Boards Deals scam

Tragedy

A boards deal appeared on the 13th of January for "€22 instead of €72 for Full Iridescent Crystal Shamballa Bracelet delivered".

An hour later, someone posted that this appeared to be a terrible deal and was instead the normal retail price for this product.

Boards Deals Niamh responds claiming that the products on other sites "may be cheaper, lower quality versions of these bracelets" which is
A)A terrible thing to claim about other businesses products
and
B)A terrible response to people pointing out that this wasn't a deal of any kind.

Dudara said I should take it to feedback, so I did some digging beforehand.

1)Ownu.co.uk is in breach of the Companies Act in the UK, as it does not appear to display Company Registration information on any of it's pages
2)The website was only registered a few months ago
3)Ownu.co.uk claims to be owned and ran by the same people who own and run seasonsonline.co.uk.

Look here: http://www.ownu.co.uk/full-iridescent-crystal-shamballa-bracelet.htm
Now, look here: http://www.seasonsonline.co.uk/bracelets-bangles/full-iridescent-crystal-shamballa-bracelet.html

Same company, same details, same image, sent from the same location by the same people but one is £14.99 and one is £60.00(but frequently appearing on deal websites for between 14.99 and 19.99).

Boards Deals:Niamh excuse is that the exact same product from the exact same company "may be cheaper, lower quality versions of these bracelets".

Ya right.

This isn't the first time I've noticed incredibly creative accounting on Boards Deals, but it's certainly the worst.
This is a scam, nothing more and Niamh's response to it was to cast aspersions on companies who don't scam customers and put her fingers in her ears.

What gives Boards? If i was a private individual doing this on adverts I'd be banned.

TouchingVirus

Tragedy wrote: »

This isn't the first time I've noticed incredibly creative accounting on Boards Deals, but it's certainly the worst.
This is a scam, nothing more and Niamh's response to it was to cast aspersions on companies who don't scam customers and put her fingers in her ears.

What gives Boards? If i was a private individual doing this on adverts I'd be banned.

And how is it a scam? Going to the Ownu.co.uk site and you've a list price there of £60 ex delivery. Boardsdeals is offering the same thing for €22. Deal = On. The fact you can go elsewhere to get a better offer is neither here nor there, you can walk into most high street shops and announce "You call this January Sales? Hah, I can get most of this stuff cheaper down the street" if you want, it's up to buyers to do their research.

That Ownu.co.uk have conveniently left out that they seem to run this SeasonsOnline site is not BoardsDeals' fault. Should BoardsDeals investigate all companies who wish to do business with them for what can maybe be termed "Sharp Practice"? Should they get tax compliance certificates or investigate their business ethics beforehand, or should they trust that their users aren't rehabs and can decide if something is a deal themselves.

There's a tragedy here all right, but it's that this is an issue at all. I also believe that if you posted something on Adverts with a crazy price and I hopped in and told you I'd get banned for threadspoiling.

Tragedy

TouchingVirus wrote: »

And how is it a scam? Going to the Ownu.co.uk site and you've a list price there of £60 ex delivery.

The website ownu.co.uk seems to have been setup purely to hike prices up to offer false 'deals'. Ownu.co.uk isn't an incorporated business in the UK and seems to be operating illegally.

Boardsdeals is offering the same thing for €22. Deal = On.

And claiming that the usual retail price is €70, and claiming other competitors identical products may be of lesser quality when questioned on it.

The fact you can go elsewhere to get a better offer is neither here nor there

It is when it's the exact same product sold by the exact same company. You even pay the exact same company for both (Sifay International Ltd).

you can walk into most high street shops and announce "You call this January Sales? Hah, I can get most of this stuff cheaper down the street" if you want, it's up to buyers to do their research.

Which is an analogy that has nothing to do with the current situtation. There's a reason companies have to have had an item priced at X amount for Y time before they can claim to have a sale on said item.

That Ownu.co.uk have conveniently left out that they seem to run this SeasonsOnline site is not BoardsDeals' fault.

Yes it is, you're paying Boards Deals and your contract is with Boards Deals. Elementary but you don't seem to understand it.

Should BoardsDeals investigate all companies who wish to do business with them for what can maybe be termed "Sharp Practice"?

Yes.

Should they get tax compliance certificates or investigate their business ethics beforehand, or should they trust that their users aren't rehabs and can decide if something is a deal themselves.

What does that have to do with anything? Another idiotic analogy.

There's a tragedy here all right, but it's that this is an issue at all. I also believe that if you posted something on Adverts with a crazy price and I hopped in and told you I'd get banned for threadspoiling.

My mistake, you wouldn't be banned.

Profiteering: Attempting to sell an item above the Recommended Retail Price (RRP)
Adverts.ie is a community marketplace and does not encourage profiteering. In cases where an item is suspected of being sold above the RRP, registered Adverts.ie users reserve the right to report the listing to Adverts.ie Support for review. The claim is then reviewed by Adverts.ie Moderators and:

If the reported RRP claim is found to be incorrect, the reporting user will be notified, and your listing will not be affected.
If the RRP claim is upheld, an adverts moderator will post a comment on your thread linking to the RRP.

Orion

Tragedy wrote: »

The website ownu.co.uk seems to have been setup purely to hike prices up to offer false 'deals'. Ownu.co.uk isn't an incorporated business in the UK and seems to be operating illegally.

You don't have to be incorporated to sell stuff.

TouchingVirus

Tragedy wrote: »

What does that have to do with anything? Another idiotic analogy.

Not quite pointless. When is enough research into a company enough for you then? How much time, money and resources should be spent on this to placate people like yourself who seem more than capable of researching deals and their value of their own volition?

Ownu.co.uk have been around for a few months, during that time I'm going to assume the bracelet remained on sale for £60; it has met the whole "has to be on sale" time limit already.

PC World, Dixons and Currys are owned by the same company. Sometimes deals/sales go on in Currys where even the reduced price is more expensive than PC World. What's the difference really? Would you have nothing to say if the two sites were different companies but were owned by a parent company? I'm still struggling to relate to your issue here, and I think you're more annoyed by the fact Niamh didn't listen to you than the actual point about the two companies.

