Boards Deals scam

Boards Deals: Emma

Hi All,

We have had a serious issue with the BeanBag supplier company. You can read about it here: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056518782&page=3

I've been working on resolving this for the last 3 weeks, so I'm sorry for not posting here sooner, but I will be looking at all the other issues raised and will be back to address them by the end of this week.

Emma

IITYWYBMAD

Hi Emma, nearly 3 weeks since you promised to come back to this by the end of the week. I appreciate you're busy, but any update?

ibarelycare

Apparently the Boards Deals crew are busy with the whole Irish SOPA thing.

There have been no new deals posted in the forum for weeks, expired deals are still showing as "live", and queries aren't being answered. There's a thread about it here.

Sully

I don't mean to offend, but customer service on Boards Deals has always been pretty poor. Its one thing after another.

Boards.ie: Nicola

ibarelycare wrote: »

Apparently the Boards Deals crew are busy with the whole Irish SOPA thing.

Just to clarify-Boards.ie employees and Boards Deals are two separate teams, the Irish SOPA issue has not had an impact on Boards Deals itself.

nibtrix

Boards.ie: Nicola wrote: »

ibarelycare wrote: »

Apparently the Boards Deals crew are busy with the whole Irish SOPA thing.

Just to clarify-Boards.ie employees and Boards Deals are two separate teams, the Irish SOPA issue has not had an impact on Boards Deals itself.

So why have the boards deals staff not been updating the forum - at least removing the deals that are no longer live?

EDIT- never mind, answered on the boards deal thread linked to above.

Morag

Seems they are too busy with responding on other sites, and twitter and facebook rather then there.

RasTa

Well they where warned but chose not to listen to the community. Now they are down €3405 for running this deal as they have to issue delivery refunds from their own pockets. Sort of delighted tbh, hopefully it will teach them something.

Kiera

RasTa wrote: »

Well they where warned but chose not to listen to the community. Now they are down €3405 for running this deal as they have to issue delivery refunds from their own pockets. Sort of delighted tbh, hopefully it will teach them something.

That's not very community- like of you. You're just as bad for this comment.

RasTa

Kiera wrote: »

That's not very community- like of you. You're just as bad for this comment.

Nonsense, boards deals isn't part of the community as has being stated numerous times. Any fool can set up a deal website as you can see here http://www.mydealpage.ie/

What they can't do straight away is appeal to the amount of visitors that view boards daily. Hopefully Dev got a big fat $$$ for letting them use the boards name.

They don't complete any due dilligance it seems on the deals or else this one one would/should have never being listed. We have seen this in the past, then after getting warning messages they still decided to take orders?

So yes I'm delighted they have lost money for not heeding the 'community'

Tar.Aldarion

Several deals have not been looked into well, I had to warn people not to get this and others etc, when you would think that the people whose job it is would know better. Pretty bad when other sites have ran deals, not had them honoured and then choosing to run the same deal. We bought 15 deals from deal sites in the last week or two, I would rather not have to look into a company each time myself before getting one.

Nothing got to do with community there by RasTa, they are a separate entity, boardsdeals have the onus to be honouring such a great community and name as boards, and be a step above the rest.

MadsL

Having read the entirety of this thread I'm not going to comment on the boardsdeals issues. I will however say this, and say it quite loud. I'm shocked that posters are prepared to openly criticise boards employees work performance personally by name. How would you feel if your work performance was publically discussed online everyday by people who post under usernames?

Not to mention the potential problems that may cause boards in relation to general HR issues like performance reviews, bonuses, or disciplinary matters.

As this is feedback I'd make a suggestion that employees should use usernames rather than real names..but I respect boards.ie's decisions not to do that.

Regardless of the issues, could I make a plea for people to remember that Niamh and the rest of the team are real people, doing real jobs, that pay bills, rent and the like...and show some ****ng respect!

Tragedy

So because they use a name as a username they can't ever be mentioned or criticised?

I had an issue with Niamh essentially lying to customers instead of investigating a potential issue, I linked to where Niamh publically did this. Why is it my problem that she did this and why should she be immune to criticism because she uses Niamh in her username(which if Boards follows best practice in CS, shouldn't be her real name)? I get that most people don't find this behaviour as big a deal as me, whatever - but even on the beanbags deal which Boards Deals got horrifically wrong, they never even apologised.

Respect is earned, and a big way to earn it is to show respect to your customers and the wider community. Apologising for chasing deals with a high profit marging instead of prioritising customers would have been a nice way to do that imho but again, I understand a lot of people feel differently.

