When is okay to alert the doll community to a problem seller?

I believe that a 'buyer beware' thread should be made only if there has been a changing of hands with money, after MANY tries at communicating with the seller with no response, and a reasonable amount of time has passed.

By reasonable, I mean two weeks at LEAST, in my opinion anyway.

Anything else, I have no real opinion about. Although, I think that if you can at least be polite about your complaint when starting up a 'buyer beware' thread.

 

I say contact the seller and politely express your concern and suggest a few solutions to resolve the issue, depending on the situation (return, partial refund, etc).

Sadly, not much can be done ;_;
If insurance was purchased, the buyer has the right to a full refund, and the seller can also claim a refund from the post office (it takes a while, but you eventually get your money!). If no insurance was purchased, then... there's not really anything one can do.
As a seller, I either encourage insurance or tracking to be purchased or if it's one of my pattern books, I will send a replacement copy, if extras are available ;3
Now, if insurance was paid for and the seller did NOT get insurance for whatever reason, it is the seller's obligation to refund the buyer as it was the seller's fault.

Thinking back to all the horror stories I've seen about "new" or "mint condition" dolls arriving covered in filth and scratches, I think returning the item for a full refund or asking for a partial refund is a good solution.

Also, when it comes to dolls or other items with a breif description and poor/blurry photos, I think it is the buyer's responsibility to ask questions before they decide to commit to a sale. Not everyone's a scammer, but it's better to be safe than sorry ~_^

I think such a thread should be made if the buyer and seller cannot come to a reasonable solution, or if the seller shows a pattern of deception in their communication (ie "I mailed it today", then a week later "I will mail it tomorrow", etc). Scamming or deception of any sort should be immediately brought to the attention of the community.

For the most part, I think the tone is reasonable. The people who post them (from what I've seen) are usually straightforward, frank, and provide as many facts as they can about their transaction.
The underlying emotion is a little bitter, but really-- wouldn't you be bitter too if someone cheated you out of your money?
Although those posting should try to put their emotions aside while writing the thread, so the facts don't get distorted in the spur of the moment.

I do find 'buyer beware' threads to be very informative and reading them has saved me some trouble. I honestly feel very sad whenever I hear stories about people being scammed or cheated out of something because they didn't know the seller was dishonest ;_;

I read the 'buyer beware' threads and have made a mental list of notorious scammers, dishonest face-up artists and other problem sellers. I encourage others to do the same; there are lots of great, honest sellers here, but we do have a couple bad apples we need to look out for :X

 

On one hand, think of how many people could have been saved from scammers if only other people being scammed had the guts to step forward earlier.

On the other hand, you don't want to be unreasonable and get on a seller before giving the post office enough time to do its business, accounting for the fact that not everyone can get to a post office RIGHT NOW, and such.

Finding the balance between them depends on the individual situation, really. If you can't reach an agreement with the seller/buyer in a reasonable amount of time, then you might want to post a problem transaction thread. Not a real "Buyer Beware!" thread until there are multiple complaints, just a "Hey, heads up, I had a little trouble dealing with this person."

 

This is a good topic for debate. I'm also curious about when/if it is ok to post negative feedback for someone who doesn't actually rip you off (yet!), but doesn't send the goods either (doll, clothes, whatever) when they say they will. In the past, I've just declined to post any feedback rather than posting negative feedback, but in my particular case, I am finding myself very resentful of the stress the seller is putting me through. I bought something nearly three weeks ago and already the seller has given me three different dates they were sending it. Because they didn't send it either of the first two times they promised, I have kind of lost faith that they actually did mail it. I am an easy-going kind of person, perfectly willing to work with someone if problems arise, but I don't think it's fair for people to behave this way and I am beginning to think that I should warn potential buyers that this person is not reliable. I really hate being put in this position.

 

I have had more trouble with sellers who start adding on charges that weren't originally stated in the sale post than not getting the item or the item not arriving as described...