P. Breathnach

TouchingVirus wrote: »

... The fact you can go elsewhere to get a better offer is neither here nor there...

OP has a point. The fact that you can go to the same place and get a better deal is significant. Both firms operate from the same address. It looks like sharp practice.

jor el

Sharp practice indeed, but it's not Boards Deals that's pulling the wool over, it's Seasonsonline that are doing this. Has the OP contacted Seasonsonline to ask them any of these questions?

As for the response about other sites may be selling inferior products, I think the OP is failing to see the word may in that sentence. Other sites may indeed be selling inferior products, there's nothing wrong with that claim.

Tom Dunne

Forgive me if I don't get upset over a product that is "..in keeping with celebrity fashion..." and contains "...10mm iridescent crystal disco balls..."

P. Breathnach

jor el wrote: »

Sharp practice indeed, but it's not Boards Deals that's pulling the wool over, it's Seasonsonline that are doing this. Has the OP contacted Seasonsonline to ask them any of these questions? ...

My read on it is that Boards Deals has been taken in by sharp practice. The best response, now that it seems apparent that this is so, is cancel the deal (if it is still current) and make no future deals with this outfit.

I really do not think it incumbent on OP to investigate the matter further. This is not Watchdog and we are not answerable to Anne Robinson.

IITYWYBMAD

P. Breathnach wrote: »

My read on it is that Boards Deals has been taken in by sharp practice. The best response, now that it seems apparent that this is so, is cancel the deal (if it is still current) and make no future deals with this outfit.

I really do not think it incumbent on OP to investigate the matter further. This is not Watchdog and we are not answerable to Anne Robinson.

Looks like it, but I think the OP is as concerned about the response from "Boards Deals" as he/she is about the so called 'scam'.

OWNU and Seasonsonline are definitely run by the same director, and actually run on the same server, so if it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck.....

Bottom line seems to be that this "deal" is far from a "deal", and this has been highlighted by the OP...

drkpower

Definitely not much of a deal; mind you, any price for iridescent crystal disco balls is unlikely to be much of a deal for anyone...

But what's worse? BoardsDeals not doing much home work, or the OP throwing out allegations of illegality?

Tragedy

jor el wrote: »

Sharp practice indeed, but it's not Boards Deals that's pulling the wool over, it's Seasonsonline that are doing this. Has the OP contacted Seasonsonline to ask them any of these questions?

Seasonsonline/ownu are not selling boards deals customers a product, Boards Deals is.

As for the response about other sites may be selling inferior products, I think the OP is failing to see the word may in that sentence. Other sites may indeed be selling inferior products, there's nothing wrong with that claim.

I don't think people should listen to you, you may be a paedophile(*).
Using may as a weasel word isn't good enough. Clearly, none of the businesses selling disco balls give a **** what Boards Deals Niamh says, but using 'may' to cast aspersions on individuals and companies is both morally repugnant and shown to be legally unacceptable. Completely not on from the representative of a company in either case.

drkpower wrote: »

But what's worse? BoardsDeals not doing much home work, or the OP throwing out allegations of illegality?

Sorry, I should have said "in apparent breach of several Distance Selling Regulations and parts of the Companies Act".
To be honest, I'm less interested in ownu.co.uk and whatever shenanigans they get up to than with
a)Boards Deals apparent lack of care for who they do business with and what 'deals' they sell
and
b)Their representatives response to someone raising this issue(and no, not me).

*Obviously exaggerating

MugMugs

Tragedy wrote: »

I don't think people should listen to you, you may be a paedophile(*).

*Obviously exaggerating

What ?

Tragedy

MugMugs wrote: »

What ?

He claimed that inserting 'may' into an otherwise insulting/damaging/libellous statement based on zero evidence makes it acceptable, because you're only claiming it may be true. I was just taking the piss to show that I believe his opinion is nonsense

Mr.Biscuits

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6iAecAtJVdE

looksee

I agree with the OP.

What the item is is irrelevant. The fact that Boards Deals is using their relationship with Boardsies to foist a dodgy deal on them is what is of concern. Given the high standard of integrity demanded by Boards of their members - nothing wrong with that - it is a bit much to then try to take advantage of that sense of trust by offering a 'deal' that isn't special value.

The business with the two websites is a pretty obvious scam, the two sites knew what they were doing when they offered the deal to Boards. Boards should have had basic provisions in place to make sure they were not going to be used as an extension of the undercutting scam.

seamus

IITYWYBMAD wrote: »

Looks like it, but I think the OP is as concerned about the response from "Boards Deals" as he/she is about the so called 'scam'.

...

Bottom line seems to be that this "deal" is far from a "deal", and this has been highlighted by the OP...

From what I can tell, someone looked at this deal and said, "You can get the same thing at another site for the deal price, this isn't a deal.".
To which Niamh responded (effectively), "Items sold on another site at a cheaper price may be cheaper versions of this product, they're not the same product on offer here".

That's a reasonable response IMO given the information that she had. As far as BoardsDeals know, they are offering a voucher for a product sold on one site. Other products sold on unrelated sites are irrelevant.

Tragedy did some digging and uncovered the company's unethical method of sales. But rather than alert BoardsDeals to this sharp practice, he has decided that BoardsDeals are running some kind of scam.

Is there a reason why you didn't contact BoardsDeals to alert them to the fact that the same company runs both websites?

IITYWYBMAD

seamus wrote: »

From what I can tell, someone looked at this deal and said, "You can get the same thing at another site for the deal price, this isn't a deal.".
To which Niamh responded (effectively), "Items sold on another site at a cheaper price may be cheaper versions of this product, they're not the same product on offer here".

That's a reasonable response IMO given the information that she had. As far as BoardsDeals know, they are offering a voucher for a product sold on one site. Other products sold on unrelated sites are irrelevant.

Tragedy did some digging and uncovered the company's unethical method of sales. But rather than alert BoardsDeals to this sharp practice, he has decided that BoardsDeals are running some kind of scam.

I've no real idea about the chronological order of events, nor the exact response from Niamh, as I can only respond to what has been posted in the OP.