MadsL

Tragedy, the point I'm making is that whilst I have no problem with posters making comment on the business of boardsdeals, what you and other posters have done is singled out an employee for criticism on their work performance. I think that is highly unfair, both to her and her manager(s).

Now if I asked you to post your First Name, your employer and details of how we could contact your manager so that we could discuss publicly your recent work performance - I think you would probably squeak foul.

As to respect being earned, 1st rule of boards.ie is don't be a dick. Forgive me, but I think you are being one by putting this issue onto an identifiable employee. If you posted on, say, the Vodafone forum I doubt you would be blaming the CSR rather than the corporate entity.

RasTa

MadsL wrote: »

Now if I asked you to post your First Name, your employer and details of how we could contact your manager so that we could discuss publicly your recent work performance - I think you would probably squeak foul.

What, like name tags staff wear in certain shops?

MadsL

RasTa wrote: »

What, like name tags staff wear in certain shops?

I have no problem with staff identifying themselves - however posting a public discussion about that staff member's work performance when they are clearly identifiable is in my mind unacceptable.

For example, would you accept me posting about your performance at work and emailing your boss the link to the thread??

Orion

Sully wrote: »

I don't mean to offend, but customer service on Boards Deals has always been pretty poor. Its one thing after another.

I've only had to contact them once. It was for a hotel deal that wouldn't let us book on a particular weekend that they hadn't excluded in the deal. I pm-ed Niamh and got a phone call from the hotel later that afternoon. Pretty good service for me.

TouchingVirus

Tragedy wrote: »

but even on the beanbags deal which Boards Deals got horrifically wrong, they never even apologised.

Looks like an apology to me. I hope I get to see your apology in your next post.

Sully

Orion wrote: »

I've only had to contact them once. It was for a hotel deal that wouldn't let us book on a particular weekend that they hadn't excluded in the deal. I pm-ed Niamh and got a phone call from the hotel later that afternoon. Pretty good service for me.

More so how things are handled on the forums, and the quality of the deals dropping. It took long enough to get a reply, and Boards.ie is their hub and part of their marketing. Room for improvement and I do hope that it will improve soon as it has some great potential.

Tragedy

TouchingVirus wrote: »

Looks like an apology to me. I hope I get to see your apology in your next post.

Where do you see an apology? All I see is "We apologise for any inconvenience caused by this change." and an explanation of why they're processing refunds.

How exactly is that an apology? Apologising for inconvenience isn't apologising for causing the inconvenience, it is essentially an apology that isn't in any way an apology and is standard parlance in CS speak(anyone else reminded of airport announcements assuring you they're sorry for any inconvenience caused as your flight is delayed for 6 hours?)...

The fact that Emma says "So despite everyone's research into the company, it appears that we've all been mislead." is the opposite of an apology imho. Many boards.ie members warned BD about Infurn and yet in the 'apology' it is as if no-one could have guessed the deal might go bad.

It's excellent that they decided to essentially burn Infurn and go ahead with refunds, and it was nice to see them being proactive. But they could have apologised.

MadSL: Niamh posted publicly using her own name on Boards as a representative of Boards Deals. You haven't given any good reason why people can't publicly discuss what she has publicly written on boards other than (paraphrasing) "It's mean!". There are hundreds of examples of company employees posting online as employees of a company and consumers discussing what they have posted, it isn't as if this has never occurred before.

You might have a point if I was referring to a private discussion in person or on the phone, but people were discussing on boards what an employee had posted on boards.

Also, your analogy of my posting up where I work, my real name and supervisor contact details is ridiculous, considering I don't post as an authorised representative on boards.ie.

If we were discussing personal posts Niamh had made and using that as a way to criticise her as an employee of Boards.ie, you would have an excellent point.

MadsL

Tragedy wrote: »

MadSL: Niamh posted publicly using her own name on Boards as a representative of Boards Deals. You haven't given any good reason why people can't publicly discuss what she has publicly written on boards other than (paraphrasing) "It's mean!". There are hundreds of examples of company employees posting online as employees of a company and consumers discussing what they have posted, it isn't as if this has never occurred before.

You really want to pick a fight with anyone don't you?

My point is that you have constantly throughout this thread made reference to the individuals concerned and their responses rather than the the corporate entity. In this internet forum context this is like showing up at someone's work and trashing them in front of their boss and co-workers and filming and putting it up on YouTube.

You might have a point if I was referring to a private discussion in person or on the phone, but people were discussing on boards what an employee had posted on boards.

