thread. This is really your only outlet if enough complaints are not submitted for a particular member to warrant Admin posting on behalf of other members.
I am sad that there may be a need for a "wall of shame" at Carseat Swap, but otherwise the entire system can be undermined by a few abusers. If a transaction is resolved after a post is made on this thread, you may email/PM Admin or Joolsplus3 to remove the post from this thread. Beyond this, there is really nothing else we can do to resolve problems with transactions done on Swap. We apologize, but this is the shortcoming of a free trading community with no transaction fees such as Craigslist or Carseat Swap.
Carseat Swap is based completely upon the honor system. We have no way to verify members' identity, require credit cards, provide feedback for transactions or any other means of regulating safe exchanges of goods and/or money. It is not unlike Craigslist. There is no fee to post new items for sale/trade/wanted on Swap, but you also get no benefits of a secure transaction that an auction service or escrow service can provide.
Unfortunately, this makes Carseat Swap very susceptible for those who would take advantage of others. The moderators and admins have almost no way to determine the truth of any claim or resolve a dispute about a transaction. The forum announcement ( http://www.car-seat.org/showthread.php?t=9937 ) is very clear that the buyer must beware. We highly recommend that you setup a private ebay auction or use a respected escrow service with any member that is new to you or anyone you do not trust completely. It is also very reasonable to ask for Car-Seat.Org member references or ebay feedback ratings. You may also want to contact other swappers about a member, too- if someone is known for not being fair on Swap trades, word will get around quickly. The forums currently have an i-Trader utility for frequent swappers. This information may or may not be reliable. It can be found in the "Feedback" tab of any member's profile.
On the other hand, we will also not tolerate repeated abuse. If you cannot resolve a problem with another member, please send Admin a private message or email with the username of the member and a brief explanation. If enough members report the same user, I may request more information to confirm that a transaction was initiated (link to the thread, Paypal receipt, copies of email/PM, tracking number, etc). While I will not mediate the outcome, I may post the username of repeat offenders on this public thread, initially requesting that they resolve complaints. Ultimately, with repeated abuse, their accounts will be restricted or banned.
Another option is for members to post themselves, using a reply to this thread. This can be done even if Admin has not had enough private complaints about a particular user in order to post on behalf of other members. In making a single reply to this thread for a transaction, you may politely request shipping or payment for an item from another user. This is also helpful in the case the other person involved in the transaction has their PM/email option OFF or they have not responded satisfactorily to your private requests. User replies to this thread will be moderated, so please be polite and simply state the username of the other party and a request that they ship/pay in regards to your transaction. Followup responses will not be approved, please use email or PM to resolve your transaction and not this thread. This is really your only outlet if enough complaints are not submitted for a particular member to warrant Admin posting on behalf of other members.
I am sad that there may be a need for a "wall of shame" at Carseat Swap, but otherwise the entire system can be undermined by a few abusers. If a transaction is resolved after a post is made on this thread, you may email/PM Admin or Joolsplus3 to remove the post from this thread. Beyond this, there is really nothing else we can do to resolve problems with transactions done on Swap. We apologize, but this is the shortcoming of a free trading community with no transaction fees such as Craigslist or Carseat Swap.