2. analog
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Manners, Eticks & Audiogon --- What do you think???

MANNERS

I am not holding myself out as Mother Theresa, Ralph Nader or Emily Post.....but.
Have any of you folks responded to a for sale ad and never gotten a response? Like even a response of the sort that says: thanks for your interest but the item is sold? Or perhaps: I have changed my mind and my Widget 1.5 (Rev 2) is no longer for sale?

My experience may be atypical, but I find that at least 30% of the folks I have communicated with/attempted to communicate with through the Audiogon eMail forwarding system never respond. And some respond days later. (The majority of folks impress me as passionate hobbyists who are scrupulously honest and could not be more polite.) Do you think there is a problem with the A-gon eMail system and that the mail just doesn't get delivered? Or, merely with the manners of some of the advertisers?

ETHICS

Unfortunately, my impression is that a minority of people here also.....to state it as politely as possible.....take poetic license with the truth in constructing their ads.

Example #1: I responded to a recent (perhaps still current....have not checked) ad which concerned me. The seller/copy writer said that he was selling his component "because of court order." The context in which he made this claim gave the following meaning to the claim: this component works so well that it has caused so much havoc in my environment that people have gone to court and a judge has ordered me to sell my component. I was wondering just what jurisdiction was going to order someone to sell a hi-fi component. . . . as opposed to ordering the person to turn it down after, say, 10:00 PM.

I got an answer from the advertiser. Without directly admitting that he had fudged a bit he made it clear that there was no court order but that neighbors had griped.

What do you folks think? The claim would not be taken seriously by most people, I don't think....but is it okay to make stuff up like that in this collegial form---in a for sale ad? I think it is borderline. But, only because most of us have the good sense to discount or just plain ignore such a claim.

Example #2: This person was offering a component for sale. After an eMail which asked some specific questions this person responded that he had sold an even fancier unit to the owner of the item that was for sale. That he, the advertiser, had offered to sell his customer's former component for him. He did respond to some of the questions. Other questions he just plain did not respond to. Even after two or three follow-up eMails. Of minor concern was his failure to answer a question about the value of a resistor in the component. No "I don't know" or anything of the kind. A polite answer to the eMail but no answer to that question. Of much greater concern: I asked him, since this was not his component was his statement in his ad, to the effect that "sounds wonderful" based on his having hooked it up and listened to it? Did it have any hum or make any funny noises? Once again -- a polite eMail back but the question as to whether this person had any basis for rating the performance of a piece of gear whatsoever --- remained, and still remains, unanswered.

What do you folks think? Is it caveat emptor on Audiogon. Do sellers have a duty to be forthright and answer questions directly and responsively? Is it okay to just ignore a question that you don't want to answer because you don't want to flat out lie and don't want to loose a sale if you tell the truth? Even if the truth is relatively benign like say: I don't know, personally---I am taking the word of the owner?
cloudgif
john_l
782 posts
 
1st Email:
I'll take it.

2nd Email:
Please remove the case and tell me the model number's of all component capacitors ? Please include macro photo's of each capacitor and resistor. Minimum 4 megapixel. Please don't send Jpegs, tiff Only. Please include factory and date/time of origin (for each). If any discolorations, please explain in detail with notary signature. Also provide photo's of case before and after to verify that no scratches took place.

3rd Email:
Thank you for your kind responses. I offer ONE (1) dollar.

4th Email:
You have not answered my email. It's been TWENTY minutes.
Respond now or before I change my mind and goto best buy !

- internetaudiofreak@aol.com
asa
662 posts
 
"Is the hiend dieing?" There was that thread going for a while, pre-deletion days, that talked about whether behavior like this portended the decline of our hobby. Its just another symptom was my point, this escalating self-interest. I know, I know, nihlistic claptrap, so-called, but there you have it.

Anonymity is the hobgobblin of self-absorbed minds; without the deterrence of society seeing what they do, what they are runs across the audiogon countryside. Doing the "right" thing is an internal compass without external points of reference. These people are external in their orientation - as in, what can I get from what's outside of ME - and when they can operate in an environment where they think that "the others" aren't watching, they misbehave.

But here's the great part. You should actually be damn glad that they have so little restraint when they misbehave and show themselves because that's then just one more bad transaction you avoided.

As for ticking you off, yes, an irritant, but look at it this way: there's always one more coming over the hill and you could spend all your time ticked at each new suceeding inauthentic face if you wanted to. See them, know what they are, step to the left as they greedily run by, and move on...
mwilson
430 posts
 
I applaud Asa's comment about warning signs - I'm glad whenever some irritant makes themselves obvious from the get-go. Saves alot of headache down the road. I try to perform all my sales "first fair offer, first served", but I'll admit I treat courteous and rational people preferentially in cases where I have multiple offers on an item after posting. I especially give preference to those good people I've dealt with in the past, and those in good standing in the Audiogon community. A quick "no thanks" is all you usually need to be done with people you aren't exactly thrilled about dealing with. On Ebay, it can get alot more foolish, if you haven't had the displeasure of finding that out ; )

It's all worth it, without a doubt!
lugnut
1,190 posts
 
Asa has it right in that the problem is ANONYMITY. Regardless, this is the best website on the planet and most of the people here are just too good to believe.
bob_bundus
1,834 posts
 
Also be aware that some of us DO have lives outside this hobby & are not always glued to our computers. If you don't receive a prompt response to an inquiry then perhaps the party is out of town (business or vacation) or is simply not online for any number of reasons.
Example: I do all my corresponding from my office computer, & I do not even want a PC in my home, so on weekends I am deliberately away from the network. About 98% of email that I receive does eventually receive a response, but, just like Parrot, some are so obviously off the wall that a response is not even deserved. If I sent out some of the $#!| that occasionally comes my way then I'd never even expect an answerback.
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