Thoughts on messaging etiquette

nah bro chill

 

Ill admit im guilty of fragments, no capitalization/punctuation at times in my responses, but that's only if im responding from my phone. I don't like making my "partners" wait for communication, especially if were are in the midst of working out a trade.

 

Definitely has been happening a lot lately. Sadly it's coming from "seasoned" traders and not just newer ones too.

 

Don't let it bother you, it's not worth your time.
It's like when you are text messaging a girl and they just stop responding. Let it go, maybe shoot a message in a couple days, and if still no response then move on. Plenty of traders in the sea.

 

I get what you're saying but it's common f'in courtesy. Like waving to someone after they let you cut in front of them in traffic, saying thanks when someone holds open the door for you, looking behind you to hold the door open for someone else, REPLYING to a gd message in reference to a beer you are looking for and someone is trying to help you get.

It especially pisses me off when the person isn't replying and yet you see they are logging on or are "engaged in conversation". Then they sometimes will reply with "oh, sorry Ive been busy at work" which really means "what is your offer and let me see if I like it more than the others I've received so far".

Edit: If I'm engaged in a trade conversation at work I will immediately let the person know that I could stop responding at any minute and I don't know how long I'll be gone but that I will definitely get back to them as soon as I can. That's the truth, I don't have any other options so I at least let them know what's going on if I suddenly stop responding. I also let them know I understand if they find another trade while I'm gone, I don't expect them to wait on me.

 

Brad your first paragraph is near and dear to me. It's such an easy thing to do and there is no reason not to do so. Help others and be kind to your fellow man.

 

You make me want to hate you so much So much that I want to do structural damage to your porch.

 

The no responses drive me nuts. It seems to be getting worse unfortunately

 

I think it's important to me that the conversation remains civil and positive. Any sort of attitude and I'm instantly going to move on to someone else - not going to get into a trade where $80+ of good beer is on the line with someone who is giving off bad vibes.

I've had this happen at least twice with people who didn't feel that my offer was fair - great, I understand, let's work through it. But the minute you say something rude, I'm done.

 

Glad I came to this thread. I trade mostly over on Reddit and have found the community over there to be pretty friendly and welcoming.

Would love to get more involved on BA as well, but out of about six BMs I've sent out to various members on here I've gotten back zero responses.

Decided to swing by Beer Trading Talk & Help to make sure I wasn't following some sort of agreed upon format or something and that was the reason for being shut out.

Quite frankly I think it's pretty rude to not respond, and I make it a point to be courteous enough to reply to all messages.

Good to know there are others on here who feel the same way, and I hope that our paths cross at some point. Cheers!

 

FWIW, I've had people not reply to me on reddit as well; the behavior isn't unique to BA, though it might be more prevalent here.

 

I think it's TOO prevalent here. It only takes a minute to respond, good or bad, one way or another. Absolutely NO response when you reach out to someone or ask a direct question is beyond frustrating!!!

 

I couldn't agree more. I recently got a message from a BA out of the blue who said he saw me post on a forum, noticed I was from Minnesota, and he suggested a trade for some locals. I responded shortly after and expressed interest, giving him a list of things I could get that he might be interested in and telling him what I'd be interested in trying from his area. I concluded the message with something like "Since you're new to trading I'd prefer you shipped first but other than that I'm ready to get this done. Sound good?"

Crickets. For a WEEK. He read the message 6 minutes after I sent it and I got nothing back.

A week later I messaged him again asking why he didn't respond, if he's still interested, and I expressed disappointment with his non-response. He responded telling me he did a trade with someone else for a couple things I couldn't get him and he didn't think it was a big deal to ignore my message.

Seriously, this is what it's come to? People are content to blatantly leave others hanging and don't find that to be rude? It's frustrating to say the least.

 

I find it annoying, but it happens enough that I'll give someone a break once on the off chance that they got flooded with messages and got caught up and just missed out on responding to my message in the middle of a discussion.

I did recently have someone who did this to me a second time, so that is enough for me to stop sending any PM's to that individual. The most recent instance they posted to the general ISO:FT forum with a specific offer and I sent a PM offering to complete that exact trade, "Hey, I can do this and am also IP. Could meet up this weekend, just let me know." Heard nothing back, although he did read the message. That is a double-whammy to me, as I would find it much better/cheaper/faster to do something IP rather than shipping and also appreciate the opportunity to meet with other local BAs, but obviously not everyone views things the same way.

 

Annoying as shit when you have a convo going and people just disappear cause if you seem to have an agrred trade and then nothing, like what the hell. let me know so i can move on. and the other side is when you do get friendly with traders youve completed deals with. had a guy email me the other day saying he was coming to my area and what are some good suggestions on stores, bars breweries etc. i like to keep good contacts cause at least you know theres someone you can trust. im also in a facebook group and same thing happens everywhere, bad communication good communication. and dont hate my punctuation and sentece writing, i am an idiot when it comes to this, but my point will get across

 

I'd lighten up on that. I'm definitely in the "communicate or you're dead to me" camp, but some people check BA at work, or on a phone, or on the run, & it's not always realistic to be able to send a response instantaneously. Some people live here day & night, but I only check in every few hours, & I know a lot of others do as well.

 

Yeah, I think it's a generational thing. Old cranks like me, who grew up with phones attached to the wall, don't think about being available all the time - yesterday I was off the grid for several hours while driving kids around & at baseball practice. I didn't even bring my phone with me. I know, I should go step into my Amish grave now...