To me it's quite clear that the other site are involved in sharp practice, there is no 'deal', and boardsdeals have become an "unwitting" victim in this.

Do boards have a responsibility to ensure that a "deal" is a "deal"? Should somebody representing boardsdeals have suspended the "deal" contact the company and ask for a clarification? Probably. Instead Niamh suggested that the other bracelets could be of inferior quality, that's also possible I guess.

seamus wrote: »

Is there a reason why you didn't contact BoardsDeals to alert them to the fact that the same company runs both websites?

Is that aimed at me???

seamus

IITYWYBMAD wrote: »

Do boards have a responsibility to ensure that a "deal" is a "deal"? Should somebody representing boardsdeals have suspended the "deal" contact the company and ask for a clarification? Probably.

No, there was no reason for the deal to be suspended and investigated. Here's the thread:
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056515106

If I looked at that without any other information, it would appear that people are saying, "Look, you can get these cheaper elsewhere". As Niamh rightly points out, the deal was for that particular site, and most reasonable people would conclude that the other sites were probably selling cheaper versions of this same "celebrity" item; how else would they justify the cheap cost?
When most people see a higher priced item, they assume it's of better quality, they don't assume it's a ripoff. It's a cognitive biase and it's how the sharp practice works.

Is that aimed at me???

No, at the OP.

IITYWYBMAD

Boardsdeals accepted the business from this company and (I'm assuming) took them at face value that this bracelet offer was a deal. On the face of it a 70% discount on any item looks like a deal. From what I can gather, the OP suggested to a representative of Boards Deals that not only was this not a deal, but that the same company had a sister website selling (what appears to be) the same product at a substantial discount.

You claim that there was no need for the 'deal to be suspended and investigated' that it looked like a deal, but only because of the ignorance of others, I'd disagree.

I do think that boardsdeals have a responsibility whereby if they offer a deal, it's a deal. I wouldn't think that that's too much to ask.

If it happened in my business, and it was brought to my attention that this could be some manner of sharp practice, I would not assume, nor would I allow my customers to assume, that x was of inferior or superior quality.

Here's what I'd do. I'd contact the third party, ask them the relevant question, and then act on that information.

seamus

IITYWYBMAD wrote: »

From what I can gather, the OP suggested to a representative of Boards Deals that not only was this not a deal, but that the same company had a sister website selling (what appears to be) the same product at a substantial discount.

He didn't. Look at the thread. Nobody at any stage pointed out to Boards Deals that the websites were related or had anything to do with eachother. If they did, perhaps something could have been done about it.

That's the point.

The OP himself even initially thought that the websites were unrelated (citing defamation) until he investigated them.

rich.d.berry

Tragedy wrote: »

... This isn't the first time I've noticed incredibly creative accounting on Boards Deals, but it's certainly the worst.
This is a scam, nothing more and Niamh's response to it was to cast aspersions on companies who don't scam customers and put her fingers in her ears.

What gives Boards? If i was a private individual doing this on adverts I'd be banned.

My first reaction to your post was gratitude. You have obviously done your research and have been concise and clear in presenting the facts you've uncovered. Thank you!

I am astounded at the resistance your post has been met with.

I hope that if you spot something like this again in the future that you will not be put off posting a warning because of the bad reaction you received.

Thank you Tragedy for taking your time to provide a public service.

seamus

rich.d.berry wrote: »

I am astounded at the resistance your post has been met with.

I don't think he's being met with resistance. Rather he's getting criticism for coming in all guns blazing, making accusations of scamming and misinformation on the part of BoardsDeals, rather than applying the two concepts of Hanlon's and Occam's Razors.

That is, the simplest explanation is usually the correct one.

The simplest explanation is that BoardsDeals were unaware that this was a scam, and remained unaware because nobody brought it to their attention.

Now that Tragedy has done good work in highlighting it, no doubt they have been investigating the deal offered by the company and are working on a way to deal with it.

I would expect to see a response from BoardsDeals on this today.

Beruthiel

Tragedy wrote: »

Dudara said I should take it to feedback, so I did some digging beforehand.

How come you cannot discuss it in the Boards Deals forum?

It can be discussed in here no problem, but none of us really have any say or really know much about the running of Boardsdeals.ie.
Personally, I consider it a totally different website to Boards.ie itself.
A sister site if you like.

IITYWYBMAD

seamus wrote: »

He didn't. Look at the thread. Nobody at any stage pointed out to Boards Deals that the websites were related or had anything to do with eachother. If they did, perhaps something could have been done about it.

That's the point.

The OP himself even initially thought that the websites were unrelated (citing defamation) until he investigated them.

From post number 2 on the deals page you linked to:

deadmeat wrote: »

Is this bracelet https://www.boardsdeals.ie/deal/22-instead-of-72-for-Full-Iridescent-Crystal-Shamballa-Bracelet-delivered/683/ not exactly the same as these ones, they even use the exact same image

http://www.seasonsonline.co.uk/bracelets-bangles/full-iridescent-crystal-shamballa-bracelet.html
http://www.nicksbargainjewellery.co.uk/iridescent-shamballa-bracelet-248-p.asp

They claim that this was £60 on their own website http://www.ownu.co.uk/full-iridescent-crystal-shamballa-bracelet.htm

Post #4 asks if this is a scam?

I don't know what went on privately or via PM between Niamh, dudara and the op, but I don't really see the issue here to be honest.

Boardsdeal offered a deal, that is not a deal. Their users/customers have been duped by this 3rd party (on the face of things). I believe that the claims made by the OP, poster number 2 and poster number 4 should have been instigated with the party offering the item, and in doing that, all ambiguity is avoided.

I'm not suggesting that this should be the formula for every deal, but when it's pointed out that this is a "rip off" and 486 of your users/customers have been 'had', I do think that boards has a responsibility to act. Do you not?

