I had a trader respond to a recent ISO post, "have one coming my way, but might take a few days" . He proceeds to tell me that once he gets it in he would be interested in doing the trade. I oblige and tell him him "that sounds great". He responds that he will "get back to you when I have bottle in hand!" I give him a few days and then follow up "just checking in". The guy permanently leaves the message instead of just telling me that he changed his mind. I started a new conversation to ask him about his lack of response, and suggested a more courteous way of responding. He read the message but completely ignored me. Is it just me or is this completely bad etiquette?!
Just like in real life, there are people who are polite, people who are rude & the rest who fall in between. Fairly apparent where this guy falls. I wouldn't sweat it.
I think it is very rude, and poor form; epic Dbag. Good thing you didn't end up trading with him... who knows what other shenanigans might have been pulled. Alas, it is becoming more common on the trade forums - not sure what to do about it other than shrug and accept that dbags abound...
Lack of responsiveness is an increasing problem in the trading hobby and a pet peeve of mine. I don't post a ton of ISOs, but when I do, I make a point to respond to every single person who inquires--even if it's to give them bad news. It's just basic social decency. The silver lining of people completely ignoring you inquiries is that it's a simple and cheap way to realize you're probably better off not with that person anyway. Bad communication doesn't cost money the way a missing box does, but it's just as important a part of trading. Sometimes I wish the trade feedback system had a multi-point scoring system: communication, promptness, adherence to original agreement and overall.
^^^ I agree! Complete radio silence is the worst!!! Anyone can take 2 seconds to send a quick response!
I agree with your assertion for a better feedback system. However I also understand that people have lives and beer trading is not always top priority. My problem is that this particular trader has great trade feedback, but that is no reflection on his communication etiquette with those he decides not to trade with. So you can be the biggest dick possible as long as you don't send a trade request. I feel like this probably happens often. Certain people are on their best behavior when completing a trade, but if they are not trading with you then it's like "f*** you!"
I don't put people like that on ignore, but I remember who they are. I can't tell you the number of times I've seen them post request for information that I have answers for or trade that I have bottles for that I simply didn't respond. It goes around, believe me. I'm with @LambicPentameter here. I even say in my profile that I will respond to every message regardless of what it's about. You just never know what being friendly and courteous will bring you in the long run. Two years ago, some random person messaged me out of the blue inquiring about beers in Philly. One thing lead to another he became my best trading partner from whom I get TG goodies, including KBBS, Assassin, SR71, without ever having to ask for or **** my cellar.
These type of threads piss me off as nothing ever comes of it...I would LOVE to have this guy called out so he can "learn" what not to do...Instead he becomes one of the massive growing, unappreciative, people I dont want to trade with on this site... #newmoney btw, this is NOT a slam at the OP..just need to point that out..
I hear what you're saying, but I don't think it's worth calling one individual out as it seems to happen very frequently and will only clutter the subforum and induce a lot of nasty back and forth. A more general thread like this will eventually get read by the offenders and the hope is that they would think more about how they communicate. Moreover, it serves as a good reminder for the rest of us regarding the importance of being courteous.
The unfortunate reality is that people who can't bring themselves to do something this simple in the first place aren't likely going to give a flying fart what anyone has to say about it. So I think @tommyz is correct about this thread not really being likely to affect any change. Sadly. The good news is that at the end of the day, this is mostly just annoying.
In the past, I've seen people chiming in to threads similar to this one saying that they've done this and would try to be better in the future.
you can always request this as a site feature. i agree that more information is better than less and you can then always BM the person who posted that feedback for more info.
This has happened to me more times in the last week or two than ever before. Maybe it's just random luck or maybe there really is an increase of this non-responsiveness.
