Susan Erickson wrote:
On 15 Aug 2005 18:45:48 -0700, "L_B_F"
wrote:


So, pray tell, what makes it a bad idea? Do you have any well thought
reasons or are you just slamming? Do you read resturant reviews?
Movie reviews? Those are OK, but not this?

lbf

Anonymity. Lack of reciprocity, reliability.
Definitions (what constitutes a 'bad' plant? What's
blooming size? What about the person who complains
about the plant, advertised as a 5" seedling, that
"it will take years to bloom, because it's 36" tall at
maturity", when the plant received (cost $5) was
actually LARGER than advertised, at 6"??? Yet all you
see is the complaint about the plant being 'too small
and years from blooming'[actual case history]?????
We've had all this before, my reasons are the same as
last time.

I dealt with vendors panned on OGRES who were great,
and unfortunately with some wildly praised who were
absolutely, frighteningly horrible.

Better to ask friends or groups if you have questions
about a vendor.

I work in a service industry, and 90% of our
complaints are unfounded, exaggerated, or outright
lies. My opinion of people has dropped sharply since
this and I think many, if not most, are scammers,
people who feel they are always entitled to 'more' no
matter what they get.

OGRES or anything like it is just an invitation to
scammers, perpetual whiners, and people who are just
unrealistic.

Back to 'what's blooming size'. Well, phals usually
bloom for me at about a 4" leafspan. Is that blooming
size?? I recently traded a plant which had bloomed
twice (cattleya, 9 growths), two years in a row; the
recipient complained that it was 'not yet even
blooming size' despite the presence of two previous
trimmed dried flower spikes!!!

It's an invitation to abuse and extortion. Bad idea
all around.

Don't pooh-pooh by opining 'oh, well, that will be a
rare exception'. Don't fool yourselves. It will be the
norm.






We did not use the site often. We had our faithful vendors and
did not venture into the unknown. But I thought it was useful
and generally truthful.

Opinion is opinion, and must always be taken with a look to the
speaker as well as to the subject. Do I generally agree with
what is being said by this person? Are they normally all hot
air? A grain of salt is always a good assist.

In some ways E-bay has it right. The buyer as well as the seller
collects feedback and the buyer is required to score or comment
on the seller.
SuE
http://orchids.legolas.org/gallery/albums.php