IITYWYBMAD

.

seamus wrote: »

The simplest explanation is that BoardsDeals were unaware that this was a scam, and remained unaware because nobody brought it to their attention..

deadmeat wrote: »

Is this bracelet https://www.boardsdeals.ie/deal/22-instead-of-72-for-Full-Iridescent-Crystal-Shamballa-Bracelet-delivered/683/ not exactly the same as these ones, they even use the exact same image

http://www.seasonsonline.co.uk/bracelets-bangles/full-iridescent-crystal-shamballa-bracelet.html
http://www.nicksbargainjewellery.co.uk/iridescent-shamballa-bracelet-248-p.asp

They claim that this was £60 on their own website http://www.ownu.co.uk/full-iridescent-crystal-shamballa-bracelet.htm

This ranges between £12.45 and £16.49 on all the other sites I have seen

Doesn't look like a deal to me more like the price it should have been in the first place

seamus

IITYWYBMAD wrote: »

From post number 2 on the deals page you linked to:
Post #4 asks if this is a scam?

Yes, but both provide links to other websites. Exactly the same as saying, "You can get this cheaper elsewhere". Fine. That's not a scam. If I was looking at that thread, I would see nothing prompting me to investigate. I would assume that the other sites were selling cheap knock-offs.

but when it's pointed out that this is a "rip off" and 486 of your users/customers have been 'had', I do think that boards has a responsibility to act. Do you not?

Absolutely. And since they were alerted to this rip off less than 24 hours ago via this thread, then I would give them a bit of time to respond.

IITYWYBMAD

seamus wrote: »

Yes, but both provide links to other websites. Exactly the same as saying, "You can get this cheaper elsewhere". Fine. That's not a scam. If I was looking at that thread, I would see nothing prompting me to investigate. I would assume that the other sites were selling cheap knock-offs.

The question is quite clearly asked. Is this the same bracelet? Now, I don't expect Niamh to know the answer to that question, but somebody who might would be the 3rd party offering the product. It would hardly take 5 minutes to blast off an email or make a call and ask the question. That way, boards customers can be assured that this is/is not the same good.

I believe that instead of speculating on the quality of 'similar' bracelets, it was incumbent on boardsdeals to act in the best interest of their customers, and I don't think they did. Even when it was pointed out that both sites used the same picture????

Absolutely. And since they were alerted to this rip off less than 24 hours ago via this thread, then I would give them a bit of time to respond.

they were actually asked the question 1 hour after the deal was posted.

seamus

IITYWYBMAD wrote: »

The question is quite clearly asked.
...
they were actually asked the question 1 hour after the deal was posted.

I disagree. If I add anything more, we'll just be going around in circles, so we'll have to agree to disagree.

tbh

Beruthiel wrote: »

How come you cannot discuss it in the Boards Deals forum?

It can be discussed in here no problem, but none of us really have any say or really know much about the running of Boardsdeals.ie.
Personally, I consider it a totally different website to Boards.ie itself.
A sister site if you like.

It's a different site to boards fair enough, but it's using the boards population as a carrot in its business.

On the boardsdeal website it says

"Boards.ie is Ireland's biggest discussion forum. With 2.2 million visitors per month we rival national primetime television in terms of audience.
Now, Boards.ie brings you BoardsDeals - amazing and exclusive deals from all around Ireland!"

Obviously I don't know, but I assume that when boardsdeals is looking for people to do business with, they don't forget to point out that boards has tonnes of users, is a trusted brand, etc etc. Which is grand, I doubt anyone has a problem with the people behind boards making a bit of money off all the goodwill they've built up.

Problem is, that goodwill will disappear rapid if boardsdeals are going to customers saying "we have all these people, you can flog 'em any aul shite" instead of saying "we want to ensure that the people who use our service are getting a good deal and if we can't ensure that, we're not interested".

If the perception grows that it's the former rather than the latter, it damages boards as a whole. If boards.ie want to break the connect with boardsdeals - which they won't, because boards.ie is the USP here - then rename it irishdeals.ie, let them build up their customer base like any other deals site, and remove all refs to boards from the boardsdeals site.

But I'm surprised anyone has to even ask "should boardsdeals be checking up on companies.." etc- of course they should - boardsdeals' first priority should be the people buying the deals, not the people selling them.

K-9

Damn bloody excellent post there tbh!

IITYWYBMAD

tbh wrote: »

It's a different site to boards fair enough, but it's using the boards population as a carrot in its business.

On the boardsdeal website it says

"Boards.ie is Ireland's biggest discussion forum. With 2.2 million visitors per month we rival national primetime television in terms of audience.
Now, Boards.ie brings you BoardsDeals - amazing and exclusive deals from all around Ireland!"

Obviously I don't know, but I assume that when boardsdeals is looking for people to do business with, they don't forget to point out that boards has tonnes of users, is a trusted brand, etc etc. Which is grand, I doubt anyone has a problem with the people behind boards making a bit of money off all the goodwill they've built up.

Problem is, that goodwill will disappear rapid if boardsdeals are going to customers saying "we have all these people, you can flog 'em any aul shite" instead of saying "we want to ensure that the people who use our service are getting a good deal and if we can't ensure that, we're not interested".

If the perception grows that it's the former rather than the latter, it damages boards as a whole. If boards.ie want to break the connect with boardsdeals - which they won't, because boards.ie is the USP here - then rename it irishdeals.ie, let them build up their customer base like any other deals site, and remove all refs to boards from the boardsdeals site.

But I'm surprised anyone has to even ask "should boardsdeals be checking up on companies.." etc- of course they should - boardsdeals' first priority should be the people buying the deals, not the people selling them.

Perfectly sums up everything that should have been done and why. I'm surprised the question was even asked in the first place.

_blank_

tbh wrote: »

It's a different site to boards fair enough, but it's using the boards population as a carrot in its business.

On the boardsdeal website it says

"Boards.ie is Ireland's biggest discussion forum. With 2.2 million visitors per month we rival national primetime television in terms of audience.
Now, Boards.ie brings you BoardsDeals - amazing and exclusive deals from all around Ireland!"

Obviously I don't know, but I assume that when boardsdeals is looking for people to do business with, they don't forget to point out that boards has tonnes of users, is a trusted brand, etc etc. Which is grand, I doubt anyone has a problem with the people behind boards making a bit of money off all the goodwill they've built up.

