Advertisement
If you have a new account but are having problems posting or verifying your account, please email us on hello@boards.ie for help. Thanks :)
Hello all! Please ensure that you are posting a new thread or question in the appropriate forum. The Feedback forum is overwhelmed with questions that are having to be moved elsewhere. If you need help to verify your account contact hello@boards.ie

Boards Deals scam

Options
123578

Comments

  • Options
    #122
    Cardinal Richelieu
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,407 ✭✭✭Cardinal Richelieu


    Whats the story with Niamh dumping deals in the DCN the last couple of days? If I want to check out a deal I go to the deal forum:( Is this the start of Boards Deals spamming forums?

    http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056544223

    http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056542066


  • Options
    #123
    Sully
    Moderators, Education Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators, Regional South East Moderators Posts: 24,056 Mod ✭✭✭✭Sully


    Cardinal Richelieu wrote: »
    Whats the story with Niamh dumping deals in the DCN the last couple of days? If I want to check out a deal I go to the deal forum:( Is this the start of Boards Deals spamming forums?

    http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056544223

    http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056542066

    Because its local to the forum and its only done (usually) with mods permission.


  • Options
    #124
    Cardinal Richelieu
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,407 ✭✭✭Cardinal Richelieu


    Sully wrote: »
    Because its local to the forum and its only done (usually) with mods permission.

    Should be banned, devalues the regional forums, we already have advertisement on the page do we need more? Since a regional category mod thanked your post whats their view on banning this practice?


  • Options
    #125
    Sully
    Moderators, Education Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators, Regional South East Moderators Posts: 24,056 Mod ✭✭✭✭Sully


    Cardinal Richelieu wrote: »
    Should be banned, devalues the regional forums, we already have advertisement on the page do we need more? Since a regional category mod thanked your post whats their view on banning this practice?

    Perhaps, but at the end of the day;

    1) It pays the bills. You don't have to pay to use Boards, but Boards cant run the service it provides for nothing. Hence, it needs cash.

    2) If the locals are unhappy with deals being posted there, they can inform the moderator and the moderator can request that it be stopped.

    The CMod thanked my post most likely because I gave the correct answer to your question. This practise was discussed amongst all mods before going live, and most of them were happy to let it on their forums once asked before hand.

    :)


  • Options
    #126
    RoundyMooney
    Closed Accounts Posts: 10,910 ✭✭✭✭RoundyMooney


    Nah, I think it's the thin end of the wedge tbh.

    And I'm not being melodramatic.

    One could argue that pop up ads would pay the bills, that sponsorship would pay the bills etc. But this is new. Commercial entities have not posted outside of their own fora before, and that was cast iron. And now they can?

    edit: Then again, it's not as if they'll be posting outside of the Dublin forums anyway ;)


  • Advertisement
  • Options
    #127
    Ken.
    Closed Accounts Posts: 12,898 ✭✭✭✭Ken.


    RoundyMooney wrote: »
    edit: Then again, it's not as if they'll be posting outside of the Dublin forums anyway ;)
    wrong


  • Options
    #128
    Daemos
    Closed Accounts Posts: 7,645 ✭✭✭Daemos


    And even the college forums haven't escaped the radar:

    http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=68862622


  • Options
    #129
    Oryx
    Subscribers Posts: 19,425 ✭✭✭✭Oryx


    This smacks of 'one rule for them, another for us'. I know its a sister company and all that but thats no excuse for allowing practices which no other company would be allowed to do. Individuals are allowed to promote things here under very limited circumstances, and if boardsdeals was subject to the same restrictions, this in all likelihood would not be happening. Mods put a lot of work into preventing spam and now the site itself is promoting a form of it? Welcome to the start of the corporate sell out.


  • Options
    #130
    Larianne
    Registered Users Posts: 35,954 ✭✭✭✭Larianne


    I noticed a deal being posted in the Meath forum for Hip Hop classes today. First thought was "Oh no, are Boardsdeals gonna be spamming all forums now?"

    Edit: I agree totally with the above post.


  • Options
    #131
    Mr Magnolia
    Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators Posts: 10,429 Mod ✭✭✭✭Mr Magnolia


    Cardinal Richelieu wrote: »
    Since a regional category mod thanked your post whats their view on banning this practice?

