User Ratings System
 

Perhaps this is discussed in another thread, but I couldn't find it...
It would be very helpful to have a user rating/feedback system, similar to what eBay or similar sites to let others know the outcomes of transactions...yes, I can find out how active a user of FlyerTalk is, but that doesn't really give me the information I need to decide whether or not to exchange with him/her, meet outside FlyerTalk, etc...I realize that these are not primary purposes of FlyerTalk, but it seems that many members are involved in something of this sort at one time or another...

Click on the blue member name, then click on "find all posts by this member".

Tells you lots. Yours is here for instance:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/member.php?userid=45484

Don't believe for one second eBay's rating system is always perfect. This from my own industry:

http://www.sheryll.net/Forgeries/Forgeries_article.htm

When FlyerTalk was first migrated to vBulletin, a Reputation feature was turned on.

However, this feature caused a lot of problems because of its being abused. People were attacked by others who simply disliked them and eventually the feature was turned off. (There is a lot more to this story than I care to relate here. Perhaps some on this board will share their experiences.)

So, I wouldn't put any stock in such a feature; it wouldn't necessarily be helpful.

As for using it to decide whether to "meet outside FlyerTalk," you must be kidding. Over the past 3-1/2 years, I have met some 250 to 300 FlyerTalkers in person and count some of them among my friends. A reputation feature would probably be WORSE than useless for this purpose. :td:

AsiaT,

I believe that some posters had the nerve to turn off their 'use ratings', thereby rendering this function useless. Can't for the life of me figure out why?

Now if you want to know something about a poster, just read their threads. Eventually you'll get a 'vibe' about them. Are they honest, are they truthful. Are they full of themselves? Is there a cloud hanging over them?

Okay, well that answers my question, at least. :) It's been tried, it didn't really work out, so better to go without it. I'll go with other methods of getting feedback...