vb.org policy change

[Bryan Ex]

I have read all the various threads about hiring a developer along with the vb.org policies concerning such. I have to say I can understand the position of not getting involved in user disputes and appreciate the efforts made to help new users find a legitimate developer to do some custom work. All that being said I do not understand why vb.org continues to allow certain users with 10, 15, 20+ claims against them for being paid yet not providing service to continue to feed off the membership. It seems to me that due diligence would kick in after a certain number of complaints. Surely after 20 users have stated they have been ripped off there is an issue with one particular member. I do understand there would be no way of tracking this but should a member point it out there should be repercussions if a given tend of scamming is obvious. Generally speaking I think vb.org offers a tremendous service to the vBulletin community offering mods, styles, non-supported vBulletin support, general information, and even lining up contractors for custom work. It's unfortunate that a few scammer members take advantage of that and work the system knowing they won't be affected in any way. I respectfully ask that vb.org reconsider their membership policies with regards to scamming their own membership.

[TheLastSuperman]

It all boils down to who is telling the truth... we don't know. If we then take time to get involved with disputes then there's not much time to help out like we do normally.

I'm split on this, at the same time though you can do proper research, search the paid request area for feedback and see if they have a good reputation or not. I myself ask for a half deposit up front usually however sometimes due to some "scammers" I run into clients who will not pay until the jobs completed.

I say make your own terms, don't settle for less and find a developer that's right for you.

You could say something along the lines of:

• No Payment Up Front.
• Must see a working Demo.
• Job must be completed within X Days, if not I will cancel request.

^ That may or may not yield the replies you were expecting, you may then have to adjust your terms or simply stick to your guns.

In my opinion DON'T HIRE THEM IF:

• They have more than 2-3 bad feedback reviews in the paid request area.
• They have less than 3-5 recent examples of sites they've done work on.
• They cannot provide references.
• They want FULL payment up front. *Red Flag for anyone, trust is a two-way street imo!

It's not impossible to find a good coder/designer for your site but does take some effort... You cannot simply post in paid request and expect a shining example of moral and ethical greatness to handle each request, heck if that was the case common courtesy would never have went half way out the window and I'd be seeing more folks hold doors open for me instead of letting them close when I'm < 5 feet behind them!

Could we change the policy... sure but then it's like opening another can of worms entirely, we feel it's best for you to do your research on a person before hiring and when I say that I mean it, be THOROUGH! If you make it to where a con artist has to provide proof of good work and references well then they can't provide that if they never do any valid work right? Exactly .

This is just my opinion on this subject, other staffs opinions may differ.

[Bryan Ex]

Originally Posted by TheLastSuperman

It all boils down to who is telling the truth... we don't know.

That's the part I fully appreciate however if you have 20+ different members all claiming the same issue I would suggest there's a problem and vb.org is supporting it at that point. If you think 20+ complaints against a single member is a stretch let me know and I will post the links. One or two complaints I can see as being "disputable". It just doesn't seem to do vb.org any justice to turn a blind eye to the blatant scammers working your boards IMO.

- Bryan

[ozzy47]

I agree with you to a point, but let's look a it this way.

Lets say the member you are referring to has 25 complaints about them scamming someone. Now there is not much said in thread where that member may have delivered, It could total in the thousands.

Now if the staff were to get involved, and say stop this member from viewing the paid requests section, how would they know who is right and who is wrong. I am sure there is plenty of cases where the end user has scammed the developer.

Now lets say the person that was banned from the paid requests section, uses the money they get as their prime source of income, the staff member who banned them, as well as the company it's self is opening themselves to being possibly sued for slander, defamation of character or some such.

Would that happen? Doubtful. Could it happen? Yes.

Only way someone could accuse someone of scamming is to actually be involved with the whole process, sort of a middle man, or a liaison between the requester, and the coder, and that will never happen.

[Bryan Ex]

Originally Posted by ozzy47

I as well as the company it's self is opening themselves to being possibly sued for slander, defamation of character or some such.

Liability laws in the US are far beyond what we deal with in Canada. Now that you bring up the point of liability I think it prudent that I consult with a US attorney to find out exactly what the liability issues are. I would have expected vb.org to agree to "doing the right thing" but if it comes down to legal issues so be it. Pretty disappointed on this one to be honest. There was a day when what seemed right and what seemed wrong was apparent.

[ozzy47]

Yeah that day has since long passed, There was a day when you got into a fight with someone, you would duke it out, and then later maybe shook hands, and went and had a drink.

Now if you get into a fight, and beat someone, you have to worry about them suing you, or even worse retaliation.

[Bryan Ex]

Issue is... you are referring to a single fight. What I'm referring to is a repeated incidence being worked through vb.org. Pretty easy to establish a trend but vb.org has chosen to ignore that issue based on policy. Okay. Just saying my part that I disagree with it as prudent site management practices.

[TheLastSuperman]

Originally Posted by Bryan Ex

Issue is... you are referring to a single fight. What I'm referring to is a repeated incidence being worked through vb.org. Pretty easy to establish a trend but vb.org has chosen to ignore that issue based on policy. Okay. Just saying my part that I disagree with it as prudent site management practices.

However if someone doing the hiring did thorough enough research they would see more than 1 negative feedback in the paid request area regarding the coder in question.

I just don't see how some people will not go through the "trouble" of researching someone who will have full access to their site before hiring them yet when they are scammed they have more than enough time to take action - If they put that amount of effort and sheer tenacity into it beforehand then there would be far less threads of this nature. If you're simply visiting their profile, seeing a list of modifications they released and assuming that equals the type of person you're looking for to do work for you then you're not doing your job to protect your site and your hard earned money.

Don't let people cheat you. If you've been cheated then take action and if need be sue, trying to place the blame on others or an entire system that's been in place for more than eight years when hiring someone without doing a in-depth amount of research just does not cut it. Trust me I see where you're coming from, I agree with you to a degree but at the same time I as a devloper offering services has been cheated in the past too, what say you to that? Want to know what I say? Live and let live, Karma is a (insert cuss word here) and I'm onto bigger and better things .

Just another 2 cents, to date you now have .04 cents in your account .
^ Laugh AT ME not with me on that one, I'm silly and I blame it on my three kids!

[Bryan Ex]

What you have posted is correct however (I believe) there is a certain responsibility to a forum owner to remove scammers, spammers, and criminals from their membership list. I run a forum dealing with an agricultural commodity. If I had reports from 10+ members stating they were riped off I won't simply claim seller beware and brush my hands of the issue. If there was a legitimate issue of my forums being "worked" I would step in. vb.org's position is pretty straight forward and I understand that. I'm simply stating I'm pretty disappointed in the lack of credibility and responsibility. I would have thought better should things go far enough. I have seen members removed due to difference of opinion in the past or for bad mouthing Vb in general yet those that receive repeated complaints continue on. Pretty sure this is my last reply on this topic but wanted to state my piece.

[Max Taxable]

Originally Posted by Bryan Ex

Pretty easy to establish a trend

After you first said:

I do understand there would be no way of tracking this

They have no way of knowing if the complaints are legitimate, and if they do as you seem to be suggesting it would easily lead to abuse of complaints - one unhappy customer gets 20 of his friends to write bad reviews or complaints to get the developer kicked off.