Why can't forum names and heatware names be the same?

[nork]

I just did a deal with a fellow and embarrased myself. His name is totally different from his heatware account name. When I looked up his name, heatware gave me a 0-0-0 rating. Heatware should have said no such account exists. So I go back to the fellow and tell him to ship first as he has no heat. He tells me what his heatware name is. I spend quite a bit of time verifying that this is indeed his heatware. It probably is and I am cross-shipping.
But what gets me is the fact that we are told to be careful, yet this system is so flawed. Why cant AT and heat require the same names. That would make it so much easier and prevent a lot of trolling, theft, mis-use etc. There are prolly ways to mess with that too but at least it would be a bit easier trying to find out if you want to deal with this person.
Good thing I was polite and asked the guy instead of accusing.

Anyway, why cant we have same names on AT and heat? If AT led the way then perhaps the other forums would get pressured into the same thing. The forum members would see how much better it is and want their forum to do the same!

thanks
Don

 

[iamwiz82]

my name is not the same as my heatware. I registered at AGN orginally as Wiz and had my heatware setup as that name. I came to AT and there was already a Wiz so i became iamwiz82. The two systems are completely different things. There are a ton of boards using heatware(around 20) and each of them has a user base. Some user names do get used by different people.

 

[bizmark]

they're completely independent. People have established Anandtech usernames, and they have established Heat usernames. The common link should be e-mail. The e-mail in their Anandtech profile should probably be the same one under their Heatware. If it's not (for privacy/spam concerns or whatever), then you should send an e-mail to one of the addresses and ask that it be sent back to you from the other address. At least it has to be two people working together for this to be possible, and in all likelihood it's just one person. There are other ways to do this same thing, using PMs or whatever.... send information to one on-line entity, and request it back from the other. That's about the best you can do.

 

[nork]

thats the part that is flawed. Just because someone returns by email or pm, that doesnt prove much.
I just feel that if there were an effort made to have people use names common to their forum names and heat, it would prevent trolls from doing their thing in many cases, certainly not all, but it would cut it down.
We can do it, but it would have to have the support of the members and the mods, not likely to happen, too bad, because if you really think of it, it should really be done.

thanks

Don

 

Anandtech and Heat are two completely seperate entities.
What about the user names at other BBS's ?

 

[bizmark]

iamwiz82's experience is the biggest problem. Usernames get taken by random other people. So it'd be impossible to have some sort of system like you're talking about. For the most part, people are satisfied with e-mail communication to verify one's identity. Get their phone number if you're really paranoid. Talk to them on the phone and tell them to send you a PM with only the letters "zkf" and an e-mail with only the letters "ykb" at the same time, they've got to click "send" within seconds of each other.

I mean, you can always take things farther, but at one point you just have to trust that they're who they say they are. There's no way to conclusively prove that someone is the same person, even if you met them in person. It could easily be 2 people working in tandem.

Or maybe you should just not trade, if you're so worried about getting trolled. It's the risk you take.

 

[nork]

well, some people have the same name on heatware that they use on many different forums. So that takes care of say 25% more or less. So all I am saying is if we could bring that figure up to say 75% to 80 or 90% of the people then that would make things a lot easier for all of us. It just makes common sense and actually would be a natural progression toward making the whole system easier to work. Its not that hard now, but it would just be that much easier.



It may not work for everyone, but it would work for a lot of people. The mods and other people continuously try and make this a better place and my suggestion is only another of many ways we could do just that. Plus, it would help other forums too.

The mods could talk to heatware people, get their agreement, and then put a post up, advising people that they have this chance to synchronize their nicknames with their heatware eval name and to contact the heatware people. In the end, it would make heatwares ongoing work even easier.

On the other hand, your comment about just not trading is not needed. I have a valid point and I made it, no need for rudeness. If I had decided not to bother trading, I wouldnt have made this post. And if you didnt agree all you had to do was not comment at all.
No comment is better than rudeness and just because you have the priviledge to reply doesnt mean that you should!


thank you

Don

 

[bizmark]

my apologies, I was not trying to be rude. My point was that you can never be absolutely sure about the person you're dealing with, and if you're uncomfortable with that, maybe it'd be best for you just not to trade. I wasn't trying to be a snob or anything... I don't trade at all, I have 0 heatware. But if I got a heatware name, it probably wouldn't be "bizmark" but rather it would match my university-assigned e-mail address, which I will use as a personal identifier from now on. I chose not to use that for my AT username because of privacy concerns.

But look at the recent post of the 100+ heatware guy who is dodging emails and PMs after keeping the buyer's $300 Post Office insurance check and not sending it to him. If a person with 107 positive Heatware can pull a trollish move like that, then anybody can. It's the natural risk that you take when involving yourself in a trade. Of course, you try to minimize those risks, but they can never be completely eliminated. And for some people, the extra price they may pay at an on-line retailer may be worth the added peace of mind that they're dealing with a reputable business and not some individual who may or may not be telling the truth.