Problem is, that goodwill will disappear rapid if boardsdeals are going to customers saying "we have all these people, you can flog 'em any aul shite" instead of saying "we want to ensure that the people who use our service are getting a good deal and if we can't ensure that, we're not interested".

If the perception grows that it's the former rather than the latter, it damages boards as a whole. If boards.ie want to break the connect with boardsdeals - which they won't, because boards.ie is the USP here - then rename it irishdeals.ie, let them build up their customer base like any other deals site, and remove all refs to boards from the boardsdeals site.

But I'm surprised anyone has to even ask "should boardsdeals be checking up on companies.." etc- of course they should - boardsdeals' first priority should be the people buying the deals, not the people selling them.

You are, as usual, 100% correct.

It's not the first time something similar has happened, and we were told by an admin the last time that Boardsdeals is nothing to do with Boards, that simply is not true.

Boardsdeals uses Boards to get business, people like you and me who've spent a significant portion of our lives contributing to the Boards Community, not only with posts on the website, but with "extracurricular" stuff that gets the Boards.ie name more and more known, and drives people to the site.

The name of the site is being tainted by dodgy deals like this, it's up to Boards/Boardsdeals to do the homework on business they are dealing with, and not rely on users to bring this kind of thing to their attention. When it IS brought to their attention by users, not to just brush it off.

I would ask the Admins to stop the false claim that Boardsdeals.ie is not inherently linked to Boards.ie

Change the name so.

nesf

tbh wrote: »

It's a different site to boards fair enough, but it's using the boards population as a carrot in its business.

On the boardsdeal website it says

"Boards.ie is Ireland's biggest discussion forum. With 2.2 million visitors per month we rival national primetime television in terms of audience.
Now, Boards.ie brings you BoardsDeals - amazing and exclusive deals from all around Ireland!"

Obviously I don't know, but I assume that when boardsdeals is looking for people to do business with, they don't forget to point out that boards has tonnes of users, is a trusted brand, etc etc. Which is grand, I doubt anyone has a problem with the people behind boards making a bit of money off all the goodwill they've built up.

Problem is, that goodwill will disappear rapid if boardsdeals are going to customers saying "we have all these people, you can flog 'em any aul shite" instead of saying "we want to ensure that the people who use our service are getting a good deal and if we can't ensure that, we're not interested".

If the perception grows that it's the former rather than the latter, it damages boards as a whole. If boards.ie want to break the connect with boardsdeals - which they won't, because boards.ie is the USP here - then rename it irishdeals.ie, let them build up their customer base like any other deals site, and remove all refs to boards from the boardsdeals site.

But I'm surprised anyone has to even ask "should boardsdeals be checking up on companies.." etc- of course they should - boardsdeals' first priority should be the people buying the deals, not the people selling them.

Boards Deals need to get their act together as a team. You don't get to **** up like this very often without ruining a brand and what goodwill you get from association with a site like this. This is real sales 101 stuff.

Cardinal Richelieu

Shouldn't Boards Deals code of practice cover this sort of sharp practice anyway? Reading the sales pitch Boards is quite a substantial brand these days not just a hobby of a few hairy guys living in a bedsit while playing PC games. I know some people have an allergy to paperwork especially when they hadn't to do that level before but unfortunately if you are to protect and preserve a major brand like Boards or Boards Deals you have to have the documented procedures to back it up. So do Boards Deals do any sort of quality check into deals offered? Or will the answer be that they have no connection with Boards Deals?

Morag

The thread annoucing boards deals here in feedback in july 2010
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=66800651

The thread from a mere month ago here in feedback about boards deals and lessons that should have been learned
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056474265

_blank_

"Ionic balance band" and "Full Iridescent Crystal Shamballa Bracelet"


Yeah.

Why is Boardsdeals getting involved with selling that kind of absolute tat anyway?

Quick buck?

Is the name and brand of Boards.ie really that cheap?

Korvanica

So basically i can set up a Website, mark some Junk for €100 on the site, and get onto boardsdeals and sell it for €20 when its really worth only €10.

And it would be okay because its marked 100 on my site ?

I thought the boardsdeals staff were better than that and actually did a little research into the deals.

Stuff like this is damaging the Boards reputation...

And the fact that you seem to be just fobbing it off with bad excuses instead of trying to help your users is doing even more damage.

Oryx

I had hoped that the earlier issue with the ionic band was a once off. But unfortunately not. What this says to me is that boards do not check the validity of deals they offer and when challenged, they use a very weak and unsubstantiated defence of the product, instead of saying, hang on, let me check that out.

It taints the whole principle of the deals if you dont know if youre being sold a dud or not because the management of the site cant be bothered to check it out properly.

Ive said before that groupon et al are getting enormous stick over similar issues, but at least they dont garner their customer base from a position of trust which boards do.

token56

Everything said by tbh and Des some up exactly how I feel really. Boards.ie and its user base is clearly being used to attract companies. As such we as the users should at least feel our integrity is not being impacted by the type of companies boardsdeals works with. This is now the second example in a recent time frame where some users rightly feel the integrity of the site and its user base is not being maintained. If boardsdeals wants to continue using us as a marketing ploy for attracting companies they really do need to be more careful and respectful.

Otherwise if it doesn't want this hassle change its name and dont associate itself with boards. Problem with this is we are key to it attracting companies to advertise so I can't see this happening.

Tragedy

Hullo!

Why did I post a thread here? Because dudara instructed me to. It was either post here, or keep quiet.

I didn't accuse boards deals of knowingly scamming customers, I said this boards deal was a scam.

The reason I didn't PM or e-mail Boards Deals about the apparent scam is because of Niamhs disgraceful behaviour earlier on in the thread (and I've seen her act poorly in other threads where people questioned 'deals')

Several users reported that this might not actually be a deal, and what was the response? It was a deal, and the exact same product from competitors was of lesser quality. Why would I privately get in touch with an organisation that behaves like that rather than bring it to the attention of users?

The response should have been along the lines of "We take the quality of our deals extremely seriously. I'll look into this and get back to you later, for now I've put a hold on the deal until I can find out more".
Not "It is a deal because this one website offers it for almost four times the price of every other website. All the other websites are inferior products based on no facts or evidence".