I tend to just not leave feedback rather than leave negative feedback as well... To start a problem seller thread, however, I would think you'd have to have waited over a month with constant lies about when an item is being mailed or have received no communication for a few weeks from the seller after they receive your money.

If the item was clearly not up to the quality that was stated in the sale thread, I would post negative feedback and then face the seller via PMs, since that is more likely to be an isolated incident than them having come online and still ignored your PM asking for shipping info or whatever.

 

about the lost items. Sometimes at some "shops" or sellers on ebay etc, they simply charge shipping. Would you assume that it's automatically registered mail or such?

if it turns out to not be registered mail, and the mail gets lost, would you say it's still the buyer's burden?

 

When I am shipping something of value to someone , I always insure it whether or not they request it, because I would feel obligated to refund them if their goods were lost. If I were not able to produce evidence that I shipped it, how would they know that I am honest and actually sent it? I buy insurance to protect myself from possible loss as well as my customer.

 

Things to discuss:

• What steps should take, before alerting the community, to make sure it was just a misunderstanding?
  
  Try to contact the seller and make certian that you are on the same page. See if anything else can be done to rectify the situation.
  
• How to deal with articles lost in the mail?
  
  Always insure your items or ask for it. Make sure you have shipping dates and have given enough time for delayed shipment.
  
• How to deal with articles that are not as described?
  
  *Depending on how diffrent it is from the description/pictures. If its a slight difference I can over look I ignore it. If Its a big difference I see if the seller can fix it and provide a similar item in the condition I bought it for or refund the money.
  
• When should a "Buyer Beware" thread be made?
  
  Thats a bit of a sticky question for me as I recently had to post my first one so here goes. I think a buyer beware thread should be posted when there is a company that is doing something that might be detrimental to another buyer. If you know something that might cost someone else money, or that a company is sellling a misrepresented product, or that it might be a situation thats scamming people out of money you should post it. For me you may not always know other peoples good and bad experiences with companies. There is no BJD Better Business Bureau. No way to say hey this might not be the best company to buy from. Unless other purchasers speak up. On the flip side I wish there was a ebay like system that had store ratings so I could rate the -good- and bad ratings on a store and its practices all in one place and read the reviews.
  There is the good and bad traders forum but that is mostly posts about individual sellers and a few about companies with the reviews spread out through various threads.
  
• How do you feel about the tone of "Buyer Beware" threads?
  
  Usually it is a bit bitter. By the time its gotten to a buyer beware situation the buyer has lost money and likely won't recoup it. I tried to keep my thread factual and just give a heads up about the situation to say - hey - don't do what I did. Learn from my mistake. Unfortunately it wasn't taken that way by some.
  
  I think we also have to consider what does "buyer beware" mean to you? Like a lot of other terms the meaning can change for diffrent people. To me Buyer Beware is just that. Not Necessarily a bad thing but a warning to be careful when dealing with a company because there is something about your purchase that will be out of the norm compared to a majority of other purchases.
  

 

As the moderator of the Bad_dolly_deals site I do have some suggestions:

Try to work things out privately first, and then post after you have exhausted all efforts to resolve issues. Stuff happens, packages get lost, mail is slow and sometimes people are just plain slow to communicate.

On the lost in mail issue: always get the seller's policy up front, do not just assume that a seller will refund you if the item is lost in the mail, even if you buy insurance! I know a seller in another doll community who refused to refund money even though insurance was purchased until she got her doll back or insurance settlement form her post office.

If the deal seems a little fishy - go ask others for advice before you commit to buy an item.

Always keep all PMs, emails, receipts, etc when buying/selling an item (I keep mine for 6 months.)

Don't let someone intimidate you into not complaining publicly.

If you paid thru paypal don't wait until the 45th day to open a claim. If you open a claim, do not close it until the item is received - paypal will not let you open a second claim. I've seen some sellers tell a buyer that they will send the item if the claim is closed and then NOT send it because they were mad. You have no recourse once that happens.