If you have a problem with boardsdeals policy or methods then by all means bring it up, but I'm at a loss why you have to drag individuals into it for scrutiny as to their work performance. If you don't know what I mean here's what you have been saying, it's beginning to look like bullying.

I had an issue with Niamh essentially lying to customers instead of investigating

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.

Niamh's response to it was to cast aspersions

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

Will Niamh apologise for lying about competitors products?

Tragedy wrote: »

Also, your analogy of my posting up where I work, my real name and supervisor contact details is ridiculous, considering I don't post as an authorised representative on boards.ie.

And you are missing the part about workplace aren't you. Niamh isn't posting here for fun, with posts to be picked over, it's her job. Surely you can see that is different to the on boards mantra you have been chanting. If you have a problem with BoardsDeals, fair enough and it has been brought to their attention and the COO of boards.ie has responded directly; but this is now becoming a campaign to make an individual employee apologise - dude, wtf?

If we were discussing personal posts Niamh had made and using that as a way to criticise her as an employee of Boards.ie, you would have an excellent point.

Excuse me, but since when did you become her supervisor? Are employees on boards somehow entitled to any less right to dignity and respect in the workplace? I think not...yet here you are screaming "look at that!" about someones job performance in the place where they work, even if it is virtual (even worse given the size of the audience who can see it tbh).

Do you feel like they now have a fair right of reply with their boss looking on? I don't know what you do for a living, but if I have to escalate something through customer service ranks to a supervisor or manager I point out where training may be required, or there is a process problem, or a legal issue. I try not to scream and shout and embarrass a particular employee in front of their boss.

I don't have any issue with your complaint, but the way you are handling it leaves a lot to be desired..

Tragedy

MadsL wrote: »

You really want to pick a fight with anyone don't you?

How am I trying to pick a fight with you exactly, other than by disagreeing with you relatively politely and respectfully?

I disagree with you. So far, you haven't been able to back up your point without resorting to torturous and convoluted real life analogies that have little or no bearing on social media, boards.ie, and Boards Deals being a part of boards.ie. Which is fair enough, however suddenly because I happen to have a diametrically opposed opinion to you I'm picking a fight with you?


No point replying to the rest of your post if this is how you start it tbh.

Also, you really need to get your timeline right. This is 'now' becoming a campaign to get an employee to apologise? I posted that almost two months ago and have left the issue alone since as I have nothing to add and I have better things to do than to pointlessly **** stir against BD. The issue would still be left in the past if you hadn't come on, resurrected it and then claimed I was suddenly attacking you just because I have the temerity to disagree with your position on accountability of public statements made by company representatives online. You do understand the hypocrisy involved in what you're claiming, right?

@Mods, maybe it's time to lock this thread and split off the more recent posts into a new thread or something. Bit pointless rehashing old arguments etc.

MadsL

Tragedy wrote: »

The issue would still be left in the past if you hadn't come on, resurrected it and then claimed I was suddenly attacking you just because I have the temerity to disagree with your position on accountability of public statements made by company representatives online. You do understand the hypocrisy involved in what you're claiming, right?

I never mentioned you, I made a general comment. You inserted yourself back in the thread almost immediately. As to resurrection,if posting in a thread less than 24 hours after the last post is resurrecting an issue then shoot me.
Are you aware of just how sanctimonious you sound? I believe I'm not the only one to have told you that.

Tragedy wrote: »

@Mods, maybe it's time to lock this thread and split off the more recent posts into a new thread or something. Bit pointless rehashing old arguments etc.

Could not agree more on locking the thread, one of the most poisonous threads I have ever read on boards. As to giving Tragedy more threads - please don't - he's done enough.

LoLth

As has been pointed out several times during this thread, boards.ie and boardsdeals.ie are seperate, albeit connected, entities. This started out as a useful thread but has descended into trench warfare (as mentioned, old issues being rehashed ad nauseum) but it was originally only tenuously linked to feedback on boards and has since then lost even that connection.

to those that have had a bad experience with boardsdeals, I am sorry for you and I'm sure the boardsdeals team will do their best to ensure that it doesnt happen again and that you are somehow taken care of. However, there is absolutely nothing I, or any of the admins, or any of the boards.ie staff can do for you. We dont let users sign up to bash outside companies repeatedly, even if what they are saying has an element of truth and I think we've let this "feedback" go on long enough about boardsdeals.

Ultimately, this is for feedback on boards.ie, this is not for feedback on boardsdeals.ie . they dont get the reported posts, we, the admins, do.

Locking this thread and I shall be locking any future boardsdeals feedback threads that appear here until I have had a chance to discuss the options with the rest of the admins and the boards.ie staff.