Also, I'm through debating the 'may' bit fwiw.

If you want to see another recent example of Boards Deals not giving a **** about the quality of their deals or their customers, http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056517253
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056518782

_blank_

Tragedy wrote: »

If you want to see another recent example of Boards Deals not giving a **** about the quality of their deals or their customers, http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056517253
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056518782

Jesus.

That's nothing short of terrible.

Who is rubberstamping these "deals"?

Whoever it is needs to re-assess their standards.

How Boards.ie has become a base for such horrible companies is beyond me, integrity is being worn away here lads.

Cardinal Richelieu

Tragedy wrote: »

Hullo!

Why did I post a thread here? Because dudara instructed me to. It was either post here, or keep quiet.

I didn't accuse boards deals of knowingly scamming customers, I said this boards deal was a scam.

The reason I didn't PM or e-mail Boards Deals about the apparent scam is because of Niamhs disgraceful behaviour earlier on in the thread (and I've seen her act poorly in other threads where people questioned 'deals')

Several users reported that this might not actually be a deal, and what was the response? It was a deal, and the exact same product from competitors was of lesser quality. Why would I privately get in touch with an organisation that behaves like that rather than bring it to the attention of users?

The response should have been along the lines of "We take the quality of our deals extremely seriously. I'll look into this and get back to you later, for now I've put a hold on the deal until I can find out more".
Not "It is a deal because this one website offers it for almost four times the price of every other website. All the other websites are inferior products based on no facts or evidence".

Also, I'm through debating the 'may' bit fwiw.

If you want to see another recent example of Boards Deals not giving a **** about the quality of their deals or their customers, http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056517253
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056518782

The at the end of the Boards Deals Reps replies isn't exactly professional especially if your still waiting for your bean bag since ordering it in Oct 11. "Yes I know you had crap service and we are only dealing with it now but hey here is a "

darraghdoyle

Just so you know, BoardsDeals is a completely different team to the Boards.ie one. It's operated seperately, albeit under the same management. So, the people who work only on Boards.ie (Dav and Nicola) wouldn't know what the deals are on a daily basis because Boards Deals are the ones looking after it. They're probably only aware of deals when there's a problem like this one - I know that's the only time I ever was!

Yes, BoardsDeals is operating under the Boards.ie banner but that in turn is operating under Distilled Media so, I'd respectfully propose (bearing in mind they're ex employers of mine) that the responsibility lays with them and the processes to be put in place are theirs to do.

AFAIK (and bear in mind I haven't worked there for a few months) the way a deal works is this:

Company contacts sales team or is contacted by them.
Deal is signed to a contract submitted by Boards Deals
Deal is checked, passed and goes on site

I don't know if there is a check whether the deal is exclusive or "appropriate" by the Boards Deals team (Sales Manager, Sales people and Customer Service people) but I'd imagine there's something in the terms and conditions about it.

There's a number of deals going up, coming down, being agreed on and being redeemed every day. There's a huge number of customer service emails. There's (probably) ambitious sales targets to be reached. That's what business is.

If you said to me "Well look, here's what I want you to do - when a deal comes in and is proposed and all that, you must perform diligent tests and prove, beyond all shadow of a doubt, that there's no problems with it before it goes live", I'll say, "Grand, that's all very well in principle, but I'll charge you extra for that, because that's business". It is the compromise that you have to accept as a customer of anywhere.

You have to accept that Boards Deals are trying to get the best and most exclusive deal in the market for their customers (who aren't all Boards.ie members - back in my day it was less than half) in a crowded scene where they're competing with all the other sites. They have to keep costs low to maximise profits and provide an acceptable standard of service.

I'm not excusing poor customer service or experience but I honestly don't believe that happened here - if I did, I'd say it. I think you have to accept that things like this will happen but blaming Boards.ie for it is neither accurate nor constructive.

OP, having read this entire thread and the others, all I can suggest is that you have an understanding of how this happened and how they can prevent it happening again. It's not even a case of customer service here by the way, unless the customer service people are the ones who are agreeing the deals AND have the power to authorise taking them down which I sincerely doubt they do. All they can do is report it to Boards Deals management and wait for them to come back and say Yes or No.

The reason I didn't PM or e-mail Boards Deals about the apparent scam is because of Niamhs disgraceful behaviour earlier on in the thread (and I've seen her act poorly in other threads where people questioned 'deals')

Have you direct links to this? Have you reported these threads? That's a very serious allegation of poor customer service by an agent of a company. I hope you have back up because it's unfair if you don't. I'd hate to see that said about me.

Several users reported that this might not actually be a deal, and what was the response? It was a deal, and the exact same product from competitors was of lesser quality. Why would I privately get in touch with an organisation that behaves like that rather than bring it to the attention of users?

That wasn't my reading of your OP. My reading was "Several (but how many?) people had posted on the thread and Niamh had said that the product on the other website MAY be different to the one they're offering. She didn't say she knew it was, but, I'm afraid, Caveat Emptor applies here - YOU bought the deal that was on offer.

The response should have been along the lines of "We take the quality of our deals extremely seriously. I'll look into this and get back to you later, for now I've put a hold on the deal until I can find out more".

Probably the most constructive comment on this thread, but again, I doubt Customer Service reps have the authority to put a deal on hold.

OP, what's the best case scenario/solution for you here?

(PS the reason I'm posting is (a) to clarify the r/ship with Boards.ie for those who don't know, and (b) because I'm interested in seeing how this plays out. I think it will be a telling decision by those working on Boards Deals on how they handle it. Personal friendships with those working in Boards.ie or on Boards Deals are aside for this one).

Morag

It seems most of the deals which have run on the site over the last year and half, have been successful. It's just that we have 3 now in a short space of time which seem to be clangers and issues arising could maybe have been dealt with in a better manner.

And it's not like the users who have spotted the issues are forensic internet detectives,
the info seems easy to get at via google. Is it too much to expect that those sale people putting together the deals take the time to check out the companies who want to place a deal and if it is a deal?