Of course, you all know this: use common sense!! I've seen people buy items from someone they do not know and connot trace. If you don't know the person, and no one else knows the person, don't do business with them.

If you want to make a complaint on BDD and want to remain anonymous you can always email me - I'll post it for you and wont give anyone your information.

 

I'm only picking a few to answer as the rest really depends on the situation (and I'm in a rush).

* What steps should take, before alerting the community, to make sure it was just a misunderstanding?

Contact the seller and try to resolve it privately. If that doesn't work, I say alert the community. Unlike a few others, I don't believe that a lot of messages have to be exchanged and that the buyer should have to wait two weeks.

If the seller doesn't want to compromise and is terribly rude, I don't think you have to wait two weeks to know that it's a problem transaction. If you wait for the problem to drag out for months, you might lose out. Don't forget that a Paypal claim does eventually expire. By waiting for months, you lose out on time where you could have acted on good advice given by other members and other buyers might have gone on to buy from the same problem seller only to suffer the same problems.

There have been so many scamming cases where you see a Buyer Beware thread started up and other buyers suddenly popping up and saying that 'oh, so-and-so did this to me too'.


* When should a "Buyer Beware" thread be made?

In my opinion, it should be started when a buyer feels that the transaction has been extremely unsatisfactory. Either the issues they had with the seller remain unresolved or that even after resolution, the attitude of the seller has made you feel very unhappy about the whole thing. I've only had transactions with very, very nice people and when I read about some of the horror stories and bad selling attitude, I just feel that people should be warned about this.


* How do you feel about the tone of "Buyer Beware" threads?

Well, being polite is important and calmly presenting the facts and timeline of the transaction will provide good details for other buyers. Sometimes, it's not the seller at fault after all, so a good, polite and rational account will go a long way in helping other people decide for themselves who to trust.

But honestly, I think if someone got scammed or went through a really bad transaction, I would understand if their tone was somewhat disappointed, unhappy or angry. Swearing and yelling would undermine your account of the transaction so that would be silly, but I wouldn't expect the buyer to go, "So, I got scammed. Oh well." in a blase manner.

 

Here's what I would do:
1) Contact the seller and try to resolve the situation. Save all the e-mails and messages so you have a record of what was discussed and promised and so forth.

2) If you used Paypal, file a claim right away if you can. Paypal doesn't allow certain types of claims (such as for items not as described) but basically check and make sure - and DON'T take the seller's word that they'll fix everything and not file the claim. You can always rescind the claim if the seller does fix the situation.

3) If you used a credit card, including credit card via Paypal, then call your credit card company and see if you can do a chargeback. The credit card protections are broader than Paypal's due to the governing law. Many people don't seem to realize they can call their credit card company even if Paypal doesn't want to deal with it. Don't be afraid to do this.

4) If it's a situation covered by postal insurance, then look into filing a claim there. You might need the seller to work with you, and also it's not always possible to get insurance and/or it doesn't cover everything. However, if your item gets lost and it wasn't insured and you didn't get insurance because you didn't want to pay for it, I'm not going to have much sympathy for you because you assumed the risk.

5) Once you have done everything on your end that you can to resolve the situation, post your Buyer Beware and calmly list all the facts. If you are calm about it and just state facts, preferably backed up by e-mails and so forth, it's very helpful and very credible.

People who just burst on line and start to complain without really having made an effort to fix things with the seller, to contact Paypal or credit card companies, or who didn't file claims or didn't get insurance for whatever reason and now can't get reimbursed, don't have very much credibility and seem unsympathetic. Fortunately, the vast majority of people who post Buyer Bewares do not fall in that category.