    As a moderator I look at it a couple of ways before I'd permit it. Firstly it must be broadly related to the forum topic. Secondly, and very importantly, it must be of benefit to the user-base. Thirdly, it mustn't appear spammy or there shouldn't be more than one or 2 on a given forum at a given time.

    We've allowed similar threads in F&D where I've felt the user-base would benefit from a specific offer which relates to the forum directly. We haven't allowed Verified Rep's post [advertisments] pertaining to their business openly, that's a different ball game.

    As a CMod, I don't have a problem with it if the forum moderators are happy to permit it and it's within the guidelines outlined above.


  • Advertisement
  • Options
    #132
    RoundyMooney
    Closed Accounts Posts: 10,910 ✭✭✭✭RoundyMooney


    lucyfur09 wrote: »
    wrong

    Thank you.

    I have checked since, and it seems that two postings in a Dublin forum have given rise to this (and these were the only two Dublin deals posted up, out of the vast majority which weren't), as opposed to practically all of the regional deals which were, seven in Cork City alone, for example.

    So this is obviously an attempt to highlight the non-Dublin deals. And has apparently been ongoing for some time.

    In any event, I don't like it.


  • Options
    #133
    RoundyMooney
    Closed Accounts Posts: 10,910 ✭✭✭✭RoundyMooney


    Mr Magnolia wrote: »
    As a moderator I look at it a couple of ways before I'd permit it. Firstly it must be broadly related to the forum topic. Secondly, and very importantly, it must be of benefit to the user-base. Thirdly, it mustn't appear spammy or there shouldn't be more than one or 2 on a given forum at a given time.

    We've allowed similar threads in F&D where I've felt the user-base would benefit from a specific offer which relates to the forum directly. We haven't allowed Verified Rep's post pertaining to their business openly, that's a different ball game.

    As a CMod, I don't have a problem with it if the forum moderators are happy to permit it and it's within the guidelines outlined above.

    No offence Mr. Mag, but if ESB decided to offer all Cork City customers a discount, could they post it there? Even as it stands, can partner company reps post in a business capacity outside of their fora?

    It seems one and two of your considerations are exclusive to boards deals, and the third is somewhat subjective. As in, can they have one or two on the front page? One or two in a week?

    I'm not putting you on the spot here, this is not your battle, but you seem okay with it.


  • Options
    #134
    RoundyMooney
    Closed Accounts Posts: 10,910 ✭✭✭✭RoundyMooney


    Oryx wrote: »
    This smacks of 'one rule for them, another for us'. I know its a sister company and all that but thats no excuse for allowing practices which no other company would be allowed to do.

    Adverts never did it. We allowed people like the Campervan people to post in a sticky thread there linking back to adverts.ie, but that was it. It was strictly controlled at all times. The forum mods were invaluable in terms of advice and constructive user restraint.


  • Options
    #135
    tbh
    Closed Accounts Posts: 15,914 ✭✭✭✭tbh


    Official reps are allowed post in forums with the mods permission. in your esb example, if they sought and got permission, then they would be allowed. the question is, did boardsdeals ask permission? If they did, then fair enough, even if i don't like it myself. if they didn't, then someone needs to have a word.


  • Options
    #136
    Sully
    Moderators, Education Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators, Regional South East Moderators Posts: 24,056 Mod ✭✭✭✭Sully


    Oryx wrote: »
    This smacks of 'one rule for them, another for us'. I know its a sister company and all that but thats no excuse for allowing practices which no other company would be allowed to do. Individuals are allowed to promote things here under very limited circumstances, and if boardsdeals was subject to the same restrictions, this in all likelihood would not be happening. Mods put a lot of work into preventing spam and now the site itself is promoting a form of it? Welcome to the start of the corporate sell out.

    Other companies (Reps) are allowed post, with the mods permission, IIRC.


  • Options
    #137
    tbh
    Closed Accounts Posts: 15,914 ✭✭✭✭tbh


    Guess whose ignore list I'm on? :)


  • Options
    #138
    RoundyMooney
    Closed Accounts Posts: 10,910 ✭✭✭✭RoundyMooney


    tbh wrote: »
    Official reps are allowed post in forums with the mods permission. in your esb example, if they sought and got permission, then they would be allowed. the question is, did boardsdeals ask permission? If they did, then fair enough, even if i don't like it myself. if they didn't, then someone needs to have a word.