Currently the boardsdeal forum is under the heading of bargain alerts and I really can't see how something which was been inflated in price on a site owned by the same company as to be sold at a 'knock down' price elsewhere is a bargain.

token56

darraghdoyle wrote: »

You have to accept that Boards Deals are trying to get the best and most exclusive deal in the market for their customers (who aren't all Boards.ie members - back in my day it was less than half) in a crowded scene where they're competing with all the other sites. They have to keep costs low to maximise profits and provide an acceptable standard of service.

I respect and accept that Boards Deals are trying their best with regards quality. But for me the crux of the matter is that while BoardsDeals and Boards are separate brands with their own customers BoadsDeals uses the Boards "customers", i.e. us the users, in selling the BoardsDeals "product" to companies but strictly speaking has no inherent obligations other than to its own customers (I imagine this is those you who use it and sign up to get emails), who I'd guess is probably a fraction of the actual boards users.

I understand this is possible as the are both under the Distilled Media Label and are well within their rights to us whatever statistics they went to sell any of their brands. But I suppose to the majority of users here the Boards brand is a community of users and a community that always felt we could somewhat influence what direction boards was going in and how Boards was run. But that is not necessarily the case with BoardsDeals as it is a separate brand and the community here in all honesty it feels like is merely a statistic for them to sell their brand.(see edit). Now I know DeVore, the admins, the rest of the Boards team and I'm sure the team at BoardsDeals genuinely really care about the community here and are not trying to harm the community. But if the community here is to feel respected and continued to be used as a selling point for another brand, more care needs to be taken regarding some of the deals taking place.

Edit: Just to say I know in the previous deal regarding the Bands, the boards community was listened to and that was great, so its not fair to say we are just a statistic and while the current boards team are in place I know the community will always be listened too as much as is possible.

nesf

darraghdoyle wrote: »

There's a number of deals going up, coming down, being agreed on and being redeemed every day. There's a huge number of customer service emails. There's (probably) ambitious sales targets to be reached. That's what business is.

And the issue here is quality control. All of the above is a separate issue to the choice of which deals that are accepted by the company. If this deal was a tricky one to spot as a "scam"* I'd have sympathy for the team but a cursory Google shows the product as grossly overpriced in its claimed RRP.

*I don't actually consider it a scam.

Tragedy

darraghdoyle wrote: »

AFAIK (and bear in mind I haven't worked there for a few months) the way a deal works is this:

Company contacts sales team or is contacted by them.
Deal is signed to a contract submitted by Boards Deals
Deal is checked, passed and goes on site

I don't know if there is a check whether the deal is exclusive or "appropriate" by the Boards Deals team (Sales Manager, Sales people and Customer Service people) but I'd imagine there's something in the terms and conditions about it.

There's no evidence of checking though. Boards Deals didn't seem to know or care who they were doing business with in the bracelet case (as a cursory check of the company behind it would have thrown up seasonsonline.co.uk and the exact same product for 25% of the price). The beanbag shows either a complete disregard and disrespect of the boards community, or again, zero checking of the deal.

And surely I'm not the only one to notice deals that fail to sell many vouchers being recycled and new 'deals' a month later?

There's a number of deals going up, coming down, being agreed on and being redeemed every day. There's a huge number of customer service emails. There's (probably) ambitious sales targets to be reached. That's what business is.

That doesn't excuse any of this. Boards Deals are responsible for what they sell, large numbers of e-mails and sales targets doesn't abrogate that responsibility.

If you said to me "Well look, here's what I want you to do - when a deal comes in and is proposed and all that, you must perform diligent tests and prove, beyond all shadow of a doubt, that there's no problems with it before it goes live", I'll say, "Grand, that's all very well in principle, but I'll charge you extra for that, because that's business". It is the compromise that you have to accept as a customer of anywhere.

No-one to the best of my knowledge has asked or proposed that, so my only supposition is that you're building an exaggerated position so it's easier for you to knock it down. Please don't, so far the posters on this thread have done so in good faith and it'd be nice for that to continue.

You have to accept that Boards Deals are trying to get the best and most exclusive deal in the market for their customers (who aren't all Boards.ie members - back in my day it was less than half) in a crowded scene where they're competing with all the other sites. They have to keep costs low to maximise profits and provide an acceptable standard of service.

One google search would have thrown up both the bean bags and the bracelet deal. You're talking less than 5 minutes between both deals.

I'm not excusing poor customer service or experience

You really, really are.

but I honestly don't believe that happened here - if I did, I'd say it. I think you have to accept that things like this will happen but blaming Boards.ie for it is neither accurate nor constructive.

No-one blamed boards.ie?

It's not even a case of customer service here by the way, unless the customer service people are the ones who are agreeing the deals AND have the power to authorise taking them down which I sincerely doubt they do.

How is it not customer service when a representative of Boards Deals response to it is to insinuate that competitors products are lesser quality? Instead of responding to peoples worries/complaints, she attempted to deflect attention away from it by making up claims based on no facts or evidence that the product in this deal was somehow superior to others.

All they can do is report it to Boards Deals management and wait for them to come back and say Yes or No.

Where does insinuating competitors products are inferior based on zero evidence or facts come into this?

Have you direct links to this? Have you reported these threads? That's a very serious allegation of poor customer service by an agent of a company. I hope you have back up because it's unfair if you don't. I'd hate to see that said about me.

Hysterical much?

That wasn't my reading of your OP. My reading was "Several (but how many?) people had posted on the thread and Niamh had said that the product on the other website MAY be different to the one they're offering. She didn't say she knew it was,

That doesn't wash. Adding 'may' to an otherwise unacceptable statement doesn't make it acceptable.

I'm not allowed to go posting that DarraghDoyle may be a liar. Or may be a boards deal shill. Or may have been in prison for fraud. I'm also not allowed say Boards Deals may be acting illegally. Or may be defrauding customers. You can not post damaging statements about individuals or businesses and then add 'may' as an afterthought to make it acceptable.

Also compare:
"There may be cheaper, lower quality versions of these bracelets for sale elsewhere."
with
"The product on the other website MAY be different to the one we're offering".