Edited to add, I would also be wary of posting a Buyer Beware if you weren't actually burned in a transaction but just suspected someone of being shady. Basically, if you didn't engage in an actual transaction, then you don't know for sure. In that case I would post a thread in Buying/Selling asking if what the seller was doing seemed fishy because there may be a logical explanation.

 

They would probably say it is the buyer's burden, seeing as the buyer agreed to the process. But gawd, being on the 'lost mail' end myself once... I couldn't possibly agree with them.

 

As a buyer, I would certainly want to know about a seller like this. I also have trouble deciding when to leave negative feedback for a person, and have also gone the route of leaving none instead of complaining, but with something as expensive as a doll, I think I'd rather have people err on the side of caution, and tell me any trouble that they had with a seller.

 

I think that if the seller might have a potential delay in shipping, they need to state it in their listing. Like, for example, if they need to drive a long way to the post office, or if they don't have a driver license or a car, or if they have kids or family that might need attention first, or guests coming, etc, etc. I have heard all these excuses from sellers, as to why my package wasn't shipped out on time. Life does get in the way on occasion and usually it's a priority over a mere sale, but most of the time, the seller is aware that a delay could happen and should let the buyer know. I wouldn't label them problem sellers in general, just sellers that need to be honest and let the buyer know of a potential delay in advance.

 

As someone who was almost ripped off in 2006 by a member I don't care to dredge up, I think that the most important thing it to continue sending pm's, emails, whatever you have to do. If you are getting no responses at all, that is just wrong. That person is selling you an item, and should be keeping you updated on the status of your order. If they keep lying and saying that they did send the order off, and you get it months later with a postmark of a couple days before, that person should be shunned like no other from all future sales threads. Everyone on this board is presumably adult enough about this hobby to know that this hobby can come down to alot of money, and that all means necessary will be taken if they do not go through with the motions they said they would (shipping on a certain day, tracking numbers, and insurance). I had to call the cops, and write internet fraud investigators, but in the end (and months later) I got what I paid for.

If that person cannot tell you what day they sent the package off, and you sent them money on a certain day, you should really wait no longer than a day, unless you agree with them prior on a different day to send off. Even then, they need to write you on the day it is actually sent off.

It is a seller's duty to make sure that the item is packed well, in the promised condition, and shipped the way they promised. Accidents can happen, but that's what insurance and tracking numbers are for. In order for the sale to be safe, everyone should be using those, and keeping in contact with each other throughout the transaction, even if the seller has to tell the other person, that they might be gone for a couple of days or whatever. But it is the buyer who needs to make sure the other person agrees to those things.

Whoa, tangent. *sweatdrop* I guess that i just get scared for other people, since this happened to me I have been majorly careful when it comes to transactions in the marketplace. Although, for every bad one that I've had, I've had 30 good ones.

 

I've noticed that sometimes when I've had a really bad transaction with someone, other people still queue up to buy from them, regardless of the bad feedback I just left.

I had a comission once that was never completed. The girl had my money for months and months, and eventually I pestured her enough that she gave me my money back. I left bad feedback in her comission thread and her feedback thread, and yet someone still left a comment saying "Damn, I wish you where still taking comissions".

I guess sometimes, no matter how much warning you give, people just don't take it and act as if you're the bad guy. Of course, you should still warn people in the hopes that someone is smart enough to leave it well alone.

 

Commissions are kind of iffy because the amount of time people are willing to wait varies. Someone who has two dolls and is really anxious to see a certain character realized may have different expectations from someone who has 25 dolls and knows the commission artist and is just sending a doll off to see what the artist can do with it. Also, the way artists handle their commissions varies. Some of them are very rigorous about keeping to a set schedule and getting done in X amount of time, others are more loosey-goosey with it and will basically get done when they have time or inspiration to finish. If you know the person well enough, you can trust them or you know in advance they may take a while. Whereas if you're just stumbling onto an ad out of the blue, you may think a reasonable time to finish is a month when the artist may well take three.