    I'd imagine they probably did.

    But I don't recall anyone else getting such latitude.

    So, either other partner companies asked and were refused, or else didn't ask at all. Either way, the key point is, it hasn't happened before.

    And now it is.


  • Options
    #139
    _blank_
    Closed Accounts Posts: 41,926 ✭✭✭✭_blank_


    RoundyMooney wrote: »
    I'd imagine they probably did.

    But I don't recall anyone else getting such latitude.

    So, either other partner companies asked and were refused, or else didn't ask at all. Either way, the key point is, it hasn't happened before.

    And now it is.

    I've had input into OKing stuff in the past in the Dublin City forum, and in some of the Food & Drink forums which was not from BoardsDeals.

    And also non-OKing stuff, as it happens.

    Do you remember the dude with the review/recommendations website? I can't remember his name now.


  • Options
    #140
    RoundyMooney
    Closed Accounts Posts: 10,910 ✭✭✭✭RoundyMooney


    I can't Des, tbh. Sorry :)

    They were one offs though, I imagine?


  • Options
    #141
    _blank_
    Closed Accounts Posts: 41,926 ✭✭✭✭_blank_


    RoundyMooney wrote: »
    I can't Des, tbh. Sorry :)

    They were one offs though, I imagine?

    If by "one-off" you mean they didn't come back for a second go, then yes, you are correct. But at the time, it was expected that if the offer went well, they'd be back again.


  • Advertisement
  • Options
    #142
    RoundyMooney
    Closed Accounts Posts: 10,910 ✭✭✭✭RoundyMooney


    I get ya.

    Thanks for the info anyway.


  • Options
    #143
    Dav
    Closed Accounts Posts: 8,840 ✭✭✭Dav


    OK, so first things first, Niamh *did* ask the mods if she could post the deal. It's not the first time a deal's been posted into a regional forum and indeed it was the sort of thing that was suggested we should do (my members, not management) when Boards Deals started. We don't do it all the time, in fact, we don't even do it 1% of the time for any deals.

    Verified Reps *are* allowed to post outside their own forum to answer direct questions about their company - that's why we have rep accounts for businesses where a Talk To forum wouldn't be appropriate for them. So if Electric Ireland, taking the example above, were to have an offer for residents of Cork a special discount and it was being mentioned on the Cork forum, then one of their reps would be able to post. It is always run past the mods.

    The comparison to Adverts is not the same at all. Every member on this site still has an "Adverts" link under their name, so that can also be considered "one rule for them and one for the rest" and why? Even though Adverts is now owned and managed by an entirely different company to Boards, we're in the same group, so why on Earth wouldn't we have cross-promotion? Similarly you'll see a lot of forums have a sticky as Roundy mentioned where members can list specific items they have for sale to the people who're most likely to be interested. That doesn't work for every forum though and some have their own "For Sale" sections too.

    So with all that said, I would respectfully suggest that if people have issues with any rep posting in their forum, they talk it over with the mods. As Sully mentioned above, we spoke to the mods at length about these things and amde if very clear that they are under no obligation to allow reps into their forums nor under no obligation to allow regional reminders for any deals we have running.

    [edit]
    WhosView is what Des is referring to and, it didn't quite work out, so they didn't come back.


  • Options
    #144
    Frank Spencer
    Registered Users Posts: 1,168 ✭✭✭Frank Spencer


    It might be an idea to consolidate all deals into a single thread on any regional forums that they are relevant to rather than an individual thread for each deal. A "Boards Deals in Dublin 15" thread for example. Individual threads for each deal do appear to be a bit "spammy" in my opinion.


  • Options
    #145
    Tar.Aldarion
    Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Social & Fun Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 60,082 Mod ✭✭✭✭Tar.Aldarion


    Preface is that I think boardsdeals do a good job in general. A niggling thing is just these few sour deals, and the ignoring of users questions in threads, just answering general deal questions and not a lot of peoples concerns. When boards deals was incepted it was said that if a deal was elsewhere it would not be allowed on boards, I was wondering if that is the case or I remember incorrectly?