There's a huge difference between the two statements, with yours having spin attached to make it sound less damaging.


I find it interesting that you haven't posted in a month, and your post on this thread amounts to you trying to excuse all of boards deals and Niamhs behaviour while getting hysterically offended by my saying I had seen Niamh acting 'poorly' in other threads.

It's ok to claim competitors products are inferior.
It's ok to ignore customers pointing out that the deal seems to not be a deal.
It's ok to perform zero fact checking about a deal that Boards Deals is providing.
It's ok to provide a deal from a company that has seriously let down(and still letting down) many boards.ie members

But you get hysterically upset because I posted I had seen Niamh acting poorly in a few other threads(imho of course)?

Something fishy here.

darraghdoyle

Seriously? THAT'S what you come back with?

I'm the ex Communications Manager of this site. I worked here over two years. I was one of the people who helped Boards Deals launch on the site. I helped them get up and running and worked with Dav and Niamh on the forum and how it would work. I worked with most of the admins and moderators to help get processes in place for dealing with things. For you to claim that there's something "fishy" about me posting in a thread about Boards.ie, about processes, about customer service (a passion of mine) and about ex-colleagues and friends of mine is not only strange, but a little bit sad.

I now work on a different site - a start-up - and I don't often post on Boards.ie for two reasons - 1. I don't take the time to read it as much as I did when I worked there and 2. I don't often engage in conversations like these anyways because I'm sick and tired of them.

Taking your points

There's no evidence of checking though. Boards Deals didn't seem to know or care who they were doing business with in the bracelet case (as a cursory check of the company behind it would have thrown up seasonsonline.co.uk and the exact same product for 25% of the price). The beanbag shows either a complete disregard and disrespect of the boards community, or again, zero checking of the deal.

I completely accept that. There should be checking, but by who? The sales person who sells the deal? The person who puts up the deal? Who? Say, for example, it's the person who posts the deal. So they get the deal to go live and then google and find there's a problem, so must go back to the sales person who has sold the deal and got the signed contract and say it can't happen who then has to go back to the client and say it's not happening, after they tell their manager that they'll do so.

(I'm not making this up - it is what would happen)

So the company then has to respond. Say, for example, with the Beanbag case the company was told and their response was "Ah yes, but we promise that we'll have everything done this month. We've hired a hundred extra people to help us" - what does the sales person do? Say "Ah no, no deal until it's sorted?"

I agree the process is not helping in cases like these but I'm also interested in what the solution could be.

Boards Deals are responsible for what they sell, large numbers of e-mails and sales targets doesn't abrogate that responsibility.

Again, I agree

No-one to the best of my knowledge has asked or proposed that

But that's what you should ask for. I'm not exaggerating anything here - I've worked in the same office. I've seen deals go live from phonecall to redemption. I'm telling you what happens. As a customer it's what I would want to happen.

To bring this back a second, my belief is that if you had asked for a refund on your purchase after pointing out the problem, you should have gotten one.

You really, really are.

Big difference between excusing something (which I'm really really not) and explaining something (which I'm trying to do). Don't shoot the messenger.

How is it not customer service when a representative of Boards Deals response to it is to insinuate that competitors products are lesser quality? Instead of responding to peoples worries/complaints, she attempted to deflect attention away from it by making up claims based on no facts or evidence that the product in this deal was somehow superior to others.

Again, I'm not excusing it. There should have been a better response.

Hysterical much?

Not even a little bit. If you had dealt with as many solicitors letters and emails as I did (I helped write the current Terms of Use, for example), or seen as many reported posts as I did, or dealt with the same problems, you'd know what the legal system in this country is like. No better link I can offer you than this news story from today, albeit about a different case and sites http://irishexaminer.com/ireland/injunctions-against-facebook-google-180520.html

I'm regularly on the radio advising on cases like this and explaining how people need to be careful what they post. I keep very up to date with Irish legislation on it. So, am I being hysterical in suggesting that you should be careful about what you post about someone in case they lose their job or their reputation is damaged because of it - no. I'm telling you the truth.

I'm not allowed to go posting that DarraghDoyle may be a liar.

Why would you though? All of the above is easily checkable.

Or may be a boards deal shill.

Ha. I'm posting under my own name. Google me to see who I am or what I do. I'd be fairly well known by some people around these parts. I don't work for Boards Deals. I do know the people who worked there, because I worked there.

Or may have been in prison for fraud.

That was only that one time.

I'm also not allowed say Boards Deals may be acting illegally. Or may be defrauding customers. You can not post damaging statements about individuals or businesses and then add 'may' as an afterthought to make it acceptable.

You're not saying any of those though so that's fine.

I find it interesting that you haven't posted in a month, and your post on this thread amounts to you trying to excuse all of boards deals and Niamhs behaviour while getting hysterically offended by my saying I had seen Niamh acting 'poorly' in other threads.

See above for response. Hysterical? Ha. No.

It's ok to claim competitors products are inferior.
It's ok to ignore customers pointing out that the deal seems to not be a deal.
It's ok to perform zero fact checking about a deal that Boards Deals is providing.
It's ok to provide a deal from a company that has seriously let down(and still letting down) many boards.ie members

I agree with none of those things. But here's the thing - this is a constructive way of pointing them out and offers a way of solving the problem or resolving the issue - something some of the other posts (not by you) didn't do.

I did ask you in that post

OP, what's the best case scenario/solution for you here?

You didn't reply.

But you get hysterically upset because I posted I had seen Niamh acting poorly in a few other threads(imho of course)?

There you go with "hysterical" again. No.

Your original statement was

The reason I didn't PM or e-mail Boards Deals about the apparent scam is because of Niamhs disgraceful behaviour earlier on in the thread (and I've seen her act poorly in other threads where people questioned 'deals')

There was no "imho". You stated it as fact. I asked you for evidence to back it up. You didn't supply it.


You know, people often ask me if I miss working on this site. I just point them to threads like this as reply.

ToadVine

@darraghdoyle ... methinks thou doth protest too much ...

darraghdoyle

ToadVine wrote: »

@darraghdoyle ... methinks thou doth protest too much ...

No better defence than the truth.