Bad Trader Alert

I think I had a couple trades going on when the BA server crashed. They sent me theirs, but I hadn't gotten mine out yet and I didn't write down their addresses. I guess I took my access to the website for granted as I was kinda freaking out.
Luckily, everybody was understanding and great bottles were shared.

If the guy really had some extenuating circumstances happen and wanted to solve the issue, it wouldn't be that hard to figure out.

 

So someone blatantly steals from you but you can't post their name on the Internet? Seems like a weird policy. I always thought the bad trader list would be more effective with real names. Afraid of defamation of character suits (I'm being serious)?

 

I can't believe you were that patient. I would have laid down the ultimatum if it was just a few weeks.

That really sucks man.

 

This is bullshit. It is embarrassing to see Indiana "BAs" hurting OUR rep. It's too bad the guys zip code isn't 46037. I'd be all in.

 

I'm all for it, just don't think this site is and have heard threads get deleted b/c of it, just wanted the thread to live on.

 

Maybe he's Amish - in which case, I'm not surprised that the package hasn't arrived yet. The horse and buggy mailing service in this country is less than hasty.

 

Same story here except mine was in the Whale Football League, I drafted a NB Bottleworks X that I've never received. Still trying to hunt it down but if I haven't received it yet... Definitely my last beer related fantasy league.
Can't believe your commish flaked on you

 

Damn, that sucks.

Yeah, our commish had a pretty good track record before this happened. Never heard about any other problems with him. Unless something happened to him, which would change everything, he's probably using a new user name now. He's the only one with the info on the other BA who owes me as well.

 

That blows Sam..hopefully some Melange 3 will cheer you up!

 

That sucks man. I had an LIF guy not send to me, having a little trouble with someone else, but that seems to be straightened out (we'll see), and it really sucks. These posts used to be few and far between, now one a week it seems.

 

Sorry to hear that, Sam. Let me know when you need a DN fix and I'll hook it up.

 

i would be very curious to see the % of bad traders who just got in over their heads financially vs those who went in with the intent to rip people off (and i guess a 3rd category of "people who tell themselves X, Y, and Z are the reasons they're justified in screwing someone out of beer").

i know it's impossible to know (no database, no polling, no way to tell what the deadbeat trader's reasons really are), but it would be interesting.

 

It can be easy to set up multiple trades and before you know it you're going to need hundreds of dollars worth of beer to fulfill them all. The main problem is once they have the beer from you they've lost the motivation to get you yours. If people aren't brought up like I was where if I owe you, you WILL get what's owed come hell or high water, then you likely won't see your box.

So then comes the punishment....getting put on a bad trader list. Big deal. This list should be prominently displayed, and accessible from any site beer trading takes place on. What's to stop someone from making a new account?

 

I got screwed in a BIF for 12 botttles of good stuff and never got a dam thing. The person who had me as a target hasnt logged on in awhile but it would have been nice to have a couple bottles sent by the organizer or something considering he is still active here. I guess you have to be real carefull even in a bif with established people.

 

Never being in a BIF, is the organizer responsible if participants don't come through? That doesn't seem fair.

 

I think the credit risk on BIFs makes them not worthwhile unless you fully understand that it isn't a matter of if, but of when and how much. I love trading, but I'll keep trades small with anyone I'm trading with for the 1st time. I'd guess that most people are well intentioned, but hit a wall when it comes to time or money. There may be some diabolical folks who are playing the long game for the huge whale trade, but what are you going to do about that?

Luckily in the end, it is just money, time, and beer - all things that come and go.

 

I've run one with a guy flaking on us, I made sure a box made it to the guy getting screwed over. I allowed someone to participate I hold myself responsible to see things go properly.

 

I am not saying you shouldn't or that is isn't the right thing to do, I am asking if it is basically a rule, the way he said it was it was something to be expected. As far as letting them participate, were you screening them? I suppose if you hand picked the participants it would make sense, but if someone just pops in the thread and says "I'm in" I don't see how that is your fault.

 

That's pretty much how it goes. It's the BIF organizer's responsibility to get the participant who got shafted a box. There have been some BIFs I've been in where the organizer asked if the other participants pitch in a bottle, but ultimately it's on them to ensure everyone in the BIF is taken care of.

 

No. That would be even less fair to the organizer. Running a BIF is a lot of work, with zero additional benefit compared to just being in one. Except somebody needs to run it...

It is the responsibility of the BIF master to collect info, do a bit of diligence (i.e. check against bad trader lists), and then hound users to get their boxes out. Ultimately, there's not much that can be done when somebody goes bad, just like in a trade.

I will say this though - somebody always seems to step up to help cover an unsent box. I've done it a couple of times myself. It's good karma...

The riskiest ones are the NOOB BIF's (surprise, surprise), which drove one of the site's biggest BIF organizers away from the game. I started them back up in a much smaller and controlled format. The first one went perfect, the second one is in progress, so we will see if they continue...

IMO, BIF's are much more fun than trading. The completely unknown and random nature of the box is just awesome. Picture the excitement when you know a box is landing, and now triple that when you get home and see a giant box from some random state. It's like an entire box of extras, and I've gotten many of my rarest beers through BIFs.