    Anyway, my small concern, as well as my girlfriends is that boardsdeals doesn't always check companies out well? Or am i getting the wrong idea?

    From personal experience opening hours have been completely wrong on a pizza deal, reallllly wrong. As well as delivery options. We were turned away. Also they never answered their phones, ever. Somebody complained about this, didnt get a reply. It was only one lad in a kitchen in a hostel it turned out to be.

    For another food deal hours were wrong again, resulting in us wasting a days trip, and transport, as they would not serve us. If the hours had been reported correctly we would not have got the deal as it would have been impossible for us to eat there.

    For a hair deal the company seemed to refuse to answer phones to make bookings, some people got through, and when we finally got through and made a booking they cancelled it when they heard it was a deal. We tried for weeks. We got a refund. We also saw that they had pulled this on another deal site too, before boards offered it. Yet it was still offered. They also did not answer any emails for either deal.

    Then there was the problem with infurn bean bags, and the recent food deal (did not get this one personally) where the menu was much different and people are waiting on answers for two months, with only one user getting a call recently. Two of these deals were offered before on other deal sites and were seen as dodgy, at a quick google we saw we shouldnt get the bean bag or have got the hair one due to that.

    I like having the forum and representatives and keep the good job up, I just think some deals need to be checked out better.


  • Options
    #146
    denballs
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 837 ✭✭✭denballs


    Tragedy wrote: »
    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.

    Every boardsdeal is crap.....IMO.....they always have been.


  • Options
    #147
    minidazzler
    Registered Users Posts: 14,739 ✭✭✭✭minidazzler


    denballs wrote: »
    Every boardsdeal is crap.....IMO.....they always have been.
    what an interesting and well thought out opinion, formed from a vast experience of the boards deals.


  • Options
    #148
    nibtrix
    Registered Users Posts: 1,305 ✭✭✭nibtrix


    Latest issue with boardsdeals - a deal has been showing all day as expiring at midnight, then midnight hits and it changes to 6 days, 23 hours remaining... what's with that?!?


  • Options
    #149
    LoLth
    Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 10,339 Mod ✭✭✭✭LoLth


    nibtrix wrote: »
    Latest issue with boardsdeals - a deal has been showing all day as expiring at midnight, then midnight hits and it changes to 6 days, 23 hours remaining... what's with that?!?

    at a a guess, either the date for the wrong sunday was entered or, the software doesnt recognise timeframes over a week and when the deal passed its "live" deadline of 11:59:59 sunday night, it realised that it was next sunday it was due to expire and so showed 6:23:59:59 remaining which would be 11:59:59 the following sunday?


  • Options
    #150
    nibtrix
    Registered Users Posts: 1,305 ✭✭✭nibtrix


    LoLth wrote: »
    nibtrix wrote: »
    Latest issue with boardsdeals - a deal has been showing all day as expiring at midnight, then midnight hits and it changes to 6 days, 23 hours remaining... what's with that?!?

    at a a guess, either the date for the wrong sunday was entered or, the software doesnt recognise timeframes over a week and when the deal passed its "live" deadline of 11:59:59 sunday night, it realised that it was next sunday it was due to expire and so showed 6:23:59:59 remaining which would be 11:59:59 the following sunday?

    I understand that it may be a tech issue but either they shouldn't have deals running for over a week to prevent this happening, or if it was an error by the person who posted the deal they should have staff available at weekends to monitor the deals and the forum.

    In this case there was a user asking questions about the deal, who couldn't get answers as there were no staff available. The user decided to purchase the deal, with reservations, because it was due to end at midnight.

    I know that if the queries they had turn out to be problems they can ask for a refund, but they shouldn't really have to go through that process. If a long-running deal is going to go over the system allowed deadline then it should be clearly marked on the deal.

    If this is just a simple error then it's unfortunately very bad timing, coming at a time when boardsdeals are already under fire from boards users...


  • Advertisement
  • Options
    #151
    Dav
    Closed Accounts Posts: 8,840 ✭✭✭Dav


    I'm afraid it was a bug in the software that made the count-down clock go wrong. The tech team are looking at it now - it's the first time we've ever run into this issue.


This discussion has been closed.
Advertisement