Gollnick
Musical Director
- Joined
- Mar 22, 1999
- Messages
- 29,258
Many of us buy and sell knives on-line. Some of us deal with each other via the for sale forums or via e-mail. Others use the various auction houses. And others buy from the many knife dealers who have web sites. There's always a fear of getting ripped off.
Some time ago, I agreed to buy a knife on-line. I sent the seller a cashier's check for almost $300. After a few days, I had not received the customary, "I got your check" e-mail. So, I e-mailed asking if it had come. That message bounced -- account closed. I though, "Well Chuck, it's finally happened. You've been had. Kiss that $300 good by." But, a few days later, the knife arrived in the mail with a note explaining that the seller had temporarily lost his network connection.
My story ended well. Not all do. So, how can you protect yourself? Is there any way to "check out" someone before you send them a big chunk of money or your credit card number?
The answer is yes, and one significant part of it is right here on bladeforums.com. It's the "Good, bad and ugly" forum. Hopefully, we'll get the the search function back soon and then you can search for other people's experiences with a particular individual, maker, manufacturer, or retailer. Once it's working again, the search function here will, I'm sure, again be easy, quick, and free.
Another good source is the rec.knives Usenet group. Our friends at Deja News, http://www.dejanews.com, archive everything that goes on there (which is a scarry thought sometimes). You can easily, quickly, and at no cost, search their data base for posts not just in rec.knives, but all over Usenet, about the individual, maker, manufacturer, or retailer that you're considering a deal with.
Next, you might try a web search with any of the popular search engines (I'm partial to http://www.infoseek.com, but I offer them only as one example and I'd prefer not to have a flame war about which is the best search engine, thank you.)
This whole new access to instant information about a person's business reputation was dubbed "instant karma" in a recent, and somewhat related, rec.knives thread. Being Lutheran, I don't believe in "karma", but "instant karma" is another matter. To paraphrase, "Thou shalt not steal thy neighbor's knife nor any portion of his knife budget." If you rip someone off, it can and should be all over the Internet in a matter of minutes. In this massively interconnected, 24-hour access, instant transmission world we're entering, a business or businessman has to keep clean or the whole world will quickly know.
So, before you hand over your money or your credit card, take a few minutes and do a bit of on-line searching. But, because you've received a benifit for this, you owe a debt. If you get ripped off, or if you have a good experience, help your on-line friends out by posting it. I know that this is especially difficult when you've been ripped off. It's hard to stand up and say, "I was stupid and I lost a lot of money." I applaud anyone who does so, though. You're helping everyone else out and we all thank you.
We can all help each other out by getting our experiences archived here or in Deja News via rec.knives.
And if you're a business, remember: these day, Instant Karma happens.
Chuck
Some time ago, I agreed to buy a knife on-line. I sent the seller a cashier's check for almost $300. After a few days, I had not received the customary, "I got your check" e-mail. So, I e-mailed asking if it had come. That message bounced -- account closed. I though, "Well Chuck, it's finally happened. You've been had. Kiss that $300 good by." But, a few days later, the knife arrived in the mail with a note explaining that the seller had temporarily lost his network connection.
My story ended well. Not all do. So, how can you protect yourself? Is there any way to "check out" someone before you send them a big chunk of money or your credit card number?
The answer is yes, and one significant part of it is right here on bladeforums.com. It's the "Good, bad and ugly" forum. Hopefully, we'll get the the search function back soon and then you can search for other people's experiences with a particular individual, maker, manufacturer, or retailer. Once it's working again, the search function here will, I'm sure, again be easy, quick, and free.
Another good source is the rec.knives Usenet group. Our friends at Deja News, http://www.dejanews.com, archive everything that goes on there (which is a scarry thought sometimes). You can easily, quickly, and at no cost, search their data base for posts not just in rec.knives, but all over Usenet, about the individual, maker, manufacturer, or retailer that you're considering a deal with.
Next, you might try a web search with any of the popular search engines (I'm partial to http://www.infoseek.com, but I offer them only as one example and I'd prefer not to have a flame war about which is the best search engine, thank you.)
This whole new access to instant information about a person's business reputation was dubbed "instant karma" in a recent, and somewhat related, rec.knives thread. Being Lutheran, I don't believe in "karma", but "instant karma" is another matter. To paraphrase, "Thou shalt not steal thy neighbor's knife nor any portion of his knife budget." If you rip someone off, it can and should be all over the Internet in a matter of minutes. In this massively interconnected, 24-hour access, instant transmission world we're entering, a business or businessman has to keep clean or the whole world will quickly know.
So, before you hand over your money or your credit card, take a few minutes and do a bit of on-line searching. But, because you've received a benifit for this, you owe a debt. If you get ripped off, or if you have a good experience, help your on-line friends out by posting it. I know that this is especially difficult when you've been ripped off. It's hard to stand up and say, "I was stupid and I lost a lot of money." I applaud anyone who does so, though. You're helping everyone else out and we all thank you.
We can all help each other out by getting our experiences archived here or in Deja News via rec.knives.
And if you're a business, remember: these day, Instant Karma happens.
Chuck