But besides all that, the system you propose would involve a lot of work and coordination that sort of falls outside the realm of everybody's original jobs. Anandtech mods/admins have their jobs, and the Heatware guys have their jobs. It would involve a LOT of housecleaning on both ends (getting rid of old accounts that haven't been used) and a lot of cross-verification. It'd be a huge mess. Imagine the mess you just went through trying to verify this one guy, then multiply that times 100,000 because that's what the mods and Heat guys would have to do, verifying usernames across 20 some odd forums. It's simply much easier to leave it the way it is now, and let individuals make their own decisions and do their own research before making a deal.

edit: also, plenty of people come here to FI with valid and helpful suggestions for the forums, but they always receive an answer of "It won't be happening." from the mods. Just because it'd be too much work for not enough payoff. I'm just trying to prepare you for the inevitable.

 

[nork]

thanks Biz, I have been told I have a thin skin. It's because I am on the polite side I guess. Anyway, thanks.

I can see that it may not happen. I mean, I am not the only person with half a brain to figure out that it would be better if most names fit at AT, ars, heatware,etc.
On the other hand, they could just notify the people they were doing this and easily find a way to just do so many at a time.
Could be done, but the work involved would be fabulous I guess.

Oh well, too bad it coudnt be done easily by each of us. It would make things a heck of a lot easier for me to just look up "bizmark", failing that I would go to "bizmark2". I would be much more sure that the evals there actually belong to the right person and not hijacked or made up. Course they still could be made up.

Wonder if there is a better way. I dont see that the email thing is so good. After all, I could be emailing a troll, so just because a person answers their email means nothing.

I guess this system only works because 99% of us are honest people. I have done 100 deals over the years and never been cheated by any company or person. But I think I am just plain lucky as I hear so many horror stories.

thanks

Don

 

[olds]

I picked my name because no one else would ever come up with it. My name here and at Heat are the same but my email address is different. I use hotmail at Heat because I seem to change ISP's every year or so.

 

[Daniel]

I have different names here and on heatware, in the years I've traded I've only had one person raise a stink about it, I emailed him from the same address on the 3 boards I traded on and he shut right up.

 

[nork]

oldsmoboat reminds me of the still new, 1975 Cadillac I have in my garage. Those caddys and olds sure are boats!!
Cool nickcame too!!

 

[Jason Clark]

Guys, we have no affiliation with heatware, so what goes on there has no bearing on these forums. Sorry, but facts are facts, we are anandtech they are heatware.

 

[Rallispec]

Originally posted by: Zuni
Guys, we have no affiliation with heatware, so what goes on there has no bearing on these forums. Sorry, but facts are facts, we are anandtech they are heatware.

and i am hungry.


i think the best solution is just verifying that the trader in question is using the same email adress.

 

[Legendary]

The easiest way would be to have a place where you can put your forum names listed so people know it's yours.

 

[Sluggo]

Maybe the great guys at heatware could figure out some way for your username on different forums to be listed on your evals page. It would be great for the guys who trade at different forums.

 

[nork]

Now this post is going somewhere, you guys are starting to think. I dont mean that rudely, I mean it in a good way. I like the idea of a place where all names, addys, nicknames, etc can go to indentify a person and make others feel more at ease. Plus it could have the added bonus of making the bad guys look even worse if they are not listed there as well!!

I hope some people take up the banner here. I dont have the "seniority" nor the time to get this started, but I would be willing to help out if some people with more "authority" or "people power" would get involved.
How many out there would help with this? I bet there are lots of people who would help out!!
This could be very good!! Plus, a person could protect themselves like we do with out email addys - johnnym at whatever dot com.


Don

 

[NikPreviousAcct]

my heatware is ffmcobalt

 

[Evadman]

E-mail the person using the heatware e-mail addy. Takes a few minutes.

Basicly, the responsability falls on the buyer to be sure the seller is providing the correct information. The person registering heatware should start either another heatware account or have their evals transfered.

 

[Zim Hosein]

Originally posted by: ffmcobalt
my heatware is ffmcobalt

And my heatware is under Zim Hosein

 

[mastertech01]

Most people should be using the same email address that is posted for their heatware evals. That should be the same as the email address posted in the traders profile. If you match the profile email addy with the heatware email addy you can be assured of having the same person. Just email the person using the heatware addy to verify if needed. When heat updated the site, he gave priority to users who had matched email addresses in their profile to the one registered at heatware.

There is no way to gaurantee perfection, but its not that hard to ensure you are dealing with the right person. If Joe Blow at heatware is given as the heat refs for John Doe, junior member at AT, and email addresses dont match, that should be a red flag. If half of his refs are from deals at AT, then there is flag number 2.

Just be sure to read the heatware reviews and not just look at numbers.