I rarely commission people because this seems to be one area that's prone to a super-long delay, even with basically honest artists and sellers, and particularly if the person needs all or most of the money up front to buy supplies or whatever. This gives rise to the tendency to put the project off since you were already paid for it, and instead make additional things you can sell on DoA or eBay that will bring you in additional payments. In addition, because a commission is asking someone to kind of use their creative powers on your behalf, I know sometimes an artist takes a while to come up with the idea. Therefore, when I do choose to commission, I just accept that risk up front and simply keep e-mailing and PM'ing until the commission comes through, but at the same time I will avoid commissions unless I've dealt with the person enough to know they're basically reliable and WILL come through in the end even if it takes a long time. I also accept the fact that they will probably be selling other things they make instead of finishing my commission first, because that's just how some of them do it.

 

As a buyer and a seller, I think feedback for both is really, really important, and HONEST feedback especially. Some of the most helpful feedbacks are even NEUTRAL ones; a transaction that didn't go as you planned, but wasn't outright horrible. If I as a buyer read a neutral feedback, I might decide it's not worth the potential annoyance and go elsewhere.

That said, hurried negative feedback helps no one and tends to only stir up wank. I think the best thing to do if you've completed a negative transaction is to just sit on it a week. Let that fury ebb a bit so you can post a rational feedback. I've seen more than one negative that people later wanted to retract, because they hadn't given things a chance to settle, and had just jumped to that 'post' button.

 

I don't want to take this discussion too far off-topic, but I do want to answer this, since I've been doing a lot of international selling (and international buying! ) recently. No, I don't think it's safe at all to assume that anything will be shipped in a particular way, unless that's (a) explicitly stated in the auction or FS thread text, or (b) explicitly agreed on between the seller and buyer in writing.

My main reason for saying that is because I've learned just how different the shipping options and postage rates are in different countries. As a US buyer *and* seller, I'm really envious of my international friends who have the option of reasonably-priced registered airmail shipping. That option isn't available from the US Postal Service: either we mail things by regular airmail, or we mail things by EMS. Regular airmail ("international first class") is cheap, but it can't be tracked and it can't be insured, at least according to my local post office. There is a registered-mail option, which costs $9.95 in addition to the airmail postage amount--but I'm not sure whether it's available for international mail, and it's still more than most buyers want to pay for a small item. And the starting price for EMS, no matter how small the package is, is US$22.

I do see why people in other countries would assume that the registered airmail option *ought* to exist everywhere. I agree with them--it ought to! But, in fact, it doesn't exist in the US.

So, to drag this post back on-topic: warning the community about a "bad" US seller because he or she doesn't automatically ship international packages by registered airmail . . . wouldn't really tell them anything useful.

 

It's only available to some foreign countries, though not to the UK for some reason.

 

Personally I prefer to have more info than less when it comes to a potential purchase. For every one person posting that they've had problems with a seller, there may be another dozen or more that have had problems but didn't post. On the other hand, if all I see is a single complaint about a seller, I'm more than likely to keep on with an intended purchase. All information is good information!

 

What steps should take, before alerting the community, to make sure it was just a misunderstanding?
Try in all ways possible to contact the person. In 2 weeks to maximum a month, if the person goes MIA, then it means you've been scammed. If he/she shows up after that, say if you have opened a thread to complain/warn people, quickly close it and explain that it was a misunderstanding. Provided that person had a reason for going MIA.

How to deal with articles lost in the mail?
Contact the company in charge of the mailing.

How to deal with articles that are not as described?
If you're fine with it, keep it. But if it turns out to be something you dont want, try and get the person to change it. If not, ask for a refund.

When should a "Buyer Beware" thread be made?
The answer would be something like the first question.

How do you feel about the tone of "Buyer Beware" threads?
No obscenities please :P However, scam victims WOULD be angry, so.. I dunno.. >_<


My answers are pretty noobish. But just stuff that i would do if i've been scammed myself.

