Questionable Trading Ethics - ThomasMendes1

Actually, no. Reading the messages posted at the top of this thread through several times, I can't find any clear evidence that he was playing offers against one another, and from all appearances he doesn't seem to be doing much of anything carefully.

Spotty communication, lamely backing out at the last minute: YES. Stringing someone along, playing off traders against one another: NO, at least based on what's been posted here. I've seen auctions, playing traders against one another, and those exchanges at the top of this thread are not what it looks like. Please go back and re-read them.

 

I am not sure how to reproduce the image but go back and re-read what he says in the text exchange just before the "fuck off". He clearly says the reason he is backing out is because he got a better offer...after he already had an agreed to deal.

 

I think you missed something "wish I notified you sooner but just now got a great offer"... please go back and re-read them. How do you get a great offer on beer that you agreed to trade 10 days prior?

 

Gotta win at all costs

 

A frequent side effect of these threads is that sometimes participants in these threads or the person doing the outing (not in this case) end up on many people's DNT lists !

 

No, I didn't miss that, but if he was actually trying to play offers against one another, it would have been something more like "I wanna go ahead with this, but someone just offered me X, Y, and Z for the bottle – could you possibly add something on your end?". Even if done at the last minute, backing out is not playing people off one another – how are you going to get a better offer if you shut down the trade?

As to how you get a great offer on beer you already agreed to trade, it happens all the time – someone sees your ISO:FT post and contacts you and asks if it's still available and says they're willing to trade bottles X, Y, and Z for it. If you're an decent, ethical trader you say "sorry, but the offer is already closed", no matter what they're offering you. Unfortunately that's obviously not what happened here.


Again, I absolutely do not agree with the way ThomasMendes1 behaved – IMHO it's reprehensible and slimy and puts him clearly on my DNT list – but to me it doesn't look like any playing-people-off-against-each-other auction thing went on.

 

There is really only one reason for him to mention the fact that he received a better offer and that is to garner an even better offer to that. Granted, this is abductive reasoning on my part but I think it is fair.

 

Cold, unforgiving beer message board universe
@Yohann, truly the only voice of reason
We are all mopes looking to you.
Torch hot, pitchfork sharp;
High, poised, ready.

 

It's also entirely possible he's just that stupid and inconsiderate!!!

 

Not sure why you're defending this guy so hard. There have been dozens of these bad trader threads where the official trade system has not been used and bad traders have still been addressed in the past. It's clear that this guy should not be given the privilege of trading on this website based on his previous and current behavior.

We know that BA has a love/hate relationship with traders and they do not want us to get involved with policing other members. This leads us to a lot of situations where we are unable to do anything and are at the complete mercy of the mods to do everything. There has to be a way to create a happy medium for this that involves both community members and mods so it is not so time consuming. The influence of secondary markets continue to make trading a more risky pastime.

They're well within its rights to change their rules now and tell us all buyer beware, go screw off if you don't use the trade system and nobody shipped anything, but let's at least deal with this trader the way all the other ones have been in the past.

 

I'm not defending this guy at all – I'm defending observing the rules, and objecting to people mischaracterizing events to justify their desire to ban someone they don't like.

(Yeah, yeah, @jrnyc, @4truth et al, I get that you don't like me speaking up. Oh well.)

 

No one mis-characterized This guy..Fact is, this guy should be banned already for retaliatory feedback...That is people defending the rules...For some reason he was given a free pass...Now he is skirting rules (not breaking) weeks after when he should have exemplary practices...Most want this guy gone from the trading forums...Not BA.....

 

I don't mind at all, I actually have enjoyed your posts in the past. And rules are very important and provide much needed structure. I just think you may have missed this tidbit from me earlier:

It did however get proven beyond a reasonable doubt that he behaved in such a manner while abusing the privilege of trading in this amazing and well-behaved community that no veteran or newbie trader worth their salt will ever trade with him again, nor should they. How that constitutes maintaining the privilege of trading on this site is beyond me, but there it is.

Because don't forget, this comes directly from the "Beer Trading Rules & Tips" General Terms:

• You agree that beer trading is a privilege that may be taken away.

This slimy circumstance was his next trade, occurring directly after he: (1) was the topic of a previous Bad Trader thread and rightfully served bad feedback, (2) left retaliatory feedback and (3) only was "contrite" after being threatened with a ban from trading. Other folks on this site have been banned for much less.

If someone tries to show you who they are, believe them.