Stamp Smarter

Mike,
I am not sure that copying and pasting another person's comments from another forum is an appropriate thing to do. And it makes you appear pretty motivated to discredit the site for whatever reason.

The original poster from the other forum is simply wrong. For example, he states that we are not updating the record correctly yet doesn't bother to provide an example? Stamp Smarter stands publicly, it's records are there for everyone to see. If there are errors, and there may be, simply bring them to my attention and I will look into it. But to throw around accusations without providing examples, and then cross post these unsubstantiated allegations, is not productive nor helping the hobby any way you look at it.
Don

Edit: I would add that Stamp Smarter provides sellers an opportunity to fix and errors and make improvements. Apparently we don't get the same consideration.

"My belief in him was further eroded when he successfully bid on one of my items and having received it, claimed it was not as described, got his money back by making a false claim to ebay and now refuses to return the stamp. This, despite my assurance his postage costs would be refunded. He claims to have been unaware I was outside the US.


The stamp was perfect quality, as described. I personally broke it from a block of 8.

He has left negative feedback."

This post is full of lies and half-truths, and I will be happy to respond to these charges, point by point, offering proof that I am telling the truth. But first I would like the author of this post, who I believe described himself as "Rushmore2", is in reality Philip Ryle, aka Philip Aster. (And anyone can do a Google search of that name if they are curious....). So my simple questions to the author, once answered, will allow me to proceed here with my defense;

1. Are you the owner of the ebay site "Rushmore_bargains"?

2. Are you the owner of the ebay site
ogstamps";

3. Are you the owner of the ebay site "HMorgan56"?

4. Are you Philip Ryle?

Awaiting his responses to these rather simple questions......

And I thank readers for their patience. He has made some damaging-appearing accusations in his post - which by the way has been removed from the other site - and I would like the opportunity to rebut the accusations found in that post. I presume that any reader who has been defamed as he has me, would like to be able to defend himself? I would too.

BillW....
what was the problem with the item purchased from him/her??

Did some research....
found it....Scott #340
Claims NH...you claim NOT.

I would add that part of the issue here is with sellers who are 'based in the UK' but ship from the US. This this case the buyer was willing to return the item to the same address that it was shipped from (here in the USA). But the seller can insist that it be returned in another country. As we all know adding tracking to another country is quite expensive and far exceeds what it would cost to send it back to the original shipping address.

This is a good lesson for anyone who might be considering a purchase from a seller who ships from a different country than they are 'based' from; assume added cost to ship it back to the country that the seller is based from, not where it was shipped from.
Don

"BillW....
what was the problem with the item purchased from him/her??";

Kevin,
Once this person answers my questions, I will be happy to provide all of the true details.

Bill

Don, I would imagine that, as most of our folks are collector-buyers - whether that be some of the time or all of the time - they want to be able to correct a seller's behavior without risking that the same seller will someday refuse to sell them something they dearly want to buy.

Completeness can be a cruel mistress. <== the family-friendly version

Cheers,

/s/ ikeyPikey

MikeQ, Greetings:

So I read a review, and there are a handful of negs and a larger batch of fawning praise.

You say I should take them all with a grain of salt, but how *do* I take them all with a grain of salt?

I gather an impression. Now I salt it. So, why did I gather the impression in the first place?

What are the practical implications of the salting? How does it affect my bid, or bidding strategy?

If I know that the balance of the reviews can be skewed unfairly, why I am reading them in the first place?

To be fair to Don'n'Bill, I think we should remember that they are *not* (if I understand correctly) producing ratings or reviews; rather, they are providing a place for the evaluation of the accuracy & completeness & usefulness of listings.

Thusly: Seller says well-centered. Here's the scan. Is that anybody's idea of well-centered for that issue? Can 'well-centered' ever include perfs cutting into the design, for any issue? etc

Those are *not* 'reviews' or 'ratings', and should not require a whole lot of salt.

Cheers,

/s/ ikeyPikey

Dan, Bill, Greetings:

We all get annoyed when politicians, et al, "stay on point", keeping to sets of focus-group-tested approved & disapproved words.

But there is a good reason why they do their business that way.

In your case, I would suggest that you guys never again speak the word 'review'.

For a long text, perhaps " ... is a safe & non-punitive place where buyers & sellers can cooperatively & publicly examine & improve the accuracy & clarity of listings."

Cheers,

/s/ ikeyPikey

With regards to the statement made by 'Angie' ...




We would like to see a scan of the block it came from...

There is somethings very wrong with this review stuff!

The amount of explaining to justify.......it is not right!

bill weiss looks to have an agenda of grandeur in using up very honest peoples reputations to fire his bullets to what end......unfortunately some very good people are going to find out he is using you to fuel his fire. What that fire is, is unfolding!

You can not fix wrong with wrong. Warning do not continue........there is somethings very wrong! Very concerned! Be very careful! Think outside the pack mentality!

Instead of drive-by insults, perhaps you could explain and justify the claims you are making?

Like everyone else, I make mistakes. If anyone finds a mistake please give me the courtesy of providing details so that I can see if I should address it. Please note that it is not like I am hiding behind an anonymous name or seller ID here, I hope everything has been transparent enough that it makes it easy to call out any mistakes.

Yet this is the second time someone has commented about mistakes publically instead of simply contacting me and letting me look into whatever the issue is?

I concur that Bill uses the site a lot and posts a lot of reviews. But please note that can easily be resolved by others posting their reviews. And note that there is absolutely nothing preventing a Member from posting a positive review of a seller. The amount of time it takes to write about their concerns in a forum is no greater than writing a positive Review of a seller if a more balanced perspective is desired.

And lastly, what is up with all of this speculation on other people's motives? No one is inside someone else's head and knows what they are thinking. As a forum mod for the last 20 years I can tell you THIS is exactly what starts the most flame wars. Many folks were concerned that Stamp Smarter would start making judgments about sellers, that the Reviewers might start making assumptions that a seller motives were to rip someone off as opposed to them making a mistake.

But for whatever reason it seems this is a one way street. The negative comments Stamp Smarter has received in this forum has been 100% centered around my (or Bill's) motives. Bill has supported the site since its inception; offering suggestions, doing some promotion, and certainly writing Reviews. But he is only one voice, it seems obvious that adding more voices to the Reviews would dilute any concerns. If I was somehow limiting Membership and making it so that only Bill's opinion was being heard than by all means flame me. Additionally, many other folks have offered input and improvement suggestions, the vast majority of which I have tried to implement.

So please feel free to contact me, inquire about any mistakes or issue that you see, or offer suggestions for improvement.
Don