 

It's more problematic when it involves an international transaction, the postal systems seem to be completely random, unrelated to the distance the parcel travels or the cost of shipping and what is true in one country may not be in another.

Korea to UK = 9 days including a 4 day delay for customs.
Hong Kong to UK = 3 days
Spain (in EU) to UK (in EU) = 19 days

(I'm not sure if this is on topic, but it is related.)

What are people's thoughts about reporting problem sellers on a forum when the transaction has been made in another place? Eg: announcing a bad ebay deal on DoA?

 

I thikn that it is great since this thread was orginally written the amount of rules and procedures that DOA has put in place to try to keep the community safe in the gerneal forums and market place.


While the feedback system lets you know about a seller or buyers reputation I have seen some sellers with excellent feedback just go off the grid so to speak which is always scary.

I think using paypal to pay for transactions is other good measure to ensure safety but then also to promptly let paypal and DOA mods know when there is a problem.

This does not always guarntee you will get your merch or money back but its a great start. I have seen some cases where police reports have been filed in the sellers city because online fraud is such a reality sad to say.

 

What steps should take, before alerting the community, to make sure it was just a misunderstanding?
I would try to contact them my mutiple means, PMs, e-mail, anything they list. If after several attempts and a very resonable amount of time, I'd ask a mod to perhaps 'page' the member in question. Only after that would I alert the community.
How to deal with articles lost in the mail?
Sadly, this happens a lot and there isn't much we can do. I will personally ask for delivery confirmation/ signiture required on anything valuable. I will also insure.
How to deal with articles that are not as described?
I contact the seller and try to work things out.
When should a "Buyer Beware" thread be made?
(Kinda answered this in the first question...)
How do you feel about the tone of "Buyer Beware" threads?
I think if they are genuine and tell the whole story then they are good. If all steps have been taken and no compromise was made, I want to know about these things. However if they are mean and bitter, I tend to just not read them.

Also, whenever I leave feedback I include the whole story. The level of communication, the packaging, everything.

 

I've been lucky, I've never had a need to write up a problem transaction thread or leave negative feedback for anyone. However, if I ever did need to, I wouldn't hesitate. The feedback system only works if we include all the information, good and bad. What's the point of a feedback system if we praise each other and ignore all the bad stuff? As an active buyer in the MP I regularly check the problem transaction threads and they've saved me from a few dodgy deals I otherwise would have made.

The people who don't leave negative feedback when it's appropriate are enabling the scammers to carry on scamming other people, which isn't very community minded!

What steps should take, before alerting the community, to make sure it was just a misunderstanding? Keep in contact with the other person and make sure that paypal refunds and credit chargebacks can be actioned. When I've sold things I've given the buyer my address, phone number and email address so that if I'm not on DoA for a period of time, they can still contact me somewhere. If the seller has disappeared, have the mods put up a 'Paging' status so that if anyone knows the seller they can let them know what's happened.

How to deal with articles lost in the mail? The buyer should make sure that the shipping price they're paying includes insurance. If the seller doesn't offer insurance, the buyer should ask for it. The only way to deal with items lost in the postal system is to rely on tracking and insurance to cover damages or loss. If the buyer paid for insurance and the seller didn't purchase it, the seller should refund the buyer for all expenses.

How to deal with articles that are not as described? In the case of dirty dolls or damage that can be repaired, I think the buyer and seller should work together to solve the problem, either through a partial refund or through the seller arranging for the faulty part to be repaired or replaced (particularly if the damage was caused by shoddy packaging.) In the case of dolls damaged beyond repair, the buyer should have a full refund if they can prove from photographic evidence that the doll was broken on arrival.

When should a "Buyer Beware" thread be made?
When all peaceful means of resolving the case have been made, I think the time is right for a 'buyer beware' thread. Having the case laid out can be a good indicator to buyers and sellers about the conduct of other people on the marketplace and it's a fair way of giving other people a warning about the likelihood of it happening to them.

How do you feel about the tone of "Buyer Beware" threads?
I prefer to read completely factual and polite ones, but I can understand that when a lot of money has exchanged hands and there's a likely chance the buyer won't see it again or a doll has been sent in a trade and there's no sign of the other doll ever arriving, there will be a lot of emotions involved. The more 'Jerry Springer' ones are an entertaining read, but when both buyer and seller are hurling abuse it warns me off ever dealing with either of them.

 

Oh, really?*Sigh* Our Brownies do seem to have been in the postal system in SPain for four days already without a sign of them being shipped... Myabe it's like Australia, where you pay for priority airmail but that only gets them airmailed from Sydney or Darwin... they still travel the rest of the damn country by truck.

I can say from experience that Australia will not ship registered airmail to either the Uk or Argentina. And when I tried EMS, they wouldn't insure parcels from Australia to Argentina, either.

My real problem is paypal time limitations - it puts you in a terrible position when you're being convinced to wait, and wait, and your claims time is running out... And all this advice about "working together to resolve the problem" sounds lovely, but what do you do if the other side just refuses to reasonably negotiate while the paypal clock is ticking? I'm very wary of the Marketplace - there's just too many trainwrecks on the "Problem Transactions" subforum, sometimes with participants who had preciously good records.

How to deal with articles lost in the mail?
The goods should have been marked with the correct price and insured. Then the seller has a responsibility to reclaim and refund the money. If the buyer asked for the box to be marked down in order to defraud customs, though, then it's her tough luck - she should take it on the chin, only get the amount insured for, and consider it a life lesson.

 

What steps should take, before alerting the community, to make sure it was just a misunderstanding?

Contact the seller, of course. Once I bought a Volks head that was three years older than the seller mentioned (oldskin instead of pureskin) and didn't have its golden head plate which lack of the seller didn't mention at all. I was pretty confused because the seller had three pages of only positive feedback. I contacted the seller right away-- she refunded me in full and paid for shipping back to her. While it wasn't a good transaction, it could be way worse and more stressful if I hadn't contacted her and tried to solve it in private first. I still left feedback for this transaction, of course-- it couldn't be positive but, since she refunded me fast, it wasn't negative either.

How to deal with articles lost in the mail?

Really depends. Was it a wig or a doll? Was the item insured? Did the buyer ask for lower value? Once I hadn't recieved the wig I paid for; I didn't ask for EMS shipping and while I think that the seller didn't inform me about all shipping options the way she should [she said that the only trackable method is EMS which would be more expensive than the wig itself (20$) and offered to ship some very cheap option instead (5$); now I know that there is a more secure option for about 12-15$] , I didn't ask for a refund... I've not left any feedback for the seller-- no idea what to write ^^;

At the moment I am in a situation where my GO's member's stuff has gotten lost in the mail. I filled a claim as soon as I could and try to be helpful but I am not sure if the person will leave me positive feedback-- the situation must be very frustrating for her. Not that I think that negative feedback would be fair in this case.

How to deal with articles that are not as described?

If I don't want the stuff with the flaws that weren't mentioned earlier I would ask for full refund + money for shipping the stuff back to the seller. If the flaw doesn't bother me as much and I want to keep the item, I would ask for a partial refund.

When should a "Buyer Beware" thread be made?

When a seller isn't willing to help solving the problem; when you're unhappy with the transaction and nothing is being done to fix that. I once made a thread that could be entitled "Seller Beware" for a person who dropped out of my Soom MD split the last minute. Could be a little harsh but I have zero tolerance for flakey buyers and bad sellers.

How do you feel about the tone of "Buyer Beware" threads?

If the thread is left for a reason then I am grateful to the author for the warning The situation can be very stressful for the author, even more because of the warning she decided to post. Once I was left a revenge feedback; thankfully a moderator has deleted it.